The interaction between parental rejection in childhood and learned helplessness in adulthood is a topic of growing interest in both clinical psychology and neuropsychology. Indeed, these constructs would seem to be strictly connected in the neural circuits implicated in the process of cognitive and emotional development. Therefore, in line with this perspective and with Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Theory (IPARTheory), this study examined the association between memories of parental (maternal and paternal) rejection during childhood and learned helplessness in adulthood. To this end, 4 items representative of general learned helplessness were selected from the Learned Helplessness Scale and administered to a sample of 114 Italian adults (18–25 years, 67.5% female) in combination with the maternal and paternal version of the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire. Results showed a significant and positive association between memories of maternal (r =0.53; p < 0.001) and paternal (r = 0.36; p < 0.001) rejection during childhood and learned helplessness in adulthood but indicated that only perceived maternal rejection was specifically associated with learned helplessness (β = 0.49; p < 0.001). These results are in line with IPARTheory, which suggests that parental rejection is related to psychological adaptation in adulthood, emphasizing the importance of considering the neural networks involved in processing the experience of parental rejection during childhood are the same as those that are activated during the experience of learned helplessness. Thus, future studies should empirically investigate both psychological and neurobiological factors in the analysis of family dynamics and their consequences for individual psychosocial well-being.