Parental psychological control perceived in adolescence predicts jealousy toward romantic partners in emerging adulthood via insecure attachment

Parental psychological control (PPC)'s association with romantic relationships and the mechanisms through which PPC impairs relationship qualities remain crucial questions to understanding PPC. To this end, we examine if insecure attachment at age 18 mediated the association between PPC perceived at age 16 and jealousy at age 22. Our results showed that PPC perceived at age 16 predicted attachment anxiety at age 18, which then predicted jealousy at age 22. Both mothers' and fathers' models show significant mediational paths, although only mothers' mediational paths remain significant when entered together with fathering in the model. The paths were significant regardless of the gender of the adolescents. The results suggest that adolescents of psychologically controlling parents may experience compromised attachment security during early emerging adulthood and carry that insecure attachment into their romantic relationships later in emerging adulthood. We discuss the implications for interventions and policy-making.