Muthahharah Thahir, Widiawati Widiawati, Alfaiz Alfaiz, Aulia Asyifani Putri, Putri Apriliyanti, Cucun Sunaengsih, Zuraidah Abdullah
This study examines the effect of character education internalization on students’ life skills, with parental involvement as a mediating variable. The study is motivated by the limited implementation of character education in schools and the varied involvement of parents in supporting children’s life skills development. A quantitative approach was employed using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS software. The sample consisted of 372 junior high school students in West Java Province, Indonesia, selected through multistage proportional random sampling. The research instruments measured character education internalization, parental involvement, and students’ life skills, all of which met validity and reliability criteria (outer loading > 0.70, Cronbach’s alpha > 0.70, Composite Reliability > 0.70, AVE > 0.50). Structural model analysis showed that character education internalization had a positive and significant effect on students’ life skills (β = 0.440; t = 4.693; p < 0.05). Parental involvement also significantly mediated this relationship (β = 0.158; t = 4.201; p < 0.05). The R² value of 0.406 indicated that the model explains 40.6% of the variance in students’ life skills, categorized as moderate, while the Q² value of 0.096 demonstrates adequate predictive relevance. The f² results suggested that both the direct effect of character education internalization (0.138) and the mediating effect of parental involvement (0.080) were small but statistically significant. These findings highlight the importance of collaboration between schools and families in fostering character values to strengthen students’ life skills. They also contribute an integrative conceptual model that can serve as a reference for schools, parents, and policymakers in advancing character education practices through multi-actor collaboration. © 2026, Malque Publishing. All rights reserved.
Department of Guidance and Counseling, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Ma’soem University, Indonesia; Department of Educational Administration, Faculty of Education, Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia; Department of Educational Administration, Faculty of Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Indonesia; Department of Educational Management, Planning & Policy, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya, Malaysia
