The (In)congruence between creative family and school environments and Chinese adolescents’ creative self-efficacy: The mediating role of growth mindset

Family and school contexts are central to adolescent development, yet their joint and nonlinear contributions to creative self-efficacy remain underexamined. Based on the Ecological Systems Model of Creativity Development, this study investigates how the creative family environment and the creative school environment jointly predict adolescents’ creative self-efficacy, with growth mindset as a potential mediator. We analyzed data from 10,291 secondary students in Hong Kong and Macao from PISA 2022 (48.3% female; Mage = 15.73 ± 0.44) using response surface analysis and structural equation modeling. Three findings stand out. First, both family and school contexts positively predict creative self-efficacy, and when support is high in both contexts the increase follows an accelerating nonlinear pattern, consistent with positive curvature along the line of congruence. Second, under contextual incongruence, the school context shows a compensatory effect and can offset weak family support. Third, growth mindset partially mediates the effects of family and school contexts on creative self-efficacy. No significant gender differences emerged in either mean levels or structural pathways. These results highlight the importance of coordinated efforts between families and schools, identify growth mindset as a central psychological mechanism, and offer actionable guidance for building aligned ecosystems that reliably strengthen adolescents’ creative self-efficacy.