The Impact of Parental Marital Conflict on Adolescent Self-Perception: The Mediating Role of Psychological Resilience

The Impact of Parental Marital Conflict on Adolescent Self-Perception: The Mediating Role of Psychological Resilience | 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 Parental Marital Conflict on Adolescent Self-Perception: The Mediating Role of Psychological Resilience Fei He, Jiarui Li, Yongzhi Jiang, Bo Li This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8456688/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Adolescent mental health, as a cornerstone of national development, is increasingly receiving significant attention from academia and society. The family, as the primary microsystem for individual growth, exerts a profound influence on the psychological and social adjustment of adolescents, particularly through its internal dynamics, such as the quality of parental marital relationships. Therefore, this study constructs an integrated model with resilience as a mediator, aiming to systematically reveal the psychological pathways through which parental marital conflict affects adolescent self-perception. Methods Using cluster random sampling, questionnaires were administered to students in elementary, middle, and high schools in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. A total of 5,000 adolescents from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region completed questionnaires on parental marital conflict, self-perception, and resilience. After processing, 4,145 valid and usable questionnaires were recovered, resulting in an effective response rate of 82.9%. Data were analyzed using SPSS software for correlation analysis, difference analysis, and mediation effect analysis. Results After controlling for socio-demographic variables such as gender, whether the adolescent was a left-behind child, and family location, parental marital conflict was significantly negatively correlated with a decline in adolescent self-perception levels. The mediation analysis results indicated that resilience played a complete mediating role in the relationship between the two. Specifically, parental marital conflict indirectly and negatively affected adolescent self-perception by weakening their resilience. Conclusion The findings of this study demonstrate that resilience is a key mediating mechanism through which parental marital conflict influences adolescent self-perception development. Parental marital conflict indirectly and negatively affects adolescent self-perception by significantly undermining their resilience levels. The results highlight the importance of adopting comprehensive intervention strategies. These strategies should focus on enhancing adolescent resilience while also incorporating family-level support and education, aiming to mitigate the adverse effects of family stress on adolescent psychological development at its source. Adolescent Parental Marital Conflict Self-Perception Psychological Resilience Figures Figure 1 1. Introduction Adolescent mental health constitutes a major public health issue concerning the quality of the nation's future human capital and social harmonious development.[ 1] The family system, as the primary micro-environment for individual development, exerts a foundational influence on adolescent psychosocial adjustment through its internal dynamics, especially the quality of the parental marital relationship.[ 2] The family environment is the primary environmental system adolescents encounter, and the parental relationship, as a key element within this system, profoundly shapes the development and formation of early behavioral qualities in adolescents.[ 3] Parental marital conflict refers to verbal disputes or physical aggression between spouses arising from disagreements or other reasons, often defined by characteristics such as frequency, intensity, and resolution of the conflict.[ 4] According to ecological systems theory, individuals exist within a series of nested and interacting systemic environments. Parents, as significant components of the family system[ 5] , have a considerable impact on children's physical and mental health through their marital conflicts[ 6] . As a detrimental form of family environmental stress, parental marital conflict is generally considered a significant trigger for various psychosocial adjustment issues, self-perception problems, and internal emotional difficulties in adolescents.[ 7] Self-perception, also known as self-concept, refers to the individual's representation and evaluation of themselves formed based on personal experiences and social feedback, widely recognized as a cornerstone of children's social and emotional development.[ 8] Adolescents who attribute conflict to themselves (i.e., self-blame attribution) experience higher levels of depression, anxiety, and problem behaviors. This cognitive pattern of internalizing external conflict as personal fault directly attacks their sense of self-worth, leading to more severe damage to self-perception (e.g., self-esteem, self-concept).[ 9] Family conflict, including marital conflict, can hinder the adolescent's process of self-differentiation, making it difficult to separate themselves emotionally and cognitively from family pressure, thereby affecting the establishment of an independent, stable self-identity.[ 10] Psychological resilience refers to an individual's ability or trait to successfully adapt to adversity and maintain mental health in the face of stress.[ 11] It is a capacity that protects an individual's psychological functioning and development, helping them better withstand pressure and cope with adversity.[ 12] When facing setbacks, individuals with different levels of psychological resilience exhibit distinct cognitive processing styles.[ 13] For adolescents, parental marital conflict represents one such setback in their lives. It is also considered a cognitive and emotional process through which individuals explore internal strengths and psychological resources[ 14] , crucial for adolescents in developing self-identity, forming self-perception, maturing adult personality, and serving as an important protective factor for the mental health of secondary school students. Although existing research has separately explored the negative impact of parental marital conflict on self-perception and the protective role of psychological resilience, empirical studies systematically examining how psychological resilience functions between conflict and self-perception within an integrated model remain insufficient. This is particularly true for in-depth investigations within specific contexts such as China's socio-cultural background and its urban-rural dual structure and left-behind phenomenon. This study aims to delve into the internal pathway through which parental marital conflict affects adolescent self-perception via a systematic mediation model. We focus on the following core concepts and their theoretical connections: Parental marital conflict refers to children's perceived verbal or physical confrontational behaviors between parents, characterized by frequency, intensity, resolution methods, and the child's perception of threat and self-attribution. Self-perception is the individual's overall evaluation and perception of their own abilities, values, and traits across multiple domains (e.g., academic, social, emotional), serving as the foundation for personality and social development. Psychological resilience is the dynamic process through which an individual, when facing significant stress or adversity, can mobilize internal traits (e.g., goal focus, emotional control) and external resources (e.g., family support, interpersonal assistance) to achieve successful adaptation. According to the family stress model and conservation of resources theory, chronic family stress (e.g., marital conflict) continuously depletes adolescents' psychological and emotional resources, potentially weakening their level of psychological resilience. Impaired psychological resilience resources, in turn, make it difficult for them to effectively cope with external stress and maintain positive self-evaluations, ultimately leading to a decline in self-perception. Therefore, psychological resilience is likely to play a key mediating role between parental marital conflict and self-perception. In light of this, this study poses the core research questions: Within the Chinese adolescent population, what is the relationship between parental marital conflict and self-perception? Does psychological resilience play a mediating role in the relationship between parental marital conflict and self-perception? Does the influence pathway differ among adolescent groups based on gender, left-behind status, and urban/rural location? Through empirical examination of these questions, this study aims, theoretically, to clarify the psychological mechanisms through which family risk factors affect individual development. Practically, it seeks to provide precise empirical evidence and data support for constructing targeted family and school intervention programs for adolescent mental health centered on enhancing psychological resilience, particularly for policies supporting the mental health of left-behind children and rural adolescents. 2. Methods 2.1 Participants and Procedure This study adopted the cluster sampling method to select students from primary, junior high, and senior high school stages. The distribution of gender, left-behind children status, and family location (urban/rural) was taken into consideration during the sampling process. This study has obtained the review and approval of the Medical and Life Science Ethics Committee of Inner Mongolia Minzu University (Approval No.: NMD-RT-2025-06-04), as well as the access permission from the local competent education departments and the management of each participating school. Prior to data collection, the research purpose, procedures, potential risks and rights and interests were fully explained to the parents or legal guardians of all participants to ensure that their participation was completely voluntary. All participants provided written informed consent forms signed by themselves and their guardians. All procedures of this study strictly followed the guidelines formulated by the National Research Council and the ethical standards established by the Declaration of Helsinki (1964) and its subsequent amendments. Prior to the official survey, all research assistants received two special training sessions covering the core design of the questionnaire, standardized procedures for explaining the study to students, standardized methods for answering questions, and contingency plans for handling unexpected on-site issues. Data collection was conducted in classroom time on a class basis. At the start of the survey, research assistants briefly re-explained the research purpose to the students, and specially emphasized the anonymity and confidentiality of the questionnaire. Anonymous paper questionnaires were then distributed and completed independently by the students. The time required to complete the questionnaire was approximately 20–25 minutes. A total of 5,000 questionnaires were distributed in this study, with 4,145 valid questionnaires returned, resulting in an effective response rate of 82.9%. The final sample composition was as follows: 1,890 boys (45.6%) and 2,255 girls (54.4%); 2,886 students from urban areas (69.6%) and 1,259 from rural areas (30.4%); 387 left-behind children (9.3%) and 3,758 non-left-behind children (90.7%). 