Parental Empathic Attitude and Self-Esteem among Upper Elementary Students: The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation Ability

This study examined the mediating role of emotion regulation ability in the relationship between parental empathic attitude and self-esteem among 166 upper-elementary students (4th to 6th grades). Path analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that parental empathic attitude positively affected emotion regulation ability (β =.565, p<.001). Emotion regulation ability also exerted a significant positive influence on self-esteem (β =.759, p<.001). Furthermore, parental empathic attitude directly impacted self-esteem (β =.211, p=.013). Bootstrapping analysis (5,000 samples) confirmed that emotion regulation ability significantly mediated the relationship (β =.429, 95% BC CI [.318, .643], p =.006), functioning as a partial mediator. Notably, the indirect effect (β =.429) was larger than the direct effect (β =.211), with the model accounting for 80.2% of the total variance in self-esteem (R2=.802). Despite limitations regarding sample generalizability and cross-sectional design, this study underscores the necessity of integrative support that combines parental empathic attitudes and emotion regulation strategies to enhance children's self-esteem.