The impact of Fathers’ Involvement on Preschoolers’ Resilience: a Moderated Mediation Model

The impact of Fathers’ Involvement on Preschoolers’ Resilience: a Moderated Mediation Model | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article The impact of Fathers’ Involvement on Preschoolers’ Resilience: a Moderated Mediation Model Haiyan Cui, Yucai Xiong, Jiajia Gong, Jinghui Zhao This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7165187/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 03 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in BMC Psychology → Version 1 posted 12 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Objective: This study based on the Kumpfer’s resilience framework, examines the relationship between fathers’ involvement and preschoolers’ resilience, focusing on the mediating role of preschoolers’ executive function and the moderating role of preschoolers’ extraversion. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 3,303 preschoolers aged 3-5 and their fathers using four validated instruments: the Father’s Involvement Scale, the Executive Function Scale, the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Preschoolers Second Edition, and the Extraversion Scale. A moderated mediation model was employed to analyze the relationships among fathers’ involvement, preschoolers’ resilience, executive function and extraversion. Results: Fathers’ involvement had a significant positive impact on preschoolers’ resilience. Executive function played a mediating role between them. Meanwhile, extraversion moderated the relationship between preschoolers’ executive function and resilience. The research results indicated that a high level of fathers’ involvement enhanced preschoolers’ resilience through their executive function. When preschoolers’ extraversion was low, the moderating effect between executive function and preschoolers’ resilience was more significant. Conclusion: This study revealed the impact of fathers’ involvement on preschoolers’ executive function and resilience, and highlighted the moderating role of preschoolers’ extraversion. Interventions should focus on promoting the active involvement of fathers and enhancing executive function in preschoolers, particularly paying attention to different levels of extraversion, to enhance preschoolers’ resilience. fathers’ involvement preschoolers’ resilience executive function extraversion Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Introduction Resilience, as an indispensable part of our overall mental health development, has gradually become a focus area for many researchers. The early childhood stage is an important foundational period for an individual’s psychological development. Preschoolers’ resilience plays a key role in mental health development. Resilience refers to the adaptability and recovery of children in the face of difficulties, setbacks, and conflicts[ 1 ]. Individuals with good resilience can actively cope with challenges, recover quickly and grow. Higher resilience can effectively reduce the emotional and behavioral problems caused by adverse early childhood experiences[ 2 , 3 ]. In contrast, individuals with low resilience are more likely to fall into negative emotions such as anxiety and fear when facing difficulties, and may even experience depression[ 4 – 6 ], resulting in withdrawal and avoidance of new things and challenges. This will not only affect their current study and life, but in the long term, it may also hinder the sound development of their personality. Therefore, cultivating preschoolers’ resilience is crucial for their healthy growth and future development. The development of preschoolers’ resilience is influenced by the interaction of multiple factors. During the long journey of preschoolers’ growth, the family environment is undoubtedly the most crucial fundamental factor, and the parenting style with parents’ involvement plays an irreplaceable and important role in it[ 7 ]. In recent years, more and more studies have found that involved fathering plays an important role in children’s development[ 8 – 11 ]. Evidence supports the positive impact of fathers’ involvement on children’s academic achievements[ 12 ], socio-emotional behaviors[ 13 ], behaviors and psychological outcomes[ 14 , 15 ]. In the context of Chinese culture, fathers are the core of the family structure[ 16 , 17 ]. Usually, fathers are regarded as the pillar of the family, shouldering the burden of raising children and providing material and spiritual needs. People often describe “father’s love as a mountain”, which shows the reliable, tenacious, brave and responsible image of fathers. When encountering difficulties and setbacks in life, fathers are often the mainstay of the family. They shoulder the heavy responsibility of the family and show a strong will and fearless spirit in adversity. Whether facing the pressure of work, the challenges of life, or the growth problems of children, fathers can always provide stability and confidence for their families with an optimistic and calm attitude. During the process of fathers’ involvement, preschoolers are imperceptibly influenced by their father, learn to deal with the difficulties they encounter with a positive attitude and actions, and gradually cultivate tenacious resilience. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the influence of fathers’ involvement on preschoolers’ resilience. According to Kumpfer’s Resilience framework[ 18 ], the core of resilience is the dynamic interaction between individual internal factors and external environmental factors. This interaction reflects how individuals cope with stress through the combination of internal traits and the external environment, influencing the way individuals respond to challenges and the final outcome. It is through this continuous and dynamic interaction that the individual’s psychological state undergoes corresponding changes. This change may lead to positive adaptation outcomes, such as the recovery of resilience, personal growth and ability improvement; it may also lead to negative results, such as continuous psychological stress, dysfunction and even psychological trauma. Fathers’ involvement, as one of the external factors, can’t be ignored for the development of preschoolers’ resilience. As for the internal factors, preschoolers’ executive function[ 19 ] and extraversion[ 20 ] are also key factors affecting preschoolers’ resilience, influencing preschoolers’ reactions and coping abilities when facing stress. However, the research on these two influencing factors needs to be further deepened, and the influence path of fathers’ involvement on preschoolers’ resilience awaits further exploration. Therefore, this study focuses on exploring the relationships among fathers’ involvement, preschoolers’ resilience, preschoolers’ executive function and extraversion. Fathers’ Involvement and Preschoolers’ Resilience Fathers’ involvement is a comprehensive concept, involving multiple aspects, such as direct interactions with the child, responsibility for managing child-related tasks, and the monitoring of child’s activities[ 21 ]. The direct interaction with the child can not only make preschoolers feel the fathers’ care, but also enhance the good attachment relationship[ 22 ], allowing preschoolers to feel more complete family support and lay an emotional foundation for the development of preschoolers’ resilience. When preschoolers encounter difficulties and setbacks, the encouragement and support of their fathers can help them cope better, thereby reducing anxiety and behavioral problems and improving emotional regulation ability[ 23 , 24 ], which is conducive to the development of preschoolers’ resilience. The attitude and handling methods of fathers when facing difficulties and pressures will become role models for preschoolers to learn[ 25 ]. By showing their tenacity, optimism and problem-solving ability, fathers can inspire preschoolers’ courage and determination to face difficulties and help them form positive coping strategies, thereby enhancing preschoolers’ resilience. Accordingly, fathers’ involvement is an important protective factor for the development of preschoolers’ resilience. Existing studies have shown that higher fathers’ involvement predicted a higher level of children’s resilience[ 26 ]. Based on the above, this study proposes the following hypotheses. H1: Fathers’ involvement has a positive predictive effect on preschoolers’ resilience. Preschoolers’ Executive Function as a Mediator Executive function, as a high-order cognitive ability, includes working memory, inhibitory ability and cognitive flexibility[ 27 ]. Relevant studies indicated that father parenting was related to child executive function[ 28 , 29 ]. Fathers’ active involvement in the growth process of preschoolers can provide rich cognitive stimulation, emotional support and behavioral demonstrations for preschoolers, thereby promoting the well development of preschoolers’ executive function. Executive function plays a core role in various fields such as learning, life and social interaction of children[ 28 , 30 ], and is an important support for psychological development. Individuals with well-developed executive function show stronger psychological adjustment. When faced with difficulties, children with good executive function are able to analyse problems calmly, use working memory to recall relevant experiences and knowledge, adjust the way of thinking through cognitive flexibility, and find solutions to the problems. At the same time, inhibitory control in executive function helps to control emotions, avoid excessive negative emotions due to setbacks, which in turn positively affects the development of their resilience. A prospective longitudinal study proposes that enhancing executive functions may be associated with improved resilience, and vice versa[ 19 ]. To sum up, preschoolers’ executive function may play a mediator role in the process of fathers’ involvement influencing preschoolers’ resilience. However, relatively few studies have deeply explored the relationship among them. Hence, this study proposes the hypothesis. H2: Preschoolers’ executive function mediates the relationship between fathers’ involvement and preschoolers’ resilience. Extraversion as a Moderator The Five Factor Model of personality includes Neuroticism (or Emotional Stability), Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness[ 31 , 32 ]. Extraversion is one of the Five Factor Model of personality, and is defined as “a dimension of personality reflecting individual differences in the tendencies to experience and exhibit positive affect, assertive behavior, decisive thinking, and desires for social attention[ 33 ]”. Extraversion is characterized by an orientation of one’s interests and energies towards the external world of people and things rather than the internal world of subjective experiences. Some