Parental factors and adolescent well-being : associations between developmental trajectories

Abstract

Objectives: This study examined the associations between developmental trajectories of parenting and adolescent well-being. The moderating effect of child gender was also explored. Method: The participants were 3,328 Hong Kong Chinese adolescents (52.1% boys, mean age = 12.59 years at baseline) who responded to questionnaires measuring their perceptions of parenting and well-being every year during the six-year high school period. Results: Latent growth curve modeling revealed that trajectories of positive parental factors (behavioral control and parent–child relationship) positively predicted trajectory of life satisfaction, but negatively predicted hopelessness trajectory, indexed by intercept–intercept and slope–slope associations. Reverse associations were found for psychological control. Child gender mainly moderated the influence of psychological control, with the associations appearing to be slightly stronger for girls than for boys. Conclusion: These findings add evidence that there may be long-term parental impacts on children’s well-being and highlight the importance of looking at related developmental trajectories involved.