Parent-child relationship and preschoolers' social skills: the cross-time chain mediating role of executive function and emotion regulation

Yan-Wei LI; Yu-Qi SHAO; Qun-Ya ZENG; Teng TIAN; Dan LI; Meng-Meng YAO; Xia CHI

doi:10.7499/j.issn.1008-8830.2506084

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Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics ›› 2026, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (3) : 336-341. DOI: 10.7499/j.issn.1008-8830.2506084

CLINICAL RESEARCH

Parent-child relationship and preschoolers' social skills: the cross-time chain mediating role of executive function and emotion regulation

Yan-Wei LI ¹ ,
Yu-Qi SHAO ¹ ,
Qun-Ya ZENG ² ,
Teng TIAN ¹ ,
Dan LI ¹ ,
Meng-Meng YAO ³ ,
Xia CHI ³

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Abstract

Objective To examine the effect of the quality of the parent-child relationship on preschoolers' social skills and the cross-time chain mediating roles of executive function and emotion regulation. Methods Using stratified random sampling, 518 preschoolers aged 3-5 years in Nanjing were followed for one year in a two-wave longitudinal design. Questionnaires were used to assess the quality of the parent-child relationship, executive function, emotion regulation, and social skills. Results Pairwise correlations among the quality of the parent-child relationship (Time 1, T1), executive function (T1), emotion regulation (Time 2, T2), and social skills (at T1 and T2) were all significant (P<0.001). The quality of the parent-child relationship (T1) predicted preschoolers' social skills (T2) through the independent mediating effect of emotion regulation (T2), which accounted for 56.25% of the total indirect effect, and through the cross-time chain mediating effect of executive function (T1) and emotion regulation (T2), which accounted for 31.25% of the total indirect effect. Conclusions Executive function and emotion regulation play a cross-time chain mediating role in the link between the parent-child relationship and preschoolers' social skills.

Key words

Parent-child relationship / Social skill / Executive function / Emotion regulation / Cross-time chain mediating model / Preschooler

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Yan-Wei LI , Yu-Qi SHAO , Qun-Ya ZENG , et al . Parent-child relationship and preschoolers' social skills: the cross-time chain mediating role of executive function and emotion regulation[J]. Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics. 2026, 28(3): 336-341 https://doi.org/10.7499/j.issn.1008-8830.2506084

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