The Relationship Between Maternal Overprotection and School Adjustment Among Chinese Late School-age Children: The Dual Mediating Effects of Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration

Objective: This study examines the dual mediating effects of basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration on the relationship between maternal overprotection as perceived by Chinese late school-age children and their school adjustment. Methods: The subjects encompassed 329 fifth to sixth grade children in city R, China. Pearson correlation and mediation analyses were performed on the collected data using Process macro (Model 4) in SPSS 25.0Results: First all major variables showed significant correlations with each other. Second, the analysis of the dual mediating effects revealed that the satisfaction of basic psychological needs mediated the relationship between maternal overprotection and school adjustment whereas frustration did not. Conclusions: Maternal overprotection and children's basic psychological needs are important in Chinese children’s school adjustment. Basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration emerged as different mediating paths in the relationship between maternal overprotection and children's school adjustment.