Dynamic development of psychological resources among parents and primary caregivers in the context of home-kindergarten co-education: bidirectional associations and mediating pathways in a Chinese sample.

INTRODUCTION: Against the background of China's policy emphasis on home-kindergarten co-education, this study examined the developmental patterns and interrelations of three psychological resources among parents and primary caregivers of preschool children: personal growth initiative, psychological resilience, and life satisfaction. METHODS: A mixed design combined a baseline cross-sectional survey with a three-wave longitudinal follow-up conducted at 3-month intervals over 6 months. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling from eight kindergartens (five public, three private) in five cities across three Chinese provinces. The baseline sample comprised 856 caregivers (62.03% female; mean age = 36.82 years, SD = 7.45; range 25-55 years; 50.24% holding a junior college degree or above; 87.38% married), of whom 689 completed all three waves (attrition = 19.51%). Personal growth initiative, psychological resilience, and life satisfaction were assessed with the Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale, respectively, with demographic and socioeconomic characteristics included as covariates. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlations, PROCESS-based mediation analysis with 5,000 bootstrap resamples, latent growth models, cross-lagged panel models (CLPM), random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM), and longitudinal mediation analysis. RESULTS: At baseline, the three resources were positively correlated, and psychological resilience partially mediated the association between personal growth initiative and life satisfaction. Latent growth models indicated significant increases in personal growth initiative and psychological resilience, whereas life satisfaction remained relatively stable. CLPM analyses suggested modest bidirectional associations between personal growth initiative and resilience, which were partly retained at the within-person level in the RI-CLPM, although later-wave effects were weaker. T2 psychological resilience mediated the association between T1 personal growth initiative and T3 life satisfaction. Female participants, those aged 36-45 years, and those with higher educational attainment generally reported stronger psychological resources. CONCLUSION: Psychological resilience may serve as an important bridge between proactive growth motivation and wellbeing in home-kindergarten partnership contexts. The findings provide implications for differentiated psychological support programs for families of preschool children.