Family Educational Characteristics Among Grade 12 Students in Hainan Province, China: A Descriptive Survey

This study describes family educational characteristics among Grade 12 students preparing for the Gaokao in Hainan Province, China. A cross-sectional survey included 1,194 students from four senior high schools. Students reported perceived parental expectations, parent–child closeness, and paternal and maternal parenting styles. Analyses used descriptive statistics and exploration paired-samples tests. The overall expectations mean was slightly above the six-point scale midpoint (M = 3.61, SD = 0.73). Future financial responsibility for the family received the highest item mean (M = 4.09). Father–child and mother–child closeness means were 3.06 and 3.10; the difference was statistically significant in an unadjusted test but very small (dav = −0.05). Students rated fathers higher on authoritarian and authoritative parenting and mothers higher on permissive parenting. Standardized differences were small for authoritarian (dav = 0.31) and permissive parenting (dav = −0.29), and very small for authoritative parenting (dav = 0.08). The findings provide a contextual descriptive profile, not evidence of causal effects or fixed parenting categories. They offer a reference for future regional comparisons and longitudinal research.