2.2 Measures 2.2.1 Parental Marital Conflict Scale The "Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale" (CPIC), originally developed by Grych and Fincham (1992) and revised by Chi Liping and Xin Ziqiang (2003), was used.[ 15] The revised scale consists of three subscales: Conflict Properties, Threat Perception, and Self-Blame, comprising 38 items in total. The Conflict Properties subscale is composed of three dimensions: Conflict Frequency (items 9, 14, 18, 27, 35), Conflict Intensity (items 4, 7, 12, 22, 31, 36), and Conflict Resolution (items 2, 10, 16, 19, 28, 38). The Threat Perception subscale consists of two dimensions: Perceived Threat (items 6, 15, 24, 30, 33, 34) and Coping Efficacy (items 1, 5, 13, 21, 23, 32). The Self-Blame subscale consists of two dimensions: Self-Blame (items 8, 11, 17, 25, 26) and Conflict Content (items 3, 20, 29, 37). A 4-point Likert scale was used (1 = Very True, 2 = Sort of True, 3 = Sort of Untrue, 4 = Very Untrue). Items 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38 were reverse-scored. Higher total scores indicate a higher degree of perceived parental marital conflict by the child. Specifically, higher scores on dimensions indicate more frequent occurrences, greater intensity, poorer conflict resolution, conflict content more related to the child or greater threat perceived by the child, more pronounced self-blame tendency, and lower coping efficacy. The multi-dimensional structure accurately corresponds to the theoretical focus of this study on conflict frequency, intensity, resolution, and adolescent attribution styles. The scale demonstrated good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.879) and split-half reliability (0.880), with α coefficients for all sub-dimensions exceeding 0.657, providing a reliable data foundation for the study. In statistical analysis, its scores were not only used to examine differences across demographic groups (e.g., gender, urban/rural, left-behind status) but also served as the independent variable in correlation and mediation effect tests. Ultimately, it empirically verified the complete mediation pathway that "parental marital conflict indirectly affects self-perception by undermining psychological resilience," acting as a key bridge connecting theoretical hypotheses with data verification. 2.2.2 Adolescent Psychological Resilience Scale The "Adolescent Psychological Resilience Scale" compiled by Hu Yueqin and Gan Yiqun (2008) was used.[ 16] This scale contains 27 items, with factors including interpersonal assistance, goal focus, emotion management, and family support. Responses were rated on a 5-point scale where 1 represented "Not at all true," and 2, 3, 4, 5 represented "Not true," "Uncertain," "Somewhat true," and "Very true," respectively. Eleven items were reverse-scored. Higher total scores indicate a better level of psychological resilience. The scale's Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.85, providing a reliable measurement for the mediating variable in this study. In empirical analysis, the total score and sub-dimension scores of psychological resilience were not only used to reveal differences among groups such as gender and urban/rural location but, more crucially, served as the mediating variable in the mediation effect test using Hayes' PROCESS model. Analysis results confirmed that psychological resilience played a fully mediating role between parental marital conflict and self-perception, meaning conflict indirectly harmed self-perception by weakening adolescents' psychological resilience resources. Therefore, this scale is an indispensable measurement basis for verifying the core mediation pathway and explaining the influence mechanism in this study. 2.2.3 Self-Perception Scale The self-perception section from the "Adolescent Mental Health Diathesis Assessment Inventory" self-subscale compiled by Jiang Guangrong (2006) was used.[ 17] This scale divides self-perception into four dimensions: academic self-perception, physical self-perception, social self-perception, and emotional self-perception, comprising 19 items in total. A 5-point rating scale was used, ranging from 5 (Completely Agree) to 1 (Completely Disagree). Items t1, t6, t13, t15, t16 were reverse-scored. Higher scores represent a higher level of self-perception. It demonstrated good reliability in this study (α = 0.88), providing a reliable measurement basis for the outcome variable. In data analysis, the total score and sub-dimension scores of self-perception were not only subjects of descriptive statistics and group difference comparisons (e.g., gender, left-behind status) but also the ultimate outcome variable in the mediation effect model. The study found through testing that parental marital conflict exerted a significant indirect negative impact on adolescent self-perception level through the full mediation of psychological resilience. Therefore, this scale represents the endpoint of the empirical research chain, and its measurement results directly verify the core status of self-perception as a developmental outcome in the theoretical model. 2.3 Procedure and Data Analysis First, descriptive statistics were used to analyze sociodemographic characteristics, and Pearson's chi-square tests were employed to examine group differences. Second, given the nature of the data, Spearman's correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the associations among parental marital conflict, self-perception, and psychological resilience. Third, hierarchical regression analysis was performed using SPSS 27.0 to test the mediation effect of psychological resilience. The PROCESS macro plugin developed by Hayes was used to examine the specific mediation effects. 3. Results 3.1 Common Method Bias Test Following the suggestion by Zhou Hao and Long Lirong (2004), Harman's single-factor test was used to check for common method bias. Exploratory factor analysis results showed that the first extracted common factor accounted for 18.857% of the variance, which is below the critical threshold of 40%, indicating no significant common method bias. 3.2 Differences in Parental Marital Conflict, Self-Perception, and Psychological Resilience Across Control Variables 3.2.1 Gender Differences Using gender as the grouping variable, independent samples t-tests were conducted on parental marital conflict, psychological resilience dimensions, and overall levels (see Table 1). Results showed: Within the parental marital conflict dimensions, girls scored significantly higher than boys on the Conflict Properties dimension (78.64 ± 15.958 vs. 77.27 ± 17.169, t = -2.649, p < 0.01), but significantly lower on the Self-Blame dimension (8.39 ± 3.363 vs. 8.62 ± 3.519, t = 2.135, p 0.05). Regarding psychological resilience dimensions, boys' overall psychological resilience score (95.16 ± 17.026) was significantly higher than girls' (92.91 ± 17.214) (t = 4.219, p < 0.001). The gender difference was particularly pronounced in the Emotion Control dimension – boys scored significantly higher (21.50 ± 5.276) than girls (19.60 ± 5.579) (t = 11.278, p 0.05). 3.2.2 Left-Behind Status Differences Using left-behind status as the grouping variable, independent samples t-tests were conducted on parental marital conflict, psychological resilience, and self-perception dimensions and overall levels. Results are shown in Table 2. Regarding parental marital conflict dimensions, left-behind children's overall score (102.04 ± 23.145) was significantly higher than that of non-left-behind children (98.94 ± 20.923) (t = 2.527, p < 0.05). Examining sub-dimensions, left-behind children also scored significantly higher on Self-Blame (9.00 ± 3.608 vs. 8.44 ± 3.414, t = 2.135, p < 0.05) and Conflict Properties (80.01 ± 17.945 vs. 77.81 ± 16.370, t = 2.321, p 0.05). For psychological resilience dimensions, non-left-behind children's overall score (94.43 ± 17.194) was significantly higher than that of left-behind children (89.15 ± 16.114) (t = -6.094, p < 0.001). Furthermore, on all sub-dimensions—Goal Focus, Emotion Control, Family Support, Positive Cognition, and Interpersonal Assistance—non-left-behind children scored significantly higher than left-behind children (t-values = -4.081, -4.459, -4.713, -2.757, -4.285, respectively; p < 0.05 or p < 0.001). Regarding self-perception dimensions, non-left-behind children's overall score (61.31 ± 11.483) was significantly higher than that of left-behind children (57.91 ± 10.937) (t = -5.805, p < 0.001). On all sub-dimensions—Academic Self-Perception, Physical Self-Perception, Social Self-Perception, and Emotional Self-Perception—non-left-behind children scored significantly higher (t-values = -3.705, -3.823, -4.655, -5.247, respectively; p < 0.05 or p < 0.001) 3.2.3 Family Location Differences Using family location (urban/rural) as the grouping variable, independent samples t-tests were conducted on parental marital conflict, psychological resilience, and self-perception dimensions and overall levels. Results are shown in Table 3. For parental marital conflict dimensions, individuals from rural families had a significantly higher overall score (100.66 ± 21.240) compared to those from urban families (98.61 ± 21.094) (t = 2.867, p < 0.01). Examining sub-dimensions, rural individuals scored significantly higher on Conflict Properties (79.15 ± 16.778 vs. 77.52 ± 16.404, t = 2.904, p < 0.01) and Self-Blame (8.75 ± 3.296 vs. 8.39 ± 3.490, t = 3.552, p 0.05). For psychological resilience dimensions, urban individuals' overall score (95.51 ± 17.632) was significantly higher than that of rural individuals (90.32 ± 15.447) (t = 9.525, p < 0.001). Moreover, on all sub-dimensions—Goal Focus, Emotion Control, Family Support, Positive Cognition, and Interpersonal Assistance—urban individuals scored significantly higher than rural individuals (t-values = 8.527, 6.537, 6.615, 3.839, 6.757, respectively; p < 0.01 or p < 0.001). For self-perception dimensions, urban individuals' overall score (62.38 ± 11.676) was significantly higher than that of rural individuals (57.81 ± 10.319) (t = 12.606, p < 0.001). On all sub-dimensions—Academic Self-Perception, Physical Self-Perception, Social Self-Perception, and Emotional Self-Perception—urban individuals scored significantly higher (t-values = 12.106, 8.400, 9.018, 7.333, respectively; p < 0.001). 3.3 Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Analysis of Variables Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were conducted for the overall scores and dimensions of parental marital conflict, psychological resilience, and self-perception (n=4145). Results are shown in Table 4. Descriptive statistics show that the mean overall score for parental marital conflict was 99.23 (SD=21.157). Among its sub-dimensions, "Conflict Properties" had the highest score (M=78.01, SD=16.534). The mean overall score for psychological resilience was 93.93 (SD=17.163), with the "Interpersonal Assistance" dimension having the highest score (M=20.38, SD=5.226). The mean overall score for self-perception was 60.99 (SD=11.475), with the "Social Self-Perception" dimension having the highest score (M=17.81, SD=3.705). Correlation analysis results revealed: Parental marital conflict and psychological resilience: The overall parental marital conflict score and all its dimensions (Threat Perception, Conflict Properties, Self-Blame) were significantly negatively correlated with the overall psychological resilience score (r = -0.297, -0.169, -0.266, -0.385, respectively; p < 0.05 or p < 0.001). The highest negative correlation was between Threat Perception and Emotion Control (r = -0.413, p < 0.001). Parental marital conflict and self-perception: The overall parental marital conflict score and all its dimensions were significantly negatively correlated with the overall self-perception score (r = -0.205, -0.108, -0.178, -0.304, respectively; p < 0.05 or p < 0.001). The negative correlation between Threat Perception and Academic Self-Perception was relatively prominent (r = -0.140, p < 0.001). Psychological resilience and self-perception: The overall psychological resilience score was significantly positively correlated with the overall self-perception score (r = 0.670, p < 0.001). Among sub-dimensions, higher positive correlations were observed between Goal Focus and Academic Self-Perception (r = 0.731, p < 0.001) and between Emotion Control and Emotional Self-Perception (r = 0.615, p < 0.001). 