Chinese Adolescents' Decision-Making, Parent-Adolescent Communication and Relationships

Abstract

Abstract The present study described Mainland Chinese adolescents' decision-making, and examined the relationship among their decision-making involvement, parent-adolescent communication and relationship variables by using Structural Equation Modeling. Results demonstrated that Chinese parents appeared to be less authoritarian than the prevailing literature had described. Chinese adolescents experienced a passage of autonomy development similar to that of their American counterparts. Good parent-adolescent communication was positively associated with cohesion and negatively associated with conflict. It also mediated the relationship between adolescent age and parent-adolescent conflict. The relationships between parent-adolescent communication and cohesion as well as the relationship between adolescents' age and decision involvement were significantly different for boys and girls. Key Words: Chinese adolescentsdecision-makingparent-adolescent communicationparent-adolescent relationships