Social anxiety is one of the chief complaints frequently reported by adolescents, who concern about interpersonal relationship. For a better understanding of the mechanism underlying social anxiety of adolescents, the present study investigated influe...
Social anxiety is one of the chief complaints frequently reported by adolescents, who concern about interpersonal relationship. For a better understanding of the mechanism underlying social anxiety of adolescents, the present study investigated influences of perceived parental control on social anxiety. Also, the mediating effect of ambivalence over emotional expressiveness was examined. For this purpose, questionnaires including the Psychological Control Scale, the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents, and the Ambivalence over Emotional Expressiveness Questionnaire were administered to 468 middle school students in Incheon.
The results showed the partial mediating effect of ambivalence over emotional expressiveness in the relationship between parental psychological control and social anxiety. In addition, gender differences regarding influences of perceived control from father and mother were found.
The present study implies importance of intervention focusing on adolescents’ internal conflict whether to express their genuine feelings or not. Finally, limitations of the present study and suggestions for further studies were discussed.