Exploring the link between parental acceptance and young adult adjustment

Two hundred and ninety-two university undergraduates participated in an inv estigation exploring the developmental antecedents of perceived acceptance. Students complete questionnaires concerning their psychological adjustment and perceptions of the acceptance they received from their parents. Questi onnaires were mailed to both of the students' parents asking them to evalua te their children's positive and negative qualities. Regression analyses in dicated that parents' views of their children's personal characteristics pr edicted children's perceptions of acceptance and reports of psychological a djustment. Perceived acceptance mediated the relationship between parents' views of their children and children's reports of psychological adjustment. Implications for a social-cognitive theory of acceptance are discussed.