The Influence of Parent-Child Discrepancies in Filial Piety on Depressive Symptoms in Chinese Parents With Preadolescent Children.

Filial piety is a Confucian concept derived from Chinese culture, which advocates a set of moral norms, values, and practices of respect and caring for one’s parents. According to the dual-factor model of filial piety, reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety are two dimensions of filial piety. Reciprocal filial piety is concerned with sincere affection toward one’s parent and a longstanding positive parent-child relationship, while authoritarian filial piety is about obedience to social obligations to one’s parent, often by suppressing one’s own wishes to conform the demands of the parent. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of culture on the relationships between filial piety and palliative care knowledge. The secondary aim is to investigate whether filial piety is a universal construct across Singaporean and Australian cultures. A total of 508 participants living in Singapore and Australia were surveyed between May and October 2020. The final sample comprised of 406 participants, with 224 Singaporeans and 182 Australians. There were 289 females (71.1%), 115 males (28.3%), and two unspecified gender (0.6%) in the sample, with an average age of 27.27 years (SD = 9.79, range = 18–73). Results indicated a significant effect of culture on authoritarian filial piety and palliative care knowledge. Singaporeans showed higher authoritarian filial piety and higher palliative care knowledge than Australians. However, no effect of culture was found on reciprocal filial piety. Overall, no significant correlation existed between palliative care knowledge and reciprocal filial piety and authoritarian filial piety. For Singaporeans, a weak negative correlation was found between palliative care knowledge and authoritarian filial piety. In contrast, Australians and Singaporeans indicated a positive, moderate correlation between reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety. Further, culture moderated the relationship between authoritarian filial piety and palliative care knowledge. High authoritarian filial piety was associated with increased palliative care knowledge among Australians, while high authoritarian filial piety was associated with decreased palliative care knowledge among Singaporeans. The results support the conceptualization of filial piety as a possible psychological universal construct. In addition, the results point out an important implication that public health programs should target the appropriate filial piety types to enhance palliative care knowledge among Singaporeans and Australians.

Previous research has revealed that filial piety belief plays a critical role in self-acceptance of sexual orientation, but studies have rarely examined whether and how reciprocal (i.e., providing care and support based on affective bonding) and authoritarian (i.e., showing unconditional obedience to parents because of parental authority) filial piety contribute to internalized homonegativity. A total of 477 Chinese lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning/queer, or other non-heterosexual (LGBQ +) adults participated in this study. These participants completed a battery of measures for reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety, perceived internalized, social, and parental pressure to get married in a heterosexual marriage, internalized heteronormativity, socially oriented identity (i.e., negative beliefs about how others in society would negatively treat them because of their sexual orientation), and family-oriented identity (e.g., guilt related to filial piety and worries about present and future life). The results indicated that higher reciprocal filial piety was directly associated with higher internalized heteronormativity. Higher authoritarian filial piety had a direct link with higher family-oriented identity. In addition, authoritarian filial piety was positively associated with internalized heteronormativity through internalized pressure to get married; authoritarian filial piety had a positive link with socially oriented identity through perceived social pressure to get married; authoritarian filial piety was positively related to family-oriented identity through perceived parental pressure to get married. Conclusions: Authoritarian filial piety is a risk factor for internalized homonegativity, and perceived pressure to get married in a heterosexual marriage might be the underlying mechanism for the relationship between authoritarian filial piety and internalized homonegativity.

Experiencing prejudice and discrimination from family has been found to be positively associated with mental health problems among sexual minorities. Emerging evidence also shows the value of contextualizing the internalization of minority stress by considering individual cultural factors, such as filial piety. We examined whether authoritarian filial piety (AFP) and reciprocal filial piety (RFP) moderated the link between distal stressors in one's family and mental health outcomes. A total of 362 (56.9% male; age: M = 24.55, SD = 6.60) Chinese lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer/questioning, and other non‐heterosexual (LGBQ+) individuals participated in this study. They provided demographic information and completed a battery of measures for AFP and RFP, sexual orientation‐based prejudice and discrimination in family of origin (SOPDF), depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction. Structural equation modeling results showed that SOPDF had a positive and negative link with depressive symptoms and life satisfaction, respectively. In addition, we identified AFP and RFP as significant moderators for the association between SOPDF and depressive symptoms, and the association between SOPDF and life satisfaction, respectively. Specifically, the positive effect of SOPDF on depressive symptoms was greater for participants with higher levels of AFP; the negative effect of SOPDF on life satisfaction was greater for participants who endorsed higher levels of RFP. Our findings corroborated past studies' conclusion about the detrimental impact of familial sexual stigma on LGBQ+ people's mental health. Furthermore, such impact on negative and positive mental health outcomes are respectively conditioned by the degree to which LGBQ+ individuals endorse AFP and RFP. These findings underscore the importance for therapists who endorse family therapy to help LGBQ+ clients navigate familial sexual stigma and consider the role of filial piety beliefs in shaping the impact of familial sexual stigma on these clients' mental health.

