Work

The influence of childhood socioeconomic status on Chinese female university students’ fertility intentions: the chain mediating effect of parental emotional warmth and subjective well-being

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Objective: This study examines the impact of childhood socioeconomic status on Chinese female university students' fertility intentions and the mechanisms by which parental emotional warmth and subjective well-being play a role. Method: A total of 590 female university students at Gannan Medical University completed questionnaires. The childhood socioeconomic status scale, the simplified parenting styles questionnaire, the index of well-being, and fertility intention scale were used to measure childhood socioeconomic status, parental emotional warmth, subjective well-being, and Chinese female university students' fertility intentions. Results: (1) Childhood socioeconomic status, parental emotional warmth, subjective well-being, and fertility intentions among Chinese female university students were significantly positively correlated; (2) Childhood socioeconomic status significantly and positively predicted the fertility intentions of Chinese female university students; (3) Fathers' emotional warmth and subjective well-being played separate mediating roles in the influence of childhood socioeconomic status on the fertility intentions of Chinese female university students; and (4) Parental emotional warmth and subjective well-being were chain mediators of the effect of childhood socioeconomic status on Chinese female university students' fertility intentions. Conclusion: The results indicate that childhood socioeconomic status influences the fertility intentions of Chinese female university students both directly and indirectly. The indirect effect occurs through a chain mediation process involving parental emotional warmth and subjective well-being.

Source: Frontiers in Psychology

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1620780