Family Stress on Adolescents in Hong Kong and the Mainland of China

ABSTRACT

Assessing the significance of the family, a notion of the family emerges as a system that provides important resources for its members, but also creates stress upon them. Despite the importance of family effects, no study has examined large samples of Chinese adolescents in both the mainland of China and Hong Kong. To fill the empirical void and extend the research focus on individual family stressors, the present study surveyed 2,142 Chinese secondary school students in Hong Kong and the mainland of China. Results from random-effect regression analysis show that environmental strain, parental expectation for the adolescent's academic study, quarrels, worry over finances in the family, family support, and parental and sibling hassles were significantly related to the adolescent's distress. The significant relationships among the family stressors support theses of personal relevance and contagion. Furthermore, the relationships equally apply to adolescents in the mainland of China and Hong Kong. Family support did not significantly moderate relationships between family stress and the adolescent's distress.