The Psychological WellBeing of East Asian Youth Quality of Life in Asia

The rapid social change in the East Asia has brought great research attention on the family, education and political impacts. The growth trajectory of the next generation is exposed to an entirely different context owing to the dual effects of traditional and modern values as well as practices. This book provides an overall picture of the developmental trajectory of Taiwanese youth as a typical example in the region. The time frame is set from early adolescence (13years old) to young adulthood (22yeard old). Individual psychological well-being in its broad definition will be used as the outcome indicator to reflect significant developmental processes during this important transitional life course. Benefitted from the rare panel datasets conducted from 2000-2009, this book has two major focuses: one is to explore the interplay among family, school and community with regard to their influence on the individual growth patterns; the other is to highlight the potential constraint and/or strength of the prevailing social norms and values shared among East Asian societies. To be specific, different chapters will describe and analyze the life chances and growth patterns among youth with different social capitals (including family SES, educational achievement, rural-urban residence, etc.). Their short-term versus long-term outcome, as indicated by various psychological well-being variables (e.g., depressive symptoms, deviant or problem behaviors, happiness, edutional performance), will allow us to delineate the particular structural context that individual East Asian youth encounters and to offer constructive suggestions on family interaction, educational strategy as well as health related policies based on the scientific evidence. This book incorporates comparative reports from other East Asian societies, and from youth panel studies of Australia and the U.S.. The experience of their counter-part in the advanced societies will contribute to readers’ understanding of the particular social situation that East Asian youth is embedded in the growth process. In addition, comparative perspective will enable the reader to contemplate on the potential future development of the affluent generation in the region. Since changing social structure occurred in the last few decades in the East Asia has suffered inadequate investigation in the realm of family, education and community, this book provides timely information to fill up the gap. Analyses of the valuable dataset from early adolescents to young adults will attract those who are interested in family researches, in youth studies, in panel data analyses, as well as in the social development in Taiwan and in East Asia. Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction to the Psychological Well-Being of East Asian Youth: The Transition from Early Adolescence to Young Adulthood....Pages 1-26 Front Matter....Pages 27-27 The Concept of Guan in the Chinese Parent-Child Relationship....Pages 29-49 Growing Up in Single-Parent Families: An Illustration from Taiwanese Families....Pages 51-68 Family Relationship Quality and Its Psychological Effects Among Taiwanese Adolescents....Pages 69-88 Front Matter....Pages 89-89 Deviant Peers and Delinquency: The Influence of Classroom Context....Pages 91-107 Exploring the Antecedents and Effects of Structural Holes in Teenagers’ Friendship Networks....Pages 109-130 Academic Competition and Cram Schooling....Pages 131-153 Front Matter....Pages 155-155 The Developmental Outcome of Taiwanese Youth: Effects of Educational Tracking During Adolescence....Pages 157-184 Working, Schooling, and Psychological Well-Being: Evidence from Longitudinal Data for Taiwanese Youth....Pages 185-207 Premarital Sexual Permissiveness Among Taiwanese Youth....Pages 209-222 When Young Adults Leave Home: Dependency or Autonomy?....Pages 223-242 The Effects of Self-Esteem on Adolescent Delinquency over Time: Is the Relationship Linear?....Pages 243-261 Front Matter....Pages 263-263 Academic Achievement-Oriented Society and Its Relationship to the Psychological Well-Being of Korean Adolescents....Pages 265-279 Social Capital and Psychosocial Adjustment of Migrant Children in China: The Role of Children’s Personal Agency....Pages 281-309 Subjective Well-Being of the Post-1980s Generation in Hong Kong: Implications for Social and Political Stability....Pages 311-338 Back Matter....Pages 339-345 This book provides readers with a comprehensive picture of diverse growth trajectories of East Asian youth from early adolescence to young adulthood. Based on a unique panel dataset of Taiwanese youth from the year 2000 to 2009, various life experiences since the junior high to senior high and to college are discussed in terms of influences on the long term development of psychological well-being. Situated in a rapidly changing social context, a typical youth in this region is faced with the constant pressure from traditional norms which remain strong as well as with the overwhelming impact of modern ideologies. This book aims to describe significant social mechanisms affecting different growth patterns and to delineate the interplay of various mechanisms in the developmental process during this particular life course. The book includes comparative data from other East Asian societies such as Korea, China and Hong Kong