studies have found that extraversion is positively correlated with positive emotions[ 34 , 35 ] and psychological resilience[ 20 , 32 ]. But some scholars have pointed out that people with a high degree of extraversion are dominant, impulsive, and eager to be the center of social attention. They may not be well accepted by society and are more likely to fall into burnout and exhaustion[ 36 ]. Due to the above-mentioned, it is still unclear whether extraversion is completely beneficial. Therefore, children with different levels of extraversion react differently when facing external situations such as family interaction, which may play a moderator role in preschoolers’ resilience. Thus, this study proposes the following hypotheses. H3: Extraversion moderates the mediating effects of preschoolers’ executive in the relationship between fathers’ involvement and preschoolers’ resilience. The Current Study This study has constructed a moderated mediation model based on Kumpfer’s Resilience framework, intending to deeply explore how the external factor of fathers’ involvement influences preschoolers’ resilience through the internal factor of preschoolers’ executive function, and simultaneously to explore the moderating role of extraversion. Through the investigation of the above four relationships, it is expected to further explore the influence paths of preschoolers’ resilience and put forward suggestions for family education, especially for fathers to better participate in preschoolers’ growth, thereby promoting the healthy development of preschoolers’ resilience. Methods Participants and Procedure The current study adopted the random sampling method, taking preschoolers aged 3–5 and their fathers as the research objects. With the help of kindergartens, questionnaires were distributed to preschoolers’ fathers in Guangdong Province. The questionnaires were delivered and completed through an online crowdsourcing platform ( https://www.wjx.cn ) in China. Participant consent was obtained for data collection and all responses were anonymous, adhering to the ethical principles of voluntary participation. The participants provided written informed consent to participate in this study. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation [Guangzhou University, Guangdong Province, China] and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. A total of 3,584 questionnaires were collected. After strict screening, a total of 281 invalid questionnaires with garbled or omitted answers were eliminated. Finally, 3303 valid data were obtained. The effective recovery rate was 92.4%. The sample consisted of 1,776 boys (53.8%) and 1,527 girls (46.2%). Among the preschoolers, 21.3% were aged 3, 32.8% were aged 4, 45.9% were aged 5. The details are shown in Table 1 . Table 1 Demographic characteristics of Participants (N = 3303) Statistical variables Group Frequency number Effective percentage(%) Gender of child Boys 1776 53.8 Girls 1527 46.2 Age Range of child 3years 702 21.3 4 years 1084 32.8 5 years 1517 45.9 Measures Fathers’ Involvement Scale This study adopted Inventory of Fathers’ Involvement (IFI)[ 37 ]. This scale was developed by Hawkins and included four dimensions: daily care, support and planning, discipline and restraint, and encouragement and praise, with a total of 26 items. The scale uses a 7-point to score. The higher the score, the higher the degree of fathers’ involvement. In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha of the total scale was 0.94. Preschooler’s Resilience Scale The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Preschoolers Second Edition (DECA-P2)[ 38 ] was used. This scale includes three protective factor sub-scales: initiative, self-regulation, attachment/relationship and behavioral problem screening scales related to resilience. Only three protective factor sub-scales were used in this study, with a total of 27 questions. This scale uses 5-point to score. The total score of the scale is calculated to obtain the comprehensive resilience value. The higher the score, the higher the level of resilience. In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha of the total scale was 0.89. Executive Function Scale This study used the Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory (CHEXI)[ 39 ] compiled by Thorell and Nyberg. The CHEXI has a total of 24 questions and includes four sub-scales, namely inhibition, working memory, regulation, and planning. The scale uses a 5-point scoring system and adopts reverse scoring. The higher the score, the weaker the executive function. Before data analysis, reverse-coded items were reverse-coded. In this study, the internal consistency coefficient Cronbach’s alpha of this scale was 0.84. Extraversion Scale This study used the Children Behavior Questionnaire short (CBQ short)[ 40 ] developed by Putnam and Rothbart to investigate preschooler’s extraversion. The scale is divided into three sub-scales: self-control, negative emotion, and extraversion, with a total of 36 questions. This study only used the extraversion sub-scale, with a total of 12 questions. The questionnaire uses a 7-point scoring system. The higher the score obtained, the stronger the extraversion. In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha of the total scale was 0.71. Demographic Covariates Father reported preschooler’s age (1 = 3 years old, 2 = 4 years old, 3 = 5 years old), and gender (0 = girl, 1 = boy). Both were included as covariates. Statistical Analysis The data were analyzed using SPSS 24.0, including reliability analysis, common method bias test, descriptive statistics, and correlation analysis. Structural equation model tests were conducted using Mplus 8.3. To ensure the accuracy and reliability of the model, this study adopted the packaging method[ 41 ], aiming to reduce the bias of model parameter estimation. According to the different dimensions of each variable, the variables were packaged and processed to further optimize the model structure. The following indices were used to evaluate model fit, including the Normed chi-square (χ 2 /df) index, Comparative Fit index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), and Standardized Root Mean square Residual (SRMR). 3 <χ 2 /df <5, CFI and TLI ≥ 0.9, SRMR and RMSEA ≤ 0.08 were adopted as good fit criteria in this study, and p-value ( p ) < 0.05 indicated statistically significant[ 42 ]. This study tested the mediating effect of preschoolers’ executive function based on the test procedure of mediation analysis of structural equations, and estimated confidence intervals for each coefficient by Bias-Corrected Bootstrap method (Bootstrap = 5,000), and the 95% confidence intervals that do not contain 0 indicated statistical significant[ 43 ]. Results Common Method Bias The data were tested using Harman’s single-factor test. The results showed that 13 factors had characteristic roots greater than 1, and the variance explained by the first factor was 22.20%, which was lower than the critical value of 40%. Therefore, this study was not significantly affected by common method bias. Description statistics and correlation matrix Table 2 presents the descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) and correlations of the main research variables. The results show that fathers’ involvement was positively correlated with preschoolers’ resilience ( r = 0.511, p < 0.01), fathers’ involvement was positively correlated with preschoolers’ executive function ( r = 0.134, p < 0.01), preschoolers’ executive function was positively correlated with preschoolers’ resilience ( r = 0.164, p < 0.01); preschoolers’ extraversion was negatively correlated with preschoolers’ executive function ( r = -0.486, p < 0.01). Table 2 Descriptive statistics and correlation matrix for each variable 1 2 3 4 1 Fathers’ Involvement 1 2 Preschoolers’ Resilience 0.511** 1 3 Preschoolers’ Executive function 0.134** 0.164** 1 4 Preschoolers’ Extraversion -0.013 0.015 -0.486** 1 M 5.472 2.681 2.908 3.682 SD 0.920 0.311 0.557 0.790 Notes : * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001. Abbreviations: M, Means; SD, Standard Deviations. Discussion The Relationship Between Fathers’ Involvement and Preschoolers’ Resilience The results confirmed that fathers’ involvement significantly and positively predicted preschoolers’ resilience. This is consistent with the previous research conclusions[26]. The roles and responsibilities of fathers, apart from being the instrumental role of providing economic support for children, also include the responsibility and obligation of giving educational guidance to children and protecting their safety. In the traditional Chinese parenting style of “Strict father, kind mother”, fathers are considered responsible for helping children develop proper behaviors. Fathers often have more power and authority than mothers and require children to behave more maturely[14]. Fathers as significant others in the development of preschoolers, influence preschoolers’ developmental outcomes[44]. Fathers’ role in the development of children’s cognition and emotion regulation is most prominent in infancy and toddlerhood[24, 45, 46]. The companionship and care of fathers can give preschooler security, allowing them to feel supported and encouraged when facing difficulties, and establishing close emotional ties, a sense of security and self-confidence, and forming stable emotions and a positive self-perception. Therefore, preschoolers growing up with father’s involvement can regulate their emotions more effectively and are more resilient when facing setbacks. Furthermore, fathers’ involvement in child rearing and parenting characteristics (behaviors and attitudes) have a profound influence on the psychological development of preschoolers[47, 48]. Fathers set an example for preschoolers, through their own attitudes and ways of facing difficulties, influencing preschoolers’ values and behavior patterns. Positive fathers’ involvement can provide multi-dimensional and in-depth support and guidance for preschoolers, enabling them to learn to actively face the challenges in life and maintain stable mind when facing pressure, reduce problem behaviors, and ultimately enhance preschoolers’ resilience effectively. Mediating Effect of Preschoolers’ Executive Function The results revealed the mediating role of preschoolers’ executive function in the relationship between fathers’ involvement and preschoolers’ resilience. Fathers can provide unique interaction patterns for children during their growth[15, 49, 50]. Fathers tend to be more like playmates, while mothers are more often as caregivers taking care of their child. Different from the delicate and gentle interaction style of mothers, fathers often engage in exploratory, challenging and physically exercising games or activities with their child[29, 49, 51, 52]. This unique interaction style of fathers can not only exercise preschoolers’ bodies but also provide rich cognitive stimulation. It helps children have good physical fitness and problem solving abilities when dealing with difficulties, and thereby powerfully promotes the improvement of preschoolers’ resilience[29, 53, 54]. Positive fathers’ involvement such as active support, encouragement, attention, and reasonable expectations, are closely related to preschooler’s high-level executive function. Additionally, executive function is an important factor affecting preschoolers’ resilience[55]. Preschoolers with good executive function can recall relevant experiences and knowledge using working memory when facing difficulties and setbacks, adjust their thinking mode through cognitive flexibility, calmly analyze problems, and look for solutions[56, 57]. Meanwhile, individuals with higher executive function can effectively utilize emotional regulation strategies[58]. Preschoolers with higher executive function can regulate the generation and expression of negative emotions through inhibitory control ability to avoid excessive frustration due to setbacks. It can be seen that executive function has an important influence on preschoolers’ resilience[19]. According to Kumpfer’s resilience framework, resilience is regarded as a dynamic process that focuses on the interaction between the individual and the environment and explores how individuals can effectively utilize their own resources and external support to meet various challenges. To sum up, when fathers are actively involved in preschoolers’ life and study, provide preschoolers with a sufficient, safe and stable material and spiritual environment, it will promote the development of preschoolers’ working memory, cognitive flexibility and self-regulation strategies, and improve children’s executive function level. When facing difficulties, preschoolers can mobilize executive function to solve problems rationally and systematically, and actively seek help to overcome difficulties, thereby forming an active and positive coping style and adaptability, and promoting the enhancement of preschoolers’ resilience. Moderating Effect of Preschoolers’ Extraversion The results found that preschoolers’ extraversion significantly modulated the influence of preschoolers’ executive function on resilience. The positive predictive effect of preschoolers’ executive function on resilience is more significant at low level of preschoolers’ extraversion than at high level. This was contrary to the results of previous studies[20, 32]. Although in the scientific community and the public mind, extroversion is often equated with social ease, happiness and success[34, 35], this trait also has drawbacks, such as impulsiveness, thrill-seeking, recklessness, overconfidence and poor tolerance for monotony and boredom[59–61]. Related study pointed out that there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between extraversion and social acceptance, such that the relationship is initially positive but became less positive as extraversion increased[62]. Additionally, highly extraverted preschoolers tend to be more attracted and disrupted by the external environment, so their attention is more likely to be dispersed[63]. This may lead to difficulties for highly extraverted preschoolers in maintaining continuous attention and focus on the task due to external environmental interference when performing tasks, thereby reducing the promotion efficiency of executive function. Therefore, high extraversion inhibits the promotion effect of executive function on preschoolers’ resilience. On the contrary, when preschoolers have a lower level of extraversion or tend to be introverted, the view that this is considered negative and vulnerable is equally wrong. Low extraversion is also associated with many positive traits, including self-reflection, creativity, imagination, innovation, sensitivity and perseverance[64, 65]. Due to the inherent stability and self-focusing characteristics of low extraversion, individuals are not easily influenced by the external environment. This enables them to better focus on and mobilize their internal advantageous qualities and psychological resources when facing challenges and pressures, allowing them to maintain confidence and a positive mindset in the face of setbacks, persist and overcome difficulties. Therefore, compared with high extraversion, at a low level of preschoolers’ extraversion, the positive predictive effect of preschoolers’ executive function on resilience is greater. Implications The present study has several significant implications. Firstly, fathers’ involvement has an important influence on the development of preschoolers’ resilience. It indicates that fathers should establish a scientific concept and actively participate in the process of parenting[66]. Fathers should fully leverage their role advantages, accompany preschooler in a scientific and effective way, have a reasonable division of labor and complementary roles with mothers. By creating a positive family atmosphere, giving preschoolers enough care and support, establishing close emotional ties with children, shaping preschoolers’ sound personality, and laying the foundation for the development of preschoolers’ resilience. Furthermore, fathers should also assume the role of guardians of preschoolers’ mental health and give preschoolers sufficient psychological support and care. Fathers should carefully observe preschoolers’ emotional changes, communicate with children actively, and promptly discover potential psychological problems of preschooler, and carry out mindfulness intervention[67]. In addition, fathers should change the traditional single preaching mode and accompany children by using more interactive and experiential games or activities, such as outdoor sports, parent-child games, etc. Through such games or activities, explore the fun and challenges of the game with preschoolers, stimulate and cultivate preschoolers’ courage and exploration spirit, guide children to learn to solve problems and maintain a positive and optimistic attitude, thereby cultivating preschoolers’ resilience. Secondly, promoting the development of preschoolers’ executive function is of great significance for the good development of preschoolers’ resilience. Therefore, multiple strategies can be used to enhance preschoolers’ executive function. Parents can establish regular living habits, such as fixed schedules and daily activity arrangements, so that children can learn to manage time and be self-disciplined. Setting goals for preschoolers and encouraging them to achieve step by step, cultivates preschoolers’ planning ability and self-motivation. At the same time, providing appropriate support and challenges for preschoolers and leading them to participate in beneficial activities, such as jigsaw puzzles, sports and parent-child interactions, exercises preschoolers’ attention, memory and problem-solving skills. Moreover, reflection training[68] can also be used to help preschoolers better plan, organize, make decisions and control their own behaviors, thereby promoting the development of preschoolers’ executive function. Finally, every child has their own unique personality traits and behavior patterns[69], among which extraversion is an important dimension. To reduce the risk of abnormal problems in preschoolers’ resilience, parents and educators need to understand and respect children’s differences. In the process of upbringing, avoid making stereotypical judgments, but carry out individualized education based on their actual personality traits and needs. Extraverted preschoolers express their emotions more directly and strongly, and they need help to learn to manage their emotions correctly. For example, let preschoolers understand different emotions through emotion cards, stories, etc., and at the same time teach them some methods of emotion regulation, such as deep breathing and calm thinking. Preschoolers with low extraversion tend to gain energy from being alone. Therefore, a quiet and comfortable personal space should be provided for them to gradually show their abilities in an environment where they feel safe and comfortable. In addition, constantly discover the shining points of preschooler, give more affirmation and appreciation, and avoid evaluating in a single dimension. It should adopt multi-dimensional evaluation to help preschoolers recognize their own strengths and potential, encourage them to foster strengths and circumvent weaknesses, teach preschooler emotional adjustment and positive attribution, and thereby cultivate preschoolers’ resilience, helping them to develop fully. Limitations and Future Research The findings of this study should be interpreted in light of several limitations, which also offer directions for future research. First, the geographical scope of the sample imposes constraints on the generalizability of the results. The current study exclusively recruited participants from Guangdong Province, failing to encompass families across different regions of China. Given the country’s vast geographical diversity, significant variations exist in familial values, societal perceptions of paternal roles, and access to parenting resources across regions. For instance, urban-rural disparities, economic development gaps between coastal and inland areas, and cultural differences may shape the nature of fathers’ involvement and how it impacts preschoolers’ resilience. Future studies can adopt multi-stage stratified sampling, expand the sample to different regions, and include multiple variables such as urban-rural differences and family economic status, to enhance the external validity and promotion value of the research conclusions. Second, this study adopted a cross-sectional design, which limits the exploration of the dynamic deep causal relationship between fathers’ involvement and preschoolers’ resilience. Resilience in early childhood is a developmental construct that evolves over time, shaped by cumulative experiences of paternal care, changes in family dynamics, and children’s own growth trajectories. Thus, future studies can design longitudinal research to systematically collect data on the dynamic changes in fathers’ involvement and the developmental trajectory of preschoolers’ resilience. Statistical methods such as cross-lagged models can be used to clarify causal directions, providing a more solid empirical basis for revealing the long-term mechanism of fathers’ involvement on preschoolers’ resilience. Conclusion This study, based on the Kumpfer’s resilience framework, explored the relationship among fathers’ involvement, preschoolers’ executive function, preschoolers’ extraversion and resilience. The results showed that, firstly, fathers’ involvement had a significant positive impact on preschoolers’ resilience. Secondly, preschoolers’ executive function played a partial mediating role in the relationship between fathers’ involvement and preschoolers’ resilience. Finally, preschoolers’ extraversion played a negative moderating role in the relationship where fathers’ involvement affected preschoolers’ resilience through executive function. To sum up, this study provided suggestions for family education, especially for fathers’ involvement, in order to promote the development of preschoolers’ resilience. Declarations Acknowledgments The authors are grateful to all participants in the study for their strong support. Author Contributions H.C.: Conceptualization, writing original draft, revising, validation. Y.X.: Conceptualization, data collection, statistical analysis. J.G.: Funding acquisition, validation. J.Z.: Study design, revising, validation. All authors approved the final manuscript for publication. Funding This work was supported by the Ministry of Education Youth Fund Project for Humanities and Social Sciences Research (23YJC880152). Data availability The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request. Ethics approval and consent to participate The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Ethics Review Committee (IRB) of Education School, Guangzhou University (Protocol Number: GZHUSE2025003). The process of this study strictly adheres to the ethical requirements for research involving minors, ensuring that the participation of 3- to 5-year-old preschoolers is based on the informed consent of their parents or legal guardians. All participants provided informed consent before participation. Data were kept confidential and processed anonymously. Consent for publication Not applicable. