Strength-Based Parenting and Self-Harm Behaviors in Adolescents: Testing the Buffering Hypothesis of Perceived Social Support

This study tested the moderating role of social support from family sources in the relationship between strength-based parenting and self-harming academic behaviors in adolescents. In this correlational study, the statistical population consisted of senior high school students in District 11 of Tehran during the 2022-2023 academic year. A sample of 230 adolescents aged 16 to 18 (with a mean age of 17.10 and a standard deviation of 0.59) was selected through convenience sampling. Participants completed the Strength-Based Parenting Scale (Jack et al., 2018), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet et al., 1988), and the Academic Health Inhibitors Behaviors Questionnaire (Salehzadeh et al., 2017). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and hierarchical regression analysis through SPSS software. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis, emphasizing the statistical significance of the interactive effect of strength-based parenting and social support from family sources, supported the model of the buffering hypothesis of stress. This indicates a moderating role of social support in the relationship between strength-based parenting and self-harming academic behaviors, including learned helplessness, help-seeking avoidance, academic procrastination, effort avoidance, and maladaptive perfectionism. The study provided evidence for the causal moderating model of social support from family sources in the relationship between strength-based parenting and self-harming academic behaviors, highlighting the importance of understanding the functional characteristics of the parenting context in predicting self-harming academic behaviors in learners through informational backgrounds and supportive experiences in the parent-adolescent relationship.