The Intergenerational Transmission of Social Adjustment in Single-Parent Families With Different Sex Compositions: The Mediating Role of Parental Child-Rearing Gender-Role Attitudes

Despite evidence of intergenerational transmission of behaviours and attitudes between parents and children, and differences in interactions between single parents and same- or opposite-sex children, the role of parent–child sex composition in the transmission of social adjustment in single-parent families remains unclear. This study surveyed 532 parent-adolescent dyads from single-parent families, with adolescents aged 12–18 years (M = 14.81, SD = 1.62). The families comprised father-son (24.8%), father-daughter (13.5%), mother-son (43.0%) and mother-daughter (18.6%) types, to explore whether adolescents' perceptions of parental child-rearing gender-role attitudes (PCGA) mediate the relationship between parents' and adolescents' social adjustment across different sex compositions. The transmission of PCGA from grandparents to parents was also explored. Results showed that single mothers' social adjustment was not only higher than their children's but also generally exceeded that of single fathers. Single parents in father-son and mother-daughter families had higher PCGA scores than those in father-daughter families. Grandparents' PCGA was positively associated with parents' PCGA. Moreover, parents' social adjustment was positively associated with children's social adjustment through PCGA, and this mediation effect remained consistent across four family types. These findings highlight the need for interventions to enhance single parents' social adjustment and PCGA for better support.