The influences of parental acceptance and parental control on school adjustment and academic achievement for South Korean children: the mediation role of self-regulation

This study examined the effects of parental acceptance, psychological control, and behavioral control on children’s school adjustment and academic achievement, as well as the possible mediation effect of children’s self-regulation in those processes. To do so, we examined 388 upper-level elementary school students (mean age = 11.38 years) in South Korea. In addition, the study examined whether the influences of parental psychological and behavioral control on children’s school outcomes were consistent between Western and East Asian cultures. Children reported on perceived parental acceptance, psychological control, behavioral control, self-regulation, and their own school adjustment and academic achievement. The results showed that parental acceptance, psychological control, and behavioral control were not directly related to children’s school outcomes. Parental acceptance and behavioral control indirectly influenced the children’s school outcomes but were mediated by the children’s self-regulation. However, the mediation effect of self-regulation between psychological control and children’s school outcomes was not statistically significant. These results suggested that children’s self-regulation plays a more significant role vis-à-vis children’s school outcomes than the direct effects of parenting and that parental psychological control did not have a negative effect on South Korean children’s school outcomes.