The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of research trends on parental control targeting the parents of preschool and elementary school children. Ninety-two articles on psychological control or behavioral control were selected among South Korean journal publications. Articles were systematically analyzed including publication year, methodologies, and contents. Major findings indicate that most studies focused on psychological control rather than behavioral control, and targeted the parents who have children in middle and late childhood. Most of the studies targeted the general participants.
Parental control was the most studied as an independent variable. Correlation analysis, regression analysis, and structural equation modeling were most used as data analysis methods. Parental control was studied most frequently in relation to the socio-emotional factors of children and parents and was studied with peer and media factors and parent-child factors in a developmental context. Implications for future directions in a parental control study are discussed.