The Association Between Maternal Control and Sense of Coherence in Chinese Adolescents: Self-Efficacy as a Mediator and Stressful Life Events as a Moderator

Both parental support and overprotection have been found to be associated with adolescents’ sense of coherence (SOC) in prior studies. It is unclear, however, whether and how parental control, a more pervasive parenting behavior in Chinese families, is associated with adolescents’ SOC. Therefore, the present study investigated the direct and indirect relationships between maternal control and adolescents’ SOC through adolescents’ self-efficacy as well as the moderation of stressful life events. A total of 1233 Chinese adolescents (631 boys and 602 girls) completed the Chinese versions of the short-form Sense of Coherence scale (SOC-13), the maternal control subscale of the Parental Bonding Instrument, the General Self-Efficacy Scale and a revised Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist. Girls reported lower SOC than boys, and junior high school students reported higher SOC than senior high school students. Maternal control had direct and indirect associations with adolescents’ SOC via self-efficacy, and the relationship between self-efficacy and SOC was moderated by stressful life events. Specifically, the association between self-efficacy and SOC was stronger for adolescents with lower-intensity stressful life events than for those with higher-intensity stressful life events. The relationship between the interaction of stressful life events with self-efficacy and adolescents’ SOC was different for senior high school and junior high school students.