Effects of perceived interparental conflict on academic self-concept in late childhood: A moderated mediation study in China

Academic self-concept refers to students' cognitive evaluations and emotional judgments of their academic abilities and is a critical psychological construct for understanding academic motivation and psychological adjustment. However, few studies have systematically explored the relationships underlying academic self-concept by integrating factors at the family, school, and individual levels. Guided by Ecological Systems Theory, this study examined the relationships among perceived interparental conflict, school well-being, psychological capital, and academic self-concept in a sample of 1076 children aged 10 to 13. A moderated mediation model was constructed and tested. The results indicated that: (1) perceived interparental conflict significantly and negatively predicted academic self-concept; (2) psychological capital mediated this relationship; and (3) school well-being moderated the relationship between perceived interparental conflict and psychological capital in a context-dependent manner. Specifically, when perceived interparental conflict was low, high levels of school well-being buffered its negative effect; however, under high levels of perceived conflict, this buffering effect weakened and even reversed, suggesting a potential "anti-buffering effect." These findings highlight multi-level correlations across family, school, and individual domains related to academic self-concept, extend theoretical models of its structure, and provide a preliminary empirical basis for future intervention research in high-risk family contexts.