Perceived Parental Emotional Availability and Internalizing Problems in Late Adolescence: The Mediating Role of Emotional Dysregulation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62843/jssr.v6i3.751Keywords:
Perceived Parental Emotional Availability, Emotional Dysregulation, Internalizing Problems, Late Adolescents, Mediation, PakistanAbstract
This study examined how perceived parental emotional availability and emotional dysregulation relate to internalizing problems among late adolescents, and tested whether emotional dysregulation explains the link between perceived parental emotional availability and internalizing problems. A total of 220 late adolescents (aged 17-19) from Gujranwala, Pakistan, filled out the Lum Emotional Availability of Parents Scale, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16) and the internalizing scales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results of the correlation analysis revealed that emotional dysregulation was highly and positively correlated with internalizing issues, while mother's and father's perceived emotional availability was only weakly and negatively correlated with emotional dysregulation. Emotional dysregulation was a significant predictor of internalizing problems when both predictors were added together in a regression model, while perceived parental emotional availability was not. Bootstrapped mediation analysis revealed that emotional dysregulation fully mediated the relationship between perceived parental emotional availability and internalizing problems, which was true for the mothers as well as for the fathers' perceived emotional availability. These findings indicate that the way that adolescents regulate their own emotions is a more direct indicator of psychological adjustment than their perception of their parents' emotional availability, yet parents' emotional availability indirectly influences psychological adjustment through the way in which their emotions are regulated. The results highlight the importance of emotion-focused intervention in addition to family-based programs for reducing internalizing symptoms in late adolescent population living in Pakistan.
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