Adolescent Filial Piety as a Moderator between Perceived Maternal Control and Mother-Adolescent Relationship Quality in Hong Kong

This study examined the perceived parental styles of maternal warmth and control, as well as adolescent filial piety, in relation to parent-child relationship quality, in 308 Hong Kong Chinese adolescents. The three mother-child relationship qualities measured were perceived maternal support, conflicts, and relationship depth. Adolescents' attitudes toward filial piety explained unique variance in all three of these parent-child relational qualities, over the constructs of maternal warmth and control. In addition, the interaction of filial piety with maternal control explained unique variance in perceived maternal support and mother-child conflicts, but not relationship depth. Results established the potential unique importance of adolescent filial piety and confirmed our hypothesis that the more adolescents emphasize filial piety, the more parental control exerts a positive effect on mother-child relationship quality in Hong Kong families.