The Impact of perceived adolescent academic burnout on parental acceptance and empathic behavior: a chain mediation model

Drawing on Conservation of Resources Theory and the Emotion Socialization Model, this study examines the associations between parents' perceptions of their adolescent's academic burnout and their own affective parenting behaviors-specifically acceptance and empathy. It further explores the potential mediating roles of emotion regulation difficulties and parenting self-efficacy. Using cluster sampling, questionnaire data were collected from 516 parents of high school students in Central China, with key variables measured using standardized scales. The results indicated that higher levels of perceived adolescent academic burnout were associated with lower levels of parental acceptance and empathy. A further chain mediation analysis suggested that emotion regulation difficulties and parenting self-efficacy sequentially mediated this relationship. Specifically, greater emotion regulation difficulties were linked to lower parenting self-efficacy, which was in turn associated with reduced engagement in positive emotion socialization behaviors. This study contributes to the application of family systems theory in the context of parent-child interactions and offers theoretical and practical implications for enhancing parental support in addressing adolescents' academic stress.