Parental Psychological Control and Interpersonal Trust in Junior High School Students: Serial Mediating Roles of Shyness and Interpersonal Self-Support

Hui Zhao,1 Luyuan Wan,2 Yan Li,3 Ming Zhang,1 Cong Zhao1,4 1Faculty of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang, People’s Republic of China; 2Nanguancun Primary School, Xuchang, People’s Republic of China; 3Nanyang Thirteen Complete School, Nanyang, People’s Republic of China; 4Miyang County Gaodian Sandaogou Primary School, Zhumadian, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Luyuan Wan, Nanguancun Primary School, Zhenxing Road, Weidu District, Xuchang, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected] Hui Zhao, Faculty of Education, Henan Normal University, Jianshe Road, Muye District, Xinxiang, Henan, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Long-term parental psychological control tends to cause adolescents to become oversensitive in interpersonal relationships, and there is a gap in the mechanism of action between parental psychological control and the interpersonal trust of junior high school students. This study intends to analyze the relationship between parental psychological control and interpersonal trust in middle school students and explore the sequential mediation role of shyness and interpersonal self-support.Methods: Based on self-determination theory and object-relations theory, this study administered questionnaires to 542 Chinese junior high school students using the Psychological Control Scale, Interpersonal Trust Scale, Shyness Scale, and Interpersonal Self-support Scale. Afterwards, structural equation modelling was used for testing.Results: The findings revealed that (1) parental psychological control significantly and negatively predicted interpersonal trust and that (2) shyness and interpersonal self-support sequentially mediated the association between parental psychological control and interpersonal trust.Conclusion: The findings suggest that parental psychological control can not only directly influence the interpersonal trust of junior high school students but also indirectly act on interpersonal trust through shyness and interpersonal self-support. This study contributes to an in-depth understanding of the relationship between parental psychological control and the interpersonal trust of junior high school students, which is important for increasing the level of interpersonal trust of junior high school students.Keywords: junior high school students, interpersonal trust, parental psychological control, shyness, interpersonal self-support