Parents 'Make a Difference'---Parental Beliefs, Family Processes, Achievement Motivation and Psychological Competence of Adolescents Experiencing Economic Disadvantage in Hong Kong

This study examined the relationships amongst parental beliefs, family processes, achievement motivation and psychological competence of economically disadvantaged adolescents in Hong Kong. An ecological perspective of human development was adopted, with expectancy-value theory of motivation (Eccles et al., 1998, 2006) and social capital theory of the family (Coleman, 1988, 1990) as the theoretical framework. Three parental beliefs, including Chinese cultural beliefs about adversity, attribution of children's success and failure to effort, and expectations of children's future, were studied. The research further investigated how parenting style, parental control, family functioning, and parental sacrifice for children's education influenced adolescents' positive development.;The research covered two phases. The first phase focused on the development and validation of two instruments: the Parental Expectations of Children's Future Scale and the Parental Sacrifice for Children's Education Scale. The second phase involved the main study. A sample of 275 intact economically disadvantaged families was recruited, with at least one adolescent child aged 11-16 in each family. A quantitative cross-sectional research design using the validated instruments was employed.;There were several findings from the main study. First, parental beliefs, particularly expectations of children's future, significantly predicted parental control, family functioning and parental sacrifice. Second, maternal control and paternal sacrifice predicted adolescent achievement motivation, whereas maternal control, family functioning and paternal sacrifice predicted adolescent psychological competence. Third, the mediating effects of family processes in the influences of parental beliefs on adolescent achievement motivation and psychological competence were identified. Fourth, fathers were found significantly less involved in family processes than were mothers. Finally, mother-child discrepancies in perceptions of maternal sacrifice adversely predicted adolescent achievement motivation, and father-child discrepancies in perceptions of family functioning adversely predicted adolescent psychological competence.;The research is a pioneering scientific study of familial factors in the positive development of Chinese adolescents experiencing economic disadvantage. It highlights the importance of developing indigenous Chinese concepts and family models, and addresses parental beliefs and family processes as protective factors of adolescent development in poor families. It has practical implications for social work intervention and policy formulation, which provides important cues for alleviating the problem of intergenerational poverty.