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. 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Executive functions and problem-solving-the contribution of inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility to science problem-solving performance in elementary school students. J Exp Child Psychol. 2024;244:105962. Ropovik I. Do executive functions predict the ability to learn problem-solving principles? Intelligence. 2014;44:64–74. Mohammed A-R, Kosonogov V, Lyusin D. Is emotion regulation impacted by executive functions? An experimental study. Scand J Psychol. 2022;63:182–90. Ashton MC, Lee K, Paunonen SV. What is the central feature of extraversion? Social attention versus reward sensitivity. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2002;83:245–52. Depue RA, Collins PF. Neurobiology of the structure of personality: dopamine, facilitation of incentive motivation, and extraversion. Behav Brain Sci. 1999;22:491–517. discussion 518–569. Hu J, Zhang Z, Jiang K, Chen W. Getting ahead, getting along, and getting prosocial: examining extraversion facets, peer reactions, and leadership emergence. J Appl Psychol. 2019;104:1369–86. Deng Y, Chen H, Yao X. Curvilinear effects of extraversion on socialization outcomes among chinese college students. Front Psychol. 2021;12:652834. Blumenthal TD. Extraversion, attention, and startle response reactivity. Personal Individ Differ. 2001;31:495–503. Bachner-Melman R, Zohar A. Addressing the imbalance: the downside of extraversion and the upside of introversion. 2014. pp. 158–65. Laney MO. The introvert advantage: how to thrive in an extrovert world. New York, NY, US: Workman Publishing; 2002. Panter-Brick C, Burgess A, Eggerman M, McAllister F, Pruett K, Leckman JF. Practitioner review: engaging fathers–recommendations for a game change in parenting interventions based on a systematic review of the global evidence. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2014;55:1187–212. Joyce S, Shand F, Tighe J, Laurent SJ, Bryant RA, Harvey SB. Road to resilience: a systematic review and meta-analysis of resilience training programmes and interventions. BMJ Open. 2018;8:e017858. Espinet SD, Anderson JE, Zelazo PD. Reflection training improves executive function in preschool-age children: behavioral and neural effects. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2013;4:3–15. Herzhoff K, Kushner SC, Tackett JL. 2 - personality development in childhood. In: Specht J, editor. Personality Development Across the Lifespan. Academic; 2017. pp. 9–23. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. 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15:19:00","extension":"html","order_by":8,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":148130,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7165187/v1/c87264d9a7af8afd501d0ab2.html"},{"id":93057921,"identity":"85cbc8c8-cf0b-436c-9af8-cc6afff87355","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-08 15:19:00","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":123513,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eModerated mediation analysis results.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNote\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e. \u003c/strong\u003eGender and age were control variables, which are not shown in Fig, for concise purposes. * \u003cem\u003ep \u003c/em\u003e＜ 0.05, ** \u003cem\u003ep \u003c/em\u003e＜ 0.01, ***\u003cem\u003e p \u003c/em\u003e＜ 0.001.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7165187/v1/507ad5272db46922c53f52cc.png"},{"id":93059029,"identity":"ea3fa086-2f89-472f-b8af-37bc6db2c3f1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-08 15:27:00","extension":"jpeg","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":57085,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe mediating role of preschoolers’extraversion between preschoolers’executive function and resilience.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7165187/v1/d26565fc267eb3d8f9d7b333.jpeg"},{"id":97723873,"identity":"b85aaf3e-16d1-4e41-839c-b5eaeead4625","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-08 16:08:56","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1001373,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7165187/v1/2139262e-333a-4034-96d5-791979239e21.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The impact of Fathers’ Involvement on Preschoolers’ Resilience: a Moderated Mediation Model","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eResilience, as an indispensable part of our overall mental health development, has gradually become a focus area for many researchers. The early childhood stage is an important foundational period for an individual’s psychological development. Preschoolers’ resilience plays a key role in mental health development. Resilience refers to the adaptability and recovery of children in the face of difficulties, setbacks, and conflicts[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e]. Individuals with good resilience can actively cope with challenges, recover quickly and grow. Higher resilience can effectively reduce the emotional and behavioral problems caused by adverse early childhood experiences[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e]. In contrast, individuals with low resilience are more likely to fall into negative emotions such as anxiety and fear when facing difficulties, and may even experience depression[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR5\" citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e–\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e], resulting in withdrawal and avoidance of new things and challenges. This will not only affect their current study and life, but in the long term, it may also hinder the sound development of their personality. Therefore, cultivating preschoolers’ resilience is crucial for their healthy growth and future development.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe development of preschoolers’ resilience is influenced by the interaction of multiple factors. During the long journey of preschoolers’ growth, the family environment is undoubtedly the most crucial fundamental factor, and the parenting style with parents’ involvement plays an irreplaceable and important role in it[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e]. In recent years, more and more studies have found that involved fathering plays an important role in children’s development[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR9 CR10\" citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e–\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e11\u003c/span\u003e]. Evidence supports the positive impact of fathers’ involvement on children’s academic achievements[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e], socio-emotional behaviors[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e], behaviors and psychological outcomes[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e]. In the context of Chinese culture, fathers are the core of the family structure[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e]. Usually, fathers are regarded as the pillar of the family, shouldering the burden of raising children and providing material and spiritual needs. People often describe “father’s love as a mountain”, which shows the reliable, tenacious, brave and responsible image of fathers. When encountering difficulties and setbacks in life, fathers are often the mainstay of the family. They shoulder the heavy responsibility of the family and show a strong will and fearless spirit in adversity. Whether facing the pressure of work, the challenges of life, or the growth problems of children, fathers can always provide stability and confidence for their families with an optimistic and calm attitude. During the process of fathers’ involvement, preschoolers are imperceptibly influenced by their father, learn to deal with the difficulties they encounter with a positive attitude and actions, and gradually cultivate tenacious resilience. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the influence of fathers’ involvement on preschoolers’ resilience.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAccording to Kumpfer’s Resilience framework[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e], the core of resilience is the dynamic interaction between individual internal factors and external environmental factors. This interaction reflects how individuals cope with stress through the combination of internal traits and the external environment, influencing the way individuals respond to challenges and the final outcome. It is through this continuous and dynamic interaction that the individual’s psychological state undergoes corresponding changes. This change may lead to positive adaptation outcomes, such as the recovery of resilience, personal growth and ability improvement; it may also lead to negative results, such as continuous psychological stress, dysfunction and even psychological trauma. Fathers’ involvement, as one of the external factors, can’t be ignored for the development of preschoolers’ resilience. As for the internal factors, preschoolers’ executive function[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e] and extraversion[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e] are also key factors affecting preschoolers’ resilience, influencing preschoolers’ reactions and coping abilities when facing stress. However, the research on these two influencing factors needs to be further deepened, and the influence path of fathers’ involvement on preschoolers’ resilience awaits further exploration. Therefore, this study focuses on exploring the relationships among fathers’ involvement, preschoolers’ resilience, preschoolers’ executive function and extraversion.