Linking Family and School Support to Emotional Health Through Psychological Resilience: Evidence from Sichuan Undergraduates
List of Authors
Syeda Rabia Tahir1, Zhou Xuan
Keyword
Family Support; School Support; Psychological Resilience Emotional Health
Abstract
Emotional health among undergraduate students has become a critical global public health concern and an essential indicator of educational quality, particularly within the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4: Quality Education), which emphasizes inclusive, equitable, and supportive learning environments. Ensuring students’ emotional well-being is increasingly recognized as a foundational condition for effective learning, academic engagement, and sustainable educational development. Focusing on undergraduate students in Sichuan Province, China, this qualitative study examines how family support and school support influence emotional health and psychological resilience within a regional higher education context. Guided by an interpretive qualitative research paradigm, the study adopts a systematic literature analysis and theoretical integration approach to synthesize empirical evidence and conceptual insights. Drawing on social support theory, psychological resilience theory, and emotional health theory, the study develops an integrated analytical framework to explain the roles of multiple support systems in student development. The findings indicate that family support—particularly emotional empathy and stable instrumental assistance—functions as a foundational resource that strengthens students’ psychological resilience by enhancing internal coping capacities and adaptive cognition. In contrast, school support, including formal psychological services and supportive campus environments, exerts a direct positive influence on emotional health by reducing emotional distress and promoting emotional regulation. Rather than operating independently, family and school support function as complementary protective systems, shaping undergraduate students’ emotional well-being through distinct yet interconnected pathways. This study contributes to the literature by addressing the lack of integrative analyses of dual support systems within a unified framework and by offering a localized theoretical perspective on undergraduate emotional health in Sichuan. The findings highlight the importance of coordinated family–school support strategies and equity-oriented interventions in advancing students’ emotional well-being and supporting the realization of SDG 4 in higher education.