3.4 Analysis of the Role of Psychological Resilience between Parental Marital Conflict and Self-Perception This study used Model 4 from the PROCESS 4.2 macro developed by Hayes to test the mediating effect of psychological resilience. Parental marital conflict was the independent variable, self-perception was the dependent variable, and psychological resilience was the mediating variable. Based on the demographic difference test results, three demographic variables—gender, left-behind status, and family location—were selected as control variables for the mediation effect analysis. As shown in Table 5, the indirect effect generated by psychological resilience as the mediator had a Bootstrap 95% CI of [-0.1144, -0.0889], with the confidence interval not containing 0, indicating a significant mediating effect of psychological resilience between parental marital conflict and self-perception. In the direct path, the effect of parental marital conflict on self-perception was not significant (β = -0.0035, P > 0.05). In the indirect path, the negative prediction of parental marital conflict (as a negative parenting experience proxy) on psychological resilience (as a proxy for subjective well-being in the analysis path described, though the text seems to have a slight inconsistency in variable naming here) was significant (β = -0.2323, P < 0.001), and the positive prediction of psychological resilience on self-perception level was significant (β = 0.4368, P < 0.001). Thus, psychological resilience played a fully mediating role between parental marital conflict and self-perception level. The mediation effect model is illustrated in Figure 1. 4. Discussion Based on survey data from 4,145 primary and secondary school students, this study systematically explored the relationships among parental marital conflict, psychological resilience, and self-perception, as well as demographic differences. It confirmed the fully mediating role of psychological resilience between parental marital conflict and self-perception, providing empirical evidence for understanding the mechanisms influencing adolescent mental health development. The results are discussed below in relation to both theory and practice. Regarding demographic differences across variables, the gender dimension shows significant differentiation characteristics. Girls scored significantly higher than boys on the Conflict Properties dimension of parental marital conflict but lower on the Self-Blame dimension. This aligns with previous research suggesting females are more sensitive to changes in family relationships. Girls may more easily detect specific characteristics of parental conflict such as frequency, intensity, and resolution processes, possibly due to their more nuanced emotional perception and greater concern for family harmony. Boys' higher scores on the Self-Blame dimension suggest they may be more inclined to blame themselves for parental conflict, perhaps related to socio-cultural expectations for males to be "responsible," making them more prone to self-blame tendencies in family conflicts. [ ] Concerning psychological resilience and self-perception, boys' overall levels and scores on sub-dimensions such as Emotion Control, Academic Self-Perception, and Emotional Self-Perception were significantly higher than girls'. This aligns with gender differences in adolescent psychological development. Adolescent boys tend to employ more problem-focused emotion regulation strategies, while girls are more prone to emotional rumination, leading to gender differentiation in emotion control ability. Meanwhile, higher expectations for boys' academic achievement in traditional educational environments may indirectly elevate their academic self-perception levels. However, dimensions like Interpersonal Assistance showed no significant gender differences, reflecting commonalities between genders in acquiring and utilizing social support. [ ] Differences between left-behind and non-left-behind children highlight the crucial impact of family structure on adolescent development. Left-behind children scored significantly higher than non-left-behind children on the overall parental marital conflict score and the Self-Blame and Conflict Properties dimensions, while scoring significantly lower on all dimensions of psychological resilience and self-perception. This result is consistent with previous research conclusions on the mental health risks of left-behind children. [ ] Long-term separation from parents and incomplete family functioning may exacerbate the overt nature of parental marital conflict for left-behind children. Simultaneously, lacking timely parental guidance makes them more prone to self-blame biases in conflicts. Reduced parent-child interaction directly leads to insufficient emotional support and behavioral guidance for left-behind children, thereby undermining the developmental foundation of psychological resilience and leaving them lacking effective coping resources when facing stress. [ ] The comprehensive lag in self-perception reflects that left-behind children lack sources of positive self-feedback during their growth process. Parental absence makes it difficult for them to receive timely affirmation and encouragement, and experiences in academic, social, and other domains cannot be effectively transformed into self-identity, ultimately resulting in lower self-perception levels. This further confirms the core role of family integrity and parent-child bonding in adolescent self-development. [ ] Differences in family location essentially reflect the uneven distribution of development resources between urban and rural areas. Adolescents from rural families scored significantly higher than their urban counterparts on the overall parental marital conflict score and the Conflict Properties and Self-Blame dimensions, while their psychological resilience and self-perception levels were significantly lower. Families in rural areas face relative disadvantages in terms of economic pressure and social support networks. The frequency and intensity of marital conflicts may be higher, and conflict resolution methods tend to be simpler, leading adolescents to perceive conflict characteristics more distinctly. Simultaneously, rural areas have relatively scarce educational resources and mental health services. Adolescents facing family conflict lack external support and are more prone to self-blame tendencies. The advantage urban adolescents hold in psychological resilience and self-perception benefits from the richer developmental environment they inhabit. Quality educational resources help enhance academic self-perception, a well-established social support system provides a safeguard for the development of psychological resilience, and diverse social scenarios promote the maturation of social self-perception. This result suggests that resource disparities brought about by family location indirectly affect adolescents' psychological adaptation and self-development by influencing family functioning and individual developmental environments. [ ] Regarding the correlational relationships among variables, the overall parental marital conflict score and all its dimensions showed significant negative correlations with both psychological resilience and self-perception. The negative correlation was most prominent for the Threat Perception dimension. This result supports the view of family systems theory that parental marital conflict, as a negative event within the family system, disrupts the stability of family functioning, thereby affecting adolescent psychological development. The tense, anxious atmosphere triggered by parental conflict directly undermines adolescents' emotional security, making it difficult for them to form positive coping styles, leading to a decline in psychological resilience. Simultaneously, adolescents in chronically conflictual environments may generalize the negative impact of family conflict to their self-perception, developing negative evaluations of their own academic abilities, social worth, and emotion regulation skills, ultimately resulting in lower self-perception levels. Threat Perception, as a key psychological mechanism linking parental marital conflict to adolescent development, showed high negative correlations with Emotion Control and Academic Self-Perception. This indicates that adolescents' negative expectations regarding conflict consequences directly affect their emotion regulation abilities and academic performance, thereby hindering the development of psychological resilience and self-perception. It suggests that reducing adolescents' threat perception of parental marital conflict may be an important entry point for mitigating its negative impact. [ ] Psychological resilience and self-perception overall and across dimensions showed significant positive correlations. The correlations were highest between Goal Focus and Academic Self-Perception and between Emotion Control and Emotional Self-Perception. This aligns with the logic of Conservation of Resources Theory. Psychological resilience, as a core psychological resource for coping with stress, reflects through its Goal Focus dimension an individual's ability to persist towards goals and overcome difficulties in adversity. This ability and academic self-perception mutually reinforce each other; higher academic self-perception can enhance an individual's sense of purpose, while goal focus can further consolidate academic self-perception through improved academic achievement. The Emotion Control dimension directly affects an individual's perception and regulation of their own emotions, forming a positive interaction with emotional self-perception. Stronger emotion control ability leads to clearer emotional self-perception, and vice versa. [ ] The close association between psychological resilience and self-perception indicates they mutually support and co-develop in adolescent psychological development. Positive self-perception provides intrinsic motivation for psychological resilience, while enhanced psychological resilience promotes the refinement of self-perception. This finding offers important insights for adolescent mental health interventions: enhancing either dimension—psychological resilience or self-perception—may foster the development of the other, thereby promoting the improvement of overall psychological adaptation levels. 