Parental modeling and adolescents' quality of experience

Adolescent development is affected by a teenager's quality of experience and ability to respond to anxiety or boredom. Teens who have difficulty self-regulating anxiety or boredom can struggle in school and in other areas of life. On the other hand, teens who are able to cultivate more optimal engagement or flow are more likely to develop their skills and have a better quality of life. Using data from 88 parent-child dyads, and drawing on a modeling perspective as outlined in Bandura's Social Learning Theory, the present study explored whether adolescent students who had a highly engaged parental model were more likely to experience optimal engagement themselves. Students were placed into one of two groups based on their parents' responses to questions about self-regulatory style and quality of experience. These two student groups were then compared using data from student surveys and the Experiential Sampling Method-a research technique using programmed watches to prompt repeated selfreports in natural contexts. Results indicate that students with a same-sex parent who modeled high engagement reported more flow, less boredom, and less anxiety during a school day than students without such a parental model. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for adolescent development and future research on parental modeling.