| Background Negative emotions are a significant influencing factor for the mental health of adolescents. Existing research mostly focuses on the impact of risk factors such as negative life events and rumination on adolescents'' emotions, but pays less attention to the protective role of family involvement by parents. The interaction paths and mechanisms among these four aspects remain unclear. Objective This paper explores the correlation mechanism between negative life events and negative emotions in adolescents, with a focus on analyzing the mediating effect of rumination and the moderating effect of parental involvement, providing references for the prevention and intervention of negative emotions in adolescents. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2025. Using cluster random sampling, a total of 600 adolescents studying at a middle school in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture were selected as the research subjects. The Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist (ASLEC), the Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS), the Parental Involvement Subscale of the Perceptions of Parents Scales(POPS), and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21)were used for questionnaire surveys. Pearson correlation analysis was used to test the correlations among the variables. Using Models 4 and 7 from Process 4.1, we examined the mediating role of rumination in the relationship between negative life events and negative emotions in adolescents, as well as the moderating role of parental involvement. Results A total of 534 valid questionnaires were collected, with a response rate of 89.00%. The scores of negative life events in adolescents were positively correlated with the scores of rumination and negative emotions (r=0.580, 0.706, P<0.01), and the scores of negative life events were positively correlated with the scores of rumination (r=0.583, P<0.01). Rumination partially mediated the relationship between negative life events and adolescent negative emotions, with an effect size of 0.531 (95% CI: 0.438~0.630), accounting for 55. 60% of the total effect. Parental involvement moderated the first half of the mediation path (β= -0.109, 95% CI: -0.204~-0.015, P<0.05). Conclusion In adolescents, rumination partially mediates the association between negative life events and negative emotions, and parental involvement moderates the relationship between negative life events and rumination. |