5. Conclusion The core finding of this study is confirming that psychological resilience plays a fully mediating role between parental marital conflict and self-perception. That is, parental marital conflict indirectly lowers adolescent self-perception levels by undermining their psychological resilience. This result reveals a key pathway through which parental marital conflict affects adolescent self-development. Regarding the mechanism of action, parental marital conflict, as a chronic stressor, continuously depletes adolescents' psychological resources, leading to a decline in their psychological resilience levels. The emotional turmoil triggered by conflict weakens emotion control ability; the lack of family support reduces scores on Interpersonal Assistance and Family Support dimensions; and negative cognitions about conflict affect the formation of Positive Cognition and Goal Focus. The decline in psychological resilience further disrupts the developmental foundation of adolescent self-perception. Insufficient emotion control ability makes it difficult for them to objectively evaluate their own emotional states; lack of goal focus affects academic performance and academic self-perception; weakened interpersonal assistance ability hinders the development of social self-perception. Ultimately, through this chain mediation pathway, parental marital conflict exerts a comprehensively negative impact on adolescents' self-perception. The discovery of a full mediation effect implies that the impact of parental marital conflict on self-perception is not direct but realized through the intermediary variable of psychological resilience. This conclusion holds significant practical importance. Even if parental marital conflict cannot be completely avoided, its negative transmission to self-perception can be blocked by enhancing adolescents' psychological resilience, providing a feasible intervention direction for protecting adolescent mental health. 6. Limitations This study also has certain limitations. The sample was drawn from only one province, which may limit regional representativeness. Future research could expand the sample coverage to further validate the generalizability of the findings. Additionally, the cross-sectional design cannot establish causal relationships among variables. Future longitudinal studies could explore the dynamic developmental relationships among parental marital conflict, psychological resilience, and self-perception more deeply. 7. Implications for Interventions and Policy In summary, this study not only enriches empirical research on the impact of parental marital conflict on adolescent psychological development and clarifies the mediating mechanism of psychological resilience but also provides specific guidance for subsequent mental health education practices. Future intervention efforts can develop differentiated strategies targeting adolescents with different demographic characteristics. For example, strengthening the construction of parent-child bonds for left-behind children, supplementing educational and psychological resource support for rural adolescents, and simultaneously focusing on enhancing psychological resilience. Through methods such as emotion management training, goal-setting guidance, and building social support networks, adolescents can be helped to maintain good psychological adaptation when facing family conflict, thereby promoting the healthy development of their self-perception. Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate This study has obtained the review and approval of the Medical and Life Science Ethics Committee of Inner Mongolia Minzu University (Approval No.: NMD-RT-2025-06-04), as well as the access permission from the local competent education departments and the management of each participating school. Prior to data collection, the research purpose, procedures, potential risks and rights and interests were fully explained to the parents or legal guardians of all participants to ensure that their participation was completely voluntary. All participants provided written informed consent forms signed by themselves and their guardians. All procedures of this study strictly followed the guidelines formulated by the National Research Council and the ethical standards established by the Declaration of Helsinki (1964) and its subsequent amendments. Consent for publication All participants agree to publish. Availability of data and materials All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests Funding Key Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at Universities of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Authors' contributions LJR is responsible for article writting; HF is responsible for data collection;JYZ is responsible for data analysis;LB is responsible for make charts.All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Acknowledgements Not applicable References Li J, Song Y. Exploring Pathways for Promoting Child and Adolescent Mental Health Aligned with Chinese Practice. 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The significance of interparental conflict for children: Rationale for couple-focused programs in family therapy. European Psychologist. 2016;21(2):99-108. Lux U, Walper S. A systemic perspective on children's emotional insecurity in relation to father: links to parenting, interparental conflict and children's social well-being. Attach Hum Dev. 2019;21(5):467-484.doi:10.1080/14616734.2019.1582597. Epub 2019 Feb 27. PMID: 30810453. Brummelman E, Thomaes S. How Children Construct Views of Themselves: A Social-Developmental Perspective. Child Dev. 2017 Nov;88(6):1763-1773.doi:10.1111/cdev.12961. Epub 2017 Sep 14. PMID: 28905363. Yang A, Fang X. The Relationship Among Parents' Negative Parenting Styles, Interparental Conflict, and Adolescents' Social Adjustment. Psychological Research. 2006;(04):270-276. Xu J, Fang X, Zhang J, et al. The Mechanism of Family Functioning on Adolescent Emotional Problems. Psychological Development and Education. 2008;(02):79-85.doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2008.02.021. Kalisch R, Müller MB, Tüscher O. A conceptual framework for the neurobiological study of resilience. Behav Brain Sci. 2015;38:e92.doi:10.1017/S0140525X1400082X. Epub 2014 Aug 27. PMID: 25158686. Werner E. Risk, resilience, and recovery: Perspectives from the Kauai longitudinal study. Development and Psychopathology. 1993;5:515-526. Wang Y, Yao M, Yi M. Attentional Bias in Individuals with Different Levels of Psychological Resilience in Frustrating Situations—The Role of Positive Music. Chinese Mental Health Journal. 2015;29(06):470-475. Shi X, Qiao X, Zhao X, et al. Heterogeneous Developmental Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms in Junior High School Students and Their Relationships with Psychological Resilience and Insecure Attachment. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2023;31(04):955-959.doi:10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2023.04.037. Chi L, Xin Z. Revision of the Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale . Chinese Mental Health Journal. 2003;(08):554-556. Hu Y, Gan Y. Development and Validation of the Adolescent Psychological Resilience Scale. Acta Psychologica Sinica. 2008;(08):902-912. Jiang G, Hu B. Development of the Self Subscale of the Adolescent Mental Health Diathesis Assessment Inventory. Psychological Research. 2006;(02):95-100. Zhou Z, Zhao Z, Xu M, et al. Perceived Parental Marital Conflict and Aggressive Behavior in Middle School Students: The Roles of Positive Psychological Capital and Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction. Psychological Development and Education. 2025;41(03):420-426.doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2025.03.12. Zhao H, Zhou A, Chi H, et al. The Relationship Between Perceived Parental Marital Conflict, Parent-Child Relationship, and Adolescent Psychological Crisis: The Mediating Role of Cognitive Flexibility. Psychological Research. 2024;22(02):227-233. Li X, Fan X, Zhu S, et al. Personal Growth Initiative and Prosocial Behavior in Left-behind Children: The Roles of Coping Styles and Social Support. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2025;33(04):806-810+816.doi:10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2025.04.027. Fan X, Yan L, Jin J, et al. The Influence of Parental Care on the Development of Well-being in Left-behind Children in Grades 4-6: The Moderating Role of Positive Life Interpretation. Psychological Development and Education. 2025;41(06):859-868.doi:10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2025.06.10. Anichitoae MF, Dobrean A, Georgescu DR, et al. Association between self-related cognitions and cyberbullying victimization in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior. 2025;80: 102021. Fang Y, Cao Q, Lan Y. Analysis of the Current Status of Depression and Gender/Urban-Rural Differences Among Chinese Children and Adolescents. Chinese Preventive Medicine. 2023;24(04):380-387.doi:10.16506/j.1009-6639.2023.04.017. Li L, Yang W. The Impact of Parental Marital Conflict on Adolescent Psychological Adjustment: The Mediating Effect of Family Functioning. Modern Basic Education Research. 2022;47(03):125-132. Li C, Shang C, Wang Y, et al. The mediating role of family intimacy: negative emotions and resilience in adolescents with depressive disorders. Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2025;16:1606543. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Tables.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8456688","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":585434163,"identity":"8b8e751a-7481-4c0b-9cf1-a917ca21f79b","order_by":0,"name":"Fei He","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAyklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC+/PNx38kGEjI8bM3EKvnxrEEiQ8FNsaSPQeI1XIgx0Byxoe0xA03EojUwdhwxsCYx+BwYsPNxxtvMNTYRBPUwszcVpAM1GLcODut2ILhWFpuAyEtbAyHNxwGapFtls4xk2BsOExYCw9DgmEzUAtjm+QZIrVIMKQYM84wSFPskeAhUouBxLE0hg8GNsYSPEC/JBDjFwP+5mMMCX8k5OyPH95440ONDWEtqDYmkKIcooVUHaNgFIyCUTAyAADHwUEdXMCj+gAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fei","middleName":"","lastName":"He","suffix":""},{"id":585434166,"identity":"bd5caeba-d0f2-4568-905f-a0749cd01215","order_by":1,"name":"Jiarui Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jiarui","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":585434168,"identity":"d1e9cb53-e487-4906-a5b6-82681d8efeef","order_by":2,"name":"Yongzhi Jiang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yongzhi","middleName":"","lastName":"Jiang","suffix":""},{"id":585434169,"identity":"73602818-8228-4329-95d8-653514299719","order_by":3,"name":"Bo Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Chaoyang Finance and Economics School","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Bo","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-12-26 16:38:14","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8456688/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8456688/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":101945814,"identity":"c93e6233-e0b7-4929-a167-b7a73fbc8998","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-05 09:58:48","extension":"jpeg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":20681,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThe Mediating Effect Model of Psychological Resilience\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8456688/v1/376a84eed80fda8eb7a3bea5.jpeg"},{"id":106493966,"identity":"80a033aa-11ce-4529-823e-92e147613e75","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-09 07:59:23","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":407030,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8456688/v1/56ddcd9d-eed1-4019-8178-f0a7f3b2b851.pdf"},{"id":101946400,"identity":"73a89945-c2f2-4efc-9d42-451ea249e371","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-05 10:01:27","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":26327,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Tables.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8456688/v1/37d10765182d17cfc9209b1a.