Interpersonal relations and subjective well-being among preadolescents in China

China’s one-child policy, industrialization and urbanization have implications for children’s interacting with parents, friends, and classmates as well as their well-being. Using a stratified random sample of 1,306 sixth-grade primary school children and their parents in Nanshan district, Shenzhen, this exploratory study measured the interactive structures at home, with friends, and in school in relation to their family backgrounds, subjective well-being, and school performance. Being the only child or having household registration in Shenzhen was associated with more time and financial investments from parents. Girls, only children, or children with household registration in Shenzhen interacted more with friends than their counterparts. Girls or children with siblings engaged more with classmates but household registration did not make a difference. Having controlled for demographic and family backgrounds, parent and classmate relation were both associated positively with children’s levels of satisfaction with their relationships with siblings, parents, and friends as well as subjective well-being. But only classmate relation, besides parent’s educational attainment, was positively associated with school performance.