ABSTRACT
Objective:To explore the effect of self-esteem and sibling relationships on the links of parental cohesion and internalizing problems in junior high school students based on the family system theory.Methods:A total of 565 junior high school students were investigated with the sibling relationship questionnaire, parent-child cohesion questionnaire, self-esteem scale and internalizing problems questionnaire from April to June 2021.SPSS 26.0 was used for descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis.PROCESS was used to examine the mediating and moderating effect.Results:Maternal-child cohesion was positively correlated with self-esteem and sibling warmth ( r=0.36, 0.58, both P<0.01), while it was negatively correlated with internalizing problems and sibling conflict ( r=-0.29, -0.25, both P<0.01). Similarly, paternal-child cohesion was positively correlated with self-esteem and sibling warmth ( r=0.37, 0.51, both P<0.01), and it was negatively correlated with internalizing problems and sibling conflict ( r=-0.36, -0.21, both P<0.01). The self-esteem played a partial mediating role between maternal-child cohesion and internalizing problems ( β=-0.09, 95% CI=-0.14--0.05), and the mediating value was 30.13%.The self-esteem also played a partial mediating role between paternal-child cohesion and internalizing problems ( β=-0.07, 95% CI=-0.11--0.04), and the mediating value was 25.36%.Sibling warmth could improve the positive effect of maternal-child cohesion on self-esteem ( β=0.06, 95% CI=0.01-0.11), while could offset the negative effects of low level of maternal-child cohesion against the internalizing problems ( β=0.10, 95% CI=0.04-0.16). But sibling conflict did not significantly predict the effects of maternal-child cohesion on self-esteem and internalizing problems.Similarly, sibling warmth could improve the positive effect of paternal-child cohesion on self-esteem ( β=0.05, 95% CI=0.01-0.09), while could offset the negative effects of low level of paternal-child cohesion against the internalizing problems ( β=0.09, 95% CI=0.03-0.15). But sibling conflict could reduce the positive impact of paternal-child cohesion and self-esteem ( β=-0.05, 95% CI=-0.09--0.01), while had no effect on the impact of paternal-child cohesion and internalizing problems. Conclusion:Parent-child cohesion not only directly affects the internalizing problems, but also indirectly affects the internalizing problems through the self-esteem.Positive parent-child cohesion and sibling warmth relationships can improve the individual's self-esteem level and reduce the internalizing problems.