The Moderating Role of Children's Perceived Social Support in Visual Arts Activities

This dataset includes two files: (1) the original questionnaire, which contains three validated scales measuring drawing self-efficacy, perceived social support, and art engagement. The questionnaire was previously tested in the local context and has demonstrated good reliability and validity; and (2) cross-sectional survey data collected from 592 children aged 10 to 12 in Henan Province, China. The data were obtained through paper-and-pencil questionnaires administered in school settings. All participating children were engaged in school-based extracurricular visual arts activities at the time of data collection. The findings reveal that both drawing self-efficacy and perceived social support positively influence art engagement. However, high levels of perceived social support weaken the relationship between drawing self-efficacy and art engagement. The results emphasizing that children's drawing self-efficacy and perceived social support are key factors in enhancing art engagement. However, when external support becomes excessive, it may divert children's attention from their drawing abilities, thereby reducing their art engagement based on their sense of competence. These findings offer targeted recommendations for parents and educators in promoting children's art engagement.