The impact of family intactness on family functioning, parental control, and parent-child relational qualities in a chinese context.

Daniel T L Shek,Qiuzhi Xie,Li Lin

doi:10.3389/fped.2014.00149

Abstract

The current study investigated the differences between intact and non-intact families in family processes, including systematic family functioning, parental behavioral control, parental psychological control, and parent–child relational qualities. The participants were 3,328 Secondary One students, with a mean age of 12.59 years, recruited from 28 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Four validated scales were used to assess family processes. Results showed that adolescents in non-intact families perceived relatively poorer family functioning, lower level of paternal and maternal behavioral control, lower level of paternal psychological control, and poorer parent–child relational qualities than did adolescents in intact families. This generally indicated that family processes were poorer in non-intact families, compared with those in intact families. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.

Highlights

A large amount of research has shown that relative to children living in intact families, children living in non-intact families are more likely to exhibit negative psychological and educational outcomes such as poorer academic performance, more risk behaviors, and declined subjective well-being [1,2,3,4,5]
It is to be noted here that two-parent adoptive families should not be considered as intact families, because these adoptive families tend to differ from intact non-adoptive families in family functioning and the incidence of children’s psychological risks [6]
Marital disruption brings parents more stresses, which may lead to adjustment difficulties for parents and deteriorated parenting processes

Summary

Introduction

A large amount of research has shown that relative to children living in intact families (i.e., the families that include two married biological parents), children living in non-intact families (i.e., the families that are not consisted of two married biological parents) are more likely to exhibit negative psychological and educational outcomes such as poorer academic performance, more risk behaviors, and declined subjective well-being [1,2,3,4,5]. It is to be noted here that two-parent adoptive families should not be considered as intact families, because these adoptive families tend to differ from intact non-adoptive families in family functioning and the incidence of children’s psychological risks [6]. A number of theories such as family ecological theories [7] and social control theories [8] suggest that parental marital disruption adversely affects child development through deteriorated family environment and parenting processes. Family disruption may lead to family financial difficulty. In this situation, if the single-parent has to work for a living, parental supervision over the child may further be reduced. Marital disruption brings parents more stresses, which may lead to adjustment difficulties for parents and deteriorated parenting processes

Methods

Results

Conclusion