1597 - CONSISTENCY AND DISCREPANCY IN SUPPORT FROM PARENTS, PEERS, AND TEACHERS ON ADOLESCENT WELL-BEING: LONGITUDINAL MEDIATION BY SELF-ESTEEM AND RESILIENCE

Session: D16S004 - Counseling Psychology, Well-being and Mental Health 2
AUTHORS:
Bian Haotian (Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University ~ Beijing ~ China) , Pu Qian (Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University ~ Beijing ~ China) , He Ying (Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University ~ Beijing ~ China) , Luo Rui (State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University ~ Beijing ~ China) , Chen Fumei (Collaborative Innovation Center of Assessment toward Basic Education Quality, Beijing Normal University ~ Beijing ~ China)
Abstract text:
According to social support theory, social relationships play a crucial role in individual well-being. Adolescent well-being further prompts their mental health, social functioning, and academic success. Yet it remains unclear whether support from different sources (e.g., parents, peers, teachers) exerts consistent or divergent effects on adolescent well-being. Moreover, the potential mechanisms (e.g., self-esteem, resilience), and whether these processes are consistent or different across various support sources, require further investigation. Longitudinal evidence on these associations also remains limited. To address these gaps, this study employed a four-wave longitudinal design with six-month intervals, following 2,230 adolescents (Age=14.31±1.51, 50.4% boys) to examine the effects of parental, peer, and teacher support on well-being, and the mediating roles of self-esteem and resilience.


Mediation analyses revealed distinct patterns. (1) For parental support, no direct effect on T4 well-being was observed; instead, indirect effects emerged through T2 self-esteem or T3 resilience, and the sequential pathway from T2 self-esteem to T3 resilience. (2) Similarly, peer support showed no direct effect but predicted T4 well-being indirectly through T2 self-esteem and the sequential pathway through T2 self-esteem and T3 resilience, whereas no mediation through T3 resilience alone was found. (3) In contrast, teacher support exerted a significant direct effect on T4 well-being, but neither T2 self-esteem nor T3 resilience, individually or sequentially, mediated this association.


These findings suggest that adolescent well-being develops through both direct and indirect pathways, highlighting the distinct contributions of different support sources. Specifically, parents and peers enhance well-being primarily by fostering internal psychological resources (i.e. self-esteem and resilience), whereas teachers exert influence mainly through immediate external support, such as timely positive feedback. Overall, the results clarify how adolescents draw on diverse social resources to build psychological strengths and achieve positive outcomes, offering practical guidance for designing interventions that optimize adolescent well-being.