Chinese adolescents\u27 involvement in the family decision-making processes and the parent -adolescent communication and relationship

A survey was conducted to examine Chinese adolescents\u27 involvement in the family decision-making processes, and its association with the parent-adolescent communication and relationship. Seven hundred and sixty-eight Chinese youths and their parents participated in the study. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data, which included testing both the measurement model and the structural model. Chinese adolescents reported the highest input in decisions regarding homework and allowances. Chinese parents made the most decisions over curfews. Both parents and children decided the college major and the level of education jointly. Chinese parents in this study were observed to be less controlling than what was portrayed in the present literature. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has yielded psychometric information about the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale used with a Chinese population. The CFA has shown that the Open Communication subscale has an acceptable degree of validity and reliability while the Problem subscale has a less desirable one. The CFA has also confirmed that family systems theory can explain and help understand family dynamics, parent-adolescent relationships, and communication in Chinese families. The open communication between Chinese parents and adolescent children led to a closer, less conflictive parent-adolescent relationship. The problems in parent-adolescent communication increased the parent-adolescent conflicts. Like their American counterparts, Chinese adolescent boys and girls also experience emotional distance from their parents, particularly from their fathers during adolescence. The findings in terms of parent-adolescent communication from this study show that Chinese adolescents, both boys and girls, found it easier to talk to their mothers than their fathers. However, adolescents reported increased conflicts with mothers, but not with fathers. One explanation could be the differences in maternal and paternal involvement in parenting. The results of this survey showed Chinese mothers were more engaged in care-giving, and decision-making over daily life issues. The more frequent interactions or communications would increase the occasions where adolescents disagree with their mothers