BEYOND PARENTS AND PEERS: THE ROLE OF IMPORTANT NON-PARENTAL ADULTS (VIPS) IN ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES

By Chuansheng Chen, E. Greenberger, S. Farruggia, K. Bush, Qi Dong. 2003

98 citations recorded by the source corpus.

To understand cross-cultural differences and similarities in the social contexts for adolescent development, 201 American and 502 Chinese 11th graders were surveyed about a non-parental adult who had played an important role in their lives (VIPs). Results showed that, compared to adolescents' VIPs in the United States, their Chinese counterparts were more likely to be teachers, to provide support in education-related areas, and to be considered role models. Chinese VIPs were also reported to exhibit fewer problem behaviors and depressive symptoms and express a higher level of sanctions against adolescent problem behaviors than American VIPs. Adolescents in both cultures reported that their VIPs' positive qualities surpassed those of parents and peers. VIPs' characteristics (e.g., sanctions, problem behavior, warmth, and depressed mood) were significantly associated with adolescent outcomes. These results suggest that although there are cross-cultural differences in the nature of VIPs, VIPs are a very important part of social context for adolescent development in both the United States and China. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Education

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b7c216cf8fbaccd840602f7a3e1238703cfefcfc

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Clinical Psychology

1. Massimiliano Pastore
2. Chuansheng Chen
3. Massimo Santinello
4. Michela Lenzi
5. Alessio Vieno
6. E. Greenberger
7. J. Heckhausen
8. S. Farruggia

In Education

1. Massimiliano Pastore
2. Massimo Santinello
3. Michela Lenzi
4. Alessio Vieno
5. J. Heckhausen
6. Martin J. Tomasik

Citations in the corpus

• Adolescent Problem Behavior in China and the United States: A Cross‐National Study of Psychosocial Protective Factors (2003, result): “The importance of ‘‘the behavior and attitudes of teachers’’ (Greenberger et al., 2000, p. 385) and of the role of teachers in adolescent development in China (Chen et al., 2003) is consonant with the teacher support subscale finding in the Chinese sample.”
• Perceived Social Environment and Adolescents’ Well-Being and Adjustment: Comparing a Foster Care Sample With a Matched Sample (2006, background): “Chen et al. (2003) found that adolescents perceived their VIPs providing a better social environment (i.e., more warmth and acceptance, more sanctions against misconduct) and better role models (i.e., fewer problem behaviors and depressive symptoms) than either their parents or peers.”
• Neighborhood social connectedness and adolescent civic engagement: An integrative model (2013, result): “generational closure in the neighborhood were not associated with the adolescents’ tendency to create relationships with civically engaged adults, as hypothesized based on previous studies (Buchanan & Bowen, 2008; Chen et al., 2003; Moore, 2003; Paxton et al., 2006).”