Perceived social support and self-esteem as mediators of the relationship between parental attachment and life satisfaction among Chinese adolescents

•Paternal and maternal attachment positively related to life satisfaction.•Perceived social support and self-esteem positively related to life satisfaction.•Perceived social support and self-esteem were two mediators in this relationship.•Perceived social support was a stronger mediator than self-esteem.

This study aimed to examine whether the relationship between adolescents' paternal and maternal attachment and life satisfaction was mediated by perceived social support and self-esteem and identify which mediator had a stronger indirect effect. The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were distributed to 1835 Chinese adolescents (nearly 50% male; 51% in junior-high school; aged 10-20 years, M = 14.831 years, SD = 2.923) from seven provinces. Descriptive statistics, regression, correlation, and mediation analyses were conducted to test our hypotheses. The results indicated that perceived social support and self-esteem partially mediated the relationship between paternal and maternal attachment and life satisfaction. Furthermore, the indirect effect of perceived social support was stronger than that of self-esteem. These findings perhaps provide insight into the preliminary effect of parental attachment on life satisfaction among Chinese adolescents.