Family Socioeconomic Disadvantages, Psycho‐Behavioral Family Processes, and Korean Parents' and Adolescents' Physical Health

Objective The present study examined multilevel family processes involving individual‐level psychological functioning (i.e., low life satisfaction) and dyad‐level behavioral functioning (i.e., shared breakfast skipping) underlying the associations between family socioeconomic disadvantages and physical health outcomes (i.e., overweight/obesity and poor self‐rated health) among Korean parents and adolescents. Background Family socioeconomic disadvantages are associated with physical health outcomes. However, few studies have examined psychological and behavioral pathways underlying these associations and how such dynamics unfold through individual‐, dyad‐, and cross‐level continuities within Korean families. Method Data were from 2387 Korean parent‐adolescent dyads (89% mothers; M age = 43.44, SD = 3.78; 45.8% adolescent girls; M age = 12.99, SD = 0.13) participating in Waves 1, 2, and 3 (2018–2020) of the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey. Longitudinal structural equation modeling was used. Results Longitudinal associations between family socioeconomic disadvantages and parent and adolescent physical health outcomes were mediated by multilevel family processes. For example, cross‐level continuities emerged such that parents' low life satisfaction (individual‐level) influenced by family socioeconomic disadvantages positively predicted shared breakfast‐skipping behavior (dyad‐level). In turn, this shared breakfast‐skipping predicted poor physical health outcomes among both parents and adolescents. Conclusion Findings suggested that family socioeconomic disadvantage shapes multilevel family stress processes, which contribute to less favorable physical health outcomes among Korean parents and adolescents. Addressing poor parental psychological functioning may help reduce its downstream effects on shared behavioral and physical health risks within Korean families.