10.1177/0743558403255070 ARTICLE JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENT RESEARCH / September 2003 Bean et al. / PARENTING DIMENSIONS AND ADOLESCENT FUNCTIONING The Impact of Parental Support, Behavioral Control, and Psychological Control on the Academic Achievement and Self-Esteem of African American and European American Adolescents Roy A. Bean Texas Tech University Kevin R. Bush University of Georgia Patrick C. McKenry Ohio State University Stephan M. Wilson University of Kentucky The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between adolescent function- ing (i.e., self-esteem and academic achievement) and parental support, behavioral con- trol, and psychological control in European American and African American adoles- cents. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that supportive behaviors of African American mothers toward their adolescent children positively predicted both self-esteem and academic achievement. Psychological control was significantly related to adoles- cent self-esteem in both the models of paternal parenting (African American and Euro- pean American) and maternal parenting (African American). In addition, among Euro- pean American adolescents, behavioral control was a significant predictor of academic achievement and self-esteem. This study provides support for the methodological value of examining the parenting dimensions independently as opposed to combining them to form parenting styles. Keywords: African Americans; adolescents; parenting; self-esteem; academic achievement 523 Research support for this project was provided by the College of Human Environmental Sciences at the Uni- versity of Kentucky to Professor Wilson from an internal competition grant for research. Journal of Adolescent Research, Vol. 18 No. 5, September 2003 523-541 DOI: 10.1177/0743558403255070 © 2003 Sage Publications