Abstract
This study examined the effect of self-support on loneliness, the mediation effect of school belonging, and the moderation effect of self-esteem using a sample comprising 1,126 Chinese mainland primary school students, 621 are boys and 505 are girls, and their mean age was 10.51 years (SD = 1.63, range 8–13). Participants completed questionnaires regarding self-support, loneliness, school belonging and self-esteem. In the model hypothesis, self-support is an independent variable, loneliness is an outcome variable, school belonging is a mediating variable, and self-esteem is a regulatory variable. After controlling the demographic variables, the data were analyzed, and the results showed that: (1) self-support had a significantly negative predictive effect on loneliness; (2) the relation between self-support and loneliness was mediated by school belonging; and (3) the relation between school belonging and loneliness was moderated by self-esteem, supporting the moderated mediation model. Moderated mediation analysis further indicated that the mediated path make loneliness weaker for pupils with higher levels of self-esteem. These results revealed the formation mechanism of loneliness in primary school students and have certain enlightenment significance for the intervention of loneliness in primary school students. These results revealed the formation mechanism of loneliness among primary school students and have significant implications for interventions against loneliness in the primary school context.
Highlights
Individuals can experience loneliness early in their lives (Vellymalay, 2010)
The bias-corrected bootstrap method indicated that the indirect effect of self-support on loneliness through school belonging was moderated by self-esteem, with the index of the moderated mediation being −0.28, 95% [−0.29,−0.20]
The formation of a self-support personality is helpful for maintaining mental health, adapting to society, and achieving success (Xia and Huang, 2006a)
Summary
Individuals can experience loneliness early in their lives (Vellymalay, 2010). The primary school stage is an important period for the development of childhood loneliness (Liu et al, 2013). Hypothesis 2: School belonging plays a mediating role between self-support and loneliness. It is worthwhile exploring why individuals may have the same sense of school belonging but different capacities to effectively mitigate or avoid loneliness. Self-esteem can be adjusted as a protective factor This will help to reduce the negative impact caused by the lack of school belonging. This study conjectures that self-esteem plays a moderating role between school belonging and loneliness. Hypothesis 3: Self-esteem moderates the second stage of the indirect relationship between self-support quality and loneliness via school belonging. This study explores the possible mediation of school belonging between primary school students’ self-support and loneliness and the possible moderating role of self-esteem(see Figure 1)
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