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFathers’ Involvement and Preschoolers’ Resilience\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFathers’ involvement is a comprehensive concept, involving multiple aspects, such as direct interactions with the child, responsibility for managing child-related tasks, and the monitoring of child’s activities[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e]. The direct interaction with the child can not only make preschoolers feel the fathers’ care, but also enhance the good attachment relationship[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e], allowing preschoolers to feel more complete family support and lay an emotional foundation for the development of preschoolers’ resilience. When preschoolers encounter difficulties and setbacks, the encouragement and support of their fathers can help them cope better, thereby reducing anxiety and behavioral problems and improving emotional regulation ability[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e], which is conducive to the development of preschoolers’ resilience. The attitude and handling methods of fathers when facing difficulties and pressures will become role models for preschoolers to learn[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e]. By showing their tenacity, optimism and problem-solving ability, fathers can inspire preschoolers’ courage and determination to face difficulties and help them form positive coping strategies, thereby enhancing preschoolers’ resilience. Accordingly, fathers’ involvement is an important protective factor for the development of preschoolers’ resilience. Existing studies have shown that higher fathers’ involvement predicted a higher level of children’s resilience[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e]. Based on the above, this study proposes the following hypotheses.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eH1: Fathers’ involvement has a positive predictive effect on preschoolers’ resilience.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePreschoolers’ Executive Function as a Mediator\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExecutive function, as a high-order cognitive ability, includes working memory, inhibitory ability and cognitive flexibility[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e]. Relevant studies indicated that father parenting was related to child executive function[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e]. Fathers’ active involvement in the growth process of preschoolers can provide rich cognitive stimulation, emotional support and behavioral demonstrations for preschoolers, thereby promoting the well development of preschoolers’ executive function. Executive function plays a core role in various fields such as learning, life and social interaction of children[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003e], and is an important support for psychological development. Individuals with well-developed executive function show stronger psychological adjustment. When faced with difficulties, children with good executive function are able to analyse problems calmly, use working memory to recall relevant experiences and knowledge, adjust the way of thinking through cognitive flexibility, and find solutions to the problems. At the same time, inhibitory control in executive function helps to control emotions, avoid excessive negative emotions due to setbacks, which in turn positively affects the development of their resilience. A prospective longitudinal study proposes that enhancing executive functions may be associated with improved resilience, and vice versa[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e]. To sum up, preschoolers’ executive function may play a mediator role in the process of fathers’ involvement influencing preschoolers’ resilience. However, relatively few studies have deeply explored the relationship among them. Hence, this study proposes the hypothesis.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eH2: Preschoolers’ executive function mediates the relationship between fathers’ involvement and preschoolers’ resilience.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eExtraversion as a Moderator\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Five Factor Model of personality includes Neuroticism (or Emotional Stability), Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e31\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e]. Extraversion is one of the Five Factor Model of personality, and is defined as “a dimension of personality reflecting individual differences in the tendencies to experience and exhibit positive affect, assertive behavior, decisive thinking, and desires for social attention[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e]”. Extraversion is characterized by an orientation of one’s interests and energies towards the external world of people and things rather than the internal world of subjective experiences. Some studies have found that extraversion is positively correlated with positive emotions[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e34\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003e] and psychological resilience[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e]. But some scholars have pointed out that people with a high degree of extraversion are dominant, impulsive, and eager to be the center of social attention. They may not be well accepted by society and are more likely to fall into burnout and exhaustion[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e36\u003c/span\u003e]. Due to the above-mentioned, it is still unclear whether extraversion is completely beneficial. Therefore, children with different levels of extraversion react differently when facing external situations such as family interaction, which may play a moderator role in preschoolers’ resilience. Thus, this study proposes the following hypotheses.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eH3: Extraversion moderates the mediating effects of preschoolers’ executive in the relationship between fathers’ involvement and preschoolers’ resilience.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Current Study\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study has constructed a moderated mediation model based on Kumpfer’s Resilience framework, intending to deeply explore how the external factor of fathers’ involvement influences preschoolers’ resilience through the internal factor of preschoolers’ executive function, and simultaneously to explore the moderating role of extraversion. Through the investigation of the above four relationships, it is expected to further explore the influence paths of preschoolers’ resilience and put forward suggestions for family education, especially for fathers to better participate in preschoolers’ growth, thereby promoting the healthy development of preschoolers’ resilience.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eParticipants and Procedure\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe current study adopted the random sampling method, taking preschoolers aged 3–5 and their fathers as the research objects. With the help of kindergartens, questionnaires were distributed to preschoolers’ fathers in Guangdong Province. The questionnaires were delivered and completed through an online crowdsourcing platform (\u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://www.wjx.cn\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"https://www.wjx.cn\" targettype=\"URL\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e) in China. Participant consent was obtained for data collection and all responses were anonymous, adhering to the ethical principles of voluntary participation. The participants provided written informed consent to participate in this study. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation [Guangzhou University, Guangdong Province, China] and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA total of 3,584 questionnaires were collected. After strict screening, a total of 281 invalid questionnaires with garbled or omitted answers were eliminated. Finally, 3303 valid data were obtained. The effective recovery rate was 92.4%. The sample consisted of 1,776 boys (53.8%) and 1,527 girls (46.2%). Among the preschoolers, 21.3% were aged 3, 32.8% were aged 4, 45.9% were aged 5. The details are shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDemographic characteristics of Participants (N = 3303)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eStatistical variables\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGroup\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrequency number\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEffective percentage(%)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGender of child\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoys\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1776\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e53.8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGirls\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1527\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e46.2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAge Range of child\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3years\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e702\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e21.3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4 years\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1084\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e32.8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5 years\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1517\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e45.9\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMeasures\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFathers\u0026rsquo; Involvement Scale\u003c/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study adopted Inventory of Fathers’ Involvement (IFI)[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e37\u003c/span\u003e]. This scale was developed by Hawkins and included four dimensions: daily care, support and planning, discipline and restraint, and encouragement and praise, with a total of 26 items. The scale uses a 7-point to score. The higher the score, the higher the degree of fathers’ involvement. In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha of the total scale was 0.94.