Perceived social support mitigates the associations among household chaos and health and well-being in rural early adolescents.

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that early adolescents residing in chaotic households experience adverse health and well-being outcomes. However, the potential protective factors that mitigate the relationship between household chaos and early adolescents' health and well-being remain unknown. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate whether perceived social support moderates the link between household chaos and the health and well-being among Chinese rural early adolescents. Physical health difficulties were assessed using two measures: general health and allostatic load (AL). Mental health difficulties were measured by depression. Well-being was reflected by life satisfaction. Specifically, this study included early adolescents (N = 337; Mage = 10.88 ± 1.36 years) from rural counties in China who reported their household chaos, perceived social support, general health, depression, and life satisfaction. AL scores were determined based on six physiological indices. Household chaos exhibited a negative relationship with the general health and life satisfaction while a positive correlation with depression. Moreover, perceived social support was found to moderate the association between household chaos and these health and well-being indicators of early adolescents. Specifically, early adolescents who reported higher levels of perceived social support exhibited weaker negative connections among household chaos and their general health, depression, and life satisfaction. Furthermore, no significant relationships were observed between the adolescents' AL and household chaos, perceived social support, or their interactions. Household chaos poses a significant risk to health and well-being. Furthermore, the findings indicate that perceived social support can mitigate these negative effects.