Chinese Urban Families Research Articles

The association between family relationship patterns and preschoolers’ social and behavioral competence in Chinese urban families

Guided by family systems theory, this study examined how distinct patterns of family relationships were related to child social and behavioral competence among 314 intact Chinese urban families with preschool-aged children. Four distinct patterns of family relationships were identified using latent profile analysis: unbalanced, compensatory, moderately cohesive, and highly cohesive families. In unbalanced families, mothers perceived their marital, coparenting, and parent-child relationships as low in quality, yet fathers perceived them to have moderate quality. Compensatory families exhibited poor marital and coparenting relationships but high mother-child closeness. Highly cohesive families displayed high quality across all dyadic relationships, while moderately cohesive families showed moderate relationship quality. Children from highly cohesive families had the highest social and behavioral competence. Children from moderately cohesive families exhibited better social skills and fewer problem behaviors compared to unbalanced families, but were on par with those from compensatory families. No difference in social skills was found between children from unbalanced and compensatory families, but children in the former group displayed more problem behaviors. The findings shed light on the unique family relationship configurations among Chinese urban families with preschool-aged children. They highlight the value of using individual-centered approaches to understand holistic family relationship patterns from a family systems perspective. The findings also underscore the need to develop interventions tailored to families according to their unique family relationship profiles.

Monkey King’s Golden Headband: Domestic Surveillance Technology as a Moral Journey in Chinese Urban Families

ABSTRACT This research investigates domestic surveillance technology (DST) in Chinese urban families, engaging with anthropological studies on morality/ethics and technology. In contemporary China, ambivalent child-rearing values make parental surveillance a subject of ethical reflections and negotiations. Interrogating the result-oriented perspective that prevails in studies on surveillance technologies, I demonstrate the complicated relevance between DST and two reconfiguring virtues: guan (to control/care) and zijue (self-consciousness). With a focus on two devices – the smart home camera and the brain–machine-interface headband monitoring the concentration level – my ethnography conducted alongside middle-class families in Shanghai reveals that living with DST constitutes a moral journey towards becoming a good parent and child, albeit unknown and possibly arduous. This research illustrates one possibility of ethical-technological assemblage under the condition of moral friction that it can become one material embodiment of endeavours to meet moral expectations or surpass dilemmas.

The Effect of Intergenerational Parenting Mode on Children’s Outdoor Activities: A Case Study of Downtown Shanghai Communities

The miniaturization of Chinese urban families has led to an increasing trend of “intergenerational parenting” among urban families. However, the influence of different types of caregivers on children’s outdoor activities remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the impact of various accompanying modes used by different caregivers on the outdoor activities of preschool children. The research employed mixed methods, including questionnaires and interviews, and focused on the intergenerational relationship in communities in Shanghai, China. The findings of this research reveal that caregivers from different generations adopt distinct accompanying modes when engaging in children’s outdoor activities. Grandparents tend to prioritize protection, while parents prefer to spend more time playing with their children. These preferences can be attributed to the division of labor within families and the social and physical environment of the communities in urban central areas. By shedding light on the intergenerational dynamics and caregiving approaches, this study provides a unique Chinese perspective on understanding the factors influencing children’s outdoor activities and experiences.

Links between parent–grandparent coparenting, maternal parenting and young children’s executive function in urban China

ABSTRACT Parent-grandparent coparenting is a common phenomenon in mainland China; however, little is known about its relationship with children's cognitive development. This study investigates the links between parent-grandparent coparenting and young children’s executive function (EF) and examines the potential mediating role of maternal parenting between coparenting and EF in Chinese urban families. A total of 122 preschool children (58 girls) and their mothers participated in this study. Children’s EF was assessed using measures of working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control. Their mothers were asked about parent-grandparent coparenting, maternal parenting (i.e. maternal nurturing and stress), and children’s temperament. The findings showed that parent-grandparent coparenting was indirectly related to cognitive flexibility, a dimension of EF, and this relationship was mediated by maternal nurturing and maternal stress. No direct impact of parent-grandparent coparenting on EF was found. The findings highlight the contribution of supportive parent-grandparent coparenting to children’s cognitive flexibility.

