Perceived parental warmth, emotional stability, and academic burnout of adolescents: a longitudinal mediation study

This longitudinal study explored whether there are differences between the associations of perceived paternal and maternal emotional warmth to Chinese adolescents' academic burnout. It also investigated whether emotional stability mediates the potential association of perceived parental emotional warmth and academic burnout. Four scales were used to measure perceived paternal and maternal emotional warmth and emotional stabilities. Participants were 404 adolescents (46.8% males, M age=13.36 years, SD = 1.50 years) who were monitored for approximately 1 year. The results indicated that there is no statistically significant link between perceived parental emotional warmth and students' academic burnout. However, emotional stability was found to mediate the link between perceived maternal (but not paternal) emotional warmth and academic burnout. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the role of emotional stability in the association between perceived maternal emotional warmth and academic burnout.