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"The Impact of Parental Marital Conflict on Adolescent Self-Perception: The Mediating Role of Psychological Resilience","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eAdolescent mental health constitutes a major public health issue concerning the quality of the nation\u0026apos;s future human capital and social harmonious development.[\u003csup\u003e1]\u003c/sup\u003eThe family system, as the primary micro-environment for individual development, exerts a foundational influence on adolescent psychosocial adjustment through its internal dynamics, especially the quality of the parental marital relationship.[\u003csup\u003e2]\u003c/sup\u003eThe family environment is the primary environmental system adolescents encounter, and the parental relationship, as a key element within this system, profoundly shapes the development and formation of early behavioral qualities in adolescents.[\u003csup\u003e3]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParental marital conflict refers to verbal disputes or physical aggression between spouses arising from disagreements or other reasons, often defined by characteristics such as frequency, intensity, and resolution of the conflict.[\u003csup\u003e4]\u003c/sup\u003eAccording to ecological systems theory, individuals exist within a series of nested and interacting systemic environments. Parents, as significant components of the family system[\u003csup\u003e5]\u003c/sup\u003e, have a considerable impact on children\u0026apos;s physical and mental health through their marital conflicts[\u003csup\u003e6]\u003c/sup\u003e. As a detrimental form of family environmental stress, parental marital conflict is generally considered a significant trigger for various psychosocial adjustment issues, self-perception problems, and internal emotional difficulties in adolescents.[\u003csup\u003e7]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSelf-perception, also known as self-concept, refers to the individual\u0026apos;s representation and evaluation of themselves formed based on personal experiences and social feedback, widely recognized as a cornerstone of children\u0026apos;s social and emotional development.[\u003csup\u003e8]\u003c/sup\u003eAdolescents who attribute conflict to themselves (i.e., self-blame attribution) experience higher levels of depression, anxiety, and problem behaviors. This cognitive pattern of internalizing external conflict as personal fault directly attacks their sense of self-worth, leading to more severe damage to self-perception (e.g., self-esteem, self-concept).[\u003csup\u003e9]\u003c/sup\u003eFamily conflict, including marital conflict, can hinder the adolescent\u0026apos;s process of self-differentiation, making it difficult to separate themselves emotionally and cognitively from family pressure, thereby affecting the establishment of an independent, stable self-identity.[\u003csup\u003e10]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePsychological resilience refers to an individual\u0026apos;s ability or trait to successfully adapt to adversity and maintain mental health in the face of stress.[\u003csup\u003e11]\u003c/sup\u003eIt is a capacity that protects an individual\u0026apos;s psychological functioning and development, helping them better withstand pressure and cope with adversity.[\u003csup\u003e12]\u003c/sup\u003eWhen facing setbacks, individuals with different levels of psychological resilience exhibit distinct cognitive processing styles.[\u003csup\u003e13]\u003c/sup\u003eFor adolescents, parental marital conflict represents one such setback in their lives. It is also considered a cognitive and emotional process through which individuals explore internal strengths and psychological resources[\u003csup\u003e14]\u003c/sup\u003e, crucial for adolescents in developing self-identity, forming self-perception, maturing adult personality, and serving as an important protective factor for the mental health of secondary school students.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough existing research has separately explored the negative impact of parental marital conflict on self-perception and the protective role of psychological resilience, empirical studies systematically examining how psychological resilience functions between conflict and self-perception within an integrated model remain insufficient. This is particularly true for in-depth investigations within specific contexts such as China\u0026apos;s socio-cultural background and its urban-rural dual structure and left-behind phenomenon. This study aims to delve into the internal pathway through which parental marital conflict affects adolescent self-perception via a systematic mediation model. We focus on the following core concepts and their theoretical connections: Parental marital conflict refers to children\u0026apos;s perceived verbal or physical confrontational behaviors between parents, characterized by frequency, intensity, resolution methods, and the child\u0026apos;s perception of threat and self-attribution. Self-perception is the individual\u0026apos;s overall evaluation and perception of their own abilities, values, and traits across multiple domains (e.g., academic, social, emotional), serving as the foundation for personality and social development. Psychological resilience is the dynamic process through which an individual, when facing significant stress or adversity, can mobilize internal traits (e.g., goal focus, emotional control) and external resources (e.g., family support, interpersonal assistance) to achieve successful adaptation. According to the family stress model and conservation of resources theory, chronic family stress (e.g., marital conflict) continuously depletes adolescents\u0026apos; psychological and emotional resources, potentially weakening their level of psychological resilience. Impaired psychological resilience resources, in turn, make it difficult for them to effectively cope with external stress and maintain positive self-evaluations, ultimately leading to a decline in self-perception. Therefore, psychological resilience is likely to play a key mediating role between parental marital conflict and self-perception.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn light of this, this study poses the core research questions: Within the Chinese adolescent population, what is the relationship between parental marital conflict and self-perception? Does psychological resilience play a mediating role in the relationship between parental marital conflict and self-perception? Does the influence pathway differ among adolescent groups based on gender, left-behind status, and urban/rural location? Through empirical examination of these questions, this study aims, theoretically, to clarify the psychological mechanisms through which family risk factors affect individual development. Practically, it seeks to provide precise empirical evidence and data support for constructing targeted family and school intervention programs for adolescent mental health centered on enhancing psychological resilience, particularly for policies supporting the mental health of left-behind children and rural adolescents.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003e2.1 Participants and Procedure\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study adopted the cluster sampling method to select students from primary, junior high, and senior high school stages. The distribution of gender, left-behind children status, and family location (urban/rural) was taken into consideration during the sampling process. This study has obtained the review and approval of the Medical and Life Science Ethics Committee of Inner Mongolia Minzu University (Approval No.: NMD-RT-2025-06-04), as well as the access permission from the local competent education departments and the management of each participating school. Prior to data collection, the research purpose, procedures, potential risks and rights and interests were fully explained to the parents or legal guardians of all participants to ensure that their participation was completely voluntary. All participants provided written informed consent forms signed by themselves and their guardians. All procedures of this study strictly followed the guidelines formulated by the National Research Council and the ethical standards established by the Declaration of Helsinki (1964) and its subsequent amendments.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrior to the official survey, all research assistants received two special training sessions covering the core design of the questionnaire, standardized procedures for explaining the study to students, standardized methods for answering questions, and contingency plans for handling unexpected on-site issues. Data collection was conducted in classroom time on a class basis. At the start of the survey, research assistants briefly re-explained the research purpose to the students, and specially emphasized the anonymity and confidentiality of the questionnaire. Anonymous paper questionnaires were then distributed and completed independently by the students. The time required to complete the questionnaire was approximately 20\u0026ndash;25 minutes.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA total of 5,000 questionnaires were distributed in this study, with 4,145 valid questionnaires returned, resulting in an effective response rate of 82.9%. The final sample composition was as follows: 1,890 boys (45.6%) and 2,255 girls (54.4%); 2,886 students from urban areas (69.6%) and 1,259 from rural areas (30.4%); 387 left-behind children (9.3%) and 3,758 non-left-behind children (90.7%).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2.2 Measures\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2.2.1 Parental Marital Conflict Scale\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u0026quot;Children\u0026apos;s Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale\u0026quot; (CPIC), originally developed by Grych and Fincham (1992) and revised by Chi Liping and Xin Ziqiang (2003), was used.[\u003csup\u003e15]\u003c/sup\u003eThe revised scale consists of three subscales: Conflict Properties, Threat Perception, and Self-Blame, comprising 38 items in total. The Conflict Properties subscale is composed of three dimensions: Conflict Frequency (items 9, 14, 18, 27, 35), Conflict Intensity (items 4, 7, 12, 22, 31, 36), and Conflict Resolution (items 2, 10, 16, 19, 28, 38). The Threat Perception subscale consists of two dimensions: Perceived Threat (items 6, 15, 24, 30, 33, 34) and Coping Efficacy (items 1, 5, 13, 21, 23, 32). The Self-Blame subscale consists of two dimensions: Self-Blame (items 8, 11, 17, 25, 26) and Conflict Content (items 3, 20, 29, 37). A 4-point Likert scale was used (1 = Very True, 2 = Sort of True, 3 = Sort of Untrue, 4 = Very Untrue). Items 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38 were reverse-scored. Higher total scores indicate a higher degree of perceived parental marital conflict by the child. Specifically, higher scores on dimensions indicate more frequent occurrences, greater intensity, poorer conflict resolution, conflict content more related to the child or greater threat perceived by the child, more pronounced self-blame tendency, and lower coping efficacy. The multi-dimensional structure accurately corresponds to the theoretical focus of this study on conflict frequency, intensity, resolution, and adolescent attribution styles. The scale demonstrated good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach\u0026apos;s \u0026alpha; = 0.879) and split-half reliability (0.880), with \u0026alpha; coefficients for all sub-dimensions exceeding 0.657, providing a reliable data foundation for the study. In statistical analysis, its scores were not only used to examine differences across demographic groups (e.g., gender, urban/rural, left-behind status) but also served as the independent variable in correlation and mediation effect tests. Ultimately, it empirically verified the complete mediation pathway that \u0026quot;parental marital conflict indirectly affects self-perception by undermining psychological resilience,\u0026quot; acting as a key bridge connecting theoretical hypotheses with data verification.