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The Influence of Parental Expectations and Parental Control on Adolescent Well-Being in Poor Chinese Families

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Abstract

Based on a sample of 275 Chinese poor families in Hong Kong, the influence of parental expectations of children’s future and adolescents’ perceived parental control on adolescent well-being (cognitive competence and self-identity) was examined. Consistent with our hypotheses, the results indicated that parental expectations of children’s future and adolescents’ perceived parental control directly influenced adolescent cognitive competence and self-identity. Furthermore, adolescent perceived maternal control moderated the influence of paternal expectations on cognitive competence and self-identity among Chinese adolescents. Simple slope analyses showed that paternal expectations influenced adolescent cognitive competence and self-identity under low levels of perceived maternal control than did high levels of perceived maternal control. The present study underscores the dynamic nature of the influence of parental expectations and perceived parental control on adolescent well-being (cognitive competence and self-identity) in poor Chinese families.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Janet T. Y. Leung & Daniel T. L. Shek

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  1. Janet T. Y. Leung
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  2. Daniel T. L. Shek
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Correspondence to Janet T. Y. Leung.

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The first author declares that she has no conflict of interest. For the second author, as he is the Editor in Chief of ARQOL, an editorial board member has been invited to be the Action Editor.

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The author declares that all procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of Human Subjects Ethics Sub-committee of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

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Leung, J.T.Y., Shek, D.T.L. The Influence of Parental Expectations and Parental Control on Adolescent Well-Being in Poor Chinese Families. Applied Research Quality Life 14, 847–865 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-017-9540-9

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