Chinese adolescents’ perceptions of parents’ rearing styles: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of birth cohort changes 1994–2017

Social changes that may influence parents’ rearing styles have impacted Chinese family structures in recent decades. In this study we examined changes in parents’ rearing styles perceived by Chinese adolescents according to birth cohort. We performed a cross-temporal meta-analysis of 176 studies involving 181 data points (participant N = 86,960). The results showed that Chinese adolescents’ scores on the Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran Scale changed significantly from 1994 to 2017. The d values of the 11 scale dimensions of parental rearing style varied from −1.58 to 1.01, implying that the coefficient of determination varied from 1% to 38%. Chinese adolescents’ perceptions of fathers’ excessive interference and mothers’ overprotection and excessive interference decreased over the period of the studies, and the adolescents’ perceptions of mothers’ emotional warmth increased. In addition, boys perceived more severe punishment and rejection from their fathers than girls did. Theoretical and practical implications of the changes of parental rearing styles over time are discussed.