IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v157y2024ics019074092300587x.html

Money or Time? The association between parental investment, school engagement and adolescent behavioral problem

Author

Listed:
  • Jiang, Chaoxin
  • Shi, Jiaming

Abstract

Parental investment is widely recognized as a beneficial factor for adolescent development; however, the specific impact on behavioral problems and the underlying mechanisms remain understudied. Addressing this research gap, the present study investigates the effects of two types of parental investment, material and time, on adolescent behavioral problem, while also examining the mediating effects of emotional and cognitive engagement. The study utilizes a sample of 8,283 junior high school students from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) 2014–2015. The findings reveal several key insights: (1) both material and time investment are associated with reduced behavioral problem among adolescents; (2) the relationship between parental investment and behavioral problem is mediated by emotional and cognitive engagement; and (3) time investment has a stronger impact on reducing behavioral problem compared to material investment. These findings make significant contributions to our understanding of how parental investment shapes adolescent behavioral problem. Moreover, they hold practical implications for policy design and intervention strategies aimed at promoting positive adolescent development and addressing behavioral problem.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiang, Chaoxin & Shi, Jiaming, 2024. "Money or Time? The association between parental investment, school engagement and adolescent behavioral problem," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:157:y:2024:i:c:s019074092300587x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107391
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019074092300587X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107391?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Haochen & Qin, Xuezheng & Zhou, Jiantao, 2020. "Do tiger moms raise superior kids? The impact of parenting style on adolescent human capital formation in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    2. Li, Xuefeng & Yang, Han & Wang, Hui & Jia, Jin, 2020. "Family socioeconomic status and home-based parental involvement: A mediation analysis of parental attitudes and expectations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    3. Zhang, Yanan, 2021. "The role of socioeconomic status and parental investment in adolescent outcomes," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    4. Anika Schenck-Fontaine & Lidia Panico, 2019. "Many Kinds of Poverty: Three Dimensions of Economic Hardship, Their Combinations, and Children’s Behavior Problems," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(6), pages 2279-2305, December.
    5. Li, Chunkai & Jiang, Shan, 2018. "Social exclusion, sense of school belonging and mental health of migrant children in China: A structural equation modeling analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 6-12.
    6. Kirsten J. Hancock & Daniel Christensen & Stephen R. Zubrick, 2018. "Development and Assessment of Cumulative Risk Measures of Family Environment and Parental Investments in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(2), pages 665-694, June.
    7. Gaoxi Hu & Zhenzhou Bao & Ting Nie & Yaozhong Liu & Jianjun Zhu, 2019. "The Association Between Corporal Punishment and Problem Behaviors Among Chinese Adolescents: The Indirect Role of Self-Control and School Engagement," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(4), pages 1465-1479, August.
    8. Anika Schenck-Fontaine & Lidia Panico, 2019. "Many Kinds of Poverty: Three Dimensions of Economic Hardship, Their Combinations, and Children’s Behavior Problems," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(6), pages 2279-2305, December.
    9. Ansong, David & Okumu, Moses & Hamilton, Eric R. & Chowa, Gina A. & Eisensmith, Sarah R., 2018. "Perceived family economic hardship and student engagement among junior high schoolers in Ghana," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 9-18.
