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Although Chinese cultural beliefs highlight the significant role of fathers in educating and disciplining their children, little empirical research has explored the role of Chinese fathers more broadly on child adjustment. This study used survey methodology to examine the effect of father involvement, fathering practices, and father-child relationships on child adjustment in Mainland China. Participants were 609 mother-father dyads with at least one child aged 3 to 7 years in preschool. Fathers reported on their involvement and relationships with their children and fathering practices, and mothers reported on child adjustment. Results indicated that paternal inconsistency, coercive parenting, and father-child relationships were significant predictors of behavioral and emotional problems in children. Father involvement, positive encouragement, and father-child relationships were significantly associated with child competencies (positive child behaviors). Additionally, paternal inconsistency and father-child relationships moderated the relationship between father involvement and child behavioral and emotional problems. At low levels of paternal inconsistency, higher father involvement was related to lower behavioral and emotional problems in children; yet, at high levels of paternal inconsistency, higher father involvement was associated with higher behavioral and emotional problems. When father-child relationships were poor, higher father involvement was also related to more behavioral and emotional problems. The findings highlight the importance of considering both the quantity and quality of fathering in child development. When combined with poor fathering practices, increased father involvement may not be beneficial and could potentially be harmful for child adjustment.

This study aimed to develop and evaluate a new parent-report measure to assess primary schoolchildren’s academic behaviors in the home context. We developed the Academic Behavior Scale (ABS) and administered it to Chinese parents of primary schoolers along with other measures. Six hundred and forty-five parents and 170 primary schoolchildren in Grades 4–6 were recruited from a public primary school and completed a set of questionnaires. After that, the psychometric properties of the ABS including factorial validity, convergent and concurrent validity, as well as internal consistency were evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis and correlation analysis in Mplus v.8.3. The results confirmed a two-factor structure for the scale, with satisfactory convergent and concurrent validity and internal consistency. This study provides preliminary evidence for the satisfactory psychometric properties of the ABS among Chinese parents.

This study validated a parent-report measure of the Parenting and Family Adjustment Scales in a Chinese cultural context through investigating 650 Chinese parents. The results provided evidence for satisfactory reliability and validity of Parenting and Family Adjustment Scales in a Chinese context, which is thus promising to be used for Chinese parents.

This study aimed to validate a parent-report measure of child adjustment and parenting efficacy (Child Adjustment and Parent Efficacy Scale [CAPES]) in a Chinese cultural context. Six hundred and fifty Chinese parents in China participated in the study and completed a set of questionnaires including the CAPES, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC), and the Parenting and Family Adjustment Scales (PAFAS). The factorial, convergent, and concurrent validity as well as internal consistency were evaluated. The results provided support for a new 2-factor structure of child behavioral and emotional adjustment. The 1-factor structure of parenting efficacy was confirmed. The three constructs obtained satisfactory internal consistency. Moreover, the CAPES scores correlated significantly with the SDQ, PSOC, and PAFAS in the expected pattern, which indicated its excellent convergent and concurrent validity. Therefore, it is a promising measure, due to its brevity and comprehensiveness, with the first indications of satisfactory internal consistency and validity among Chinese parents. However, a revision of the instrument is needed to avoid the ordering effects of positive and negative items, and further hypothesis-driven research is also needed to validate the (revised) instrument in different Chinese samples.