Parent–Child Discrepant Effects on Positive Youth Outcomes at the Aggregate Family Functioning Context in Hong Kong

Prior investigations concerning the influence of parent–child discrepancies in family functioning on child development seldom examined different family functioning components, e.g., parenting and family processes, in a single study, or they predominantly emphasized the negative side of child outcomes, e.g., delinquencies and psychological problems. What’s more, most studies considered parent–child discrepant effects independent of aggregate nature of the family dynamics under study and also did not consider any potential factors’ role in mediating the relationship. To fill in the research gap, a sample of 223 Chinese parent-youth dyads, in which the youth were mainly in their middle and late adolescence as well as young adulthood, was surveyed to examine the effects of parent–child discrepancies in family functioning in terms of effective parenting and positive family processes on the youths’ positive outcomes, i.e., self-control and other perspective taking behavior. In the current study, youth self-concept was included as a mediator, and the aggregate nature of family functioning components was taken into account. Results affirmed the adverse effects of parent–child discrepancies on the two positive youth outcomes directly or indirectly through self-concept. However, these adverse effects are found to be contingent on the aggregate family functioning. Implications and future study directions are also discussed.