Design and implementation of the data acquisition system of a large scale network based on four-in-one meters

For households, water supply, power supply, pipeline gas and centralized heating are necessaries to maintain the normal life of a family. For Chinese urban families, water, electricity, gas, warm services are often provided by different government utility companies. Aimed at the shortage of the manual measurement of the above mentioned services‘ consumptions, a new mechanism using network metering devices is proposed in this paper. Based on the general network measurement mechanism and through analysis, this paper proposes using meter communication network as the public communication network of various metering devices, forming wireless mesh network by metering devices, constituting a virtual private network by the power company's network, and accessing to metering network based on SCEP protocol and certificates of devices. Under this new network measurement mechanism, a network routing optimization strategy, a data acquisition protocol based on IPv6 and a mesh network management system are designed, and preliminary experiments have been carried on. Experimental results show that the proposed mechanism can realize functions through the network, including the control of multi-measuring devices, topology discovery, data acquisition, fulfilling the multi-meter data acquisition system via network.

Two worlds in one city: a sociopolitical perspective on Chinese urban families’ language planning

ABSTRACT This comparative inquiry investigated the family language planning in two distinctive socioeconomic communities in a Chinese metropolitan city. We followed a multilayered framework to probe into language beliefs, practices and management in the family domain as mediated by the interconnectivity of multiple contextual forces. We collected three types of data from governmental policy documents, field visits to two community libraries, and questionnaires from 237 residents from the two communities. Data analysis identified an early childhood language policy disfavoring English learning at the macro level, distinctive English literacy activities at the meso-community level, and similar aspirations with different management practices at the micro-family level. We argue that the observed disjuncture in English language planning between the macro and micro levels creates a space for parents as social actors to take ownership and negotiate their language planning activities at the meso level. However, although families from different socioeconomic backgrounds demonstrated similar aspirations for their children's English and Chinese development, the parents’ socioeconomic status affected their ability to invest family capital in their children's language learning, and to translate their language ideologies into consistent language planning activities. Issues related to educational equity are discussed at the end of the paper.

Parent–grandparent coparenting relationship, marital conflict and parent–child relationship in Chinese parent–grandparent coparenting families

Parent–grandparent coparenting has become a common phenomenon in urban China. However, limited research has assessed interpersonal relationships in parent–grandparent coparenting families. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of interpersonal relationships and examine the mediating role of marital conflict in the association between the parent-grandparent co-parenting relationship and the parent-child relationship in Chinese urban families. Using cross-sectional data from a sample of 317 parent–grandparent coparenting families, we conducted a series of measures, from the perspectives of mothers and fathers of young children respectively, to assess the parent–grandparent coparenting relationship, marital conflict, and the parent–child relationship. Our findings indicated that interpersonal relationships were relatively harmonious in parent–grandparent coparenting families. There was no significant difference between the mother–grandparent and the father–grandparent coparenting relationship, and the mother-child relationship scored significantly higher than the father-child relationship. Structural equation modeling with a bootstrap resample of 5000 indicated that parents’ marital conflict mediated the associations between the mother–grandparent coparenting relationship and the parent–child relationship, which consists of the mother-child relationship and the father-child relationship. The mediating role of parents’ marital conflict between the father–grandparent coparenting relationship and the parent–child relationship (neither mother-child relationship nor father-child relationship) was not found. Results contribute to knowledge pertaining to characteristics of interpersonal relationships in the parent–grandparent coparenting families. These findings highlight the contribution of harmonious parent–grandparent coparenting relationship and lower marital conflict to the parent–child relationship.

