Parents’ Influences on Well-being in Emerging Adulthood: The Role of Basic Psychological Needs

Previous research on parent‒child relationships has focused more extensively on younger, school-aged children and adolescents, with mothers receiving more attention than fathers. In addition, there has been a greater focus on problematic parenting (e.g., helicopter parenting) and less research on supportive forms of parenting that can promote positive outcomes during emerging adulthood. The current study utilized the framework of self-determination theory to examine the association between positive parenting and well-being in a sample of emerging adults. Specifically, we examined the associations between positive maternal and paternal parenting approaches and emerging adults’ basic psychological needs and well-being, with a focus on emerging adults of diverse ethnicities. Our primary hypotheses were that positive parenting would have significant: (a) direct associations with emerging adults’ basic psychological needs and (b) indirect associations with emerging adults’ well-being through their basic psychological needs. The participants were 1209 emerging adults aged 18–22 years (M = 19.27; SD = 1.53). The results revealed that parenting had significant positive direct effects on emerging adults’ basic psychological needs and indirect associations with their well-being. These findings suggest that positive parenting continues to play an important role in emerging adulthood and highlight the need to work with emerging adults and their parents to establish strategies to support positive parenting that meet psychological needs during this time of life.