The Effect of Parents' Rejection Parenting Attitudes Perceived by Youths in Alternative Schools on Interpersonal Problems : The Sequential Mediating Effects of Internalized Shame and Rejection Sensitivity

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of parents' rejection parenting attitude perceived by alternative school youths on interpersonal problems and to verify the sequential mediating effects of internalized shame and rejection sensitivity. An online survey was conducted on 246 youth in alternative schools, and the results of the data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and PROCESS Macro programs. First, it was found that the parents’ rejection parenting attitude perceived by alternative school youths influenced interpersonal problems by mediating internalized shame. Second, it was found that the parents’ rejection parenting attitude perceived by alternative school youths influenced interpersonal problems by mediating rejection sensitivity. Third, the sequential mediating effects of internalized shame and rejection sensitivity were significant in both direct and indirect effects in the relationship between parents' rejection parenting attitude and interpersonal problems. This study is meaningful in that it specified youth counseling intervention in interpersonal problems by confirming the relationship between environmental and psychological factors for alternative school youth, which were insufficiently studied compared to general youth.