The Association between Parental Marital Satisfaction and Adolescent Prosocial Behavior in China: A Moderated Serial Mediation Model

Ruiping Zhang, Yaqian Guo, Baoyu Bai, Yabing Wang, Linlin Gao and Lan Cheng
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Ruiping Zhang: Department of Psychology, School of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Yaqian Guo: Department of Psychology, School of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Baoyu Bai: Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Yabing Wang: Department of Psychology, School of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Linlin Gao: Department of Psychology, School of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Lan Cheng: Department of Psychology, School of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: Parental marital satisfaction is a well-established protective factor for prosocial behavior in adolescents, yet the parental socialization of adolescent prosocial behavior is limited in Chinese culture. Furthermore, it remains unknown whether the association between parental marital satisfaction and adolescent prosocial behavior is mediated by parent–child intimacy and/or adolescent empathy. The present study examined these associations in 480 students (50.4% male, age = 12.7 ± 0.54 years) and one of their parents. Path analysis (Mplus) revealed that parental marital satisfaction was related to a high level of parent–child intimacy, which was, in turn, associated with a high level of adolescent empathy, which itself predicted adolescent prosocial behavior. The serial mediation effect differed between boys and girls. Specifically, compared with boys, girls’ parent–child intimacy was a stronger predictor of their empathy, and empathy had a stronger predictive effect on their prosocial behavior. Several implications for interventions and policies for increasing prosocial behavior in children are suggested.

Keywords: parental marital satisfaction; parent–child relationship; empathy; prosocial behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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