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2.2.2 Adolescent Psychological Resilience Scale\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u0026quot;Adolescent Psychological Resilience Scale\u0026quot; compiled by Hu Yueqin and Gan Yiqun (2008) was used.[\u003csup\u003e16]\u003c/sup\u003eThis scale contains 27 items, with factors including interpersonal assistance, goal focus, emotion management, and family support. Responses were rated on a 5-point scale where 1 represented \u0026quot;Not at all true,\u0026quot; and 2, 3, 4, 5 represented \u0026quot;Not true,\u0026quot; \u0026quot;Uncertain,\u0026quot; \u0026quot;Somewhat true,\u0026quot; and \u0026quot;Very true,\u0026quot; respectively. Eleven items were reverse-scored. Higher total scores indicate a better level of psychological resilience. The scale\u0026apos;s Cronbach\u0026apos;s \u0026alpha; coefficient was 0.85, providing a reliable measurement for the mediating variable in this study. In empirical analysis, the total score and sub-dimension scores of psychological resilience were not only used to reveal differences among groups such as gender and urban/rural location but, more crucially, served as the mediating variable in the mediation effect test using Hayes\u0026apos; PROCESS model. Analysis results confirmed that psychological resilience played a fully mediating role between parental marital conflict and self-perception, meaning conflict indirectly harmed self-perception by weakening adolescents\u0026apos; psychological resilience resources. Therefore, this scale is an indispensable measurement basis for verifying the core mediation pathway and explaining the influence mechanism in this study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2.2.3 Self-Perception Scale\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe self-perception section from the \u0026quot;Adolescent Mental Health Diathesis Assessment Inventory\u0026quot; self-subscale compiled by Jiang Guangrong (2006) was used.[\u003csup\u003e17]\u003c/sup\u003eThis scale divides self-perception into four dimensions: academic self-perception, physical self-perception, social self-perception, and emotional self-perception, comprising 19 items in total. A 5-point rating scale was used, ranging from 5 (Completely Agree) to 1 (Completely Disagree). Items t1, t6, t13, t15, t16 were reverse-scored. Higher scores represent a higher level of self-perception. It demonstrated good reliability in this study (\u0026alpha; = 0.88), providing a reliable measurement basis for the outcome variable. In data analysis, the total score and sub-dimension scores of self-perception were not only subjects of descriptive statistics and group difference comparisons (e.g., gender, left-behind status) but also the ultimate outcome variable in the mediation effect model. The study found through testing that parental marital conflict exerted a significant indirect negative impact on adolescent self-perception level through the full mediation of psychological resilience. Therefore, this scale represents the endpoint of the empirical research chain, and its measurement results directly verify the core status of self-perception as a developmental outcome in the theoretical model.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2.3 Procedure and Data Analysis\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst, descriptive statistics were used to analyze sociodemographic characteristics, and Pearson\u0026apos;s chi-square tests were employed to examine group differences. Second, given the nature of the data, Spearman\u0026apos;s correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the associations among parental marital conflict, self-perception, and psychological resilience. Third, hierarchical regression analysis was performed using SPSS 27.0 to test the mediation effect of psychological resilience. The PROCESS macro plugin developed by Hayes was used to examine the specific mediation effects.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"3. Results","content":"\u003cp\u003e3.1 Common Method Bias Test\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing the suggestion by Zhou Hao and Long Lirong (2004), Harman\u0026apos;s single-factor test was used to check for common method bias. Exploratory factor analysis results showed that the first extracted common factor accounted for 18.857% of the variance, which is below the critical threshold of 40%, indicating no significant common method bias.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3.2 Differences in Parental Marital Conflict, Self-Perception, and Psychological Resilience Across Control Variables\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3.2.1 Gender Differences\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUsing gender as the grouping variable, independent samples t-tests were conducted on parental marital conflict, psychological resilience dimensions, and overall levels (see Table 1). Results showed: Within the parental marital conflict dimensions, girls scored significantly higher than boys on the Conflict Properties dimension (78.64 \u0026plusmn; 15.958 vs. 77.27 \u0026plusmn; 17.169, t = -2.649, p \u0026lt; 0.01), but significantly lower on the Self-Blame dimension (8.39 \u0026plusmn; 3.363 vs. 8.62 \u0026plusmn; 3.519, t = 2.135, p \u0026lt; 0.05). No significant gender differences were found for the overall marital conflict score or the Threat Perception dimension (p \u0026gt; 0.05). Regarding psychological resilience dimensions, boys\u0026apos; overall psychological resilience score (95.16 \u0026plusmn; 17.026) was significantly higher than girls\u0026apos; (92.91 \u0026plusmn; 17.214) (t = 4.219, p \u0026lt; 0.001). The gender difference was particularly pronounced in the Emotion Control dimension \u0026ndash; boys scored significantly higher (21.50 \u0026plusmn; 5.276) than girls (19.60 \u0026plusmn; 5.579) (t = 11.278, p \u0026lt; 0.001). However, gender differences in other dimensions such as Goal Focus and Family Support did not reach statistical significance (p \u0026gt; 0.05).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3.2.2 Left-Behind Status Differences\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUsing left-behind status as the grouping variable, independent samples t-tests were conducted on parental marital conflict, psychological resilience, and self-perception dimensions and overall levels. Results are shown in Table 2. Regarding parental marital conflict dimensions, left-behind children\u0026apos;s overall score (102.04 \u0026plusmn; 23.145) was significantly higher than that of non-left-behind children (98.94 \u0026plusmn; 20.923) (t = 2.527, p \u0026lt; 0.05). Examining sub-dimensions, left-behind children also scored significantly higher on Self-Blame (9.00 \u0026plusmn; 3.608 vs. 8.44 \u0026plusmn; 3.414, t = 2.135, p \u0026lt; 0.05) and Conflict Properties (80.01 \u0026plusmn; 17.945 vs. 77.81 \u0026plusmn; 16.370, t = 2.321, p \u0026lt; 0.05). The group difference on the Threat Perception dimension did not reach statistical significance (p \u0026gt; 0.05). For psychological resilience dimensions, non-left-behind children\u0026apos;s overall score (94.43 \u0026plusmn; 17.194) was significantly higher than that of left-behind children (89.15 \u0026plusmn; 16.114) (t = -6.094, p \u0026lt; 0.001). Furthermore, on all sub-dimensions\u0026mdash;Goal Focus, Emotion Control, Family Support, Positive Cognition, and Interpersonal Assistance\u0026mdash;non-left-behind children scored significantly higher than left-behind children (t-values = -4.081, -4.459, -4.713, -2.757, -4.285, respectively; p \u0026lt; 0.05 or p \u0026lt; 0.001). Regarding self-perception dimensions, non-left-behind children\u0026apos;s overall score (61.31 \u0026plusmn; 11.483) was significantly higher than that of left-behind children (57.91 \u0026plusmn; 10.937) (t = -5.805, p \u0026lt; 0.001). On all sub-dimensions\u0026mdash;Academic Self-Perception, Physical Self-Perception, Social Self-Perception, and Emotional Self-Perception\u0026mdash;non-left-behind children scored significantly higher (t-values = -3.705, -3.823, -4.655, -5.247, respectively; p \u0026lt; 0.05 or p \u0026lt; 0.001)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3.2.3 Family Location Differences\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUsing family location (urban/rural) as the grouping variable, independent samples t-tests were conducted on parental marital conflict, psychological resilience, and self-perception dimensions and overall levels. Results are shown in Table 3. For parental marital conflict dimensions, individuals from rural families had a significantly higher overall score (100.66 \u0026plusmn; 21.240) compared to those from urban families (98.61 \u0026plusmn; 21.094) (t = 2.867, p \u0026lt; 0.01). Examining sub-dimensions, rural individuals scored significantly higher on Conflict Properties (79.15 \u0026plusmn; 16.778 vs. 77.52 \u0026plusmn; 16.404, t = 2.904, p \u0026lt; 0.01) and Self-Blame (8.75 \u0026plusmn; 3.296 vs. 8.39 \u0026plusmn; 3.490, t = 3.552, p \u0026lt; 0.001). No significant group difference was found for the Threat Perception dimension (p \u0026gt; 0.05). For psychological resilience dimensions, urban individuals\u0026apos; overall score (95.51 \u0026plusmn; 17.632) was significantly higher than that of rural individuals (90.32 \u0026plusmn; 15.447) (t = 9.525, p \u0026lt; 0.001). Moreover, on all sub-dimensions\u0026mdash;Goal Focus, Emotion Control, Family Support, Positive Cognition, and Interpersonal Assistance\u0026mdash;urban individuals scored significantly higher than rural individuals (t-values = 8.527, 6.537, 6.615, 3.839, 6.757, respectively; p \u0026lt; 0.01 or p \u0026lt; 0.001). For self-perception dimensions, urban individuals\u0026apos; overall score (62.38 \u0026plusmn; 11.676) was significantly higher than that of rural individuals (57.81 \u0026plusmn; 10.319) (t = 12.606, p \u0026lt; 0.001). On all sub-dimensions\u0026mdash;Academic Self-Perception, Physical Self-Perception, Social Self-Perception, and Emotional Self-Perception\u0026mdash;urban individuals scored significantly higher (t-values = 12.106, 8.400, 9.018, 7.333, respectively; p \u0026lt; 0.001).