Little research has considered all children while investigating adult children's role in their older parents' health and well-being. In this study, we examine the effect of filial piety across all children on parental depressive symptoms. A sample of 432 older parents with 1,223 adult children in a rural county in northern China rated the filial piety level for each child individually. Ratings were then combined across multiple children and organized into an ordinal variable of filial piety including three levels: all children being filial, some of the children being filial, and none of the children being filial. Ordinary least squares linear regression analyses were performed. The results reveal a significant and negative relationship between adult children's filial piety levels and older parents' depressive symptoms after controlling for age, gender, marital status, financial strain, chronic conditions, and social support from family and friends, respectively. That is, one level lower in the adult children's filial piety corresponds to increase in level of older parents' depressive symptoms. Filial piety seems to benefit older Chinese parents' mental health net of social support from family and friends in this sample. Including information from all children in the analyses is informative for better understanding the psychological significance of filial piety for healthy aging in China.

The Dual Filial Piety Model (i.e., the model of reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety) offers a universally applicable framework for understanding essential aspects of intergenerational relations across diverse cultural contexts. The current research aimed to examine two important issues concerning this model that have lacked investigation: the roles of parental socialization (i.e., authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles) and social ecologies (i.e., urban vs. rural settings that differ in levels of economic development and modernization) in the development of reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety attitudes. To this end, a two-wave short-term longitudinal survey study was conducted among 850 early adolescents residing in urban (N = 314, 49.4% females, mean age = 13.31 years) and rural China (N = 536, 45.3% females, mean age = 13.72 years), who completed questionnaires twice, 6 months apart, in the spring semester of grade 7 and the fall semester of grade 8. Multigroup path analyses revealed bidirectional associations over time between perceived parenting styles and adolescents’ filial piety attitudes, with both similarities and differences in these associations between urban and rural China. In both settings, perceived authoritative parenting predicted increased reciprocal filial piety 6 months later, whereas perceived authoritarian parenting predicted reduced reciprocal filial piety among urban (but not rural) adolescents over time. Moreover, in both settings, reciprocal filial piety predicted higher levels of perceived authoritative parenting and lower levels of perceived authoritarian parenting 6 months later, with the latter effect being stronger among urban (vs. rural) adolescents. Adolescents’ perceived parenting styles did not predict their authoritarian filial piety over time; however, authoritarian filial piety predicted higher levels of perceived authoritative parenting (but not perceived authoritarian parenting) 6 months later in both settings. The findings highlight the roles of transactional socialization processes between parents and youth as well as social ecologies in the development of filial piety, thus advancing the understanding of how the universal human motivations underlying filial piety may function developmentally across different socioeconomic and sociocultural settings.

The present study aims to investigate the pathways through which filial piety and cognitive development work on the development of depressive symptoms in adolescents as well as the trigger of adolescents' depressive symptoms (e.g., academic pressure). Two hundred fifty-seven Chinese adolescents (128 females and 129 males) participated in the study from Grade 7 to Grade 9. Results showed that both filial piety and cognitive autonomy significantly contribute to the development of adolescents' depressive symptoms and academic pressure. But reciprocal filial piety (RFP) and authoritarian filial piety (AFP) as two coexisting aspects of filial piety contribute to depressive symptoms in opposite directions. RFP provides significant protection against adolescents' depressive symptoms directly and indirectly through promoting the development of adolescents' cognitive autonomy and alleviating adolescents' academic pressure. In contrast, AFP positively contributes to adolescents' depressive symptoms by hindering the development of cognitive autonomy and intensifying academic pressure.

