Family Contact Mitigates the Impact of Parent-Child Political Incongruence: Cross-Sectional and Diary Data from Post 2019 Hong Kong

Political disagreements between emerging adults and their parents can erode family relationships. We analyzed data from two studies conducted during and after the 2019 social unrest in Hong Kong to examine whether more frequent contact buffers such negative impact. In Study 1 (293 emerging adults), repeated-measure data collected during the social unrest indicated a buffering effect of frequent mother-child contact against political incongruence. Frequent father-child contact also correlated with higher perceived family support. In Study 2 (200 emerging adults and parents), diary data collected two years after the social unrest demonstrated that daily contact with parents/child was linked to higher odds of expression of love and care on the following day, even when controlling for perceived political divergence. Family meals specifically buffered political incongruence’s negative effects on parents’ love and care expression. Our research highlights the practical significance of family contact in maintaining relational bonds amidst parent-child political incongruence.