Associations Between Weight-Based Bullying, Developmental Internal Assets, and Perceived Social Support Among Youth

Associations between the number of siblings, parent-child relationship and positive youth development of adolescents in mainland China: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Positive development plays an important role in youth when dealing with stressful circumstances. According to the resource dilution theory, adolescents with or without siblings may receive different levels of emotional and material resources from their parents. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between the positive development of adolescents in China today with their family characteristics such as the number of siblings.

METHODS

A total of 2072 junior high and senior high school students (13 to 18 years old) in Chengdu, Sichuan, China, were investigated by cluster sampling. The Chinese Positive Youth Development scales (CPYDs) were used to measure positive youth development. The generalized linear model was used to explore the relationships among the number of siblings, parent-child relationships and positive youth development.

RESULTS

Adolescents from only-child families had better performance on positive development (H = 21.87, P < 0.001) and better relationships with parents (H = 15.1, P < 0.05). The positive development of male and female adolescents does not significantly differ in families with different numbers of siblings. The generalized linear model showed that a positive parent-child relationship is positively correlated with adolescent positive development (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Positive youth development is not only associated with the number of siblings but also other modifiable familial factors. The positive relationship between parents and adolescents is of great practical value in daily life to improve youth development, and this might be the real lesson the resource dilution theory tells.

The more developmental assets, the less internet gaming disorder? Testing the cumulative effect and longitudinal mechanism during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered the dramatical development and prosperity of online games, while worldwide people are suffering from it. Considering the high prevalence, serious impacts, and huge development potential of internet gaming disorder (IGD), it is extremely necessary to develop a protective model to prevent and intervene with it among young people. Based on the developmental assets theory, the present study adopted a two-wave longitudinal design to evaluate the cumulative effects of developmental assets on IGD, as well as the underlying mechanisms during this specific period. Data were collected from a sample of 1023 adolescents in Hubei province, Central China through self-report questionnaires. The results indicated that (1) developmental assets were negatively associated with adolescents' IGD concurrently and longitudinally; (2) the overall developmental assets had cumulative effects in linear patterns on adolescents' IGD, concurrently and longitudinally; and (3) internal developmental assets mediated the relationship between external developmental assets and adolescents' IGD longitudinally. Theoretically, the present study supports the developmental assets theory and expands the literature about developmental assets and IGD in younger generations. Practically, the present study provides guidance for prevention and intervention of IGD among adolescents during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Comprehensive measures should be taken to assist in developing positive internal and external resources to promote youth thriving.