Interactive effects of parental psychological control and autonomy support on emerging adults’ emotion regulation and self-esteem

Abstract

Emerging adulthood is a life period characterized with instabilities and identity explorations (Arnett, 2000). The current study explored how parental psychological control and autonomy support predicted 386 emerging adults’ emotion regulation and self-esteem (80.8% females, 89.1% Caucasians). As expected, psychological control predicted low levels, whereas autonomy support predicted high levels of emotion regulation and self-esteem among emerging adults. Moreover, interaction effects between autonomy support and psychological control were identified. Autonomy support was predictive of high levels of emotion regulation only when parents used low parental psychological control, but not when parents engaged in high psychologically controlling behaviors. Autonomy support also had more significant positive effects on self-esteem for those who reported low psychological control. Implications of the findings were discussed.