Results
Title

Exploring Sociodemographic Correlates of Fathers' and Mothers' Behavioral Control.

Authors

Xu, Xiaoyan; Hanafi, Zahyah; Razak, Nordin Abd

Abstract

Parental behavioral control is one of the most common parenting practices employed by parents in China. It is necessary to identify this practice and how it may be influenced by adolescents' and parents' sociodemographic factors in order to develop family intervention strategies. The present study examined whether fathers' and mothers' behavioral control was related to adolescents' gender, age, and sibling status and parents' age, education level, and income. A sample of 916 adolescents, aged 11–15 years, reported their fathers' and mothers' parental behavioral control. In terms of adolescents' gender, boys perceived higher level of fathers' behavioral control compared to girls. Regarding parents' sociodemographic factors, the level of mothers' behavioral control was higher compared to that of fathers. Mothers' education levels were reported to have a negative relationship with maternal behavioral control. Regarding adolescents' gender differences, there was a positive relationship between fathers' educational levels and behavioral control in adolescent boys. However, there was a positive relationship between fathers' monthly income and fathers' behavioral control in adolescent girls rather than boys. In addition, there was a negative relationship between mothers' age and behavioral control in adolescent girls but not in boys. These findings add to the literature on Chinese mothers' and fathers' parenting and offer practical implications for Chinese family interventions.

Subjects

TEENAGE boys; TEENAGE girls; CONTROL (Psychology); MOTHERS; PARENTS

Publication

Behavioral Sciences (2076-328X), 2024, Vol 14, Issue 12, p1203

ISSN

2076-328X

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.3390/bs14121203