Psychological control and parent–child attachment in relation to adolescent delinquency and externalizing behaviours: A systematic review

Abstract

Adolescent delinquency and externalizing problem behaviors continue to represent major psychosocial concerns affecting adolescents across different cultural contexts. Growing evidence suggests that parenting practices, particularly parental psychological control, together with the quality of parent–child attachment, play important roles in shaping adolescent behavioral outcomes. The present systematic literature review aimed to synthesize recent empirical evidence on the relationships among parental psychological control, parent–child attachment, and adolescent delinquency. This review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was performed using five electronic databases, namely Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Embase. Studies published between 2019 and 2025 involving adolescents aged 10–19 years were included. A total of 1,421 records were initially identified, and after screening and eligibility assessment, eight empirical studies met the inclusion criteria and were systematically analyzed. The findings consistently demonstrated that parental psychological control, characterized by intrusive parenting behaviors such as guilt induction, emotional manipulation, and love withdrawal, was positively associated with adolescent delinquency, aggression, rule-breaking behavior, and other externalizing problems. In contrast, secure parent–child attachment was consistently associated with lower levels of delinquency and maladaptive behavior, functioning as a significant protective factor. Several studies further revealed that attachment quality mediated or moderated the relationship between psychological control and adolescent behavioral outcomes, indicating that adolescents exposed to high psychological control were more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors when attachment security was low. Conversely, secure attachment reduced the negative impact of psychologically controlling parenting practices. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of family relational dynamics in understanding adolescent delinquency. This review emphasizes the need for family-based interventions that promote supportive parenting practices, reduce psychological control, and strengthen secure parent–child attachment to prevent maladaptive developmental outcomes and promote healthy adolescent adjustment.