Marital satisfaction and parent-reported emotional competence in Chinese preschoolers: serial indirect associations through mindful parenting and parental involvement

Guided by Belsky’s parenting process model, this pooled cross-sectional study examined a theory-ordered pattern of statistical associations linking marital satisfaction, mindful parenting, parental involvement, and parent-reported emotional competence. Participants were 5,303 married biological parents of kindergarten children in Hubei Province, China, most of whom were mothers. A latent-variable structural equation model adjusted for data-collection batch and relevant demographic characteristics; classroom-cluster-robust re-estimation was used to evaluate the nested recruitment structure. Marital satisfaction was positively associated with mindful parenting and parental involvement; mindful parenting and parental involvement were each positively associated with parent-reported emotional competence. The theory-ordered statistical indirect association through the serially specified parenting constructs was positive (β = 0.038, cluster-robust 95% CI [0.029, 0.046]), whereas the adjusted direct association between marital satisfaction and parent-reported emotional competence was nonsignificant. Covariance-equivalent directional specifications fit identically, indicating that temporal and causal ordering could not be established. Because all constructs were reported by the same parent at one time point, the findings describe theory-consistent statistical associations and do not show that one parenting process preceded another, transmitted an effect, or would improve the child outcome if changed. Longitudinal and multi-informant research is needed.