Parental Psychological Control, Rejection Sensitivity and Academic Burnout Among College Students

Abstract

Academic burnout, rejection sensitivity, and affective regulation are interrelated psychological concepts that have a big impact on college students’ academic performance and mental health. The term “parental psychological control” describes controlling and invasive parenting techniques that limit a child’s autonomy and impede their emotional growth, such as guilt induction, love withdrawal, and emotional invalidation. Students who are subjected to this kind of management frequently have low self-esteem, poor emotional control, and a weakened feeling of independence, which leaves them open to a variety of psychological difficulties throughout their academic careers. People who have inconsistent or emotionally distant parenting frequently develop rejection sensitivity, which is the propensity to anxiously expect, perceive, and overreact to social rejection. Students who are very sensitive to rejection may misunderstand criticism, withdraw socially, and endure more stress in the classroom, all of which exacerbate emotional and mental stress. Their involvement, academic achievement, and general mental health are all adversely affected by this emotional sensitivity. Academic burnout, which is characterized by emotional tiredness, a cynical attitude toward studies, and decreased academic efficiency, is a developing problem in higher education. Standardized psychological instruments were used to gather data from a sample of 300 college students as part of a cross-sectional, correlational study design. The results showed that rejection sensitivity and parental psychological control were significantly positively correlated, and that rejection sensitivity was highly linked to academic burnout. These findings highlight the critical need for supportive and preventative treatments, including student resilience training, campus-based mental health resources, and parental education programs that encourage autonomy-supporting parenting. In order to develop culturally appropriate and long-lasting mental health solutions for young adults, future research should also look at how cultural norms and prolonged exposure to psychological control affect these dynamics.