More Parental Guan, More Academic Engagement? Examining the Moderating Roles of Adolescents’ Gender and Reciprocal Filial Piety

2022

IJERPH

Self Cite

Applying an integrated theoretical model consisting of the socioecological theory, the self-determination theory, and the broaden-and-build theory, the present study tested a moderated mediation model of parental autonomy support, filial piety, and gratitude to study how these factors are jointly related to pathological Internet use (PIU) in Chinese undergraduate students. A total of 1054 Chinese undergraduate students (M age = 20.35, SD = 1.00, 34.7% females) aged between 16 and 24 years participated in this study. They were instructed to complete self-reported questionnaires on parental autonomy support, filial piety, gratitude, and PIU. The results showed that parental autonomy support was negatively associated with PIU, and filial piety partially mediated this relation. Specifically, parental autonomy support was positively related to filial piety, which, in turn, was negatively associated with PIU. In addition, gratitude moderated the first path of the indirect relation and the direct relation of this mediation effect. To be specific, undergraduate students with higher gratitude showed high filial piety and low PIU, in the context of low parental autonomy support, than those with lower gratitude. Taken together, the current study contributes to extant research by highlighting the vital role of parental autonomy support in mitigating undergraduate students’ PIU and illustrating how filial piety explains the underlying mechanism of this association. This study also provides novel insights into intervention or prevention programs by demonstrating that gratitude alleviates the adverse effect of low parental autonomy support on students’ PIU.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Autonomy Support and Pathological Internet Use among Chinese Undergraduate Students: Gratitude Moderated the Mediating Effect of Filial Piety

Chun-hua

2022

IJERPH

Self Cite

“…The Chinese youth in our study were overrepresented in the academically competent and well-adapted profiles. This finding might reflect the strong emphasis placed on academic achievement and engagement in Chinese culture (Wang et al, 2021) as well as a more recent approach to parenting resulting from modernization, in which aspects of both academic success and social relationships (Chen, 2010) are highlighted.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior research suggests that at this age, youth living in Western societies are less motivated and behaviorally engaged in school due to more difficulties in focusing their attention and an enhanced interest in gaining a social status within their group (Ryan, 2011). In contrast, Chinese youth are faced with increasingly challenging academic expectations and experience a high pressure in relation to school achievement, which is pivotal for accessing high-ranking educational institutions and therefore raise the family's social and economic condition (Wang et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In China, collectivistic values emphasize parents' responsibility and obligation to provide guidance and resources . Rather than expressing affection and warmth, Chinese parents tend to focus on control and discipline, which shape their children's behavior (Chao, 1994;Wang et al, 2021). However, China has witnessed dramatic modernization, urbanization, and related socio-cultural changes in the past three decades, with potentially co-occurring modifications in parenting practices (Chen, 2010;Zhang et al, 2017).…”

Section: Parental Warmthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, it is suggested that future studies include external informants (e.g., parents) or behavioral measures (e.g., observations) to increase the reliability and validity of results. Third, although parental warmth is commonly recognized as a universally relevant variable positively contributing to adolescents' adaptive functioning, I did not consider other salient parenting dimensions, such as control and guan (a typical Chinese parenting style characterized by a high level of strictness and governance of the child as well as parental sacrifice and involvement; see Chao, 1994;Wang et al, 2021). Moreover, given the differential role of fathers and mothers in child development, further investigations in which measures of each parent are obtained are highly recommended to yield a more fine-grained picture of the association between parenting and adolescent positive psychosocial adjustment.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Perceived parental warmth, emotional awareness, and positive adjustment profiles in Chinese and Italian early adolescents: A person‐centered approach

2022

Journal of Adolescence

Self Cite

Introduction: Although previous research has documented wide cross-cultural variations in early adolescents' adjustment problems, less is known about positive outcomes and their contextual and individual correlates among youth from societies emphasizing cultural values of independence/individualism and interdependence/ collectivism. The current study used a person-centered approach to explore positive adjustment profiles among Chinese (n = 115, 54.8% girls) and Italian (n = 115, 57.4% girls) early adolescents aged between 10 and 13 years, and examined whether perceived parental warmth and emotional awareness were independently or interactively associated with such profiles in the two cultural groups. Methods: Participants completed self-report measures of psychosocial adjustment and perceived parental warmth, and responded to a series of structured vignettes assessing emotional awareness. Results: Latent profile analysis revealed three profiles: "academically competent," "socially accepted," and "well-adapted." Chinese adolescents were overrepresented in the academically competent and well-adapted profiles, whilst Italian adolescents were overrepresented in the socially accepted profile. Results of multinomial regression analysis indicated that youth reporting higher parental warmth and more emotional awareness were more likely to be members of the well-adapted profile. Furthermore, culturally specific associations were found. For instance, the positive link between parental warmth and the well-adapted profile was significant at high levels of emotional awareness in the Chinese group, and at low-to-medium levels of this variable in the Italian group. Conclusions: The findings suggest that youth's positive adjustment profiles reflect broader societal expectations and that the beneficial effect of parental warmth on such outcomes varies as a function of both emotional competence and cultural background.K E Y W O R D S culture, early adolescence, emotional awareness, latent profile analysis, parental warmth, psychosocial adjustment | INTRODUCTIONEarly adolescence is a developmental period involving substantial changes in biological, cognitive, social, and emotional functions (Lerner et al., 2005;Ryan, 2011). During this period, adolescents exhibit increasing autonomy from their families, experience a transition from primary to secondary school, and become more involved in social networks with their peers . All these transformations tend to occur within a relatively short period of time, placing significant demands

The Interplay Between Anxiety and Avoidance Dimensions of Attachment to Chinese Fathers in Internalizing Problem Behavior among Early Adolescents: An Intercultural Investigation

Chun-hua

2023

J Child Fam Stud

Guided by the attachment theory, this study investigated the interplay between anxiety and avoidance dimensions of attachment to Chinese fathers in early adolescents’ internalizing problem behavior. This study further examined whether this association might exhibit an intercultural difference between the Han and Dong-Xiang ethnic groups. A total of 1019 adolescents between 10 and 15 years old (Mage = 12.66, SD = 1.51; 52.8% girls) participated in this study. Participants were uniformly instructed to complete a packet of well-established questionnaires written in simplified Chinese. Based on a hierarchical linear regression, interactive patterns of anxiety and avoidance exhibited an intercultural difference: adolescents with a fearful attachment style reported the highest levels of internalizing problem behavior among the Han, whereas adolescents with a preoccupied attachment style did so among the Dong-Xiang. Through these results, the current study highlights the vital role of attachment to fathers in early adolescents’ internalizing problem behavior and emphasizes the interactive patterns between anxiety and avoidance in interpreting the variance of internalizing problem behavior. Further, the results not only have important theoretical implications for the discussion of attachment as a universal or cultural phenomenon, but also highlight practical ways to mitigate early adolescents’ internalizing problem behavior.