Parental involvement and social skills of school-aged children with intellectual disabilities: the role of parenting stress and social support

Background Children with intellectual disabilities (ID) require additional support for social skills development, with parental involvement being a key factor. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. Objectives This study aimed to examine the relationship between parental involvement and social skills in children with ID, assess the mediating role of parenting stress, and explore the moderating effect of social support on the relationship between parenting stress and children’s social skills. Methods Using convenience sampling, 692 parents of children with ID (aged 6–18) from special education schools in Zhongshan and Heze, China (May-July 2024) were recruited. Participants completed the Social Responsiveness Scale-Short Form, Parental Involvement Questionnaire, Parenting Stress Index-Short Form-15, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. SPSS was used for descriptive statistics and SmartPLS was to examine the mediation and moderation effects. Results Parental involvement had a significant positive direct effect on children’s social skills (β = -0.099, p < 0.01, due to the reverse scoring of the SRS-SF). Parenting stress partially mediated this relationship (indirect effect: β = -0.074, p < 0.01), with higher parental involvement significantly associated with lower parenting stress (β = -0.137, p < 0.01). Parenting stress partially mediated this relationship (indirect effect: β = -0.074, p < 0.01), with higher involvement being associated with lower stress (β = -0.137, p < 0.01) and lower stress predicting better social skills (β = 0.543, p < 0.001). Social support significantly moderated the negative relationship between parenting stress and children’s social skills (β = 0.056, p < 0.05), with higher levels of social support mitigating the negative effects of parenting stress. Conclusions : This study revealed a complex interplay between parental involvement, parenting stress, and social support in shaping social skills development in children with ID. These findings support an integrated intervention approach that enhances parental involvement, reduces parenting stress, and strengthens social support systems. However, the cross-sectional nature of this study precludes causal interpretations, warranting longitudinal investigation to establish temporal relationships.