The Mediation of Negative Attributional Style in Parental Psychological Control and Depression: A Domain-Specific Approach

Parental psychological control (PPC) has been widely associated with adverse psychological outcomes, particularly depression. Despite extensive evidence linking PPC and depression, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. Grounded in Blatt’s theory of personality development and Soenens’s distinction between dependency-oriented psychological control (DPC) and achievement-oriented psychological control (APC), the present study investigated whether negative attributional style mediates the relationship between PPC and depression (N = 612, 301 female), using a domain-specific approach. Three hypotheses were tested: (1) that negative attributional style mediates the relationship between general PPC and depression; (2) that this mediating effect would hold for the two domain-specific subtypes of PPC (dependency-oriented and achievement-oriented psychological control) in relation to depression; and (3) that domain-specific (dependency-oriented and achievement-oriented) psychological control would influence depression through domain-specific attributional style. Using three progressive mediation models, results demonstrated mediating effects of negative attributional style in the relationship between general PPC and depression. This mediation effect persisted in domain-specific approach for PPC (dependency-oriented and achievement-oriented), regardless of parental gender. However, the hypothesized domain-specific associations between parental psychological control with negative attributional style were not supported, suggesting a potentially more complex interaction between dependency-oriented psychological control and achievement-oriented psychological control and their effects on depression. Implications for future interventions for depression are discussed, highlighting the importance of parenting education and intervening individuals’ attribution styles to reduce depression risk.