Family Relationships and Adolescent Psychosocial Outcomes: Converging Findings From Eastern and Western Cultures

• NCJ Number: 207884
• Journal: Journal of Research on Adolescence Volume: 14 Issue: 4 Dated: 2004 Pages: 425-447
• Author(s): Julia Dmitrieva; Chuansheng Chen; Ellen Greenberger; Virginia Gil-Rivas
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 23 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study identified factors in parent-adolescent relationships that mediated the link between family-related negative life events and adolescent depressive symptoms and problem behaviors among 1,696 11th graders from 4 countries.

Abstract

The juveniles resided in the United States (n=201), China (n-502), Korea (n=497), and the Czech Republic (n=496). In an attempt to ensure the comparability of the samples, the study selected schools in which students' achievement scores were average for their respective cities. The ethnic composition of each sample was approximately representative of its country's or region's diversity. Although family structure varied significantly across the four samples, the marital status of the participants' parents was nearly representative of the national statistics for the respective countries. An anonymous self-report questionnaire was completed by students during a regular class period. Various instruments measured perceived parental involvement with the juvenile, parent-adolescent conflict, perceived parental sanctions, family-related negative life events (death, divorce, conflict between parents, etc.), adolescent depressed mood, and adolescent problem behavior. The study found that perceived parental involvement and parent-adolescent conflict mediated the link between family-related life events and adolescent depressed mood. The path from family-related life events to adolescent problem behaviors was mediated by perceived parental involvement, parent-adolescent conflict, and perceived parental sanctions of adolescent misconduct. With the exception of minor cross-cultural differences in the magnitude of associations among variables, the study found considerable similarity in the link between family factors and adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Study limitations are discussed. 2 figures, 5 tables, and 67 references