Theses and Dissertations from DePaul University

Date of Award

Spring 2026

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Psychology

College

College of Science and Health

First Advisor

Yan Li

Abstract

Adolescence is a salient developmental period in which family and peer contexts jointly shape youths’ social behavior and adjustment. One family process that has received sustained attention is parental psychological control, a form of intrusive parenting characterized by guilt induction, love withdrawal, and autonomy suppression (Barber, 1996). Although prior research consistently links psychological control to adolescents’ maladaptive emotional and behavioral outcomes, less is known about the mechanisms through which these parenting practices extend beyond the home to influence adolescents’ social behaviors and social standing within school contexts.   Social behaviors within peer groups, particularly relational aggression and prosocial behavior, represent key pathways through which psychological control may shape adolescents’ social standing, such as, likeability and popularity (Cillessen & Marks 2011, Cillessen & Mayeux, 2004). Additionally, adolescents’ social cognitions about their peer position, such as social status insecurity, may heighten vulnerability to these processes. Social status insecurity reflects adolescents’ concerns about maintaining or achieving popularity or social acceptance and has been associated with both aggressive and prosocial behavioral strategies (Adler & Adler, 1995; Li & Wright, 2014). However, research has yet to integrate these family, behavioral, and cognitive processes within a unified developmental framework to understand their joined influences on peer status development.   Using a longitudinal moderated mediation model, this study showed that the negative indirect effects from parental psychological control to social preference via relational aggression and prosocial behavior were exacerbated by higher social preference insecurity. For popularity, however, the indirect effect was positive and significant when mediated through relational aggression, which was further strengthened by adolescents’ popularity status insecurity. These findings provide new insight into how parental psychological control extends beyond the home to shape adolescents’ peer experiences over time, underscoring the complex ways family dynamics and social cognitions jointly influence adolescents’ positions within peer hierarchies.

Download

Included in

Psychology Commons

Share

COinS