UC Berkeley

In this study, the associations between parenting type (autonomy supportive or controlling) and academic outcomes (achievement, enjoyment, and effort) were examined in a large group (N = 656) of high achieving adolescents enrolled in an academic summer program. Mediators and moderators were also examined. Results from the study indicated that perceived autonomy support and controlling parenting did not meaningfully predict academic achievement, enjoyment, and effort. With regards to mediation analyses, intrinsic motivation mediated the association between perceived autonomy support and all academic outcomes. Perceived competence was also found to mediate the relationship between perceived autonomy support and academic achievement and enjoyment, but to a lesser degree than intrinsic motivation. Hierarchical linear regression analyses showed that the association between parenting type and final course grades was not moderated by students’ GPA. Further, results indicated that the decision to attend the program variable accounted for more variance in predicting course grades than the perceived autonomy support scale. Finally, with respect to cross-cultural analyses, on average, Asian American students perceived their parents to be more controlling and less autonomy supportive than European American students. However, group membership did not moderate the association between perceived parenting types and academic achievement. The implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.