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Despite ample research on the role of parental autonomy support in adolescents' adjustment, the affective processes underlying parental autonomy support remain relatively unclear. As an initial step to fill this gap, the current research examined whether the association between parental autonomy support and adolescents' school adjustment was in part channeled through their experience of positive emotions. American and Chinese adolescents (N = 562, mean age = 12.72 years) reported on their parents' use of autonomy-supportive practices, their own experiences of positive emotions, and self-regulated learning strategies, at three time points. American and Chinese adolescents who perceived their parents as autonomy-supportive were more likely to experience heightened positive emotions 6 months later. In turn, such positive emotional experiences were predictive of adolescents' subsequent use of self-regulation in their learning endeavors. There was also evidence that adolescents' experiences of positive emotions partially accounted for the associations between parental autonomy support and adolescents' self-regulated learning.

Using an ecologically informed, developmental psychopathology perspective, the present study examined contextual and intrapersonal predictors of depressive symptoms and externalizing problems among Korean American adolescents. Specifically, the role of cultural context (self-construals), family processes (family cohesion and conflict), and anger regulation (anger control, anger suppression, and outward anger expression) were examined. Study participants were N = 166 Korean American adolescents ranging from 11 to 15 years old ( M = 13.0, SD = 1.2). Results showed that depressive symptoms were significantly associated with lower levels of perceived family cohesion, higher levels of perceived family conflict intensity, and higher levels of anger suppression. Externalizing problems were associated with male gender, a weaker interdependent self-construal, higher levels of perceived family conflict, lower levels of anger control, and higher levels of outward anger expression. The distinction between specific versus common factors associated with depressive symptoms and externalizing problems was discussed with an eye toward prevention or intervention strategies targeting specific coping mechanisms (e.g., generating alternatives to anger suppression) or developing psychoeducational approaches to facilitate family processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]