This study aimed to examine the relationships among parental psychological control, rejection sensitivity, difficulties in emotion regulation, social interaction anxiety, and depression in emerging adults aged 18–29 years. ain emerging adults aged 1...
This study aimed to examine the relationships among parental psychological control, rejection sensitivity, difficulties in emotion regulation, social interaction anxiety, and depression in emerging adults aged 18–29 years. ain emerging adults aged 18–29 years. In particular, the study sought to verify the sequential mediating effects of rejection sensitivity and difficulties in emotion regulation on the associations between parental psychological control and social anxiety and depression in emerging adulthood. To this end, in Study I, a self-report survey was administered to emerging adults through a professional research agency. The following measurement instruments were used: the Psychological Control Scale–Youth Self-Report (PCS-YSR), the Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (RSQ), the Korean version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (K-DERS), the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Data from 400 participants were included in the analyses. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0, with Pearson correlation analyses and simple and sequential mediation analyses conducted using the PROCESS macro version 3.4.1. In addition, the bootstrapping method was employed to test the significance of indirect effects.
The main findings of Study I are as follows. First, significant correlations were found among parental psychological control, rejection sensitivity, difficulties in emotion regulation, social anxiety, and depression. Second, both rejection sensitivity and difficulties in emotion regulation individually mediated the relationship between parental psychological control and social anxiety in emerging adults, and the sequential mediating effect was also significant. Third, rejection sensitivity and difficulties in emotion regulation likewise demonstrated individual and sequential mediating effects on the relationship between parental psychological control and depression. These findings indicate that rejection sensitivity and difficulties in emotion regulation function as key mediating variables in the processes through which parental psychological control influences social anxiety and depression in emerging adulthood.
Study Ⅱ identified the need for a program focusing on the mediating variables verified in Study Ⅰ and, on this basis, developed and implemented a group counseling program aimed at reducing rejection sensitivity and enhancing emotion regulation. An eight-session group counseling program was administered to eight emerging adults who reported experiencing psychological control from either their father or mother, and pre- and post-tests were conducted to examine the effectiveness of the program. The collected data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Cohen’s effect size, and the pre- and post-intervention mean scores for each variable were presented using bar graphs. In addition, qualitative analyses were conducted on the key themes related to the intervention variables and on participants’ impression regarding the program. The results indicated, first, that the group counseling program designed to reduce rejection sensitivity and enhance emotion regulation contributed to a decrease in social anxiety. Second, the program was also effective in reducing depression.
This study empirically demonstrated that rejection sensitivity and difficulties in emotion regulation function as key mediating variables in the relationship between parental psychological control and emerging adults’ social anxiety and depression. In addition, this study proposes a group counseling program designed to reduce rejection sensitivity and enhance emotion regulation among emerging adults who experience social anxiety and depression as a result of parental psychological control. The findings of this study may serve as valuable foundational data for counseling and clinical settings that provide interventions for social anxiety and depression in emerging adults.