Parents’ perceived social support and children’s mental health: the chain mediating role of parental marital quality and parent‒child relationships

Abstract The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between parents’ perceived social support and children’s mental health and the mediating role of parental marital quality and parent‒child relationships. The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Parental Marital Quality Scale, the Child‒Parent Relationship Scale and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were used to survey 822 parents of young children (50% fathers) in Changchun, Jilin Province, China. The results indicated that (1) parents’ perceived social support was positively correlated with children’s mental health; (2) parental marital quality and parent‒child relationships play a simple mediating role between parents’ perceived social support and children’s mental health; and (3) parental marital quality and parent‒child relationships also play a chain mediating role between parents’ perceived social support and children’s mental health. This suggests that providing good social support for parents enhances the quality of marriages and parent‒child relationships and will also contribute to good mental health in children.