From community support to subjective well-being: an integrative moderated mediation model of resilience and parenting stress in rural contexts
Abstract
Background Amidst rural revitalization, parents in rural areas navigate the complex dual responsibilities of structural socio-economic transition and intensive family education. While subjective well-being (SWB) is a critical indicator of parental psychological health, the statistical pathways that may account for the association between external community resources and internal well-being—and the boundary conditions of this process—remained underexplored. Methods Drawing upon the Family Demands-Resources (FD-R) model and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study proposed and tested an integrative model. We specified psychological resilience as a statistical mediator of the association between community embedded support and SWB, with parenting stress moderating the latter stage of this indirect association. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 358 rural parents (males 30.45%, females 69.55%), utilizing validated psychometric instruments (WHO-5, CD-RISC, PSI-SF, and PCSQ). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to examine the structural relationships. Results The findings indicated that CES was positively associated with SWB, with psychological resilience serving as a significant partial mediator. Furthermore, parenting stress moderated the latter stage of the indirect association. The index of moderated mediation was significant, and the conditional indirect association between CES and SWB through psychological resilience became weaker as parenting stress increased. This pattern was consistent with a resource-depletion explanation. Conclusion These findings highlight the joint relevance of community resources, psychological resilience, and parenting stress to rural parents’ SWB. Psychological resilience may help explain the association between CES and SWB, but this indirect association was weaker among parents reporting higher parenting stress.