Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 18, 2026

Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Does adolescents' disclosure to their parents matter for their academic adjustment?
Cecilia S-S Cheung1, Eva M Pomerantz, Wei Dong
1Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA. scheung3@illinois.edu
Abstract:
The role of adolescents' disclosure to their parents in their academic adjustment was examined in a study of 825 American and Chinese adolescents (mean age = 12.73 years). Four times over the seventh and eighth grades, adolescents reported on their spontaneous disclosure of everyday activities to their parents, the quality of their relationships with their parents, and their parents' autonomy support and control. Information about multiple dimensions of adolescents' academic adjustment (e.g., learning strategies, autonomous vs. controlled motivation, and grades) was also obtained. Both American and Chinese adolescents' disclosure predicted their enhanced academic adjustment over time. However, when American adolescents disclosed in a negative context (e.g., a poor parent-child relationship or controlling parenting), their autonomous (vs. controlled) motivation was undermined.
Related Concept Videos
Influence of Parents and Peers on Identity
Parental Influence on Identity Development
Parents serve as primary guides and managers in an adolescent's life, offering support instrumental in decision-making and personal growth. This guiding role...
Ethnic Identity within a Larger Culture
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Cognitive Development During Adolescence
Sources of Self-Esteem I: Family Experience
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood

