Social Welfare Practice and Research Centre, Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China
DTL Shek ( 石丹理 )BSSc, PhD
Correspondence to: Prof. DTL Shek
Received January 29, 2004
* The preparation of this paper was financially supported by the Research Grants Council of the Government of the HKSAR, P.R.C. (Grant 4293/03H). The studies reported in this paper were financially supported by Wofoo Foundation Limited, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Project No. 2020727) and Research Grants Council of the Government of the HKSAR (Grant 4087/99H).
Studies on family processes and developmental outcomes in Chinese adolescents conducted by the author are reviewed in this study. Several observations can be highlighted from the review: 1) positive parenting styles were related to better adolescent adjustment; 2) higher parent-adolescent conflict was related to poorer adolescent adjustment; 3) positive parent-adolescent communication was related to better adolescent adjustment; 4) positive parent-child relational qualities were associated with better adolescent adjustment; 5) better perceived family functioning predicted positive adolescent development; 6) relative to mothers, fathers exerted a stronger impact on the development of Chinese adolescents; 7) family influences exerted a stronger impact on adolescent girls than on adolescent boys; 8) the impact of family processes on adolescent developmental outcomes was found in families with and without economic disadvantage. The above observations underscore the importance of family antecedents of adolescent development on both theoretical and practical levels.
