Abstract
Chinese secondary school students (N = 2758) responded to measures of perceived family life quality (parenting quality and parent–child relational quality) and emotional quality of life (hopelessness, mastery, life satisfaction and self-esteem). Parenting quality included different aspects of parental behavioral control (parental knowledge, expectation, monitoring, discipline and demandingness as well as parental control defined in terms of indigenous Chinese concepts), parental psychological control, and parental responsiveness whereas parent–child relational quality included satisfaction with parental control, child’s readiness to communicate with the parents, parental trust of the child, and child’s trust of the parent. Results showed that parenting quality and parent–child relational quality in poor families were generally poorer than those of non-poor families and the differences were more pronounced in paternal parenting quality and father–child relational quality than in maternal parenting quality and mother–child relational quality. Emotional quality of life of adolescents experiencing economic disadvantage was also found to be poorer than that of adolescents not experiencing economic disadvantage. The present findings replicate the previous research findings in the literature and generate a pioneering dataset based on Chinese adolescents at Secondary 2 level in Hong Kong.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barber B.K. (1996). Parental psychological control: Revisiting a neglected construct. Child Development 67: 3296–3319
(2002). Intrusive Parenting: How Psychological Control Affects Children and Adolescents. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC
Beck A.T., Weissman A., Lester D. and Trexler L. (1974). The measurement of pessimism: The Hopelessness Scale. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 42: 861–865
Bolger K.E., Patterson C.J., Thompson W.W. and Kupersmidt J.B. (1995). Psychosocial adjustment among children experiencing persistent and intermittent family economic hardship. Child Development 66: 1107–1129
Cohen J. (1994). The earth is round (p<.05). American Psychologist 49: 997–1003
Conger K.J., Rueter M.A. and Conger R.D. (2000). The role of economic pressure in the lives of parents and their adolescents: The Family Stress Model. In: Crockett, L.J. and Silbereisen, R.K. (eds) Negotiating Adolescence in Times of Social Change, pp 201–233. Cambridge University Press, New York
Diener E., Emmons R.A., Larsen R.J. and Griffin S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment 49: 71–75
Dubois D.L., Eitel S.K. and Felner R.D. (1994). Effects of family environment and parent–child relationships on school adjustment during the transition to early adolescence. Journal of Marriage and the Family 56: 405–414
Felce D. and Perry J. (1995). Quality of life: Its definition and measurement. Research in Developmental Disabilities 16: 51–74
Hoff E., Laursen B. and Tardiff T. (2002). Socioeconomic status and parenting. In: Bornstein, M.H. (eds) Handbook of Parenting, Vol. 2, pp 231–251. Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ
Kane T.J. (1987). Giving back control: Long-term poverty and motivation. Social Service Review 61: 405–419
Lamborn S.D., Mounts N.S., Steinberg L. and Dornbusch S.M. (1991). Patterns of competence and adjustment among adolescents from authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, and neglectful families. Child Development 62: 1049–1065
Lempers J.D., Clark-Lempers D. and Simons R.L. (1989). Economic hardship, parenting and distress in adolescence. Child Development 60: 25–39
Maccoby E.E. and Martin J.A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent-child interaction. In: Hetheringon, E. (eds) Handbook of Child Psychology, Vol. 4, pp 1–101. Wiley, New York
McLeod J.D. and Shanahan M.J. (1996). Trajectories of poverty and children’s mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 37: 207–220
McLoyd V. (1998). Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. American Psychologist 53: 185–204
Pearlin L.I. and Schooler C. (1978). The structure of coping. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 22: 337–356
Putnam R.D. (1995). Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. Journal of Democracy 6: 65–77
Rosenberg M. (1979). Conceiving The Self. Basic Books, New York
Sampson R.J. and Laub J.H. (1994). Urban poverty and the family context of delinquency: A new look at structure and process in a class study. Child Development 65: 523–540
Shaver J.P. (1993). What statistical significance testing is and what it is not. Journal of Experimental Education 61: 293–316
Shek D.T.L. (1993). Measurement of pessimism in Chinese adolescents: The Chinese Hopelessness Scale. Social Behavior and Personality 21: 107–119
Shek D.T.L. (1999a). Parenting characteristics and adolescent psychological well-being: A longitudinal study in a Chinese context. Genetic, Social and General Psychology Monographs 125: 27–44
Shek D.T.L. (1999b). Perceptions of family functioning among Chinese parents and their adolescent children. American Journal of Family Therapy 27: 303–314
Shek D.T.L. (2003). A longitudinal study of parenting and psychosocial adjustment among Chinese adolescents experiencing economic disadvantage. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health 15: 39–49
Shek D.T.L. (2005a). A longitudinal study of Chinese cultural beliefs about adversity, psychological well-being, delinquency and substance abuse. Social Indicators Research 71: 385–409
Shek D.T.L (2005b). Economic stress, emotional quality of life and problem behavior in Chinese adolescents with and without economic disadvantage. Social Indicators Research 71: 363–383
Shek D.T.L. (2005c). Perceived parental control processes, parent–child relational qualities and psychological well-being in Chinese adolescents with and without economic disadvantage. Journal of Genetic Psychology 166: 171–188
Shek, D.T.L.: (in press, a), ‘Assessment of perceived parental psychological control in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong’, Research on Social Work Practice
Shek, D.T.L.: (in press, b), ‘Perceived parental control and parent–child relational qualities in Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong, Sex Roles’
Shek, D.T.L.: (in press, c), ‘Perceived parental behavioral control and psychological control in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong’, American Journal of Family Therapy
Shek, D.T.L.: (in press, d), ‘Perceived parental control based on indigenous Chinese parental control concepts in adolescents in Hong Kong’, American Journal of Family Therapy
Shek D.T.L., Chan Y.K. and Lee P.S.N. (2005). Quality of life in the global context: A Chinese response. Social Indicators Research 71: 1–10
Siu M.H. and Shek D.T.L. (2005). Relations between social problem solving and indicators of interpersonal and family well-being among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. Social Indicators Research 71: 517–539
Smetana J.G. and Daddis C. (2002). Domain-specific antecedents of parental psychological control and monitoring: The role of parenting beliefs and practices. Child Development 73: 563–580
Tabachnick B.G. and Fidell L.S. (2001). Using Multivariate Statistics. Allyn and Bacon, Boston
Wallander J.L., Schmitt M. and Koot M.H. (2001). Quality of life measurement in children and adolescents: Issues, instruments and applications. Journal of Clinical Psychology 57: 571–585
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shek, D.T.L., Lee, T.Y. Family Life Quality and Emotional Quality of Life in Chinese Adolescents with and Without Economic Disadvantage. Soc Indic Res 80, 393–410 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-006-6624-6
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-006-6624-6