The Relation of Family Environment to Adolescent Psychological Well-Being, School Adjustment and Problem Behavior: What Can We Learn from the Chinese Culture?

Abstract Chinese secondary school students (N=429) were asked to respond to instruments measuring their family environment, psychological well-being, school adjustment, and problem behavior. Measures of family environment include perceived paternal and maternal parenting styles, family functioning, and conflict with father and mother. Results arising from bivariate and canonical correlation analyses generally showed that adolescents’ perceptions of parenting styles, family functioning, and parentadolescent conflict were significantly related to measures of psychological well-being (general psychiatric morbidity, life satisfaction, purpose in life, hopelessness, and self-esteem), school adjustment (perceived academic performance and school conduct) and problem behavior (smoking and psychotropic drug abuse). The findings suggest that family factors play an important role in influencing the psychosocial adjustment, particularly the positive mental health, of Chinese adolescents.