Perceptions of Parental Privacy Invasion: Linkages with Psychosocial Adjustment Problems and Emotion Regulation in Adolescence

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Adolescence is a period of major changes. Cognitive developments make adolescents more capable and willing to make their own decisions, as well as more demanding of privacy. Privacy management seems important in parent-adolescent relationships, as parents contribute substantially to their children's psychosocial development. With a group of 102 adolescents (M = 14.82), we examined the association between youths’ perception of parental privacy invasion, emotion regulation and psychosocial maladjustment. A higher sense of parental privacy invasion was linked to a higher level of emotion regulation difficulties and anxiety. In addition, we found emotion regulation difficulties mediated the relationship between perception of invasive parenting and anxiety. There was no association found between perceived invasion and minor delinquency. Our research suggests that perceived parental privacy invasion has important links with adolescent well-being.