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Objective. Vignette-based research shows that youth evaluate parental guilt induction (GI) differently depending on the type of issue over which guilt is induced. However, domain differences in the prevalence and associations of parental GI have not been examined in real-world parenting behavior. This study examined the utility of a novel measure of domain-differentiated parental guilt induction (DDPGI) focusing on its psychometric properties and correlates. Design. Surveys were completed by 123 U.S. adolescents (Mage = 13.99 years, 54% female, 53% European American) and their mothers. Analyses included factor analysis and invariance tests, then structural equation modeling. Results. Consistent with social domain theory, maternal GI over legitimately regulated issues (moral, conventional, prudential) and personal issues were statistically separable and had differential associations with parenting and youth adjustment. When reported by adolescents, maternal GI over legitimately regulated issues was uniquely associated with more inductive discipline, adolescent empathy, perspective-taking, and moral self-relevance. In contrast, maternal GI over personal issues, especially at high levels, was uniquely associated with more maternal psychological control, maladaptive guilt induction, adolescent adjustment problems, and fewer adolescent moral cognitions and emotions. When reported by mothers, maternal GI showed no significant links with youth adjustment and positive associations between legitimately regulated guilt induction and both adaptive and maladaptive parenting behaviors. Conclusions. Results highlight the importance of measuring parental GI as its own construct, considering the topics over which guilt is induced when conceptualizing the parenting practice as positive or negative, and recognizing family member differences in perceptions of GI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Chinese parents are seen as employing guilt and shame induction to socialize children's culturally appropriate behavior, research has focused primarily on Chinese parents' use of these inductions and their links with child adjustment rather than on children's evaluations of them. Furthermore, this research typically does not examine variations in children's appraisals based on the type of behavior being socialized. The present study addressed these gaps in the literature by examining 206 Hong Kong Chinese children's and early adolescents' (Ms = 9.76, 13.35 years, SDs = 0.78, 0.54; 50% and 61% female, respectively) appraisals of maternal guilt induction (act- vs. parent-focused) and shame induction (social comparison vs. denigration) following a hypothetical moral and academic transgression. Overall, act-focused guilt induction was evaluated as more appropriate, respectful, effective, and reflective of mothers' love and concern than parent-focused guilting, and in turn, social comparison shaming, and then denigration and more so overall for the moral than the academic transgression. Early adolescents judged act-focused guilting for the moral transgression as more effective and eliciting more positive feelings than did children. Although culturally valued, social comparison shame (and also denigration) were judged as less appropriate, less effective, as reflecting less maternal love and concern, and as eliciting less positive feelings (but only for social comparison shaming in response to lower-than-expected academic performance) by early adolescents as compared to younger peers, suggesting that youth become more critical of these culturally appropriate practices in the transition to adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents with internalizing problems are more prone to feelings of guilt and shame, experience more guilt-induction, and report more negative parenting, but little is known about the way these processes are associated nor the extent to which they occur within real-time parent-adolescent interactions. The current study sought to clarify these links by investigating whether negatively biased perceptions of maternal communication mediate links between adolescent internalizing symptoms and their feelings of guilt, shame, and guilt-induction during real-time mother-adolescent discussions. One hundred twenty-three mother-adolescent dyads participated in the study. These dyads were moderately diverse in both race/ethnicity (53% White, 29% Black, 12% Hispanic) and family income (26% earned less than $30,000/year, 22% earned more than $100,000/year) and included adolescents who ranged in age from 12 to 17 (Mage = 13.99) and were approximately half female (54%). Mothers and adolescents engaged in lab discussions about issues of conflict and guilt and rated mothers' positive and negative communication during the tasks; observers rated these same behaviors. Adolescents also reported on their general internalizing symptoms prior to the discussions and feelings of guilt, shame, and experienced guilt induction following each discussion task. Structural equation models, parceling out shared and unique perceptions of maternal communication behaviors, showed that adolescents with more internalizing symptoms reported greater feelings of shame and perceived maternal guilt-induction following the discussion, and that these associations were mediated by adolescents' unique perceptions of more maternal negativity. These findings highlight the potential role of cognitive biases in perpetuating established associations among adolescent internalizing symptoms, shame, and parental guilt-induction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]