Lenient-Understanding Parenting and the Academic Grit of Secondary School Students: The Mediating Effects of Academic Interest and the Sense of Meaning in Study Xiaona Li, 1,2 Xiaohua Li, 1 Huashan Liu2 1. School of Education, Long Dong University, Qingyang 745000, Gansu, China. 2. School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, Hubei, China. Abstract: The study investigates how lenient-understanding parenting affects the academic grit of secondary school students from the perspective of positive psychology, based on a questionnaire survey of 2,101 secondary school students. Its research findings reveal a significantly positive correlation between lenient-understanding parenting and student academic grit, which is mediated by student academic interest and the student’s sense of meaning in study. Best Evidence in Chinese Education 2025; 20(1):1965-1968 DOI: 10.15354/bece.25.ar150 How to Cite: Li, X., Li, X., & Liu, H. (2025). Lenient-understanding parenting and the academic grit of secondary school students: The mediating effects of academic interest and the sense of meaning in study. Best Evidence in Chinese Education, 2025, 20(1):1965-1968. Keywords: Lenient-Understanding Parenting; Academic Grit; Academic Interest; Sense of Meaning in Study Wang. (China). The Impact of Teacher Leadership. BECE, Vol.20, No.1, 2025 1966 About the Author: Xiaona Li, School of Education, Long Dong University, Qingyang 745000, Gansu, China; School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, Hubei, China. E-mail: hzd76@163.com Correspondence to: Xiaona Li at Long Dong University and Central China Normal University in China. Conflict of Interests: None Funding: No funding sources declared. AI Declaration: The author affirms that artificial intelligence did not contribute to the process of preparing the work. Introduction his study investigates the relationship between lenient-understanding parenting and the academic grit of secondary school students and analyzes the mediating effects of student academic interest and the student’s sense of meaning in study on the relationship, from the perspective of positive psychology. The study’s results reveal the positive effects of lenient-understanding parenting on academic progress of secondary school students, which provide new perspectives on school and home education, as well as evidence for relevant education policies and practices. Research Methodology Sources of Data Using the method of cluster sampling, the study surveyed 2,300 secondary school students through questionnaires. A total of 2,101 valid questionnaires (97.72% of the questionnaires distributed) were retrieved. The sample consists of 1,233 male and 868 female students, with an average age of 16.012 years. Among them, 681 were junior secondary, 1,164 senior secondary, and 256 vocational students. The Analysis Model and Variables A mediating effect model was created to facilitate a thorough examination of how lenient-understanding parenting affects the academic grit of secondary school students. In this model, lenient-understanding parenting is the core explanatory variable, measured with the Parenting Style Questionnaire developed by Zhang and Liu (2013). Student academic grit is the dependent variable, assessed with the Secondary School Student Grit Self-Report Scale created by Li et al. (2020). For a more precise evaluation of the effects of lenient-understanding parenting on student academic grit, the study introduces two mediating variables, namely student academic interest and the student’s sense of meaning in study. They are measured with the Interest- Enjoyment Subscale from the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (Markland & Hardy, 1997) and the subscale with the items on the meaning of study and its T mailto:hzd76@163.com Wang. (China). The Impact of Teacher Leadership. BECE, Vol.20, No.1, 2025 1967 pursuit from the Senses of Meaning in Life Scale (adapted by Cheng et al., 2019), respectively. The study conducts Pearson correlation analysis and mediation effect analysis via Model 6 of the PROCESS macro developed by Hayes, using the software SPSS 24.0. Research Findings  There is a significant positive correlation between lenient- understanding parenting and student academic grit (r = 0.268, p < 0.01), indicating that this parenting style can directly predict student academic grit.  