The interrelationship among perceived family environment, control -related cognitions, and social anxiety in adolescents: An investigation of mediational and moderational models

This investigation assessed the relationship among perceived parental control and overprotection, control-related cognitions (i.e., external locus of control and negative attributional style), and social anxiety in adolescents. Three hundred and sixty-eight adolescents recruited from the public school system of a Midwestern, mid-sized city were administered a demographic questionnaire, mother and father versions of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale (NSLOC), the Children\u27s Attributional Style Questionnaire (CASQ-R), and the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A). As hypothesized, results indicated that perceived maternal care predicted total SAS-A and Social Avoidance and Distress-General Social Inhibition (SAD-G) scores, and perceived maternal overprotection predicted Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE) scores. Furthermore, perceived paternal overprotection predicted total SAS-A, SAD-G, and FNE scores. Contrary to hypotheses, there was no significant interaction between perceived parental care and overprotection in relation to social anxiety. As a primary purpose of the investigation was to decipher mediational and moderational effects of cognitive style on the association between perceived family environment and social anxiety, a series of path analyses was conducted. In partial support of the hypotheses, results indicated that attributional style moderated the relationship between perceived paternal care and social anxiety. Mediational effects, however, were more frequent, with locus of control and attributional style mediating perceived maternal care and social anxiety, perceived maternal overprotection and social anxiety, perceived paternal care and social anxiety, and perceived paternal overprotection and social anxiety. Hence, results indicated that parenting dimensions, such as care and overprotection, may engender an external locus of control or negative attributional style in youth, which in turn may compel social anxiety symptomatology