Child Development, September/October 2007, Volume 78, Number 5, Pages 1592– 1610 The Role of Parents’ Control in Early Adolescents’ Psychological Functioning: A Longitudinal Investigation in the United States and China Qian Wang Chinese University of Hong Kong Eva M. Pomerantz University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign Huichang Chen Beijing Normal University This research compared the effects over time of parents’ control and autonomy support on children’s functioning in the United States and China. American and Chinese (N 5 806) seventh graders (mean age 5 12.73 years) participated in a 6-month longitudinal study. Children reported on their parents’ psychological control, psychological autonomy support, behavioral control, and their own emotional and academic functioning. Children’s grades were obtained. Supporting cultural similarities, in both countries over time, parents’ psychological control predicted children’s dampened emotional functioning, parents’ psychological autonomy support predicted children’s enhanced emotional and academic functioning, and parents’ behavioral control predicted children’s enhanced academic functioning. Supporting cultural differences, the beneficial effects of parents’ psychological autonomy support were generally stronger in the United States than in China. Decades of research in the United States indicate that parents’ control plays a critical role in children’s development (for reviews, see Barber, Stolz, & Olsen, 2006; Maccoby & Martin, 1983). Much work has focused on two types of control—psychological and behavioral—documenting their distinct effects on children’s functioning (e.g., Barber, 1996; Gray & Steinberg, 1999). This work links, among mostly European – American children, parents’ psychologi- cal control (e.g., guilt induction and love withdrawal) to undesirable developmental outcomes (e.g., increased emotional distress and negative self-views) and, conversely, parents’ behavioral control (e.g., monitoring children’s activities and behaviors) to desirable developmental outcomes (e.g., increased academic competence and decreased delinquency). Such findings are consistent with the mainstream European – American values of autonomy and inde- pendence in the United States. Presumably, psycho- logical control hurts children because it intrudes upon their sense of self, whereas behavioral control benefits children because it provides them with needed guid- ance, without necessarily inhibiting their individua- tion (see Barber et al., 2006). However, there has been debate as to whether the effects of parents’ control are similar across cultures. Many cultures, particularly Asian ones characterized by the Chinese-originated Confucian heritage, are contrasted with European – American culture as they prioritize interpersonal connectedness over individuality (see Markus & Kitayama, 1991). Some investigators argue that the effects of parents’ control may be different in such Asian cultures than in European – American culture, given that when relatedness and interdependence are highly valued, parents’ control may not be associated with violation of children’s sense of self (see Chao & Tseng, 2002; Greenfield, Keller, Fuligni, & Maynard, 2003). In contrast, others make the case that despite cultural differences in the extent to which autonomy and independence are emphasized, the need for autonomy is universal; hence, the effects of parents’ control may be similar across cultures (see Barber et al., 2006; Chirkov & Ryan, 2001). To enlighten this debate, it is essential to directly and systematically compare the effects of parents’ control in cultures of contrasting orientations. Yet, This research was conducted in partial fulfillment of Qian Wang’s dissertation and was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant R01 MH57505 to Eva M. Pomerantz. We are grateful to the children who participated in this research. We thank Scott Litwack, Molly McDonald, and Haimei Wang for their help in collecting and managing the data. We appreciate the constructive comments provided by Ying-Yi Hong, Lawrence Hubert, Peggy Miller, and Karen Rudolph. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Qian Wang, Department of Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong, or to Eva M. Pomerantz, Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, IL 61820. Electronic mail may be sent to qianwang@psy.cuhk.edu.hk or pomerntz@uiuc.edu. # 2007 by the Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved. 0009-3920/2007/7805-0012