Background This study aimed to investigate the effects of parental psychological control on social anxiety among college students and to understand the mediating effect of self-discrepancy and validation from others between them.
Methods The participants were 351 college students from Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do who responded to a survey. And structural equation model was used to analyze the data.
Results First, there was no mediating effect of self-discrepancy between parental psychological control and social anxiety. Second, there was a significant mediating effect of validation from others between them. Finally, self-discrepancy and validation from others were found to sequentially mediate between parental psychological control and social anxiety.
Conclusions This findings suggest that self-discrepancy and validation from others could be used as a therapeutic strategy in treatments.