The Association between Home Environment and Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents in Hangzhou City, China

Abstract

To investigate the influence of the home environment, defined as family socioeconomic status (SES) (parent education level, household income), student resource-mediated SES (access to nutritional resources and cognitively stimulating experiences), reading ability, and difficulty with homework on quality of life in children and adolescents residing in urban and suburban areas in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China. This study included 3200 Grade 3–6 students from 8 elementary schools in Hangzhou City. Assessments included questionnaires that evaluated student quality of life, family SES, resource-mediated SES (dietary behavior and the home literacy environment), reading ability, and difficulty with homework. The effects of the home environment on student quality of life were analyzed by univariate analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, and structural equation modeling. Overall, 80.6% of students had a medium or better quality of life. Young age (Grade 3 or 4), female sex, household income of 10000–15000 RMB, high breakfast consumption, daily intake of fruit, a balanced diet, and good reading habits were positively correlated with student quality of life (P < 0.05), while overuse of electronic devices was negatively correlated with quality of life (P < 0.05). Dietary behaviors, home literacy environment, and student reading ability and difficulty with homework directly affected quality of life. Family SES indirectly affected student quality of life. Children and adolescents in China should have access to good nutrition and cognitively stimulating experiences to enhance their well-being and provide them with social and academic advantages.

The influence of parenting on building character in adolescents

“…The results of this study are in line with the theory of adolescent socialization which states that adolescents begin to expand their psychosocial development into a wide scope ( Huang et al., 2021 ; Meter et al., 2019 ). The family is the first social environment that individuals have encountered since they were born into the world ( Hanani, 2019 ; Jenkins et al., 2018 ; Sanner and Neece, 2018 ).…”

“…The study also provided the discovery that parents who work together in parenting make adolescents feel safe. Parents who can carry out good cooperation will have an impact on good mental and psychosocial development in adolescents ( Fang, 2018 ; Huang et al., 2021 ). Cooperation in this case includes, for example, the father who acts as the head of the household, but still accompanies the child in learning.…”

“…Parenting by parents plays an important role in building the adolescents’ characters ( Banstola et al., 2020 ; Smith-Adcock et al., 2019 ). Influenced by parents at home and strengthened as they get older ( Huang et al., 2021 ; Lin and Chiao, 2020 ), adolescents will show their different characters. Whether they will be a person who likes peace, appreciates diversity, or shows their self-awareness of the social environment, it will develop as their social circle widens ( Hart et al., 2019 ).…”

“…Adolescents tend to be involved in defiance ( Martínez et al., 2021 ), especially when they are not supervised by their parents ( Queiroz et al., 2020 ). Specifically, some deviant factors could be consuming alcohol and alcohol abuse ( Gómez-Ortiz et al., 2019 ) and other drugs ( Fuentes et al., 2020 ), low school achievement ( Garcia et al., 2020 ), lower self-esteem ( Fuentes et al., 2020 ; Garcia et al., 2020 ) and self-concept ( Chen et al., 2020 ; Huang et al., 2021 ) and poor maturity ( Villarejo & Martinez-escudero, 2020 ). In the theory of ecological systems with chronosystem models it shows how adolescents’ behavior is greatly influenced by and affects the environment in which they live over time ( Ragelienė and Grønhøj, 2020 ).…”

Family Climate in Nurturing Individuals’ Self-Concept: A Qualitative Study

“…They mentioned that: This study's findings are consistent with previous research (for example: Banstola et al, 2020;Sugiarti et al, 2021;Tulip et al, 2020;Smith-Adcock et al, 2019), which found that the family climate, as mediated by parenting, plays an important role in the development of character in adolescents. Other experts, such as Huang et al (2021) as well as Lin and Chiao (2020), have argued that family members will display diverse personalities influenced by their parents at home, which will be strengthened as they grow older. Hart et al (2019) also stated that this influence will grow as their social circle expands, regardless of whether they choose peace, value variety, or demonstrate self-awareness of the social context.…”