BECE. Newsletter 

Vol.19, No.2, 2025, BECE 1957 

 

 

 

 

The Impact of Parental Control on Mental Health of 

Primary and Secondary School Students and Its Edu-

cational Implications 

By Xing, S., Gao, X., & Yu, G. 
Correspondence to: Guoliang Yu, Renmin University of China, China. E-mail: 

yugllxl@sina.com  

N THE Chinese cultural context, the absolute authority of Chinese parents 

over their children has predisposed them to adopt controlling parenting. 

This article is a re-examination of the relationship between parental control 

and mental health of primary and secondary school students in China, using 

the meta-analytical techniques.  

Research Findings: 

 There is a moderately positive relationship between parental control and 

student mental problems, indicating parental control is a significant risk 

factor for child mental health. 

 The relationship between parental control and child mental health is 

moderated by variables including the age of the student, the source of 

psychological control, the home cultural background, and the publication 

year of the study included. 

 The study proposes the following suggestions in response to the negative 

consequences of parental control for child mental health: 

 Encourage parents to develop scientific notions of education and in-

crease knowledge on home education for creating parent-child relation-

ships on an equal footing and diminishing controlling parenting. 

 Strengthen mental health education for primary and secondary students 

to increase their capacity to cope with pressures from parents and im-

prove their emotional regulation, as well as their ability to seek for emo-

tional support from non-home-based resources. 

 Urge schools to provide home education training to parents and promote 

school-family-community co-education. 

 

 
Source: Educational Science Research, 2024; 2024(10):20-27. 

I 

mailto:yugllxl@sina.com