The Relationship Between Family Socio‐Economic Status and Preschool Children Parents' Parenting Sense of Competence: The Chain Mediating Role of Social Support and Psychological Capital

ABSTRACT The present study investigated the potential mediating role of social support and parental psychological capital in the relationship between family socio‐economic status and parenting sense of competence among preschool parents in China. Stratified sampling was employed for participant selection, with a total of 1473 parents completing questionnaires on family socio‐economic status, social support, psychological capital and parenting sense of competence. The findings revealed positive correlations between family socio‐economic status, social support, psychological capital and parenting sense of competence among parents of preschool children. Moreover, social support and psychological capital were found to play a chain mediating role in the relationship between family socio‐economic status and parental parenting sense of competence for preschool children. These results suggest that high‐quality social support should be provided within the Chinese context to cultivate positive psychological capital and enhance parental parenting sense of competence, thereby mitigating the impact of low family socio‐economic status on parenting stress.