Maternal and Paternal Parenting Practices and Prosocial Behaviors in Hong Kong: The Moderating Roles of Adolescents’ Gender and Age

Abstract

This study examined adolescents’ perceived paternal and maternal parenting in relation to different types of prosocial behaviors. Adolescent gender and age were considered as moderators. Participants included 439 Grades 7–11 adolescents (55.13% girls) from five secondary schools in Hong Kong. Path analysis indicated that maternal and paternal autonomy support and maternal control were associated positively with compliant, public, and emotional prosocial behaviors. Paternal control was associated positively with emotional prosocial behaviors only. Paternal autonomy support and maternal control were associated positively with dire prosocial behaviors but negatively with altruistic ones. No age differences were found from multi-group analyses. However, significant gender differences were evident. Paternal autonomy support and maternal control were associated with boys’ and girls’ prosocial behaviors; maternal autonomy support and paternal control were associated with girls’ prosocial behaviors only. Findings suggest that paternal and maternal parenting are associated with prosocial behaviors in meaningful ways depending on adolescents’ gender.