| Alcohol is the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S. Effortful control and motivation orientations are associated with adolescent substance use. Parental support of autonomy has been associated with greater intrinsic self-regulation in academic work and with effortful control in adolescence. However, research is limited in examining the role of self-regulatory styles in youth outside the context of academics and how self-regulation mediates the relationship between parental support of autonomy and substance use. The current study examined how parental support of autonomy and self-regulation (autonomous functioning, effortful control, and executive functioning) predicted risk for substance use. A sample of 128parent-youth dyads completed a series of computer-based questionnaires and executive function tasks. SEM analyses were used to examine the proposed model. Results indicated that effortful control significantly mediated the association between perceived parental support of autonomy and cigarette use, where higher autonomy support significantly predicted higher effortful control which in turn predicted decreased cigarette use. While similar patterns were noted for alcohol use, the mediated effect was not significant. Additionally, increased disinhibition significantly predicted increased cigarette use.Lastly, parental support of autonomy and self-regulation was not significantly associated with marijuana use. Findings add to the literature by further exploring mediated effects of self-regulation risk and protective factors simultaneously, which has not yet been identified in the field. Key Words: parental support of autonomy, autonomous functioning, self-regulatory styles, substance use, alcohol use, executive functioning, effortful control, youth |