The Moderating Role of Social Identity and Grit in the Association Between Parental Control and School Adjustment in Chinese Middle School Students

Abstract

Although the proliferation of empirical research has documented the association between parental control and school adjustment, findings of this linkage are still inconclusive. Moreover, fewer efforts have been made to address this association in middle school students. Guided by an ecological framework, the current study aimed to integrate the conflicting findings into a coherent body of knowledge, paying particular attention to two research purposes: (a) to examine the association between parental control and three objective indicators of school adjustment (social competence, academic grades, and peer acceptance) and (b) to explore whether this association was moderated by individual characteristics of social identity and grit. A total of 120 Chinese middle school students (42.5% females) aged between 13 and 15 years old were recruited for this study, and research data were gathered from multiple sources. To be specific, students were asked to complete a set of self-report questionnaires concerning parental control, social identity, and grit. Meanwhile, school-related social competence was rated by head teachers; academic grades were obtained from school records; and peer acceptance was assessed by sociometric nominations. The results from hierarchical regression analyses showed that parental control was negatively associated with academic grades. Moreover, when reporting higher levels of social identity, parental control was negatively related to social competence and peer acceptance for those students with lower levels of grit. Our findings suggest that parental control can dampen middle school students' academic performance, and low levels of grit can magnify the detrimental effect of parental control on social competence and peer acceptance in middle school students who regard themselves as closely connected to social groups.

Uncovering the Moderating Role of Grit and Gender in the Association between Teacher Autonomy Support and Social Competence among Chinese Undergraduate Students

“…By contrast, perseverance did not exhibit a significant moderating role in the association between teacher autonomy support and social competence, after controlling for consistency. One possible explanation is that perseverance and determination are highly valued among Chinese individuals [ 28 , 75 ]. In this context, perseverance is universally underscored in terms of the social adjustment of students, which may be independent of contextual influences such as teacher autonomy support.…”

Parental Attachment and Problematic Internet Use among Chinese Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Gender and Grit

“…In each linear regression model, key study variables (i.e., paternal/maternal attachment, gender, and grit) and interaction terms between these study variables, as well as covariates were entered simultaneously. In this step of the analyses, the categorical variable (i.e., gender) was dummy coded as 1 for boys and 2 for girls, and continuous variables were centered using the grand mean before creating the interaction terms [48]. As suggested by prior research [49], we report the unstandardized beta (b), the standard error for the unstandardized beta (SE b), the 95% confidence intervals for the unstandardized beta (95 CI for b), the t-test statistic (t), and the probability value (p) for each linear regression model.…”

The Moderating Role of Autonomy Support Profiles in the Association Between Grit and Externalizing Problem Behavior Among Family-Bereaved Adolescents

“…All items related to each dimension were averaged to yield a score of perseverance and consistency, with a higher score indicating higher levels of perseverance and consistency. Previous studies have shown good internal consistency of this scale among Chinese adolescents (Lan, 2019;Lan, 2020;Lan and Moscardino, 2019;Ma et al, 2020). In the current study, Cronbach's alphas were 0.82 and 0.80 for perseverance and consistency, respectively.…”