Parental and peer attachment and adolescents' behaviors: The mediating role of psychological suzhi in a longitudinal study

We examined whether psychological suzhi mediated the associations between attachment (paternal, maternal, and peer) and young adolescents' behavior (internalizing, externalizing, and prosocial) in a longitudinal study. Psychological suzhi reflects the positive psychological traits that facilitate adolescents' positive adaptation to the school and social environment. Five hundred and ninety-five junior high school students (48% male; aged 11-15 years, M = 12.86 years, SD = 0.71) completed measures of attachment and psychological suzhi at Times 1 and 2 (a six-month interval), while students' parents completed measures of adolescents' behavior at Time 3 (another six months later). We observed significant longitudinal correlations between attachment, psychological suzhi, and behavior. Prospective analyses using bootstrapping demonstrated significant indirect effects of attachment on adolescent behavior via psychological suzhi. These findings highlighted the importance of attachment and psychological suzhi as protective factors in the developmental course of early adolescents' behavior.