Coercive Parenting and Juvenile Delinquency in China: Assessing Gender Differences in the Moderating Effect of Empathic Concern

Coercive parenting has been identified as a prevalent parenting style in Chinese society. Previous research has shown that personal attributes such as empathic concern moderate the positive impact of coercive parenting on juvenile delinquency. However, there has been a paucity of research examining if and how such a moderating mechanism would operate differently across genders. Drawing on the two-wave survey data from a sample of 1088 Chinese adolescents (mean of age = 13.82, SD = 1.49; 49.7% females), this study found that compared to those with lower empathic concern, adolescents with higher empathic concern were less delinquent under a low-to-moderate level of coercive parenting, but more delinquent when coercive control reached a medium-to-high level. Furthermore, multiple group analyses revealed gender differences in the moderation mechanism, such that empathic concern only significantly moderated the relationship in females. The findings underscore the importance of considering adolescent personal characteristics and gender differences when examining the relationship between parenting styles and juvenile delinquency.