Parent-Child Communication and Educational Anxiety: A Longitudinal Analysis Based on the Common Fate Model

Abstract

In the study of family relationships, the Common Fate Model (CFM) is a widely used and reliable model that is able to better explain the inherent patterns of interactions that exist in the dichotomous level. Based on the Common Fate Model, this study explored the influence of parent-child communication quality on parental education anxiety, and at the same time deeply analyzed the mediating role of parent-child trust relationship between the two. The study used the questionnaire method to select fathers and mothers from junior high schools in Jinan City to participate in the research by using stratified cluster sampling, collected data in two time periods (T1 and T2, with an interval of one year), and finally analyzed the data from the Parent-Child Communication Quality Questionnaire (T1), the Educational Anxiety Questionnaire (T2), and the Parent-Child Trusting Relationship Questionnaire (T2) from 910 fathers and mothers in 495 families. The results found that (1) based on the Common Fate Model, parent-child communication quality negatively predicted parental educational anxiety; (2) parent-child communication quality positively predicted parent-child trust relationship; (3) parent-child trust relationship negatively predicted parental educational anxiety; and (4) parent-child trust relationship mediated parent-child communication quality and educational anxiety. In conclusion, based on the Common Fate Model, this paper explores the mediating effect of the parent-child trust relationship between communication quality and parental educational anxiety to provide some theoretical support for alleviating parental educational anxiety.