FAMILY EDUCATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS AMONG GRADE 12 STUDENTS IN HAINAN PROVINCE, CHINA: A DESCRIPTIVE SURVEY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/IJMOE.831105Keywords:
Descriptive Study, Family Education, Grade 12 Students, Parental Expectations, Parent–Child Relationships, Parenting StylesAbstract
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.
Downloads
References
Baumrind, D. (1971). Current patterns of parental authority. Developmental Psychology, 4(1, Pt. 2), 1–103. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0030372
Bornstein, M. H. (Ed.). (2019). Handbook of parenting (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Bosqui, T., Mayya, A., Farah, S., Shaito, Z., Jordans, M. J. D., Pedersen, G., Betancourt, T. S., Carr, A., Donnelly, M., & Brown, F. L. (2024). Parenting and family interventions in lower and middle-income countries for child and adolescent mental health: A systematic review. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 132, Article 152483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2024.152483
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory. Routledge.
Buchanan, C. M., Maccoby, E. E., & Dornbusch, S. M. (1991). Caught between parents: Adolescents’ experience in divorced homes. Child Development, 62(5), 1008–1029. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1991.tb01586.x
Buri, J. R. (1991). Parental Authority Questionnaire. Journal of Personality Assessment, 57(1), 110–119. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5701_13
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, & State Council of the People’s Republic of China. (2020). Overall plan for the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2020-06/01/content_5516608.htm
Chen, J. (2023). Chinese families’ pursuit of Confucian learning beliefs through overseas education: Rethinking learning cultures in cross-cultural research. Journal of Education Culture and Society, 14(2), 533–551. https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2023.2.533.551
Chen, X., Allen, J. L., Flouri, E., Cao, X., & Hesketh, T. (2023). Parent–child communication about educational aspirations: Experiences of adolescents in rural China. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32(9), 2776–2788. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02554-8
Cochran, W. G. (1977). Sampling techniques (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Cox, M. J., & Paley, B. (1997). Families as systems. Annual Review of Psychology, 48(1), 243–267. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.48.1.243
Dai, H., Xia, L., Jiang, N., Liu, W., & Chen, S. (2025). The involution of middle-class tiger moms? An exploration of parental expectations in a coastal region of China. Journal of Family Studies, 31(3), 380–396. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2024.2446988
Dou, D., Shek, D. T. L., & Kwok, K. H. R. (2020). Perceived paternal and maternal parenting attributes among Chinese adolescents: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(23), Article 8741. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238741
Feng, Q., Yang, Y., & Cui, M. (2024). Indulgent parenting and adolescents’ maladjustments: The roles of cultural context and parental gender. Children, 11(9), Article 1132. https://doi.org/10.3390/children11091132
Hainan Provincial People’s Congress Standing Committee. (2025). Regulations on talent development promotion in the Hainan Free Trade Port. Hainan Provincial People’s Government.
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2022). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (3rd ed.). Sage.
Harkness, S., & Super, C. M. (2021). Why understanding culture is essential for supporting children and families. Applied Developmental Science, 25(1), 14–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2020.1789354
Hung, J., & Ramsden, M. (2021). The application of human capital theory and educational signalling theory to explain parental influences on the Chinese population’s social mobility opportunities. Social Sciences, 10(10), Article 362. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10100362
Jeynes, W. H. (2024). A meta-analysis: The relationship between the parental expectations component of parental involvement with students’ academic achievement. Urban Education, 59(1), 63–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859211073892
Kim, S. (2022). Fifty years of parental involvement and achievement research: A second-order meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 37, Article 100463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2022.100463
Kline, R. B. (2023). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (5th ed.). Guilford Press.
Lakens, D. (2013). Calculating and reporting effect sizes to facilitate cumulative science: A practical primer for t-tests and ANOVAs. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, Article 863. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00863
Lansford, J. E., & Bornstein, M. H. (2020). Parenting. In W. K. Halford & F. van de Vijver (Eds.), Cross-cultural family research and practice (pp. 565–602). Academic Press.
