Parental Attachment, Empathy, and Peer Relationships in Korean Adolescents’ School Adjustment: A Conceptual Analysis Using Canadian Social and Emotional Learning Frameworks

Framed through a conceptual lens drawing on Canadian social and emotional learning (SEL) frameworks, this study examined whether family–peer socioemotional pathways—linking parental attachment, empathy, and peer relationships to school adjustment—are evident in a Korean adolescent sample. Using data from 511 students (Grades 7–9) in Seoul, structural equation modeling with bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals was conducted. Direct effects of parental attachment on school adjustment were not significant. Instead, maternal attachment predicted school adjustment indirectly via empathy and peer relationships, whereas paternal attachment did so indirectly via peer relationships only. These findings suggest that adolescents’ school adjustment is shaped primarily by socioemotional mediators—particularly empathy and the quality of peer relationships—rather than by direct parental influence. Viewed through a Canadian SEL lens, the family–peer pathways identified in this Korean sample echo themes in Canadian debates on SEL and school belonging and point to the value of relationship-centred pedagogy and strong family–school partnerships within Canadian SEL and school mental health initiatives. Because the data come from a single cross-sectional Korean sample, we cannot draw firm causal or cross-national conclusions; a logical next step is to test the model with Canadian students so that the pathways can be compared empirically.