Parental Psychological Control as Mediator between Parental Psychopathology and Youth Internalizing Problems

The purpose of the current study was to examine various parental factors that may influence internalizing problems in youth. Parental psychopathology is frequently associated with youth adjustment problems; researchers propose parents’ mental health may affect the child indirectly through various ineffective parenting strategies (Goodman & Gotlib, 1999). One intrusive parenting strategy, psychological control, is used by parents with psychopathology / more often than non-pathological parents (Garber & Flynn, 2001). Additionally, psychological control is associated with youth internalizing problems such as anxiety (Nanda, Kotchick, & Grover, 2011). Thus, the current study tested the mediating role of parental psychological control in the association between parental psychopathology and youth internalizing problems. / Parental psychopathology was significantly associated with psychological control (β=.34, p\u3c.001), as well as youth internalizing problems (β=.31, p\u3c.01). Psychological control was significantly associated with youth internalizing problems (β=.22, p\u3c.05). Parental psychopathology remained significantly associated with youth internalizing problems after controlling for psychological control (β=.27, p\u3c.01). However, because of the reduction in the standardized coefficient, a Sobel test was performed. The results were significant (z=2.05, p\u3c.05), suggesting psychological control is a partial mediator in the association between parental psychopathology and youth internalizing problems. These findings support the theory that dysfunctional parenting strategies may function as a mechanism through which parent psychopathology influences child psychopathology.