First, simple relationships between parental child-rearing and
self-regulation and socio-emotional adjustment/psychopathology
were estimated using correlations. Then, regression analyses were
conducted to assess whether self-regulation mediated the relationship
between parental child-rearing and adjustment/psychopathology
(i.e., path analyses testing for mediation). Principal
Component Analysis (PCA) was used as a data-reduction strategy
(Jolliffe, 2002) to derive composite indicators of effective parental
child-rearing (based on EMBU warmth, rejection, and control
scores), self-regulation (based on total scores from the Ego
Undercontrol Scale, Ego-Resiliency Scale, and Delaying Gratification
Inventory), adjustment (based on total scores from the Dutch
Eating Behavior Questionnaire, Add Health Questionnaire Physical
and Financial scales, Inventory of Interpersonal Problems, and Student
Adaptation to College Questionnaire), and psychopathology
(based on MMPI-2-RF scores on the three higher-order scales).