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3.3 Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Analysis of Variables\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDescriptive statistics and correlation analysis were conducted for the overall scores and dimensions of parental marital conflict, psychological resilience, and self-perception (n=4145). Results are shown in Table 4. Descriptive statistics show that the mean overall score for parental marital conflict was 99.23 (SD=21.157). Among its sub-dimensions, \u0026quot;Conflict Properties\u0026quot; had the highest score (M=78.01, SD=16.534). The mean overall score for psychological resilience was 93.93 (SD=17.163), with the \u0026quot;Interpersonal Assistance\u0026quot; dimension having the highest score (M=20.38, SD=5.226). The mean overall score for self-perception was 60.99 (SD=11.475), with the \u0026quot;Social Self-Perception\u0026quot; dimension having the highest score (M=17.81, SD=3.705). Correlation analysis results revealed:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParental marital conflict and psychological resilience: The overall parental marital conflict score and all its dimensions (Threat Perception, Conflict Properties, Self-Blame) were significantly negatively correlated with the overall psychological resilience score (r = -0.297, -0.169, -0.266, -0.385, respectively; p \u0026lt; 0.05 or p \u0026lt; 0.001). The highest negative correlation was between Threat Perception and Emotion Control (r = -0.413, p \u0026lt; 0.001).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParental marital conflict and self-perception: The overall parental marital conflict score and all its dimensions were significantly negatively correlated with the overall self-perception score (r = -0.205, -0.108, -0.178, -0.304, respectively; p \u0026lt; 0.05 or p \u0026lt; 0.001). The negative correlation between Threat Perception and Academic Self-Perception was relatively prominent (r = -0.140, p \u0026lt; 0.001).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePsychological resilience and self-perception: The overall psychological resilience score was significantly positively correlated with the overall self-perception score (r = 0.670, p \u0026lt; 0.001). Among sub-dimensions, higher positive correlations were observed between Goal Focus and Academic Self-Perception (r = 0.731, p \u0026lt; 0.001) and between Emotion Control and Emotional Self-Perception (r = 0.615, p \u0026lt; 0.001).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3.4 Analysis of the Role of Psychological Resilience between Parental Marital Conflict and Self-Perception\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study used Model 4 from the PROCESS 4.2 macro developed by Hayes to test the mediating effect of psychological resilience. Parental marital conflict was the independent variable, self-perception was the dependent variable, and psychological resilience was the mediating variable. Based on the demographic difference test results, three demographic variables\u0026mdash;gender, left-behind status, and family location\u0026mdash;were selected as control variables for the mediation effect analysis. As shown in Table 5, the indirect effect generated by psychological resilience as the mediator had a Bootstrap 95% CI of [-0.1144, -0.0889], with the confidence interval not containing 0, indicating a significant mediating effect of psychological resilience between parental marital conflict and self-perception. In the direct path, the effect of parental marital conflict on self-perception was not significant (\u0026beta; = -0.0035, P \u0026gt; 0.05). In the indirect path, the negative prediction of parental marital conflict (as a negative parenting experience proxy) on psychological resilience (as a proxy for subjective well-being in the analysis path described, though the text seems to have a slight inconsistency in variable naming here) was significant (\u0026beta; = -0.2323, P \u0026lt; 0.001), and the positive prediction of psychological resilience on self-perception level was significant (\u0026beta; = 0.4368, P \u0026lt; 0.001). Thus, psychological resilience played a fully mediating role between parental marital conflict and self-perception level. The mediation effect model is illustrated in Figure 1.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4. Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eBased on survey data from 4,145 primary and secondary school students, this study systematically explored the relationships among parental marital conflict, psychological resilience, and self-perception, as well as demographic differences. It confirmed the fully mediating role of psychological resilience between parental marital conflict and self-perception, providing empirical evidence for understanding the mechanisms influencing adolescent mental health development. The results are discussed below in relation to both theory and practice.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRegarding demographic differences across variables, the gender dimension shows significant differentiation characteristics. Girls scored significantly higher than boys on the Conflict Properties dimension of parental marital conflict but lower on the Self-Blame dimension. This aligns with previous research suggesting females are more sensitive to changes in family relationships. Girls may more easily detect specific characteristics of parental conflict such as frequency, intensity, and resolution processes, possibly due to their more nuanced emotional perception and greater concern for family harmony. Boys' higher scores on the Self-Blame dimension suggest they may be more inclined to blame themselves for parental conflict, perhaps related to socio-cultural expectations for males to be \"responsible,\" making them more prone to self-blame tendencies in family conflicts.\u003csup\u003e[\u003c/sup\u003e\u003ca class=\"FNLink\" href=\"#Fn18\" id=\"#FNLinkFn18\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003csup\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eConcerning psychological resilience and self-perception, boys' overall levels and scores on sub-dimensions such as Emotion Control, Academic Self-Perception, and Emotional Self-Perception were significantly higher than girls'. This aligns with gender differences in adolescent psychological development. Adolescent boys tend to employ more problem-focused emotion regulation strategies, while girls are more prone to emotional rumination, leading to gender differentiation in emotion control ability. Meanwhile, higher expectations for boys' academic achievement in traditional educational environments may indirectly elevate their academic self-perception levels. However, dimensions like Interpersonal Assistance showed no significant gender differences, reflecting commonalities between genders in acquiring and utilizing social support.\u003csup\u003e[\u003c/sup\u003e\u003ca class=\"FNLink\" href=\"#Fn19\" id=\"#FNLinkFn19\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003csup\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDifferences between left-behind and non-left-behind children highlight the crucial impact of family structure on adolescent development. Left-behind children scored significantly higher than non-left-behind children on the overall parental marital conflict score and the Self-Blame and Conflict Properties dimensions, while scoring significantly lower on all dimensions of psychological resilience and self-perception. This result is consistent with previous research conclusions on the mental health risks of left-behind children.\u003csup\u003e[\u003c/sup\u003e\u003ca class=\"FNLink\" href=\"#Fn20\" id=\"#FNLinkFn20\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003csup\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003eLong-term separation from parents and incomplete family functioning may exacerbate the overt nature of parental marital conflict for left-behind children. Simultaneously, lacking timely parental guidance makes them more prone to self-blame biases in conflicts. Reduced parent-child interaction directly leads to insufficient emotional support and behavioral guidance for left-behind children, thereby undermining the developmental foundation of psychological resilience and leaving them lacking effective coping resources when facing stress.\u003csup\u003e[\u003c/sup\u003e\u003ca class=\"FNLink\" href=\"#Fn21\" id=\"#FNLinkFn21\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003csup\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e The comprehensive lag in self-perception reflects that left-behind children lack sources of positive self-feedback during their growth process. Parental absence makes it difficult for them to receive timely affirmation and encouragement, and experiences in academic, social, and other domains cannot be effectively transformed into self-identity, ultimately resulting in lower self-perception levels. This further confirms the core role of family integrity and parent-child bonding in adolescent self-development.\u003csup\u003e[\u003c/sup\u003e\u003ca class=\"FNLink\" href=\"#Fn22\" id=\"#FNLinkFn22\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003csup\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDifferences in family location essentially reflect the uneven distribution of development resources between urban and rural areas. Adolescents from rural families scored significantly higher than their urban counterparts on the overall parental marital conflict score and the Conflict Properties and Self-Blame dimensions, while their psychological resilience and self-perception levels were significantly lower. Families in rural areas face relative disadvantages in terms of economic pressure and social support networks. The frequency and intensity of marital conflicts may be higher, and conflict resolution methods tend to be simpler, leading adolescents to perceive conflict characteristics more distinctly. Simultaneously, rural areas have relatively scarce educational resources and mental health services. Adolescents facing family conflict lack external support and are more prone to self-blame tendencies. The advantage urban adolescents hold in psychological resilience and self-perception benefits from the richer developmental environment they inhabit. Quality educational resources help enhance academic self-perception, a well-established social support system provides a safeguard for the development of psychological resilience, and diverse social scenarios promote the maturation of social self-perception. This result suggests that resource disparities brought about by family location indirectly affect adolescents' psychological adaptation and self-development by influencing family functioning and individual developmental environments.\u003csup\u003e[\u003c/sup\u003e\u003ca class=\"FNLink\" href=\"#Fn23\" id=\"#FNLinkFn23\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003csup\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRegarding the correlational relationships among variables, the overall parental marital conflict score and all its dimensions showed significant negative correlations with both psychological resilience and self-perception. The negative correlation was most prominent for the Threat Perception dimension. This result supports the view of family systems theory that parental marital conflict, as a negative event within the family system, disrupts the stability of family functioning, thereby affecting adolescent psychological development. The tense, anxious atmosphere triggered by parental conflict directly undermines adolescents' emotional security, making it difficult for them to form positive coping styles, leading to a decline in psychological resilience. Simultaneously, adolescents in chronically conflictual environments may generalize the negative impact of family conflict to their self-perception, developing negative evaluations of their own academic abilities, social worth, and emotion regulation skills, ultimately resulting in lower self-perception levels. Threat Perception, as a key psychological mechanism linking parental marital conflict to adolescent development, showed high negative correlations with Emotion Control and Academic Self-Perception. This indicates that adolescents' negative expectations regarding conflict consequences directly affect their emotion regulation abilities and academic performance, thereby hindering the development of psychological resilience and self-perception. It suggests that reducing adolescents' threat perception of parental marital conflict may be an important entry point for mitigating its negative impact.