Previous studies demonstrated that public stigma significantly contributes to internalized homophobia for lesbian, gay, and bisexuals (LGBs). Filial piety plays an important role in Chinese LGBs’ response to stressors related to their sexual orientation, but it is unclear whether reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety moderate the effect of perceived public stigma on internalized homophobia. A sample of 1453 (67.10% male; age: M = 25.16, SD = 5.60) Chinese LGBs participated in this study in June, 2019. They provided demographic variables and completed measures of perceived public stigma, reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety, and internalized homophobia. As expected, results from structural equation modelling analysis indicated that perceived public stigma and authoritarian filial piety had comparable and positive association with internalized homophobia. Reciprocal filial piety was negatively associated with internalized homophobia. In addition, the association between perceived public stigma and internalized homophobia was stronger when Chinese LGBs endorsed low reciprocal filial piety and high authoritarian filial piety. These findings suggest that authoritarian filial piety may be a risk factor that amplifies the deleterious impact of public stigma on internalized homophobia. In contrast, reciprocal filial piety may be a resilience factor that mitigates the negative effect of public stigma on internalized homophobia. These findings implicate that efforts should be made to reduce the public stigma in China in order to reduce internalized homophobia. In addition, the nature and level of filial piety should be considered when providing psychotherapeutic interventions to Chinese LGBs, and funding for relevant research and practice should be supported.

Family functioning encompasses cultural values and behavioral patterns, with family dysfunction referring to pervasive and maladaptive interactions in the latter dimension. In Chinese culture, filial piety is a core familial value, comprising authoritarian filial piety (AFP), rooted in hierarchy and obedience, and reciprocal filial piety (RFP), based on mutual affection and care. This study examines the relationships between AFP, RFP, family dysfunction, and eating pathology among Chinese adults with anorexia nervosa (AN). We employed a two-part design that included a cross-sectional analysis of 144 female adults with AN in Chinese mainland and, within the same cohort, a longitudinal follow-up of 75 patients to examine how filial piety and family dysfunction predict changes in eating pathology over time. Correlation, hierarchical multiple regression, and generalized least squares were used for data analysis. Cross-sectionally, AFP was associated with greater eating pathology (β = 0.161, p < .05). While RFP and family dysfunction were not significantly associated with eating pathology after controlling psychological and biological factors. Longitudinally, AFP did not independently predict symptom progression after controlling for baseline pathology, suggesting that AFP may act not as a primary driver of worsening symptoms. AFP represents a stable cultural risk factor for eating pathology in Chinese adults with AN. These findings underscore the importance of integrating cultural values like AFP into therapeutic frameworks and developing culturally adapted interventions for Chinese populations.

In the present study, we aim to examine the mediating roles of the two types of perceivedparental influence in the relation between the dual filial piety model and adultchildren’s long-term mate preferences. A survey was administered to 499 Chinese adultchildren on their filial piety beliefs, perceptions about parental influence, andlong-term mate preferences. Structural equation modeling revealed the following findings.(a) For both genders, reciprocal filial piety was positively correlated with goodfather/mother traits, and authoritarian filial piety was positively correlated with goodgene traits. (b) For both genders, sensitivity from the perceived parental influencemediated the link between authoritarian filial piety and good provider traits. (c) Forfemales, sensitivity mediated the link between authoritarian filial piety and good genetraits. (d) For males, parental monitoring from perceived parental influence mediated thelink between authoritarian filial piety and good gene and good mother traits. In addition,authoritarian filial piety was positively correlated with good provider and good mothertraits. In summary, filial piety can link both directly and indirectly to mate preferencethrough parental sensitivity for males and females and through parental monitoring mainlyfor males.

Filial piety, a core value in Chinese culture, emphasizes the importance of children showing respect, obedience, and care toward their parents. The dual filial piety model distinguishes between reciprocal filial piety, associated with love and care, and authoritarian filial piety, associated with hierarchy. This study systematically reviewed the associations between dual filial piety and mental disorders and symptoms. The authors reviewed 17 studies among Chinese and Korean adolescents published between 2004 and 2022 on filial piety and mental disorders/symptoms and distinguished reciprocal filial piety and authoritarian filial piety based on the dual filial piety model. Meta-analyses based on quantitative analyses were also conducted to examine the relationship between dual filial piety and depression/anxiety. The results indicate that reciprocal filial piety is negatively associated with mental disorders/symptoms, including depression, anxiety, aggression, deviant behaviors, internet addiction, self-harm and eating disorders. Conversely, authoritarian filial piety is not related to mental disorders/symptoms but is negatively associated with suicide and positively associated with eating disorders. Based on the results, it is evident that filial piety has a significant relationship with various mental disorders and symptoms and that different forms of filial piety may have distinct associations with mental health.

