Examining the moderating role of academic pressure in the indirect influence of parental psychological control on mental health problems through self-compassion

Research has established positive associations between parental psychological control and mental health problems, but the specific factors that may mediate and moderate these relationships among Chinese adolescents remain unclear. The current study aims to examine whether academic pressure would moderate the indirect effect of parental psychological control on anxiety, depressive symptoms, and suicidality through self-compassion. 221 Chinese high school students (65.61% female; age: M = 15.32, SD = 0.49) participated in this two-wave longitudinal study conducted from November 2023 to May 2024. These participants completed a battery of measures assessing parental psychological control at Time 1, self-compassion at Time 2, academic pressure at Time 2, and anxiety, depressive symptoms, and suicidality at both Time 1 and Time 2. After controlling for initial anxiety, depressive symptoms, and suicidality, and demographic variables, initial parental psychological control was positively associated with anxiety, depressive symptoms, and suicidality six months later, with self-compassion fully mediating these associations. In addition, academic pressure at Time 2 served as a moderator intensifying the associations between self-compassion and the three mental health outcomes at Time 2, and accelerating the indirect effects of parental psychological control at Time 1 on these three outcomes at Time 2 through self-compassion at Time 2. Self-compassion emerges as a key mechanism underlying the detrimental effects of parental psychological control on anxiety, depressive symptoms, and suicidality. Moreover, academic pressure plays a significant role in promoting the negative impact of parental psychological control on the three mental health outcomes through self-compassion.