Positive Youth Development : Long Term Effects in a Chinese Program

Adolescent developmental issues are growing globally; studies show that the percentage of adolescent mental health issues such as depression and suicide continues to escalate. Adolescent addiction problems such as substance abuse, pathological gambling and Internet addiction are intensifying. Furthermore, interpersonal problems such as violence and bullying have grown in different forms, particularly in view of the growing development of social media such as Facebook. In many studies, it was estimated that around one-fifth of adolescents may require professional help because of their psychosocial problems. In this book, the authors present the first known scientific study on the psychosocial development in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. A large sample was used and validated measures of positive youth development, family functioning, parent-child relational processes and adolescent risk behaviour were included in the study.