In search of the sources of psychologically controlling parenting: The role of parental separation anxiety and parental maladaptive perfectionism

This study investigated the role of two dimensions of parental separation anxiety—Anxiety about Adolescent Distancing (AAD) and Comfort with Secure Base Role (CSBR)—and parental maladaptive perfectionism in the prediction of psychologically controlling parenting. In a sample of middle adolescents and their parents (N = 677), it was found that parents’ AAD scores and maladaptive perfectionism were positively related to psychological control, whereas parents’ CSBR scores were negatively related to psychological control. Further, psychological control served as an intervening variable in the links between parent characteristics and adolescent wellbeing. These findings suggest that two qualitatively different types of psychological control may exist: one originating from parents’ separation anxiety and another originating from parents’ maladaptive perfectionist standards.