Investigation of the mediating role of childhood traumas and self-esteem in the relationship between social anxiety and perceived parental attitudes of young adults

The current study aimed to investigate the mediating role of childhood traumas and self-esteem in the relationship between perceived parental attitudes and social anxiety levels of young adults. In the study, the data collection was concluded by administering the Demographic Information Form, Two Dimensional Self-Esteem Scale, Social Anxiety Scale, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and Parent Attitude Inventory to 654 participants aged between 18 and 35 in Turkey. In order to examine the data of the study, Pearson Correlation Analysis and Parallel Multiple Mediator Analysis were carried out. The findings revealed that authoritative and authoritarian parenting were positively related to childhood traumas and social anxiety, however, negatively related to self-esteem. Also, protective parenting has a negative relationship with childhood traumas, and a positive relationship with self-esteem. As a result of the moderation analyses, it was found that the mediating role of childhood traumas and self-esteem on the relationship between authoritative, protective and authoritarian parenting and social anxiety is statistically significant. However, when the mediator roles of childhood traumas and self-esteem on the relationship between parenting and social anxiety were compared, there was no significant difference between the mediation powers of these two mediator variables. Finally, the findings of the current study were discussed within the scope of the related literature and suggestions were mentioned for future studies.