\u003csup\u003e[\u003c/sup\u003e\u003ca class=\"FNLink\" href=\"#Fn24\" id=\"#FNLinkFn24\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003csup\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003ePsychological resilience and self-perception overall and across dimensions showed significant positive correlations. The correlations were highest between Goal Focus and Academic Self-Perception and between Emotion Control and Emotional Self-Perception. This aligns with the logic of Conservation of Resources Theory. Psychological resilience, as a core psychological resource for coping with stress, reflects through its Goal Focus dimension an individual's ability to persist towards goals and overcome difficulties in adversity. This ability and academic self-perception mutually reinforce each other; higher academic self-perception can enhance an individual's sense of purpose, while goal focus can further consolidate academic self-perception through improved academic achievement. The Emotion Control dimension directly affects an individual's perception and regulation of their own emotions, forming a positive interaction with emotional self-perception. Stronger emotion control ability leads to clearer emotional self-perception, and vice versa.\u003csup\u003e[\u003c/sup\u003e\u003ca class=\"FNLink\" href=\"#Fn25\" id=\"#FNLinkFn25\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003csup\u003e]\u003c/sup\u003eThe close association between psychological resilience and self-perception indicates they mutually support and co-develop in adolescent psychological development. Positive self-perception provides intrinsic motivation for psychological resilience, while enhanced psychological resilience promotes the refinement of self-perception. This finding offers important insights for adolescent mental health interventions: enhancing either dimension\u0026mdash;psychological resilience or self-perception\u0026mdash;may foster the development of the other, thereby promoting the improvement of overall psychological adaptation levels.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"5. Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe core finding of this study is confirming that psychological resilience plays a fully mediating role between parental marital conflict and self-perception. That is, parental marital conflict indirectly lowers adolescent self-perception levels by undermining their psychological resilience. This result reveals a key pathway through which parental marital conflict affects adolescent self-development. Regarding the mechanism of action, parental marital conflict, as a chronic stressor, continuously depletes adolescents' psychological resources, leading to a decline in their psychological resilience levels. The emotional turmoil triggered by conflict weakens emotion control ability; the lack of family support reduces scores on Interpersonal Assistance and Family Support dimensions; and negative cognitions about conflict affect the formation of Positive Cognition and Goal Focus. The decline in psychological resilience further disrupts the developmental foundation of adolescent self-perception. Insufficient emotion control ability makes it difficult for them to objectively evaluate their own emotional states; lack of goal focus affects academic performance and academic self-perception; weakened interpersonal assistance ability hinders the development of social self-perception. Ultimately, through this chain mediation pathway, parental marital conflict exerts a comprehensively negative impact on adolescents' self-perception. The discovery of a full mediation effect implies that the impact of parental marital conflict on self-perception is not direct but realized through the intermediary variable of psychological resilience. This conclusion holds significant practical importance. Even if parental marital conflict cannot be completely avoided, its negative transmission to self-perception can be blocked by enhancing adolescents' psychological resilience, providing a feasible intervention direction for protecting adolescent mental health.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"6. Limitations","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study also has certain limitations. The sample was drawn from only one province, which may limit regional representativeness. Future research could expand the sample coverage to further validate the generalizability of the findings. Additionally, the cross-sectional design cannot establish causal relationships among variables. Future longitudinal studies could explore the dynamic developmental relationships among parental marital conflict, psychological resilience, and self-perception more deeply.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"7. Implications for Interventions and Policy","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn summary, this study not only enriches empirical research on the impact of parental marital conflict on adolescent psychological development and clarifies the mediating mechanism of psychological resilience but also provides specific guidance for subsequent mental health education practices. Future intervention efforts can develop differentiated strategies targeting adolescents with different demographic characteristics. For example, strengthening the construction of parent-child bonds for left-behind children, supplementing educational and psychological resource support for rural adolescents, and simultaneously focusing on enhancing psychological resilience. Through methods such as emotion management training, goal-setting guidance, and building social support networks, adolescents can be helped to maintain good psychological adaptation when facing family conflict, thereby promoting the healthy development of their self-perception.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis study has obtained the review and approval of the Medical and Life Science Ethics Committee of Inner Mongolia Minzu University (Approval No.: NMD-RT-2025-06-04), as well as the access permission from the local competent education departments and the management of each participating school. Prior to data collection, the research purpose, procedures, potential risks and rights and interests were fully explained to the parents or legal guardians of all participants to ensure that their participation was completely voluntary. All participants provided written informed consent forms signed by themselves and their guardians. All procedures of this study strictly followed the guidelines formulated by the National Research Council and the ethical standards established by the Declaration of Helsinki (1964) and its subsequent amendments.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll participants agree to publish.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAvailability of data and materials\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no competing interests\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFunding\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKey Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at Universities of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAuthors\u0026apos; contributions\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLJR is responsible for article writting; HF is responsible for data collection;JYZ is responsible for data analysis;LB is responsible for make charts.All authors read and approved the final manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLi J, Song Y. 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Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2025;16:1606543.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Adolescent, Parental Marital Conflict, Self-Perception, Psychological Resilience","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8456688/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8456688/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAdolescent mental health, as a cornerstone of national development, is increasingly receiving significant attention from academia and society. The family, as the primary microsystem for individual growth, exerts a profound influence on the psychological and social adjustment of adolescents, particularly through its internal dynamics, such as the quality of parental marital relationships. Therefore, this study constructs an integrated model with resilience as a mediator, aiming to systematically reveal the psychological pathways through which parental marital conflict affects adolescent self-perception.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eUsing cluster random sampling, questionnaires were administered to students in elementary, middle, and high schools in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. A total of 5,000 adolescents from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region completed questionnaires on parental marital conflict, self-perception, and resilience. After processing, 4,145 valid and usable questionnaires were recovered, resulting in an effective response rate of 82.9%. Data were analyzed using SPSS software for correlation analysis, difference analysis, and mediation effect analysis.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAfter controlling for socio-demographic variables such as gender, whether the adolescent was a left-behind child, and family location, parental marital conflict was significantly negatively correlated with a decline in adolescent self-perception levels. The mediation analysis results indicated that resilience played a complete mediating role in the relationship between the two. Specifically, parental marital conflict indirectly and negatively affected adolescent self-perception by weakening their resilience.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe findings of this study demonstrate that resilience is a key mediating mechanism through which parental marital conflict influences adolescent self-perception development. Parental marital conflict indirectly and negatively affects adolescent self-perception by significantly undermining their resilience levels. The results highlight the importance of adopting comprehensive intervention strategies. These strategies should focus on enhancing adolescent resilience while also incorporating family-level support and education, aiming to mitigate the adverse effects of family stress on adolescent psychological development at its source.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"The Impact of Parental Marital Conflict on Adolescent Self-Perception: The Mediating Role of Psychological Resilience","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-05 09:47:26","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8456688/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"160022d3-6f6c-44bd-9076-638300fd8955","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 5th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-09T07:59:02+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-05 09:47:26","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8456688","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8456688","identity":"rs-8456688","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}