The impact of perceived parental conflict and school protective factors on chronic stress among Chinese adolescents: a network analysis perspective.

Background: Chronic stress poses an insidious and cumulative threat to adolescent health. Although family and school environments play pivotal roles, previous research has predominantly examined these domains in isolation. The ways in which familial risks and school protective factors interact to influence chronic stress remain underexplored. To address this gap, this study employs network analysis to elucidate the complex interplay between perceived parental conflict, school protective factors, and chronic stress among Chinese adolescents, thereby providing empirical evidence for multidimensional environmental interventions. Methods: Employing a combination of convenience and cluster sampling, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 740 Chinese adolescents (323 males, 43.65%; 417 females, 56.35%; mean age = 16.54 ± 1.15 years). Measurement instruments included the Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale, the Perceived Emotional Support from Teachers Questionnaire, the Perceived School Climate Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale. Using R version 4.5.2 and the EBICglasso algorithm, a network comprising perceived parental conflict, perceived emotional support from teachers, school climate, and chronic stress was constructed. Node centrality and bridge centrality were computed, followed by accuracy and stability tests. Results: (1) Teacher caring and teacher support exhibited the highest node strength (1.23 and 1.19, respectively) and expected influence, identifying them as core nodes within the network. (2) Teacher support demonstrated a bridge strength greater than 0.60, serving as a critical bridge between family and school ecosystems. (3) Peer support showed the strongest direct negative partial correlation with chronic stress (β = -0.190). Notably, chronic stress itself displayed low node strength and a predictability of only 27.8%. This indicates that it occupies a peripheral position in the psychological network, manifesting more as a concomitant distal state rather than a core trait driving changes in other variables. (4) A strong positive association bridge emerged among threat, coping self-efficacy, and chronic stress. In the context of perceived parental conflict, the forced mobilization of coping self-efficacy may be accompanied by a simultaneous elevation in chronic stress levels. Conclusion: Teacher caring and teacher support are associated with critical hubs for family-school collaborative interventions targeting adolescent chronic stress, while peer support is associated with the most direct protective factor. Future interventions should prioritize strengthening teacher and peer support and avoid the blind enhancement of coping self-efficacy in uncontrollable family scenarios, thereby providing a solid empirical foundation for collaborative family-school prevention.