Parasympathetic Activity and Mental Health in Chinese Adolescents: The Role of Parental Migration

Abstract Background Although the existing literature has well documented the negative effects of COVID-19 on multiple life outcomes in adolescents, some research has also revealed that some life outcomes have become better during COVID-19. Scant research has specifically examined to what extent and in what aspects COVID-19 is beneficial to adolescent development so far. With person-centered approach, this research addressed this gap by: (1) exploring different profiles of positive changes in life outcomes in Chinese adolescents since the outbreak of COVID-19; (2) examining the role of resilience in relation to different profiles; (3) comparing mental health across adolescents categorized into different profiles. Method Participants were 2,567 Chinese adolescents aged 12 to 24. They rated how much their lives of different domains had experienced positive changes since the outbreak of the pandemic. They also answered the questionnaires that measured their resilience and mental health. Results Results of latent profile analysis revealed three different profiles: limited positive changes (33.3%), partial positive changes (49.5%), and overall strong positive changes (17.2%). Moreover, adolescents with a higher level of resilience were more likely to be categorized into the partial positive changes profile compared to the limited positive changes profile and into the overall strong positive changes profile compared to the other two profiles, after controlling for the covariates. Finally, adolescents in the overall strong positive changes profile had better mental health than their counterparts in the other two profiles. Conclusion COVID-19 might be helpful to adolescent development to some extent, especially for those with higher resilience.

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Making Best Friends From Other Groups and Mental Health of Chinese Adolescents

Youth & Society ◽

10.1177/0044118x20959222 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 0044118X2095922

Author(s):

Xiaochen Zhou ◽

Jia Li ◽

Qi Wang

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Status ◽

Fixed Effects ◽

Well Being ◽

Vital Role ◽

Mental Health Status ◽

Chinese Adolescents ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

The Relationship

Friendship may be significantly associated with adolescents’ psychological well-being. Among various kinds of friendships, this study investigated two types of intergroup friendships among Chinese adolescents, specifically cross-hukou-location and cross-gender friendship. Fixed-effects modeling with a two-wave national dataset—the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS)—was performed to evaluate the relationship between within-individual changes in cross-hukou-location friendship, cross-gender friendship, and mental health status ( N = 5,297, boys: 50.18%, average age: 12.92 at wave 1). The relationship pattern among different genders was also explored. The results showed that cross-hukou-location friendship is positively associated with male adolescents’ mental health status. The cross-gender relationship is negatively related to mental health in the overall sample and female subsample. The findings not only emphasized the vital role of intergroup contact but also shed light on understanding the role of gender in intergroup friendship-making and the relationship with psychological well-being.

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