The impact of family functioning on college students' differentiation of self: a serial mediation analysis and gender differences

Abstract

Objective This study investigated the relationship between family functioning and college students' differentiation of self, with a particular focus on the serial mediation of loneliness and psychological security, and further examined cross-gender invariance and gender moderation effects in this mediation model. Method A questionnaire survey was administered to 5,485 first-year undergraduate students recruited from three ordinary universities, using the Family Functioning Scale, the Emotional and Social Loneliness Scale, the Safety Scale, and the Differentiation of Self Scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS 24.0, the PROCESS macro, and Mplus 8.3. Analytical procedures included correlation analysis, serial mediation effect testing, multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM), and gender moderation analysis. Results (1) College students' differentiation of self was generally at a moderate-to-high level, with significant gender differences such that male students scored higher than their female counterparts. (2) Family functioning significantly and negatively predicted differentiation of self, and this effect was partially mediated by loneliness and psychological security, both independently and sequentially through a serial mediation pathway. (3) Multi-group SEM confirmed cross-gender measurement and structural invariance of the proposed model, indicating overall stability of the mechanism; however, significant gender moderation effects were observed on specific indirect pathways. Conclusion Family functioning predicts differentiation of self through both direct and indirect effects. These findings elucidate the internal psychological mechanisms and gender-specific characteristics underlying this relationship, offering theoretical and empirical grounds for gender-tailored mental health education and family-based intervention strategies for college students.