Emotion Regulation and Profiles of Parental Academic Involvement: A Longitudinal Person-Centered Study of Parenting Dynamics and Their Impact on Children and Parents

This study aimed to investigate the quality, underlying emotional processes, and impacts of parental academic involvement on children and parents from an organismic perspective using latent profile and transition analyses with 1,059 U.S. parents (52% mothers) of 6th–9th graders across two waves. Five parental involvement profiles were identified based on four dimensions (autonomy support, psychological control, structure, and warmth): Need-Supportive (~ 8%), Controlling (~ 27%), Autonomy-Supportive Warm (~ 10%), Mixed (~ 35%), and Low Involved (~ 20%). The Controlling profile showed high stability (86%), while the Need-Supportive profile demonstrated the highest dynamics (54%). Parental integrative emotion regulation predicted the highest probability of the Need-Supportive profile, while emotional dysregulation predicted the highest probability of the Controlling profile. Findings revealed no differences in children’s school performance across profiles, but the Need-Supportive profile was the most adaptive, fostering self-determination in parenting. The study has implications for improving involvement quality and supporting parents.