This study investigates the impact of parenting styles on adolescents’ emotional behaviour within the framework of systems theory, with a particular focus on Chinese and Malaysian Chinese cultural contexts. The dataset comprises five hundred Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) responses and five hundred EMBU questionnaires, collected from three schools in Hefei, China, and two schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The statistical procedures employed include regression analysis, the Hayes PROCESS macro, and comparative tests, all conducted using SPSS version 22.0. The findings reveal significant disparities in parenting styles between the two countries. Chinese mothers exhibited markedly higher scores on the dimension of doting compared to their Malaysian counterparts. Conversely, Malaysian fathers scored significantly higher on the overprotection scale than Chinese fathers. Additionally, Chinese fathers demonstrated lower levels of attentiveness but higher levels of demand toward their children, in contrast to Malaysian fathers, who exhibited elevated levels of overprotection alongside lower tendencies toward punishment and rejection. The study concludes that there are notable gender-based differences in adolescent behavioural issues between China and Malaysia. In China, boys scored higher than girls, whereas in Malaysia, girls surpassed boys in such scores. Parental emotional warmth and empathy were found to be positively associated with improvements in adolescent behaviour, while negative parenting practices—such as harsh discipline, excessive control, and rejection—were linked to the emergence of behavioural problems in adolescents.