Leiner, D. J. (2019). Too fast, too straight, too weird: Non-reactive indicators for meaningless data in internet surveys. Survey Research Methods, 13(3), 229–248. https://doi.org/10.18148/srm/2019.v13i3.7403
Li, D., Li, W., Lin, X., & Zhu, X. (2025). Associations between overprotective parenting style and academic anxiety among Chinese high school students. BMC Psychology, 13(1), Article 231. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02455-z
Liu, W., & Yu, J. (2024). Fathering, living arrangements, and child development in China. Chinese Sociological Review, 56(2), 176–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/21620555.2024.2303602
Liu, Y. (2013). Meritocracy and the Gaokao: A survey study of higher education selection and socio-economic participation in East China. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 34(5–6), 868–887. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2013.816237
Liu, Y., Haslam, D. M., Dittman, C. K., Guo, M., & Morawska, A. (2022). Predicting Chinese father involvement: Parental role beliefs, fathering self-efficacy and maternal gatekeeping. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 1066876. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1066876
Lu, H. J., Zhu, N., Chen, B. B., & Chang, L. (2024). Cultural values, parenting, and child adjustment in China. International Journal of Psychology, 59(4), 512–521. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.13100
Maccoby, E. E., & Martin, J. A. (1983). Socialization in the context of the family: Parent–child interaction. In P. H. Mussen (Series Ed.) & E. M. Hetherington (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development (4th ed., pp. 1–101). John Wiley & Sons.
Pinquart, M. (2017). Associations of parenting dimensions and styles with externalizing problems of children and adolescents: An updated meta-analysis. Developmental Psychology, 53(5), 873–932. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000295
Pinquart, M., & Kauser, R. (2018). Do the associations of parenting styles with behavior problems and academic achievement vary by culture? Results from a meta-analysis. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 24(1), 75–100. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000149
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J.-Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
Schilling, S., Mebane, A., & Perreira, K. M. (2021). Cultural adaptation of group parenting programs: Review of the literature and recommendations for best practices. Family Process, 60(4), 1134–1151. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12658
Shao, Y., & Kang, S. (2022). The link between parent–child relationship and learning engagement among adolescents: The chain mediating roles of learning motivation and academic self-efficacy. Frontiers in Education, 7, Article 854549. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.854549
Shi, Z., Yang, B., Chen, B.-B., Chen, X., & Qu, Y. (2023). What motivates Chinese mothers’ involvement in adolescents’ learning? Longitudinal investigation on the role of mothers’ expectations of adolescents’ family obligations and adolescents’ academic performance. Behavioral Sciences, 13(8), Article 632. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13080632
Wang, L.-F., & Heppner, P. P. (2002). Assessing the impact of parental expectations and psychological distress on Taiwanese college students. The Counseling Psychologist, 30(4), 582–608. https://doi.org/10.1177/00100002030004006
Yang, B., Chen, B.-B., Chen, X., Hu, Z., & Qu, Y. (2024). Family obligation in Chinese adolescents: Consequences and parental antecedents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 34(2), 395–409. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12923
Yim, E. P.-Y. (2022). Effects of Asian cultural values on parenting style and young children’s perceived competence: A cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 905093. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.905093
Zeng, Z.-Y., Ye, W.-Y., He, Y.-Z., Gu, W.-H., Li, S.-N., & Nie, Y.-G. (2025). Longitudinal association between parent–child relationship and depression among Chinese adolescents: The role of psychological resilience and school climate. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 19(1), Article 97. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-025-00952-y
Zhang, J.-T., Liu, Q.-X., Deng, L.-Y., Fang, X.-Y., Liu, C.-Y., & Lan, J. (2011). Parent–adolescent relationships and adolescent Internet addiction: The mediating effect of loneliness. Psychological Development and Education, 27(6), 641–647. https://www.devpsy.com.cn/EN/Y2011/V27/I6/641
Zhao, L., & Zhao, W. (2022). Impacts of family environment on adolescents’ academic achievement: The role of peer interaction quality and educational expectation gap. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 911959. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.911959
