Perceived social support and self-esteem as mediators of the relationship between parental attachment and life satisfaction among Chinese adolescents

This study aimed to examine whether the relationship between adolescents' paternal and maternal attachment and life satisfaction was mediated by perceived social support and self-esteem and identify which mediator had a stronger indirect effect. The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Rosenberg Self -Esteem Scale (RSES), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were distributed to 1835 Chinese adolescents (nearly 50% male; 51% in junior -high school; aged 10-20 years, M = 14.831 years, SD = 2.923) from seven provinces. Descriptive statistics, regression, correlation, and mediation analyses were conducted to test our hypotheses. The results indicated that perceived social support and self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between paternal and maternal attachment and life satisfaction. Furthermore, the indirect effect of perceived social support was stronger than that of self-esteem. These findings perhaps provide insight into the preliminary effect of parental attachment on life satisfaction among Chinese adolescents. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.