Effects of parental involvement and family socioeconomic status on adolescent problem behaviors in China

As the important others of adolescents, parents play a key role in the socialization of their children as they grow. Based on the data of the China Education Panel Survey, we explored the types of parental involvement, differences in family socioeconomic status and their impact on the problem behaviors of adolescents in China. We discerned four potential types of parental involvement in China, namely, the supportive, disengaged, basic, and supervisory types, of which about three-quarters of parents adopted the supportive and basic types. Families with a low SES tended to adopt the supervisory and disengaged types, while those with a high SES applied the supportive and basic types. Parental involvement has a significant impact on adolescent problem behaviors. Supportive involvement offers the most conducive way to reduce internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors of adolescents, while disengaged involvement is least conducive to reduce externalizing problem behaviors of adolescents.