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While the association between childhood physical maltreatment and aggression has been verified by many studies, the mechanisms of this relationship are still unclear, particularly in China. The present study delineated characteristics of childhood physical maltreatment among Chinese young adults and estimated the relationship between childhood physical maltreatment and aggression. Data were obtained from 809 college students aged 17 to 22 years. All participants completed measures of childhood physical maltreatment, aggression, resilience, and self-esteem. Rates of physical abuse and neglect were 27.81% and 64.88%, respectively; while there were significant gender differences in childhood physical maltreatment, gender did not moderate the relationship between childhood physical maltreatment and aggression. Childhood physical maltreatment was positively associated with aggression; moreover, resilience and self-esteem mediated this relationship. Findings suggest that childhood physical maltreatment is an important public health issue; it not only has direct effects on aggression, but also has indirect effects on aggression via resilience and self-esteem. Increasing resilience and self-esteem should be applied in interventions to reduce aggression of childhood physically maltreated young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overparenting is an emergent parenting style where parents are highly involved in their children's routines and they remove the perceived obstacles that may happen in their children's lives. However, validated measures that objectively assess overparenting are severely lacking in the Chinese communities. Based on a sample of 642 undergraduate students from Hong Kong, psychometric properties of the perceived Chinese Paternal Overparenting Scale (CPOS) and Chinese Maternal Overparenting Scale (CMOS) were examined in terms of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity and factorial validity. Results indicated that both CPOS and CMOS showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. As predicted, the findings gave support for the convergent validity of the scales: CPOS and CMOS were significantly related to measures of paternal and maternal behavioral control, psychological control, and support; they were also negatively associated with self-efficacy but positively related to narcissistic behavior of emerging adults. Moreover, factor analyses showed that eight factors corresponding to the proposed conceptual model were abstracted from the CPOS and CMOS, respectively. The present study suggests that both CPOS and CMOS are reliable and valid assessment tools that can be used to measure parental overparenting in the Chinese context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contingent self-worth (CSW) is the extent to which an individual's sense of self-worth is dependent on performance in a particular domain. CSW has been linked to poorer psychological health (e.g., lower global self-esteem, greater depression and anxiety). However, the majority of work on CSW has been conducted with US college students. Far less is known about the influence of CSW for younger individuals or for non-Western populations. This study examined relations between CSW domains and two indicators of well-being (depressive symptoms and global self-esteem) with Chinese adolescents (ages 13-16) and young adults (ages 19-22). Results indicated that CSW in the domains of academic performance and others' approval were positively related to depressive symptoms, whereas CSW in the domain of family support was negatively related to depressive symptoms. Others' approval CSW was negatively related to self-esteem for both adolescents and young adults, whereas CSW in the domains of academic performance and family support were related to self-esteem for adolescents but not young adults. This study indicates that CSW is a meaningful and predictive construct for Chinese youth, and that cultural, environmental, and developmental factors may impact the relations between CSW and psychological health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Few longitudinal studies have examined the psychological symptoms that may lead to non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among Chinese adolescents and young adults. This study determined the predictive effects of psychological symptoms for NSSI during a 9-month follow-up period. Methods: Data from 17,622 students, 12-24 years of age, were analyzed in a cross-sectional fashion with respect to associations between psychological symptoms and NSSI. Follow-up surveys were performed 3, 6, and 9 months later. Incident cases of NSSI during follow-up were correlated with the psychological symptoms at baseline. Results: A total of 3,001 (17.0 %) students reported that they had NSSI in the 12 months before the initial assessment. The total rate of NSSI revealed no statistically significant differences by gender, but marked differences between grades. The response rate 3, 6, and 9 months later was 91.8, 81.8, and 79.1 %, respectively. Our cross-sectional study demonstrated statistically significant associations between emotional problems, conduct problems, social adaptation problems, psychological problems, and NSSI ( P < 0.01). In the longitudinal study, emotional problems, conduct problems, social adaptation problems, and psychological problems at baseline had statistically significant associations with incident NSSI in follow-up involving the adolescents, while the association in young adults was attenuated after adjustment for confounding variables. Moreover, psychological symptoms at baseline showed a monotonic dose-response relationship with NSSI in follow-up involving adolescents. Conclusions: The findings suggest that adolescents with psychological symptoms are a group with elevated risks for later NSSI. The prevention programs of NSSI should target attenuating the severity of psychological symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study explored help-seeking attitudes toward marital therapy among young adults in Mainland China (n = 24). In general, significant relationship problems that participants labeled as communication difficulties, emotional distance, and thoughts of divorce were seen as legitimate reasons to seek out marital therapy. Nearly all participants reported that they would be open to seeking professional services only if problems did not abate or continued to be a significant risk to relationship harmony and stability. Finally, the participants generally believed that their family and friends would support their decision to access marital therapy services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a written questionnaire survey of 200 first-year university students, we investigated associations between parental rearing attitudes and health-related lifestyle. Participants completed the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI; Parker, Tupling, & Brown, 1979) and the Health Practice Index (HPI; Hagihara & Morimoto, 1991). We found that more female respondents with unhealthy lifestyles perceived their parents as having been overprotective. No such correlation was found for male respondents. These findings suggest that, particularly for females, health-related lifestyle may be related to perceived parental rearing attitudes. By contrast, for males, depression correlated with low maternal care or overprotection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the light of the social exclusion perspective, this paper discusses the indicators and different forms of social withdrawal experienced by young people in Hong Kong. The study examined the case records of 88 service users aged 13–24, and conducted 4 focus group interviews with a team of social workers involved in outreaching and reengaging the socially excluded users. Youth's personal agency exercised in their reaction to life events and crisis in the form of social withdrawal is arguably a complex social process, which is shaped, amongst other factors, by the hegemonic definition of youth trajectories and transitions to adulthood, and equally important by social exclusion at the institutional, cultural and relational levels. It is argued that both the structural and subjective dimensions of social withdrawal and reengagement work deserve critical examination in order not to further reproduce social inequalities and disadvantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term "fan loyalty" refers to the loyalty felt and expressed by a fan towards the object of his/her fanaticism in both everyday and academic discourses. However, much of the literature on fan loyalty has paid little attention to the topic from the perspective of youth pop culture. The present study explored the meaning of fan loyalty in the context of China. Data were collected by the method of in-depth interviews with 16 young Chinese people aged between 19 and 25 years who currently or once were pop fans. The results indicated that fan loyalty entails three components: involvement, satisfaction, and affiliation. These three components regulate the process of fan loyalty development, which can be divided into four stages: inception, upgrade, zenith, and decline. This model provides a conceptual explanation of why and how young Chinese fans are loyal to their favorite stars. The implications of the findings are discussed.