Self-Compassion Mediates the Longitudinal Associations of Perceived Social Support With Individual Adjustment Among Chinese Parents of Kindergarten-Aged Children.

Previous research has documented positive associations between perceived social support and individual adjustment. However, little is known about the potentially unique implications of different sources of support for different indicators of adjustment among parents, not to mention the possible underlying mechanism. This study examined the longitudinal associations of family, friend, and community support with changes in psychological, social, cognitive, and physical adjustment among Chinese parents of young children. It also tested whether these associations were mediated by self-compassion. Questionnaire data were collected from 947 Chinese parents (88% mothers; 62% aged 31-40 years) of kindergarten-aged children in Hong Kong, China, at two time points about 6 months apart. At Time 1, parents reported on their social support and self-compassion. At Times 1 and 2, parents reported on their psychological, social, cognitive, and physical adjustment. Path analyses indicated that family support was associated with increases in psychological, social, and physical adjustment, although self-compassion did not mediate these associations. Meanwhile, self-compassion fully mediated the longitudinal associations of friend and community support with psychological, social, cognitive, and physical adjustment. Theoretically, findings underscored the potentially unique contributions of family, friend, and community support to parental adjustment and the importance of considering self-compassion when studying the implications of social support. Practically, findings pointed to the possible utility of targeting social support and cultivating self-compassion as means to enhance the adjustment of Chinese parents of young children.