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Parental Resilience and Adolescent Mental Well-Being: A Population-Based Study
Christian J Wiedermann1, Verena Barbieri1, Giuliano Piccoliori1
1Institute of General Practice and Public Health, Claudiana College of Health Professions, 39100 Bolzano, Italy.
Children (Basel, Switzerland)
|May 27, 2026
Summary
Parental resilience, the ability to adapt to stress, is linked to better adolescent mental health. This connection is independent of family support, suggesting resilience-building programs can improve youth well-being.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Public Health
- Developmental Science
Background:
- Adolescence is a critical developmental stage for mental health.
- The family environment significantly influences adolescent well-being.
- Parental resilience, a key psychological resource, has scarce population-based evidence regarding its impact on adolescent mental health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between parental resilience and adolescent mental well-being.
- To examine if perceived family support mediates this relationship.
- To explore potential moderation by adolescent sex or developmental stage.
Main Methods:
- Population-based cross-sectional study of 2004 adolescents (aged 11-19) in Italy.
- Assessed parental resilience (Brief Resilience Scale), perceived social support (MSPSS), and multiple adolescent mental well-being indicators (KIDSCREEN-10, SDQ, PHQ-2, SCARED, HBSC-SCL).
- Utilized regression and mediation analyses (PROCESS macro with bootstrapping).
Main Results:
- Parental resilience was independently associated with better adolescent health-related quality of life and fewer emotional, depressive, anxiety, and psychosomatic symptoms.
- Associations between parental resilience and perceived family support were weak.
- Family support did not mediate the relationship, and no moderation by sex or developmental stage was found.
Conclusions:
- Parental resilience is directly linked to various dimensions of adolescent mental well-being, separate from perceived social support.
- Strengthening parental resilience may be a viable strategy for promoting adolescent mental health at a population level.
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