Family socio-economic status and Chinese Preschoolers' anxious symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: the roles of parental investment, parenting style, home quarantine length, and regional pandemic risk.

Using data from 16,161 families with target child of 3-6 years old in Hubei, China during COVID-19 pandemic, this study examined the association between family socio-economic status (SES) and preschoolers' anxious symptoms (PAS). Parental investment and parenting style were tested as mediators for this association. Home quarantine length was tested as a moderator for this direct association and for the associations between family SES and parenting processes, whereas regional pandemic risk was tested as a moderator for the entire model. Results support the utility of Family Stress and Family Investment Models in a Chinese context by identifying unique roles of parental investment and parenting style in mediating the link between family SES and PAS. Quarantine length moderated the link between family SES and authoritarian parenting: Strength of this negative association was stronger for families with longer quarantine than for those with shorter quarantine. Further, family SES was negatively associated with PAS through its negative association with authoritarian parenting, regardless of the quarantine length. Model comparison analyses between high-risk region versus low/medium-risk region groups indicated that the pandemic risk for living regions did not alter any pathway in the model. Such findings inform the designs of targeted interventions to help families cope with pandemic-related challenges. Promoting parental investment and adaptive patenting style represents an avenue to diminish consequences of family economic hardship for young children's mental health, regardless of macrolevel pandemic risk. Interventions should attend to home quarantine duration, as it contextualizes the links among family SES, parenting, and child well-being.

The association between family functioning and problem behaviors among Chinese preschool left-behind children: the chain mediating effect of emotion regulation and psychological resilience.

Objective: The family environment has a significant impact on the psychological and behavioral development of children, especially those who are left behind in preschool and experience parent-child separation at a young age. These children face a greater risk of family dysfunction, which can lead to internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. While numerous studies have established a connection between family functioning and problem behaviors, few have explored the underlying mechanisms driving this relationship. Our study seeks to address this gap by examining how emotion regulation and psychological resilience mediate the link between family functioning and problem behavior. Methods: The sample consisted of 940 preschool children (51.5% male, 48.5% female) with a mean age of 5.07 ± 0.80. The main guardians of the children were given the Family Assessment Device, Preschool Children's Emotion Regulation Scale, the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Preschoolers (2nd edition), and the Social Skills Improvement System-Rating Scales to assess their family functioning, emotion regulation, psychological resilience, and problem behavior respectively. Results: Lower family functioning was associated with more severe problem behaviors in preschool left-behind children, and emotion regulation and psychological resilience partially mediated the relationship between family functioning and problem behaviors, respectively. In addition, emotion regulation and psychological resilience were also chain mediators between family functioning and problem behaviors. Conclusion: The study's findings highlighted the crucial role of emotional regulation and psychological resilience in the correlation between family functioning and problem behaviors. It is recommended that policymakers and educators place a high priority on the cultivation of internal psychological resources, such as emotional regulation and resilience, in preschool-aged children when designing interventions to address problem behaviors.

The Effect of Paternal Co-Parenting on Preschool Children's Problem Behaviors: The Chain-Mediating Role of Maternal Parenting Burnout and Psychological Aggression.

Objective: With the social changes, a growing number of women have joined the workforce, leading to a shift in the traditional roles of child-rearing. There has been a growing focus on the significance of fathers' roles in child development, particularly the influence of fathers on children's problematic behaviors, making it an increasingly prominent issue. However, there is limited understanding regarding the potential mechanisms through which fathers may exert influence on children's problem behaviors. To address this gap, this study sought to investigate the link between paternal co-parenting and preschool children's problem behaviors, and the mediating effects of maternal parenting burnout and psychological aggression. Methods: This study used the Personal Information Form and four scales to administer questionnaires to 1164 mothers of preschool children (Mage = 4.26 ± 0.85) in Guangdong Province, China. The collected data underwent processing and analysis using SPSS 22.0. Results: Paternal co-parenting demonstrated a significantly positive correlation with problem behaviors among preschool children. The impact of paternal co-parenting on children's problem behaviors was mediated by maternal parenting burnout, maternal psychological aggression, and the combined effect of maternal parenting burnout and psychological aggression. Conclusion: Maternal parenting burnout and maternal psychological aggression play a sequential mediating role between paternal co-parenting and problem behaviors among preschool children. This study revealed the internal mechanism through which paternal co-parenting influenced problem behaviors exhibited by children. It provides some evidence to support the important role of fathers in child development, and provides a reference for policymakers and educators to develop interventions for children's problem behaviors.

The influence of family socio-economic status on learning engagement of college students majoring in preschool education: The mediating role of parental autonomy support and the moderating effect of psychological capital.

Objective: To explore the relationship between family socio-economic status and learning engagement of college students majoring in preschool education, as well as the mediating role of parental autonomy support and the moderating role of psychological capital. Methods: A sample of 986 college students majoring in preschool education from Guangdong Province and Jiangxi Province were investigated by family socio-economic status questionnaire, learning engagement questionnaire, parental autonomy support questionnaire and psychological capital questionnaire. Results: First, there was a significant positive correlation between family socio-economic status and learning engagement (ß = 0.09, p < 0.05). Second, parental autonomy support played a completely mediating role between family socio-economic status and learning engagement (ß = 0.05, p < 0.01). Third, the relationship between parental autonomy support and learning engagement was moderated by psychological capital, and students with high psychological capital had higher learning engagement (ß = 0.24, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Family socio-economic status could directly affect learning engagement, and could also indirectly affect learning engagement through psychological capital level moderating parental autonomy support. Our findings highlight the importance of creating an autonomous supportive family environment and focusing on the learning of students from low socio-economic status. Meanwhile, stimulating students' psychological capital should be regarded as a part of education and teaching.