The Relation between Parental Psychological Control and Late Adolescents' Loneliness: The Mediator Roles of Interpersonal Trust and Attachment

Abstract

The study intends to examine the relation between perceived parental psychological control and youth loneliness. In addition, it investigates the mediator roles of interpersonal trust belief in and attachment to parents and peers in these relationships. The sample of this study consists of 378 female and 307 male (N = 685) university students (M-age = 19.85, SD = 1.42, range = 17-25). The following measures were used in the study: Late Adolescent's Interpersonal Trust Belief Scale, Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, Psychological Control Scale, and UCLA Loneliness Scale. Structural Equation Model was used to test the research hypotheses. The results showed that perceived psychological control was positively predicted by university students' loneliness. The models which were conducted separately for females and males revealed that parent and peer attachment partially mediated the relation between perceived psychological control and late adolescents' loneliness. However, trust in mother and father did not account for the relation between perceived control and loneliness in any gender, although it was partially explained by trust in peers only for females. It was concluded that the negative influence of psychological control on late adolescent's loneliness might decrease to a certain extent with secure attachment to parent and peer, and trust in peers.