Cyberbullying has become a worldwide phenomenon. Although the topic has drawn decent academic attention and many studies have been conducted on Chinese samples, variable interests in these studies have not captured the thinking and behavioral characteristics of Chinese people. Based on the dual filial piety model and self-determination theory, this study examined the effect of filial piety belief on cyberbullying perpetration and tested the mediation of relatedness need satisfaction. A total of 856 university students completed the questionnaires, including dual filial piety scale, relatedness need satisfaction scale and cyberbullying perpetration scale. The regression results found that reciprocal filial piety negatively predicted and authoritarian filial piety positively predicted cyberbullying perpetration. The SEM results showed that reciprocal filial piety and authoritarian filial piety impacted cyberbullying perpetration through the mediating effect of relatedness need satisfaction. Reciprocal filial piety was positively while authoritarian filial piety negatively correlated with relatedness need satisfaction and relatedness need satisfaction was negatively correlated with cyberbullying perpetration. The results provide a new position to understand the effect of family factors on cyberbullying perpetration by placing the topic within traditional Chinese family value.

Filial piety (FP) was formerly a Confucian concept that specifies how children should treat their elders. In recent years, some psychologists have postulated that there are considerable overlaps between Chinese FP and notions found in other cultures. They have redefined FP as a contextualized personality emphasizing the psychological schema of parent-child interaction so that it fits universal cultural contexts. Based on this theory construction, this study aimed to examine the effects of reciprocal FP and authoritarian FP on life satisfaction and the mediating roles of individuating autonomy and relating autonomy therein. To do so, we recruited and surveyed 360 high school students in China. Subsequently, a mediation model based on the Dual Filial Piety Model and previous studies was tested. Results demonstrate that reciprocal FP predicted life satisfaction positively and that both individuating autonomy and relating autonomy played significant mediating roles in the relationship between reciprocal FP and life satisfaction. Moreover, authoritarian FP had a negative indirect effect on satisfaction through the mediating role of individuating autonomy, while authoritarian FP had a positive indirect influence on satisfaction through the mediating role of relating autonomy. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

In the present study, we investigated the relationships among mothers’ filial piety, mother-child discrepancy in perceived parental expectations, and children’s academic achievement in 823 Chinese families. The results indicated that mothers’ authoritarian filial piety hindered children’s academic achievement, whereas reciprocal filial piety had no such effect. Compared to children whose reports of parental expectations were identical with their mothers, children whose reports were higher than their mothers had lower achievement. Mothers’ reciprocal filial piety increased the odds of child-reported parental expectations that were lower than mother-reported parental expectations, while authoritarian filial piety increased the odds of child-reported parental expectations that were higher than mother-reported parental expectations. Furthermore, the indirect effect of authoritarian filial piety, via mother-child discrepancy, on academic achievement was significant. These findings highlight the importance of mothers’ filial piety and mother-child discrepancy in perceived parental expectations in identifying culture-specific factors that influence academic achievement in China.

This study investigated the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between filial piety and life satisfaction among emerging adults in Taiwan. A total of 481 Taiwanese college students between the ages of 18 and 23 years participated in the study. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to test the hypothesis, using AMOS 21.0 software and parceling. The results revealed that (a) reciprocal filial piety was positively related to self-esteem, whereas authoritarian filial piety had a negative effect on self-esteem, (b) both reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety had a positive association with life satisfaction, (c) self-esteem as a mediator played an important role in the link between filial piety and life satisfaction among Taiwanese young adults, and (d) there were some gender differences in reciprocal filial piety, with average scores among females being higher than average scores among males. In the future, more studies on the effect of filial piety on happiness should be pursued in this field.

We applied the theoretical perspective of the dual filial piety model to consider the diversity of parent–child conflict resolution strategies in order to determine whether Chinese adolescents use strategies other than self-sacrifice to practice filial piety when in conflict with their parents. Study 1 utilized a cross-sectional design with 247 valid responses. The structural equation modeling analysis indicated that Taiwanese adolescents’ authoritarian filial piety (AFP) beliefs are positively related to use of a self-sacrifice strategy, and reciprocal filial piety (RFP) beliefs are positively related to use of compatibility and compromise strategies. Adolescents’ AFP and RFP beliefs are negatively related to use of utility and escape strategies. Study 2 applied a temporal separation procedure with a 1-year lag to remedy common method variance bias. Analysis of 1,063 valid responses replicated the findings of Study 1 and indicated that adolescents’ function-oriented appraisal of conflict can play a mediating role between RFP and the use of the compatibility and compromise strategies. These findings broaden the understanding of filial piety in modern Chinese societies and have implications for adolescents’ well-being and family life.