BECE. Newsletter 

Vol.16, No.2, 2024, BECE 1837 

 

 

 

 

Positive Parenting and Prosocial Risky Behavior in 

Adolescents: Testing a Moderated Mediation Model 

By Feng, X., Dou, K., & Tang, Y. 
Correspondence to: Kai Dou, Guangzhou University, China. E-mail: 

psydk@gzhu.edu.cn  

HE study Prosocial risky behavior involves risk taking that benefits oth-

ers or society, such as stopping peer bullying and sacrificing personal 

time for volunteerism. It is positive behavior as opposed to negative behavior 

like adolescent smoking and gambling. There are linkages between adoles-

cent risky behavior and environmental factors such as the family and peers. 

This study examines the relation between positive parenting and adolescent 

prosocial risky behavior as well as the mediation effect of prosocial peers 

and moderation effect of individual risk propensity. Research findings show 

that: 

(i) Positive parenting positively predicts adolescent prosocial risky behav-

ior. That indicates positive parenting is a promotive factor in prosocial 

risk taking among adolescents. Therefore, it is important for parents to 

give children more emotional warmth, allowing them adequate security 

in order for them to courageously confront the external world. Parents 

should improve their communication with children, devote quality time 

to them, and create a good familial atmosphere. Parental positive re-

sponses to the child’s progress, such as prompt praise and appreciation, 

are conducive to their developing into a helpful person.  

(ii) Prosocial peers mediate the relation between positive parenting and ado-

lescent prosocial risky behavior. In other words, positive parenting can 

indirectly impact adolescent prosocial risky behavior via prosocial peers. 

That means parents remain an important social medium in their adoles-

cent children’s life, affecting their choice of interactive partners. 

Prosocial peer affiliation contributes to increasing prosocial behavior in 

adolescents. Parents and educators should pay more attention to the role 

of peers in the child’s adolescence, giving them proper guidance in peer 

interaction so as to circumvent deviant peer affiliation. 

(iii) The indirect effect of positive parenting on adolescent prosocial risky 

behavior via prosocial peers is more significant among adolescents with 

high risk propensity than their peers with low risk propensity. Risk pro-

pensity is an indicator used to measure the individual’s attitudes towards 

T 

mailto:psydk@gzhu.edu.cn


 

Vol.16, No.2, 2024, BECE 1838 

uncertainties. In educating adolescents with high risk propensity, par-

ents and teachers should not overly suppress their risky behavior, but in-

stead, should encourage them to have more communication with 

prosocial peers and increase their positive and prosocial behaviors. 

 

 
Source: Psychological Development and Education, 2024; 40(5):658-666.