Intergenerational educational expectation discrepancies and adolescent mental health: evidence from China

In the context of increasingly fierce educational competition and growing concern over adolescent mental health, discrepancies in educational expectations between parents and children have become an important factor in understanding adolescent psychological development. Although previous studies have confirmed the influence of parental educational expectations on adolescent academic and psychological outcomes, few have systematically examined intergenerational discrepancies in educational expectations and their potential nonlinear effects. Using baseline data from 19,487 students in the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), this study constructed an indicator of intergenerational educational expectation discrepancy and examined its association with adolescent mental health. Quadratic regression, U-test procedures, mediation analysis, moderation analysis, and polynomial regression with response surface analysis were used to assess nonlinear effects and underlying family mechanisms. The results revealed a significant inverted U-shaped relationship between intergenerational educational expectation discrepancies and adolescent mental health. Psychological well-being was highest when parent–child educational expectations were closely aligned, particularly when adolescents’ own expectations were slightly higher than perceived parental expectations. Excessive discrepancies in either direction were associated with poorer mental health. Family conflict, family interaction, and parental confidence partially mediated this relationship, while parental control amplified the adverse effects of expectation misalignment. This study highlights the dynamic role of educational expectations within family systems and provides empirical evidence that balanced parent–child educational expectations are important for adolescent mental health. The findings offer new insights for educational sociology, developmental psychology, and family-based interventions aimed at promoting adolescent psychological well-being.