The Serial Multiple Mediating Effects of Self-identity and Academic Failure Tolerance in the Relationship between Parental Attachment and School Adjustment in Early Adolescents with Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) Tendencies

This study explores the protective factors that influence positive school adjustment in early adolescents afflicted with subclinical and clinical sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) tendencies. We further examine the relationship between the variables. Specifically, the study evaluated the simple mediating effect and serial multiple mediating effects of self-identity and academic failure tolerance in the relationship between parental attachment and school adjustment in early adolescents with SCT. The study utilized data from the 12th Korean Children Panel (2019). The mediation models were tested using Models 4 and 6 of the PROCESS Macro. Our results showed that self-identity completely mediates whereas academic failure tolerance partially mediates the relationship between parental attachment and school adjustment. The serial multiple mediating effects of self-identity and academic failure tolerance in the relationship between parental attachment and school adjustment were found to be significant. Additionally, only the indirect effect of the path ‘parental attachment ⟶ self-identity ⟶ academic failure tolerance ⟶ school adjustment’ was found to be significant.