Parenting as an indicator of family quality of life: Profiles in Hong Kong

Abstract

Background: Family life experience is a major component of the individual’s subjective feeling of the quality of life (Wan & Lo, 2015), while the parent-child related issues compose the major part of and influence other parts of one’s family life. Parenting could be used as a useful indicator to look into the family quality of life, as it reflects not only the parenting knowledge and style the parents have, but also the parents’ mental health, self-efficacy, the family life structure, the marital relationship, the development of the children, the parent-child relationship and the family atmosphere in general.

Main body: This presentation will give a comprehensive review on 1) profiles of Hong Kong families, 2) parenting issues and well-being of Hong Kong families, 3) the contextual factors shape parenting practices and family well-being; and 4) introducing the research project entitled “Raising children in Hong Kong: A mixed-methods study of generational shifts in parental beliefs and practice”.

Discussion: The overview underscores the importance of contextual factors in shaping the ecology of parenthood and family well-being, and enhance our understanding of the social construction of parenthood.