    10. Malczyk, Benjamin R. & Lawson, Hal A., 2017. "Parental monitoring, the parent-child relationship and children's academic engagement in mother-headed single-parent families," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 274-282.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liu, Benyang & Gai, Xiaosong & Wang, Guoxia & Wang, Su & Li, Dengyin, 2024. "Parenting styles and adolescents’ school engagement: The mediating role of future orientation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Yanan, 2021. "The role of socioeconomic status and parental investment in adolescent outcomes," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    2. Wu, Wei & Li, Jiali & Zhang, Yanan, 2025. "Does parental academic socialization mitigate or exacerbate family background disadvantages? Predicting problem behaviors in migrant and local adolescents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    3. Alexandra K. Murphy & Natasha V. Pilkauskas & Nicole Kovski & Alix Gould-Werth, 2025. "How Does Transportation Insecurity Compare and Relate to Other Indicators of Material Hardship in the U.S.?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 178(1), pages 435-463, May.
    4. Anita Rizvi & Madeleine Kearns & Michael Dignam & Alison Coates & Melissa K. Sharp & Olivia Magwood & Patrick R. Labelle & Nour Elmestekawy & Sydney Rossiter & Ali A. A. Al‐Zubaidi & Omar Dewidar & Le, 2024. "Effects of guaranteed basic income interventions on poverty‐related outcomes in high‐income countries: A systematic review and meta‐analysis," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), June.
    5. Mengru Guo & Xiaoyu Li & Wang Zheng & Mengzhen Zhao & Chi Yang & Wenqing Li & Zihao Wan & Yinqiu Zhao, 2026. "Perceived Economic Hardship and Adolescent Short-form Video Addiction: A Longitudinal Moderated Mediation Model," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 595-614, April.
    6. Mari, Gabriele & Keizer, Renske, 2020. "Families of Austerity: Welfare Cuts and Family Stress in Britain," SocArXiv vdej8, Center for Open Science.
    7. Yui Yamaoka & Aya Isumi & Satomi Doi & Manami Ochi & Takeo Fujiwara, 2021. "Differential Effects of Multiple Dimensions of Poverty on Child Behavioral Problems: Results from the A-CHILD Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-12, November.
    8. Anita Rizvi & Vivian Welch & Marcia Gibson & Patrick R. Labelle & Christina Pollard & George A. Wells & Elizabeth Kristjansson, 2022. "PROTOCOL: Effects of guaranteed basic income interventions on poverty‐related outcomes in high‐income countries: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(4), December.
    9. Elly Field, 2020. "Material Hardship and Contraceptive Use During the Transition to Adulthood," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(6), pages 2057-2084, December.
    10. David (David Patrick) Madden, 2021. "The Dynamics of Multidimensional Poverty in a Cohort of Irish Children," Working Papers 202117, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    11. Gold, Sarah, 2020. "Is housing hardship associated with increased adolescent delinquent behaviors?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    12. Um, Hyunjoon & Mincy, Ronald B., 2025. "Material hardship and child outcomes in two-parent families: Perspectives from family stress, investment, and developmental cascade theories," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    13. Jiang, Qunyong & Xu, Haiping & Wang, Fang & Zhang, Chuqiao & Lyv, Jinge & Wu, Wenjia, 2025. "Multidimensional poverty among middle-school children from rural China: The impact of teacher support," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    14. Jessica L. Arnup & Nicole Black & David W. Johnston, 2022. "Changes in children’s time use during periods of financial hardship," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 1133-1162, July.
    15. Margaret M. C. Thomas, 2022. "Longitudinal Patterns of Material Hardship Among US Families," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 341-370, August.
    16. David Madden, 2022. "The Dynamics of Multidimensional Poverty in a Cohort of Irish Children," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(5), pages 1631-1671, October.
    17. Marja Lindberg & Mikael Nygård & Fredrica Nyqvist & Mia Hakovirta, 2021. "Financial Stress and Subjective Wellbeing among Children -Evidence from Finland," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(2), pages 799-819, April.
    18. Herbert, Laura & Comeau, Jinette & Smith, Carrie & Smith-Carrier, Tracy & Saxby, Christopher & Botelho, Natashia, 2023. "Child maltreatment and adult economic outcomes: A systematic review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    19. Wangqian Fu & Rui Xue & Hongqin Chai & Wenxiang Sun & Fangrui Jiang, 2023. "What Matters on Rural Left-Behind Children’s Problem Behavior: Family Socioeconomic Status or Perceived Discrimination," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-11, January.
    20. Klein, Markus & Sosu, Edward M. & Dare, Shadrach, 2020. "Mapping inequalities in school attendance: The relationship between dimensions of socioeconomic status and forms of school absence," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:157:y:2024:i:c:s019074092300587x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.