Abstract: Objective To explore the effects of parental support on academic stress of junior high school students and its mechanism of action,analyze the mediating role of temperamental optimism and academic self-efficacy between parental support and academic stress of junior high school students. Methods In June 2023,550 junior high school students from three middle schools in Baoji City of Shaanxi Province and Lanzhou City of Gansu Province were surveyed using the parental support questionnaire,the academic stress questionnaire for middle school students,the academic self-efficacy scale and the life orientation test,and the data were analyzed. Results The scores of parental support,academic pressure,temperamental optimism and academic self-efficacy among 550 junior high school students were （61.04±13.20）,（21.45±3.52）,（17.58±3.99） and （63.31±14.05）points,respectively. There were statistically significant differences in the academic self-efficacy scores among junior high school students of different genders and grades（all P<0.01）. There were statistically significant differences in the scores of parental support and academic pressure among junior high school students of different genders and whether their parents were divorced（all P<0.01）. There was statistically significant difference in the score of temperamental optimism among junior high school students whose parents were divorced or not（P<0.05）. The parental support positively predicted the academic self-efficacy and temperamental optimism of junior high school students（r=0.311,0.321,both P<0.01）,negatively predicted the academic stress of junior high school students（r=-0.355,P<0.01）. The temperamental optimism negatively predicted academic stress of junior high school students（r=-0.378,P<0.01）. The academic self-efficacy negatively predicted academic stress of junior high school students（r=-0.411,P<0.01）,and positively predicted temperamental optimism of junior high school students（r=0.597,P<0.01）. The temperamental optimism and academic self-efficacy both played a mediating role between parental support and academic pressure in junior high school students,with the former having a mediation effect value of -0.054,accounting for 14.48% of the total effect,and the latter having a mediation effect value of -0.038,accounting for 10.19% of the total effect. The temperamental optimism and academic self-efficacy played a chain mediated role between parental support and academic pressure in junior high school students,with the chain mediation effect value of -0.043,accounting for 11.53% of the total effect. Conclusion The academic pressure of junior high school students is influenced by various factors,the parental support can not only directly affect the academic pressure of junior high school students,but also indirectly affect their academic pressure through the chain mediation of temperament optimism and academic self-efficacy.

Key words: Parental support, Academic stress, Temperamental optimism, Academic self-efficacy, Junior high school students