Chapter 1 20 interpret, cope with, and respond to parenting practices (Soenens et al., 2015; Soenens & Vansteenkiste, 2020). For instance, according to environmental sensitivity models (Belsky & Pluess, 2009; Pluess, 2015), some individuals are more sensitive to perceive and more responsive to positive and/or negative environmental influences, including parenting practices. This heightened sensitivity and responsivity is believed to be driven by a (partly) innate and stable high trait level of sensitivity to the environment (Greven et al., 2019). The personality trait neuroticism, which is distinct but related to environmental sensitivity (Greven et al., 2019), has also been linked to greater responsivity to the (social) environment, particularly with respect to negative events (Bolger & Schilling, 1991; Suls & Martin, 2005). Because individuals with higher trait levels of neuroticism seem to interpret negative events more negatively and seem less effective in coping with negative events (Suls & Martin, 2005), high-neuroticism adolescents might particularly be more prone to suffer from negative parenting practices. Thus, the personality of the adolescent is understood as a moderating factor in how parenting practices influence an adolescent’s functioning. Although the personality of adolescents has received much attention in the parenting literature, similar arguments also likely apply to the personality of the parent, such that parents with higher levels of environmental sensitivity or neuroticism might be more responsive to the behavior of their adolescent child than parents with lower trait levels. In addition to differences in personality, two other individual characteristics have received considerable attention. The first is adolescents’ legitimacy beliefs of parental authority (Darling et al., 2007; Smetana & Asquith, 1994), which reflect the degree to which adolescents view their parents’ exercise of control over a specific domain (e.g., moral, conventional, and personal) as appropriate for their role as caregivers (Darling et al., 2008). Adolescents’ legitimacy beliefs might be a moderating factor in how controlling practices impact their functioning, such that adolescents with weak legitimacy beliefs might experience more negative reactions to controlling practices (e.g., monitoring) (LaFleur et al., 2016). The second characteristic is the parenting style, which is believed reflect the overall emotional climate within the parent-adolescent relationship. Parenting style is thought to directly alter the effectiveness of specific parenting practices on adolescent functioning, and indirectly by influencing adolescents’ openness to socialization (Darling & Steinberg, 1993). Hence, the stable emotional climate of the parent-adolescent relationship and adolescents’ willingness to accept and obey their parental socialization attempts are key factors that are thought to moderate the effects of parenting practices on adolescent functioning.
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