The Relationship Between Parental Control and Children’s Emotional and Academic Success in Adulthood

College is an important time of transition for adolescents going into adulthood, experiencing life for the first time away from their parents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the amount of parental restrictive control during adolescence and the level of subjective happiness, perceived wellness, and academic performance reported in college. Participants included 134 college students who completed an online survey that included the Subjective Happiness Scale, Academic Performance Scale, Perceived Wellness Survey, the Parental Restrictive Control Questionnaire for primary parent/guardian and secondary parent/guardian, and a variety of demographic questions. Results did not support any of the hypotheses: higher levels of parental restrictive control would predict high academic achievement, lower happiness, and lower perceived wellness. As parenting approaches continue to change from generation to generation, the results of this study add the new idea that parental restrictive control, when tested alone, does not impact a college student's emotional or academic success in adulthood. These findings provide a new perspective on the pillar theory as this study considers solely parental restrictive control, unlike past research that used other variables such as parental warmth in addition to parental restrictive control. More research is needed on the difference between parental restrictive control and demandingness as used in the pillar theory.