The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between parental empathic accuracy (positive and negative emotions) and parental autonomy support towards adolescent children in the...Show moreThe purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between parental empathic accuracy (positive and negative emotions) and parental autonomy support towards adolescent children in the context of a problem-solving task. In addition, the parent-child bond was researched to determine whether it could have a positive moderating effect on the previously mentioned relation. The present study used data from the healthy control group of the RE-PAIR study, which consisted of 77 adolescents (50 female, 27 male), between the age of 12-17 years old and their 134 parent(s) (73 female, 61 male), between the age of 33-62 years old. Results revealed that parental empathic accuracy of positive or negative emotions is not related to higher levels of observed parental autonomy support. In addition, the moderator analyses have shown that a stronger parent/child-reported bond does not influence this relation. However, an interesting explorative finding was that parents who can infer their children’s emotions can recognize positive and negative emotions. In addition, parents and their children have the same view on their emotional relationship. Furthermore, the present study found that children who are more satisfied with the relationship with their parents, have parents who infer their positive emotions more accurately. Lastly, the study found some exploratory results about the individual perspective that influences the relationship satisfaction. Given these points, we can conclude that parents’ ability to infer their children’s emotions accurately is no indicator of displaying parental autonomy support. The implications of the insignificant study results are discussed in detail.Show less
