Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
J Adolesc. 2020 Jun;81:39-51. doi: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.04.005. Epub 2020 Apr 25.
There is a dearth of research on examining the longitudinal effects of cultural family processes on adolescent hopelessness, and the mechanisms through which the effects happen. Hence, the present study examined the relationship among parental (paternal and maternal) sacrifices, filial piety and adolescent hopelessness in the Chinese context.
The study was based on a three-wave longitudinal data from a sample of 1569 Chinese adolescents (Time 1: mean age = 13.15 ± .92 years; 50.8% girls). The adolescents were invited to fill out a questionnaire containing measurements of studied variables thrice, at an interval of one year.
The results of cross-lagged panel analysis indicated that maternal sacrifice was associated with filial piety, which in turn was linked with hopelessness among Chinese adolescents. Moreover, there was bidirectional effects of adolescent hopelessness at earlier time point on paternal and maternal sacrifice at later time point via filial piety.
The study showed that maternal sacrifice serves as a protective factor that reduces adolescents' sense of hopelessness via the development of filial piety. At the same time, the bidirectional indirect effects of filial piety on the relationship between parental sacrifice and adolescent hopelessness also alert family researchers and youth practitioners on the child effects on parental behavior in Chinese families. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
目前关于文化家庭过程对青少年绝望感的纵向影响及其发生机制的研究还很少。因此，本研究在中国背景下检验了父母（父亲和母亲）牺牲、孝道与青少年绝望感之间的关系。
该研究基于 1569 名中国青少年的三波纵向数据（第 1 次：平均年龄为 13.15±0.92 岁；女生占 50.8%）。青少年被邀请填写一份问卷，三次测量研究变量，间隔一年。
交叉滞后面板分析的结果表明，母亲牺牲与孝道有关，而孝道又与中国青少年的绝望感有关。此外，青少年在较早时间点的绝望感对后来时间点的父亲和母亲牺牲通过孝道存在双向影响。
本研究表明，母亲牺牲通过孝道的发展可以作为保护因素，降低青少年的绝望感。同时，孝道对父母牺牲与青少年绝望感之间关系的双向间接影响也提醒了家庭研究人员和青年从业者注意中国家庭中儿童对父母行为的影响。讨论了研究结果的理论和实践意义。