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePreschooler’s Resilience Scale\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Preschoolers Second Edition (DECA-P2)[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e38\u003c/span\u003e] was used. This scale includes three protective factor sub-scales: initiative, self-regulation, attachment/relationship and behavioral problem screening scales related to resilience. Only three protective factor sub-scales were used in this study, with a total of 27 questions. This scale uses 5-point to score. The total score of the scale is calculated to obtain the comprehensive resilience value. The higher the score, the higher the level of resilience. In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha of the total scale was 0.89.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eExecutive Function Scale\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study used the Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory (CHEXI)[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e39\u003c/span\u003e] compiled by Thorell and Nyberg. The CHEXI has a total of 24 questions and includes four sub-scales, namely inhibition, working memory, regulation, and planning. The scale uses a 5-point scoring system and adopts reverse scoring. The higher the score, the weaker the executive function. Before data analysis, reverse-coded items were reverse-coded. In this study, the internal consistency coefficient Cronbach’s alpha of this scale was 0.84.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eExtraversion Scale\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study used the Children Behavior Questionnaire short (CBQ short)[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e40\u003c/span\u003e] developed by Putnam and Rothbart to investigate preschooler’s extraversion. The scale is divided into three sub-scales: self-control, negative emotion, and extraversion, with a total of 36 questions. This study only used the extraversion sub-scale, with a total of 12 questions. The questionnaire uses a 7-point scoring system. The higher the score obtained, the stronger the extraversion. In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha of the total scale was 0.71.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDemographic Covariates\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFather reported preschooler’s age (1 = 3 years old, 2 = 4 years old, 3 = 5 years old), and gender (0 = girl, 1 = boy). Both were included as covariates.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eStatistical Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe data were analyzed using SPSS 24.0, including reliability analysis, common method bias test, descriptive statistics, and correlation analysis. Structural equation model tests were conducted using Mplus 8.3. To ensure the accuracy and reliability of the model, this study adopted the packaging method[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e41\u003c/span\u003e], aiming to reduce the bias of model parameter estimation. According to the different dimensions of each variable, the variables were packaged and processed to further optimize the model structure. The following indices were used to evaluate model fit, including the Normed chi-square (χ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e/df) index, Comparative Fit index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), and Standardized Root Mean square Residual (SRMR). 3 \u0026lt;χ\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e/df \u0026lt;5, CFI and TLI ≥ 0.9, SRMR and RMSEA ≤ 0.08 were adopted as good fit criteria in this study, and p-value (\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e) \u0026lt; 0.05 indicated statistically significant[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e42\u003c/span\u003e]. This study tested the mediating effect of preschoolers’ executive function based on the test procedure of mediation analysis of structural equations, and estimated confidence intervals for each coefficient by Bias-Corrected Bootstrap method (Bootstrap = 5,000), and the 95% confidence intervals that do not contain 0 indicated statistical significant[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e43\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCommon Method Bias\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe data were tested using Harman\u0026rsquo;s single-factor test. The results showed that 13 factors had characteristic roots greater than 1, and the variance explained by the first factor was 22.20%, which was lower than the critical value of 40%. Therefore, this study was not significantly affected by common method bias.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDescription statistics and correlation matrix\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e presents the descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) and correlations of the main research variables. The results show that fathers\u0026rsquo; involvement was positively correlated with preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.511, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.01), fathers\u0026rsquo; involvement was positively correlated with preschoolers\u0026rsquo; executive function (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.134, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.01), preschoolers\u0026rsquo; executive function was positively correlated with preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.164, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.01); preschoolers\u0026rsquo; extraversion was negatively correlated with preschoolers\u0026rsquo; executive function (\u003cem\u003er\u003c/em\u003e = -0.486, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.01).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"colspec\" align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"colspec\" align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDescriptive statistics and correlation matrix for each variable\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr style=\"height: 35px;\"\u003e\n \u003cth style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr style=\"height: 35px;\"\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1 Fathers\u0026rsquo; Involvement\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr style=\"height: 35px;\"\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2 Preschoolers\u0026rsquo; Resilience\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.511**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr style=\"height: 35px;\"\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3 Preschoolers\u0026rsquo; Executive function\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.134**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.164**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr style=\"height: 35px;\"\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4 Preschoolers\u0026rsquo; Extraversion\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.013\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.015\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e-0.486**\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr style=\"height: 35px;\"\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eM\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5.472\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.681\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.908\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.682\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr style=\"height: 35.7986px;\"\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35.7986px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSD\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35.7986px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.920\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35.7986px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.311\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35.7986px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.557\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 35.7986px;\" align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e0.790\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003ctfoot\u003e\n \u003ctr style=\"height: 13px;\"\u003e\n \u003ctd style=\"height: 13px;\" colspan=\"5\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNotes\u003c/strong\u003e: * \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.05, ** \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.01, *** \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e \u0026lt; 0.001.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbbreviations:\u003c/strong\u003e M, Means; SD, Standard Deviations.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tfoot\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003ch2\u003eThe Relationship Between Fathers\u0026rsquo; Involvement and Preschoolers\u0026rsquo; Resilience\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe results confirmed that fathers\u0026rsquo; involvement significantly and positively predicted preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience. This is consistent with the previous research conclusions[26]. The roles and responsibilities of fathers, apart from being the instrumental role of providing economic support for children, also include the responsibility and obligation of giving educational guidance to children and protecting their safety. In the traditional Chinese parenting style of \u0026ldquo;Strict father, kind mother\u0026rdquo;, fathers are considered responsible for helping children develop proper behaviors. Fathers often have more power and authority than mothers and require children to behave more maturely[14]. Fathers as significant others in the development of preschoolers, influence preschoolers\u0026rsquo; developmental outcomes[44]. Fathers\u0026rsquo; role in the development of children\u0026rsquo;s cognition and emotion regulation is most prominent in infancy and toddlerhood[24, 45, 46]. The companionship and care of fathers can give preschooler security, allowing them to feel supported and encouraged when facing difficulties, and establishing close emotional ties, a sense of security and self-confidence, and forming stable emotions and a positive self-perception. Therefore, preschoolers growing up with father\u0026rsquo;s involvement can regulate their emotions more effectively and are more resilient when facing setbacks. Furthermore, fathers\u0026rsquo; involvement in child rearing and parenting characteristics (behaviors and attitudes) have a profound influence on the psychological development of preschoolers[47, 48]. Fathers set an example for preschoolers, through their own attitudes and ways of facing difficulties, influencing preschoolers\u0026rsquo; values and behavior patterns. Positive fathers\u0026rsquo; involvement can provide multi-dimensional and in-depth support and guidance for preschoolers, enabling them to learn to actively face the challenges in life and maintain stable mind when facing pressure, reduce problem behaviors, and ultimately enhance preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience effectively.