Father-Child Relations Mediate the Relations Between Paternal Expressiveness and Adolescent Behaviors

Abstract

Emotional expressiveness is an important type of parental emotion-related socialization that has been associated with adolescent prosocial and problem behaviors; yet little is known about the relation between paternal emotional expressiveness and adolescent behaviors in the Chinese context. In this study, we investigated how paternal emotional expressiveness was associated with Chinese adolescent prosocial and problem behaviors and whether father-adolescent closeness and conflict mediated these associations when controlling for maternal influences. Participants were 166 adolescents (aged between 12 and 16; 53% males) and their parents in Mainland China. Fathers and mothers reported their positive and negative emotional expressiveness in the family, the closeness and conflict in their relationships with adolescents, and adolescent prosocial and problem behaviors. Results revealed that paternal negative emotional expressiveness was directly and positively related to adolescent problem behaviors, controlling for maternal emotional expressiveness and mother-adolescent relationship. Moreover, both paternal positive and negative emotional expressiveness were indirectly associated with adolescent problem behaviors through father-adolescent conflict, controlling for maternal influences. In the same model, paternal positive and negative emotional expressiveness were not related to father-adolescent closeness, but father-adolescent closeness was positively related to adolescent prosocial behaviors. An alternative model examining whether father-adolescent relationship was related to paternal emotional expressiveness, which in turn was related to adolescent behaviors was tested. Results showed that the hypothesized model fit the data better than the alternative model. Findings highlight the role that the father plays in Chinese adolescent behaviors by expressing positive and negative emotions within the family.