Parental control and relational aggression in adolescence: mediator role of emotion regulation

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the relational aggression of adolescents in terms of parental behavioral and parental psychological control with emotion regulation. In the tested model, the mediator role of emotion regulation between the psychological control of parents and adolescents' relational aggression was examined in male and female samples separately. Accordingly, 156 females and 164 males who are high school students, aged between 14 and 17, living in Zonguldak province of Turkey participated in the study. Participants answered Socio-Demographic information form, Relational Aggression in Friendship Relations Scale, Emotion Regulation Difficulty Scale, Psychological Control Scale, and Behavioral Control Scale, respectively. The findings of the study showed that emotion regulation had a mediator role in the relationship between parents’ psychological control and relational aggression of male and female adolescents. In addition, father's and mother's behavioral control are negatively correlated with relational aggression, and emotion regulation has a mediator role in the relationship between only father's behavioral control and relational aggression of male and female adolescents. While psychological control increases the relational aggression of adolescents and the difficulty in emotion regulation, behavioral control decreases the relational aggression and emotion regulation difficulties. The findings of the study were discussed in the light of the relevant literature.