After-school time and perceived parental control processes, parent-adolescent relational qualities, and psychological well-being in chinese adolescents in Hong Kong

Over three consecutive years, 2,559 Chinese adolescents (mean age = 12.65 years at Wave 1) responded to instruments assessing their perceived parental behavioral control (parental knowledge, expectation, monitoring, discipline, and demandingness), psychological control, parent-child relational qualities (satisfaction with parental control, child's readiness to communicate with the parents, and perceived mutual trust between parents and their children) and psychological well-being (hopelessness, mastery, life satisfaction, and self-esteem). Relative to adolescents who were "engaged" after school (returning home after school with the presence of others or engagement in extra-curricular activities), adolescents who were "home alone" or staying with friends without adult supervision after school at Time 1 had lower perceived parental behavioral control, higher psychological control, poorer parent-adolescent relational qualities, and poorer psychological well-being in their early adolescent years. The present findings suggest that after-school time is a good indicator of parenting and parent-child relational qualities as well as psychological well-being of early adolescents in the Chinese culture.