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eMediating Effect of Preschoolers\u0026rsquo; Executive Function\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe results revealed the mediating role of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; executive function in the relationship between fathers\u0026rsquo; involvement and preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience. Fathers can provide unique interaction patterns for children during their growth[15, 49, 50]. Fathers tend to be more like playmates, while mothers are more often as caregivers taking care of their child. Different from the delicate and gentle interaction style of mothers, fathers often engage in exploratory, challenging and physically exercising games or activities with their child[29, 49, 51, 52]. This unique interaction style of fathers can not only exercise preschoolers\u0026rsquo; bodies but also provide rich cognitive stimulation. It helps children have good physical fitness and problem solving abilities when dealing with difficulties, and thereby powerfully promotes the improvement of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience[29, 53, 54]. Positive fathers\u0026rsquo; involvement such as active support, encouragement, attention, and reasonable expectations, are closely related to preschooler\u0026rsquo;s high-level executive function.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdditionally, executive function is an important factor affecting preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience[55]. Preschoolers with good executive function can recall relevant experiences and knowledge using working memory when facing difficulties and setbacks, adjust their thinking mode through cognitive flexibility, calmly analyze problems, and look for solutions[56, 57]. Meanwhile, individuals with higher executive function can effectively utilize emotional regulation strategies[58]. Preschoolers with higher executive function can regulate the generation and expression of negative emotions through inhibitory control ability to avoid excessive frustration due to setbacks. It can be seen that executive function has an important influence on preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience[19].\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to Kumpfer\u0026rsquo;s resilience framework, resilience is regarded as a dynamic process that focuses on the interaction between the individual and the environment and explores how individuals can effectively utilize their own resources and external support to meet various challenges. To sum up, when fathers are actively involved in preschoolers\u0026rsquo; life and study, provide preschoolers with a sufficient, safe and stable material and spiritual environment, it will promote the development of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; working memory, cognitive flexibility and self-regulation strategies, and improve children\u0026rsquo;s executive function level. When facing difficulties, preschoolers can mobilize executive function to solve problems rationally and systematically, and actively seek help to overcome difficulties, thereby forming an active and positive coping style and adaptability, and promoting the enhancement of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eModerating Effect of Preschoolers\u0026rsquo; Extraversion\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe results found that preschoolers\u0026rsquo; extraversion significantly modulated the influence of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; executive function on resilience. The positive predictive effect of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; executive function on resilience is more significant at low level of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; extraversion than at high level. This was contrary to the results of previous studies[20, 32]. Although in the scientific community and the public mind, extroversion is often equated with social ease, happiness and success[34, 35], this trait also has drawbacks, such as impulsiveness, thrill-seeking, recklessness, overconfidence and poor tolerance for monotony and boredom[59\u0026ndash;61]. Related study pointed out that there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between extraversion and social acceptance, such that the relationship is initially positive but became less positive as extraversion increased[62]. Additionally, highly extraverted preschoolers tend to be more attracted and disrupted by the external environment, so their attention is more likely to be dispersed[63]. This may lead to difficulties for highly extraverted preschoolers in maintaining continuous attention and focus on the task due to external environmental interference when performing tasks, thereby reducing the promotion efficiency of executive function. Therefore, high extraversion inhibits the promotion effect of executive function on preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the contrary, when preschoolers have a lower level of extraversion or tend to be introverted, the view that this is considered negative and vulnerable is equally wrong. Low extraversion is also associated with many positive traits, including self-reflection, creativity, imagination, innovation, sensitivity and perseverance[64, 65]. Due to the inherent stability and self-focusing characteristics of low extraversion, individuals are not easily influenced by the external environment. This enables them to better focus on and mobilize their internal advantageous qualities and psychological resources when facing challenges and pressures, allowing them to maintain confidence and a positive mindset in the face of setbacks, persist and overcome difficulties. Therefore, compared with high extraversion, at a low level of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; extraversion, the positive predictive effect of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; executive function on resilience is greater.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eImplications\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present study has several significant implications. Firstly, fathers\u0026rsquo; involvement has an important influence on the development of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience. It indicates that fathers should establish a scientific concept and actively participate in the process of parenting[66]. Fathers should fully leverage their role advantages, accompany preschooler in a scientific and effective way, have a reasonable division of labor and complementary roles with mothers. By creating a positive family atmosphere, giving preschoolers enough care and support, establishing close emotional ties with children, shaping preschoolers\u0026rsquo; sound personality, and laying the foundation for the development of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience. Furthermore, fathers should also assume the role of guardians of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; mental health and give preschoolers sufficient psychological support and care. Fathers should carefully observe preschoolers\u0026rsquo; emotional changes, communicate with children actively, and promptly discover potential psychological problems of preschooler, and carry out mindfulness intervention[67]. In addition, fathers should change the traditional single preaching mode and accompany children by using more interactive and experiential games or activities, such as outdoor sports, parent-child games, etc. Through such games or activities, explore the fun and challenges of the game with preschoolers, stimulate and cultivate preschoolers\u0026rsquo; courage and exploration spirit, guide children to learn to solve problems and maintain a positive and optimistic attitude, thereby cultivating preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSecondly, promoting the development of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; executive function is of great significance for the good development of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience. Therefore, multiple strategies can be used to enhance preschoolers\u0026rsquo; executive function. Parents can establish regular living habits, such as fixed schedules and daily activity arrangements, so that children can learn to manage time and be self-disciplined. Setting goals for preschoolers and encouraging them to achieve step by step, cultivates preschoolers\u0026rsquo; planning ability and self-motivation. At the same time, providing appropriate support and challenges for preschoolers and leading them to participate in beneficial activities, such as jigsaw puzzles, sports and parent-child interactions, exercises preschoolers\u0026rsquo; attention, memory and problem-solving skills. Moreover, reflection training[68] can also be used to help preschoolers better plan, organize, make decisions and control their own behaviors, thereby promoting the development of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; executive function.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinally, every child has their own unique personality traits and behavior patterns[69], among which extraversion is an important dimension. To reduce the risk of abnormal problems in preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience, parents and educators need to understand and respect children\u0026rsquo;s differences. In the process of upbringing, avoid making stereotypical judgments, but carry out individualized education based on their actual personality traits and needs. Extraverted preschoolers express their emotions more directly and strongly, and they need help to learn to manage their emotions correctly. For example, let preschoolers understand different emotions through emotion cards, stories, etc., and at the same time teach them some methods of emotion regulation, such as deep breathing and calm thinking. Preschoolers with low extraversion tend to gain energy from being alone. Therefore, a quiet and comfortable personal space should be provided for them to gradually show their abilities in an environment where they feel safe and comfortable. In addition, constantly discover the shining points of preschooler, give more affirmation and appreciation, and avoid evaluating in a single dimension. It should adopt multi-dimensional evaluation to help preschoolers recognize their own strengths and potential, encourage them to foster strengths and circumvent weaknesses, teach preschooler emotional adjustment and positive attribution, and thereby cultivate preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience, helping them to develop fully.