Using goal and contrast feedback to motivate Chinese urban families to save electricity actively — A randomized controlled field trial

Residents' daily electricity consumption is one of the fastest growing areas within China's total power consumption. Thus, promoting residents' electricity saving has become an important way to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction targets in China. Although goal setting has proven effective in motivating households to save electricity, little is known about how to use feedback to motivate families to achieve challenging power-saving goals. We conducted an 18-week randomized controlled field trial in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, to explore what kind of feedback measures can encourage urban residents to save electricity when given a challenging power-saving goal. The experiment included 4 experimental groups and 1 control group. The four experimental groups were given the same 15% power-saving goal in the first 14 weeks and received contrast feedback. Different types of feedback content (self-contrast and others-contrast) and different feedback frequencies (once a week and twice a week) were used. After 14 weeks, the contrast feedback stopped, and we observed whether the power-saving behavior was sustainable only in the target situation. We collected household electricity consumption data from the power supply company's metering system, and we performed an analysis of covariance to control the influence of residents' existing electricity consumption habits. The results revealed four key findings. (1) Setting the 15% power-saving goal and providing others-contrast feedback (OCF) effectively promoted urban residents' power savings. The goal and OCF groups saved 14.45% and 11.86%, respectively. (2) Regarding the feedback content, the power-saving effect was significantly stronger in the OCF groups than in the self-contrast feedback (SCF) groups. (3) An increase in the feedback frequency from once a week to twice a week did not substantially affect residents' electricity-saving behaviors. (4) When the contrast feedback stopped, the goal itself was insufficient to encourage residents to save electricity sustainably. After the contrast feedback process stopped for four weeks, there were no significant differences between the experimental groups and the control group.

Parent-Grandparent Coparenting Relationship, Maternal Parenting Self-efficacy, and Young Children’s Social Competence in Chinese Urban Families

Examined the influences of parent-grandparent coparenting relationship on young children’s social competence, and the potential mediating role of maternal parenting self-efficacy between them in Chinese urban families. A two-wave longitudinal study was conducted. A total of 317 young children’s mothers participated in Wave 1, 179 of the 317 participants participated in Wave 2 six months later. Mothers completed scales of parent-grandparent coparenting relationship, maternal parenting self-efficacy, and children’s social competence in Wave 1 and reported their children’s social competence again six months later. Structural equation modeling with a bootstrap resample of 1000 indicated: (a) the cross-sectional study showed that maternal strategies efficacy (ab = .06, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [.02, .10], p = .006) and child outcome efficacy (ab = .14, 95% CI = [.01, .08], p = .002) partially mediated the effect of parent-grandparent coparenting relationship and children’s social competence. (b) the six-month follow-up study showed that child outcomes efficacy totally mediated the relationship between parent-grandparent coparenting relationship and children’s social competence (ab = .07, 95% CI = [.03, .12], p = .003). These findings highlight the contribution of the harmonious parent-grandparent coparenting relationship and maternal parenting self-efficacy to young children’s socialization and are discussed in light of family systems theory and the ecological model of coparenting.

Parental Emotion Socialization and Child Psychological Adjustment among Chinese Urban Families: Mediation through Child Emotion Regulation and Moderation through Dyadic Collaboration.

The theoretical model of emotion regulation and many empirical findings have suggested that children’s emotion regulation may mediate the association between parents’ emotion socialization and children’s psychological adjustment. However, limited research has been conducted on moderators of these relations, despite the argument that the associations between parenting practices and children’s psychological adjustment are probabilistic rather than deterministic. This study examined the mediating role of children’s emotion regulation in linking parents’ emotion socialization and children’s psychological adjustment, and whether dyadic collaboration could moderate the proposed mediation model in a sample of Chinese parents and their children in their middle childhood. Participants were 150 Chinese children (87 boys and 63 girls, Mage = 8.54, SD = 1.67) and their parents (Mage = 39.22, SD = 4.07). Parent–child dyadic collaboration was videotaped and coded from an interaction task. Parents reported on their emotion socialization, children’s emotion regulation and psychopathological symptoms. Results indicated that child emotion regulation mediated the links between parental emotion socialization and child’s psychopathological symptoms. Evidence of moderated mediation was also found: supportive emotion socialization and child emotion regulation were positively correlated only at high and medium levels of dyadic collaboration, with child’s psychopathological symptoms as the dependent variables. Our findings suggested that higher-level parent–child collaboration might further potentiate the protective effect of parental supportive emotion socialization practices against child psychopathological symptoms.