Longitudinal Impact of Parenting on Grit: Serial Mediating Effect of Gratitude and Life Satisfaction

Abstract

Despite previous research demonstrating the importance of positive parenting in fostering adolescents' grit levels, very little is known about the longitudinal pathway and underlying mechanism of this relationship. Therefore, we conducted a three-wave longitudinal study over 18 months among a sample of Chinese adolescents. Guided by the bioecological model of human development, the internal working model, and the broaden-and-build theory, we tested a serial mediation model of gratitude and life satisfaction in the parenting-grit link. A total of 660 adolescents (aged 11-15 years, mean age = 12.56 years, 46.51% girls) from Southern China responded to the paper-and-pencil questionnaire. Results supported the hypothesised serial mediating effect. That is, adolescents with positive parenting (indicated as more parental care, encouraging autonomy, and less control) tended to report higher levels of gratitude, which further promoted greater life satisfaction, and subsequently strengthened their grit levels. These findings highlight the role of gratitude and life satisfaction as joint mediating factors in the relationship between positive parenting and grit. Interventions focused on improving adolescents' grit that incorporate positive parenting practices could benefit from the approaches targeting parents' need-supportive behaviour and adolescents' psychological well-being.

Keywords: gratitude; grit; life satisfaction; parenting; serial mediation.

FIGURE 1

Hypothesised research model. Solid lines indicate hypothesised direct effects and dotted lines indicate hypothesised indirect effects.

FIGURE 2

The hypothesised structural equation model. The effects were reported in standardised values. Controlling for age, gender, and mindset T1. Solid lines indicate significant paths and dotted lines indicate non‐significant paths. The total effect of parenting on grit was shown in parenthesis. The R‐squared value shows the variance explained by predictors. *p < 0.05; ***p < 0.001.