Family dinner plays an important role in adolescent development and mental health in the family (Elgar et al., 2013). The association of family dinner with mental health and behavioral problems of adolescents is well recognized quantitatively (Musick & Meier, 2012; Meier & Musick, 2014) but studies on the experience of family dinner from the perspectives of adolescents is limited. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of adolescents during family dinner.
Methods:
An interpretative descriptive study (Thorne, 2016) based on semi-structural individuals interviews was conducted to achieve the research purpose. Thirteen participants were recruited from a Hong Kong secondary school through purposive sampling. The data collected was transcribed verbatim for thematic analysis based on the Braun and Clarke's (2006) approach.
Results:
The meaning of family dinner for adolescents is the 'common need of individuals' that they want to fulfill. Under such a main theme in the context of family relationship, what is an 'ideal family dinner', 'role formation', 'positive parenting, and 'negative parenting' are the themes discovered with multiple sub-themes that represents the experience. 'Moments of enjoyment', 'harmony', 'freedom', and 'healthy eating' are the sub-themes that contribute to 'ideal family dinner'. For 'positive parenting', 'emotional soothing' and 'growth' are essential to be achieved. 'Distanced relationship' and 'avoidance' were found to be the sub-themes of 'negative parenting' that would be expressed during family dinner.
Conclusion:
The experience of negative parenting may be manifested during family dinner, while filial piety is founded to be an essential element for the role formation of adolescents in family dinner. Encouraging family dinner and reinforcing the parent-adolescent communication skills could be effective approaches in promoting adolescent’s well-being. Future studies focusing on family dinner based on the identified themes and from the perspectives of parents can be conducted to further explore the parents-adolescent interactions for possible interventions that enhance adolescent mental health and well-being through family dinner.