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The Relationships of Family Socioeconomic Status, Parent–Adolescent Conflict, and Filial Piety to Adolescents’ Family Functioning in Mainland China

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Abstract

This study used structural equation modeling to examine the relationships of family socioeconomic status (SES), parent–adolescent conflict, and filial piety to family functioning among middle school and high school students in mainland China. A total of 2,341 students (1,218 girls and 1,096 boys; mean age = 15.42) completed the Chinese Family Assessment Instrument, Family Status Survey, Parent–adolescent Conflict Scale, and Filial Piety Scale. The main results showed that: (a) family SES, parent–adolescent conflict, and filial piety were significantly linked to family functioning; (b) parent–adolescent conflict and filial piety contributed more to family functioning than family SES; (c) parent–adolescent conflict mediated the relationship between reciprocal filial piety and family functioning. The results promote understanding of family processes that influence the relationships between family SES, parent–adolescent conflict, filial piety, and family functioning among middle school and high school adolescents in mainland China.

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Acknowledgments

The research reported in this article was supported by Humanities and Social Sciences Research Base of Ministry of Education (China) Grant 05JJDXLX001 awarded to Hong Zou. The authors would like to thank the students and school teachers in mainland China who made this research possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Xiaowei Li

  2. Institute of Developmental Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Hong Zou & Yan Liu

  3. Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Qing Zhou

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  1. Xiaowei Li
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  4. Qing Zhou
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Correspondence to Xiaowei Li.

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Li, X., Zou, H., Liu, Y. et al. The Relationships of Family Socioeconomic Status, Parent–Adolescent Conflict, and Filial Piety to Adolescents’ Family Functioning in Mainland China. J Child Fam Stud 23, 29–38 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-012-9683-0

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