Student academic interest and the student’s sense of meaning in study have significant mediating effects on the relationship between lenient-understanding parenting and student academic grit, including (i) the independent mediating effect of student academic interest, with an effect size of 0.091, accounting for 34.04% of the total effect; (ii) the independent mediating effect of the student’s sense of meaning in study, with an effect size of 0.005, accounting for 1.91% of the total effect; (iii) the chain mediating effect of student academic interest and the student’s sense of meaning in study, with an effect size of 0.013, accounting for 4.89% of the total effect. The combined mediation effects account for 40.84% of the total effect, with student academic interest contributing the most (34.04%).  Lenient-understanding parenting heightens student academic grit by fostering their academic interest and senses of meaning in study. © 2025 Insights Publisher. All rights reserved. Creative Commons NonCommercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed by the Insights Publisher. Reference: Cheng, J., Yang, R., Guo, K., Yan, J., & Ni, S. (2019). The role of the family in boosting the hopes of vocational college students: the mediating effects of the meaning of life and its pursuit. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 27(03), 577-581. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16128/j.cnki.1005- 3611.2019.03.030. Li, X., Li, X., Wang, X., & Xia, Y. (2020). The impact of inter-classmate relationships on the cultivation of grit in junior secondary school students: The mediating effect of self-worth. Educational Research and Experiments, 2020(01), 92-96. Available at: http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ https://doi.org/10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2019.03.030 https://doi.org/10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2019.03.030 Wang. (China). The Impact of Teacher Leadership. BECE, Vol.20, No.1, 2025 1968 https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=XMmmt_ij6VHSkP4DSSRKCbhwcIchIeS6BOijBaLNNH LUSLg_agSSHdSNRCaZVw- 1t7zn2Whl0hdcNidUtqNgniIB1x4eOmDcRnoTLQxsAyzSncTVa4brnXdejtbbVy9OE5gHwbROO6jtXcB ofju6Woyo-73zgTabX2XeAPI5PH91ylMcUEwhXA==&uniplatform=NZKPT&language=CHS Markland, D., & Hardy, L. (1997). On the factorial and construct validity of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory: Conceptual and operational concerns. Research quarterly for exercise and sport, 68(1), 20- 32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.1997.10608863 Zhang, T., Liu, X., Cheng, Z., Wang, X., Chen, M., & Zhu, Y. (2013). Re-testing the reliability and validity of the Parenting Style Questionnaire. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 21(03), 420- 421+392. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2013.03.009 The Chinese version of this article has been published in Psychological Research, 2025; 18(01): 79- 87. The English version has been authorized for being publication in BECE by the author(s) and the Chinese journal. 黎晓娜,李晓华,刘华山,龚少英. (2025).宽容理解教养方式与中学生学业坚毅品质的关系：学业兴 趣及学业意义感的中介效应. 心理研究，18(01): 79-87. Received: December 19, 2025 Revised: February 02, 2025 Accepted: April 10, 2025 https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=XMmmt_ij6VHSkP4DSSRKCbhwcIchIeS6BOijBaLNNHLUSLg_agSSHdSNRCaZVw-1t7zn2Whl0hdcNidUtqNgniIB1x4eOmDcRnoTLQxsAyzSncTVa4brnXdejtbbVy9OE5gHwbROO6jtXcBofju6Woyo-73zgTabX2XeAPI5PH91ylMcUEwhXA==&uniplatform=NZKPT&language=CHS https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=XMmmt_ij6VHSkP4DSSRKCbhwcIchIeS6BOijBaLNNHLUSLg_agSSHdSNRCaZVw-1t7zn2Whl0hdcNidUtqNgniIB1x4eOmDcRnoTLQxsAyzSncTVa4brnXdejtbbVy9OE5gHwbROO6jtXcBofju6Woyo-73zgTabX2XeAPI5PH91ylMcUEwhXA==&uniplatform=NZKPT&language=CHS https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=XMmmt_ij6VHSkP4DSSRKCbhwcIchIeS6BOijBaLNNHLUSLg_agSSHdSNRCaZVw-1t7zn2Whl0hdcNidUtqNgniIB1x4eOmDcRnoTLQxsAyzSncTVa4brnXdejtbbVy9OE5gHwbROO6jtXcBofju6Woyo-73zgTabX2XeAPI5PH91ylMcUEwhXA==&uniplatform=NZKPT&language=CHS https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=XMmmt_ij6VHSkP4DSSRKCbhwcIchIeS6BOijBaLNNHLUSLg_agSSHdSNRCaZVw-1t7zn2Whl0hdcNidUtqNgniIB1x4eOmDcRnoTLQxsAyzSncTVa4brnXdejtbbVy9OE5gHwbROO6jtXcBofju6Woyo-73zgTabX2XeAPI5PH91ylMcUEwhXA==&uniplatform=NZKPT&language=CHS https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.1997.10608863 https://doi.org/10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2013.03.009