A longitudinal study of Hong Kong adolescents' and parents' perceptions of family functioning and well-being.
In this longitudinal study, the relationships between Hong Kong Chinese adolescents' and parents' discrepancies in their perceptions of family functioning and adolescents' psychological well-being were investigated via adolescents' and parents' reports of family functioning (N = 378 families). Results showed that discrepancies in perceptions of family functioning between adolescents and parents were related to adolescents' feelings of hopelessness, life satisfaction, self-esteem, purpose in life, and general psychiatric morbidity at Time 1 and Time 2. Longitudinal and prospective analyses (Time 1 predictors predicting Time 2 criterion variables) suggested that the relationship between discrepancies in perceptions of family functioning and adolescents' psychological well-being are bidirectional. Adolescent-father and adolescent-mother discrepancies had similar effects on adolescents' psychological well-being. The negative impact of discrepancies among family members in perceptions of family functioning on adolescents' psychological well-being was greater for adolescent girls than for adolescent boys.
Shek
D T
DT
Department of Social Work, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong. danielshek@cuhk.edu.hk
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D001290:Attitude; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011340:Problem Solving