Relations between perceived parental acceptance-rejection and adaptive mental health in Chinese junior high school students: a latent profile analysis

This study uses a person-centered analysis approach to explore the latent patterns of perceived parental co-parenting and their relations with adaptive mental health in Chinese junior high school students from a consolidated perspective of the Parental Acceptance-Rejection theory and Family System theory. A total of 899 junior high school students (48.6% were girls) from Chongqing and Changsha in China responded on self-reported measures of perceived parental acceptance-rejection and adaptive mental health, and the data were analyzed using latent profile analysis and regression mixed model analysis methods. The results show that co-parenting patterns with parental acceptance-rejection could be divided into five sub-groups: parental moderate acceptance and low rejection group (31.70%), parental low acceptance and low rejection group (23.69%), maternal moderate acceptance and low rejection with paternal moderate acceptance-rejection group (9.23%), parental high rejection and low acceptance group (7.57%), and parental high acceptance with low rejection group (27.81%). The perception of moderate to high levels of acceptance/warmth is the predominant feeling among current junior high school students toward parental co-parenting, which is most beneficial for their adaptive mental health. Conversely, individuals who perceive high level of parental rejection and low level of acceptance constitute the smallest proportion and exhibit the most adverse outcomes in terms of adaptive mental health. These findings provide theoretical and practical guidance for parents, educators, and counselors to enhance the synergy of warm and accepting co-parenting practices, strengthen parent-child affectionate communication, and ultimately improve the adaptive mental health of Chinese junior high school adolescents.