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Evidence suggests an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, particularly among emerging adults. However, theories on altruism born of suffering or adversarial growth suggest that we might also see prosocial behavior as a function of the pandemic, which may protect against mental health challenges. Because cultural values are central in determining prosocial behavior, the current study explored how cultural values were differentially associated with adaptive prosocial behaviors that might protect against mental health challenges. Participants for the current study included 5,682 young people aged 18–25 years from 14 different countries around the world (68% female, 62% college students). Path analyses suggested that there were few differences in patterns as a function of culture, but revealed that horizontal individualism and horizontal and vertical collectivism were indirectly associated with lower levels of depression via prosocial behavior toward family members. Discussion focuses on the importance of coping by strengthening family relationships via prosocial behavior during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 crisis has had a major impact on youth. This study examined factors associated with youth's attitudes towards their government's response to the pandemic and their blaming of individuals from certain risk groups, ethnic backgrounds, and countries or regions. In a sample of 5,682 young adults (Mage = 22) from 14 countries, lower perceived burden due to COVID-19, more collectivistic and less individualistic values, and more empathy were associated with more positive attitudes towards the government and less blaming of individuals of certain groups. Youth's social identification with others in the pandemic mediated these associations in the same direction, apart from the COVID-19 burden on attitudes, which had a positive indirect effect. No evidence of country-level moderation was found.

Evidence suggests an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, particularly among emerging adults. However, theories on altruism born of suffering or adversarial growth suggest that we might also see prosocial behavior as a function of the pandemic, which may protect against mental health challenges. Because cultural values are central in determining prosocial behavior, the current study explored how cultural values were differentially associated with adaptive prosocial behaviors that might protect against mental health challenges. Participants for the current study included 5,682 young people aged 18-25 years from 14 different countries around the world (68% female, 62% college students). Path analyses suggested that there were few differences in patterns as a function of culture, but revealed that horizontal individualism and horizontal and vertical collectivism were indirectly associated with lower levels of depression via prosocial behavior toward family members. Discussion focuses on the importance of coping by strengthening family relationships via prosocial behavior during the pandemic.

The current study explored how parental inductions and punitiveness were related to the prosocial moral reasoning through perspective taking and sympathy. Data were collected from three ethnic groups: 106 European American, 202 Mexican American, and 196 Taiwanese fifth and sixth graders (approximately 50% girls). Using structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, the results generally indicated that the relation between parental inductions and prosocial moral reasoning was partially mediated by perspective taking and sympathy, and that punitiveness had direct relations to prosocial moral reasoning. Furthermore, some ethnic group differences were found such that Taiwanese early adolescents reported less parental inductions and weaker effects of parental punitiveness than early adolescents from the United States. Discussion focuses on the socialization of prosocial moral reasoning across cultural groups.

This study examines how the parental support and control affected school outcomes through conformity to parents, self-esteem, and self-efficacy in adolescence in Mainland China. The sample included 350 junior and senior high school students age ranging from 12 to 19 years, 48% of them were males. Using path model analysis, results showed that parental support but not reasoning predicted conformity and self-esteem which in turn predicted school motivation and grade point average. Parental control including autonomy granting and monitoring also predicted school outcomes mediated by both conformity and self-esteem. Some gender differences were found. Both parental support and control indeed have great impact on adolescents. The more salient effectiveness of parental control may be due to the Chinese cultural characteristics. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)

Self-esteem and depression are fundamental psychological adjustment constructs in the study of adolescent well-being. Most measures of these constructs have been developed and validated using European American samples, and while the correlates and predictors of psychological adjustment have been examined in multiple cultural settings, no existing research explicitly compares the equivalence of measures of self-esteem or depression for contemporary Chinese, Filipino and European American adolescents. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (the Add Health study), this study examines the factorial invariance of self-esteem and depression measures for European American adolescents and the two largest Asian American ethnic groups in the U.S.: Chinese and Filipino Americans. Results indicate strong evidence for invariance of the measure of self-esteem; however, the often-used measure of depression (CES-D) does not satisfy basic tests of measurement invariance for Asian Americans in this sample.

The linkages between self-regulation in childhood, risk proneness in early adolescence, and risky sexual behavior in mid-adolescence were examined in a cohort of children (N=518) from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The possible mediating role of two early adolescent variables (substance use and negative peer pressure) was also examined. Self-regulation was assessed by maternal report at ages 8-9, and risk proneness, comprising aspects of sensation seeking and decision making, was assessed by adolescent self-report at ages 12-13. Structural equation models predicting risky sexual behavior at ages 16-17 indicated that self-regulation operated partly through early adolescent substance use, whereas risk proneness operated through early adolescent substance use and negative peer pressure. The overall model did not differ significantly for boys and girls, although there were gender differences in the strength of particular paths. These long-term longitudinal results support the importance of early self-regulation and risk proneness in setting the stage for adolescent sexual risk taking and implicate substance use and negative peer pressure as processes through which risk proneness and poor self-regulation lead to risky sexual behavior.

Education for parents was recently mandated in Taiwan and presents a challenge to the schools. The purpose of this study was to determine how two generations perceive parenting strengths and learning needs. Taiwanese mothers of 10- to 14-year-olds (n = 209) and their adolescent children (n = 201) completed the Parent Success Indicator. Generational reports were compared, and effects of independent variables were examined. The amount of time mothers spent talking to and doing things with their adolescents had the greatest influence on how both groups rated mother success. Unfavorable ratings expressed by mothers and adolescents identified topics that would be appropriate for parent education. The findings will be used by educators and researchers to support parent development in Taiwan.

