Association Between Parents’ Marital Status and the Development of Purpose, Hope, and Self-Esteem in Adolescents in Hong Kong

Abstract

This study investigates the role of parents’ marital status in adolescents’ mental well-being. Although the separation of parents is generally regarded as a negative condition on adolescents’ growth, we find evidence of strong positive development in certain areas. Faced with an adverse family background, even though teenagers might have lower happiness and life satisfaction, they come to develop stronger purpose in life, higher hope for the future, and higher self-esteem. We argue that this is because the tougher circumstances force them to become independent and develop their own identity. On the other hand, these attributes are found to be lower among older adolescents in “normal” family backgrounds, which provide an interesting contrast to prior research, which has argued that intact families are positive for development. The results of this study have strong implications for the study of teenage well-being.

Forgiveness, Hope, and Satisfaction With Life Among Senior High School Students Viewed From Family-related Characteristics in Indonesia

“…This shows that family attributes are valued by adolescents as promising (or not) for present and future life. Previous findings support these results, where family attributes such as those indicating socioeconomic status are related to adolescent life satisfaction [40] for example through increased self-esteem [41], aspirations [42], hope [43], and mental health in general [44], or as parental marital status is related to hope [45]. Forgiveness is less related and distinguished by familyrelated characteristics because forgiveness is a construct that is too abstract to be realized in adolescence and develops with age [21], [23].…”

Do Parents' Educational Expectations in Adolescence Predict Adult Life Satisfaction?

“…Furthermore, level of educational attainment was statistically related to life satisfaction in adulthood, which is consistent with previous studies (Ross & Willigen, ; Suldo et al, ). The relationship between higher educational attainment and life satisfaction may be due to higher earnings, prestige of jobs, marital status, housing, and other factors (Alexander et al, ; Chui & Wong, ). Evidence has shown that these aspects of life circumstances, which we did not investigate directly in the present study, have meaningful influences on adolescents' life satisfaction as they reach adulthood.…”

“…Research has found that parents and teachers alike hold lower educational expectations for African American boys than for African American girls, suggesting the potential for gendered parental expectations across other races and ethnicities as well (Wood et al, ). Studies have also found that parental expectations for education and life satisfaction are positively related to adolescents' academic outcomes while controlling for variables such as race and ethnicity (Froiland et al, ) and socioeconomic status (Chui & Wong, ; Louis & Zhao, ; Räty & Kasanen, ; Roche et al, ). Parents' socioeconomic status and education level have both been directly and indirectly related to the level of education attainment and life satisfaction in previous studies (Ou & Reynold, 2008; Roche et al, ).…”

“…Therefore, self‐esteem is a robust variable that may explain the variance in one's life satisfaction. As with many other psychosocial characteristics that children develop in family contexts—such as hope, purpose (Chui & Wong, ), autonomy, intrinsic motivation (Froiland, ), and school adjustment (Froiland & Oros, )—we anticipate that higher parental expectation is related to higher self‐esteem in adolescents.…”

Self-Esteem Remaja Pada Keluarga Utuh Dan Tunggal: Kaitannya Dengan Komunikasi Dan Kelekatan Orang Tua-Remaja

“…Seseorang yang memasuki akhir masa remaja cenderung memiliki tujuan dan harapan hidup serta selfesteem yang lebih rendah. Hal tersebut disebabkan karena perkembangan remaja sangat tergantung pada latar belakang keluarga khususnya status perkawinan orang tua mereka (Chui & Wong, 2015). Ryan, Shim dan Makara (2013) serta Schaffhuser, Allemand dan Schwarz (2016) juga menemukan bahwa terdapat tantangan terhadap self-esteem siswa selama masa transisi sekolah.…”