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eLimitations and Future Research\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe findings of this study should be interpreted in light of several limitations, which also offer directions for future research. First, the geographical scope of the sample imposes constraints on the generalizability of the results. The current study exclusively recruited participants from Guangdong Province, failing to encompass families across different regions of China. Given the country\u0026rsquo;s vast geographical diversity, significant variations exist in familial values, societal perceptions of paternal roles, and access to parenting resources across regions. For instance, urban-rural disparities, economic development gaps between coastal and inland areas, and cultural differences may shape the nature of fathers\u0026rsquo; involvement and how it impacts preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience. Future studies can adopt multi-stage stratified sampling, expand the sample to different regions, and include multiple variables such as urban-rural differences and family economic status, to enhance the external validity and promotion value of the research conclusions.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSecond, this study adopted a cross-sectional design, which limits the exploration of the dynamic deep causal relationship between fathers\u0026rsquo; involvement and preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience. Resilience in early childhood is a developmental construct that evolves over time, shaped by cumulative experiences of paternal care, changes in family dynamics, and children\u0026rsquo;s own growth trajectories. Thus, future studies can design longitudinal research to systematically collect data on the dynamic changes in fathers\u0026rsquo; involvement and the developmental trajectory of preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience. Statistical methods such as cross-lagged models can be used to clarify causal directions, providing a more solid empirical basis for revealing the long-term mechanism of fathers\u0026rsquo; involvement on preschoolers\u0026rsquo; resilience.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study, based on the Kumpfer’s resilience framework, explored the relationship among fathers’ involvement, preschoolers’ executive function, preschoolers’ extraversion and resilience. The results showed that, firstly, fathers’ involvement had a significant positive impact on preschoolers’ resilience. Secondly, preschoolers’ executive function played a partial mediating role in the relationship between fathers’ involvement and preschoolers’ resilience. Finally, preschoolers’ extraversion played a negative moderating role in the relationship where fathers’ involvement affected preschoolers’ resilience through executive function. To sum up, this study provided suggestions for family education, especially for fathers’ involvement, in order to promote the development of preschoolers’ resilience.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003ch2\u003eAcknowledgments\u0026nbsp;\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors are grateful to all participants in the study for their strong support.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contributions\u0026nbsp;\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eH.C.: Conceptualization, writing original draft, \u0026nbsp;revising, validation. Y.X.: Conceptualization, data collection, statistical analysis. J.G.: Funding acquisition, validation. J.Z.: Study design, revising, validation. All authors approved the final manuscript for publication.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eFunding\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis work was supported by the Ministry of Education Youth Fund Project for Humanities and Social Sciences Research (23YJC880152).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eData availability\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Ethics Review Committee (IRB) of Education School, Guangzhou University (Protocol Number: GZHUSE2025003). The process of this study strictly adheres to the ethical requirements for research involving minors, ensuring that the participation of 3- to 5-year-old preschoolers is based on the informed consent of their parents or legal guardians. All participants provided informed consent before participation. Data were kept confidential and processed anonymously.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eAuthors details\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003csup\u003e1\u003c/sup\u003eCollege of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003eDepartment of Early Childhood Education, Guangzhou Preschool Teachers College, Guangzhou, China.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003eSchool of Vocational and Technical Education, Shenzhen Polytechnic University, Shenzhen, China.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMasten AS. Global perspectives on resilience in children and youth. 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BMJ Open. 2018;8:e017858.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEspinet SD, Anderson JE, Zelazo PD. Reflection training improves executive function in preschool-age children: behavioral and neural effects. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2013;4:3\u0026ndash;15.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHerzhoff K, Kushner SC, Tackett JL. 2 - personality development in childhood. In: Specht J, editor. Personality Development Across the Lifespan. Academic; 2017. pp. 9\u0026ndash;23.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-psychology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"psyo","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Psychology](http://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"BMC Psychology","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"fathers’ involvement, preschoolers’ resilience, executive function, extraversion","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7165187/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7165187/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eObjective: \u003c/strong\u003eThis study based on the Kumpfer’s resilience framework, examines the relationship between fathers’ involvement and preschoolers’ resilience, focusing on the mediating role of preschoolers’ executive function and the moderating role of preschoolers’ extraversion.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods: \u003c/strong\u003eA cross-sectional survey was conducted with 3,303 preschoolers aged 3-5 and their fathers using four validated instruments: the Father’s Involvement Scale, the Executive Function Scale, the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for Preschoolers Second Edition, and the Extraversion Scale. A moderated mediation model was employed to analyze the relationships among fathers’ involvement, preschoolers’ resilience, executive function and extraversion.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults: \u003c/strong\u003eFathers’ involvement had a significant positive impact on preschoolers’ resilience. Executive function played a mediating role between them. Meanwhile, extraversion moderated the relationship between preschoolers’ executive function and resilience. The research results indicated that a high level of fathers’ involvement enhanced preschoolers’ resilience through their executive function. When preschoolers’ extraversion was low, the moderating effect between executive function and preschoolers’ resilience was more significant.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion: \u003c/strong\u003eThis study revealed the impact of fathers’ involvement on preschoolers’ executive function and resilience, and highlighted the moderating role of preschoolers’ extraversion. Interventions should focus on promoting the active involvement of fathers and enhancing executive function in preschoolers, particularly paying attention to different levels of extraversion, to enhance preschoolers’ resilience.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The impact of Fathers’ Involvement on Preschoolers’ Resilience: a Moderated Mediation Model","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-08 15:18:55","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7165187/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-10-21T10:54:01+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-08T21:53:19+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"302433560568209826026338847327802741532","date":"2025-10-07T19:11:44+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"333873636187150338102770090475170114246","date":"2025-10-07T12:13:16+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"227173961419757911999358817564216131177","date":"2025-09-28T03:46:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-27T17:12:13+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"114924996867065607152413119653423944447","date":"2025-09-25T19:55:01+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-09-25T17:40:26+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-09-17T05:35:32+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-08-29T12:52:16+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-07-31T14:25:43+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Psychology","date":"2025-07-31T14:20:29+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-psychology","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"psyo","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Psychology](http://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"BMC Psychology","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"adc9abec-5029-4e50-abf9-504305e4afd9","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 8th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-08T16:01:50+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7165187","link":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03774-x","journal":{"identity":"bmc-psychology","isVorOnly":false,"title":"BMC Psychology"},"publishedOn":"2025-12-03 15:57:45","publishedOnDateReadable":"December 3rd, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-08 15:18:55","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1186/s40359-025-03774-x","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-03774-x","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7165187","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7165187","identity":"rs-7165187","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}