The authors examined the developmental course of self-regulation in a cohort of children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The longitudinal sample included 646 children (48% girls; 52% boys; 36.2% Black, 23.4% Hispanic, 40.4% White) who were 4 to 5 years old in 1986 and who were followed up at ages 8 to 9 and ages 12 to 13. Levels of self-regulation (assessed with 12 maternal-report items that measured regulation of affect, behavior, attention) increased from early childhood (when sample children were 4 or 5 years old) to middle childhood (ages 8 or 9), but not from middle childhood to early adolescence (ages 12 or 13). Girls exhibited significantly higher levels of self-regulation than did boys at all 3 time points. Individual differences in self-regulation were fairly stable across the 8-year span (rs =0.47 to 0.50). Comparisons of 1-, 2-, and 3-factor models suggested that the different aspects of self-regulation are highly interrelated, and support adoption of a single-factor model for both genders. The authors discuss implications of these findings for theory and intervention. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

The cross-ethnic measurement equivalence of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; L. S. Radloff, 1977) was examined using a subsample of adolescents (N=10,691) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Configural and metric invariance, as well as functional and scalar equivalence, were examined for Anglo American, Mexican American, Cuban American, and Puerto Rican American youths age 12-18 years. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in each group provided evidence of configural invariance for European and Mexican American adolescents but not for Cuban and Puerto Rican youths. A 2-group CFA for Anglo and Mexican Americans demonstrated partial metric invariance for these groups. Multigroup structural equation modeling indicated similar relations between CES-D scores and self-esteem for all 4 groups, supporting cross-ethnic functional and scalar equivalence. The results have implications for using the CES-D in cross-ethnic research and, more broadly, for the assessment and treatment of depression in Latinos.

Examines grandparent behaviors in the United States and in the Republic of China to identify curriculum themes for helping them learn to adjust to their changing roles. Results revealed significant differences in perceptions about grandparents across cultures as well as between generations within cultures. Provides specific guidelines and curriculum topics for education to support grandparent development. (Author/JDM)

Education for parents was recently mandated in Taiwan and presents a challenge to the schools. The purpose of this study was to determine how two generations perceive parenting strengths and learning needs. Taiwanese mothers of 10- to 14-year-olds (n = 209) and their adolescent children (n = 201) completed the Parent Success Indicator. Generational reports were compared, and effects of independent variables were examined. The amount of time mothers spent talking to and doing things with their adolescents had the greatest influence on how both groups rated mother success. Unfavorable ratings expressed by mothers and adolescents identified topics that would be appropriate for parent education. The findings will be used by educators and researchers to support parent development in Taiwan., Changes in family structure present technological societies throughout the world with unfamiliar challenges and opportunities for the care and development of children. There has been a rapid increase in the [...]

The cross-ethnic measurement equivalence of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; L. S. Radloff, 1977) was examined using a subsample of adolescents (N = 10,691) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Configural and metric invariance, as well as functional and scalar equivalence, were examined for Anglo American, Mexican American, Cuban American, and Puerto Rican American youths age 12-18 years. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in each group provided evidence of configural invariance for European and Mexican American adolescents but not for Cuban and Puerto Rican youths. A 2-group CFA for Anglo and Mexican Americans demonstrated partial metric invariance for these groups. Multigroup structural equation modeling indicated similar relations between CES-D scores and self-esteem for all 4 groups, supporting cross-ethnic functional and scalar equivalence. The results have implications for using the CES-D in cross-ethnic research and, more broadly, for the assessment and treatment of depression in Latinos.

Black, Hispanic, and White American mothers (n = 739) and adolescents (n = 806) completed the Parent Success Indicator to rate maternal performance on subscales of Communication, Use of Time, Teaching, Frustration, Satisfaction, and Information Needs. A weighted method corresponding to ethnic proportions in the American population was applied to construct a national standard for comparative reference. In general, both generations perceived mother performance as favorable. Teaching received the highest rating followed by Satisfaction levels. Mothers felt that Information Needs were their greatest limitation while adolescents reported that their mothers were prone to frustration. The amount of time mothers and adolescents spent together was the most significant independent variable influencing parent performance. Other variables such as income and marital status had limited impact., Lifestyles that reflect cultural diversity in the United States are perceived as confirmation of the national capacity to accept and encourage differences. Consequently, most researchers examine parenting in the context [...]

Grandparents in the Republic of China want to remain influential, but social policy has not provided them with education to fulfill their changing role. The performance of grandparents was examined to determine suitable content for an intervention program. A sample of 751 non-consanguineous participants from urban and rural Taiwan included 234 grandparents, 241 parents, and 276 grandchildren. Each generation was administered a separate version of the Grandparent Strengths and Needs Inventory that was translated into Mandarin. Respondents identified favorable qualities of grandparents as well as aspects of their relationships in which growth was necessary. Multivariate analysis of variance, univariate analysis of variance, Scheffe and t-tests were used to analyze scores, confirm results, and facilitate interpretation. All three generations described aspects of grandparent success and specific realms of learning they should acquire to become more effective. Significant main effects that influenced responses about grandparent performance were generation, gender of grandchild, age of grandchild, frequency of grandchild care by grandparent, generations living together, and amount of time grandparent and grandchild spent together. Considerations were recommended to improve behavior of grandparents and guide the development of educational programs for them.