The purpose of the present research is to shed light on the specific mechanism through which perceived parenting and behavioral inhibition has an influence on social anxiety symptoms of college students. Based on earlier studies, it was hypothesized t...
The purpose of the present research is to shed light on the specific mechanism through which perceived parenting and behavioral inhibition has an influence on social anxiety symptoms of college students. Based on earlier studies, it was hypothesized that dysfunctional beliefs and difficulties in emotional regulation would independently mediate the relations between parenting and social anxiety symptoms and between behavioral inhibition and social anxiety symptoms. To test the hypothesis, a series of regression analyses, the analytic steps outlined by Baron and Kenny(1986) as well as Sobel test were used. The subjects in this study were 449 college students(222 males, 227 females). The instruments used in this study were Korean versions of the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, Social Phobia Scale, Parental Bonding Instrument, Dysfunctional Beliefs Test, Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale, and Retrospective Self-Report of Inhibition(K-RSRI). As a result of a series of regression analyses to examine the mediating effects of dysfunctional beliefs, dysfunctional beliefs fully mediated the relations between negative parenting and social phobic symptoms/social interaction anxiety, and that partially mediated the relations between behavioral inhibition and social phobia/social interaction anxiety. Sobel tests also confirmed the mediating effects of dysfunctional beliefs. As for the mediating effects of difficulties in emotional regulation, difficulties in emotional regulation fully mediated the relations between negative parenting and social phobia/social interaction anxiety, and partially mediated the relations between behavioral inhibition and social phobic symptoms/social interaction anxiety. Sobel tests also confirmed the mediating effects of difficulties in emotional regulation. The findings of the study provide support for the hypothesis that dysfunctional beliefs and difficulties in emotional regulation would independently mediate the relations between parenting and social anxiety symptoms and between behavioral inhibition and social anxiety symptoms. Moreover, the findings indicate that the development of social anxiety disorder can be prevented by assessing college students' perceived parenting and their level of behavioral inhibition and then relieving the negative influence of the variables. In addition, the results suggest that it is important to consider the roles of dysfunctional beliefs and difficulties in emotional regulation in understanding and preventing or treating social anxiety disorder.