Thesis (M.Ed.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 23, 2008). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Lund. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 178-184).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on October 22, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-164). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1990. / Title from title page screen, viewed November 21, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Lanny E. Morreau (chair), Thomas E. Caldwell, E. Paula Crowley, Kenneth H. Strand, Alan C. Repp. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-142) and abstract. Also available in print.

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Autonomy is a critical component of early childhood with important implications for children’s competence and well-being (e.g., Erikson, 1963; Mahler, Pine & Bergman, 1975; Sroufe & Rutter, 1984). Although parental autonomy support is associated with the development of early autonomy (e.g., Endsley, Hutcherson, Garner & Martin, 1979; Frodi, Bridges & Grolnick, 1985; Landry, Smith, Swank & Miller-Loncar, 2000), the mechanisms underlying these associations are largely unexplored. Mothers’ emotions and the affective climate of parent-child interactions may be critical factors by which parenting influences early autonomy. This study (a) examined the degree to which discrete, naturally occurring maternal emotions regulate four indicators of autonomy during toddlerhood: co-regulated goal-directed behavior, low aimlessness, self-assertion, and positive initiative, (b) explored mechanisms through which maternal emotion exerts an influence on children’s autonomous behaviors, and (c) isolated the contribution of mothers’ emotions to children’s autonomous behaviors over that of mothers’ autonomy-supportive behavior. Several important findings emerged. First, maternal emotions, both felt and expressed, were related to children’s autonomous behaviors--mostly in ways predicted by emotion and relationship theories. In general, mothers’ frequent joy and infrequent anger, sadness, and fear predicted high autonomy. Second, the affective climate of mothers’ interactions with their toddlers predicted children’s autonomous behaviors over and above mothers’ autonomy-supportive behavior, suggesting that parental emotion is a unique aspect of autonomy support. Finally, different forms of early autonomy were predicted by different emotions in mothers, emphasizing the complexity of autonomy and the need to better define and measure this construct. / text

The purpose of this program of research was to study how socialization agents can facilitate children's internalization of important but uninteresting activities. Self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1980, 1985b, 1991, 2000) posits that autonomy is essential in fostering optimal (i.e. integrated) internalization. It was thus hypothesized that autonomy-support would facilitate internalization while offering rewards for compliance would thwart it. In the present thesis, two experimental studies and one longitudinal study compared the effects of autonomy-support and rewards on children's internalization and general functioning. In Study 1 and 2, we asked children to perform a tedious task in an autonomy-supportive manner or under a reward contingency. Children's affect, perception of the task's value, and free-choice engagement served as dependent measures. ANOVA results revealed positive effects associated with autonomy-support whereas no effect for rewards was found. Moreover, split-group correlational analyses showed that autonomy-support led to integrated self-regulation, whereas rewards were associated with behaviors incongruent from affect and value. / Study 3 examined the over-time impact of maternal autonomy-support on children's adjustment in school. Autonomy-support, rewards, and other parenting dimensions were measured when children were 5 years old. Regression analyses revealed that autonomy-support was positively related to teacher-rated adjustment and reading achievement when children were 8 years old whereas the use of rewards was unrelated to these outcomes. Supplemental analyses also revealed that autonomy-support was associated with children's greater integration across social and academic domains. Together, these results highlight the significance of autonomy-support in early childhood.