A Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Social Relations and Antisocial and Prosocial Behavior in a Chinese Context

D.T.L. Shek, H.K. Ma, & P.C. Cheung
pp. 229-242.

Abstract

The relationships between parent-adolescent conflict and (a) adolescent antisocial and prosocial behavior, (b) significant-others’ influences on adolescent behavior, and (c) adolescents’ relationships with the significant-others were examined in 56 adolescents in a longitudinal study. Two waves of data based on questionnaires and interviews separated by two years were collected. Results showed that parent-adolescent conflict predicted antisocial behavior but not prosocial behavior across time. While parent-adolescent conflict predicted adolescent antisocial behavior over time, adolescent antisocial behavior did not predict parent-adolescent conflict longitudinally. Except the linkage between mother-adolescent conflict and peer influence, parent-adolescent conflict was generally unrelated to the influences of the significant-others of adolescents. Some evidence on the mutual influences between mother-adolescent conflict and adolescents’ relationships with the significant-others over time was also found.

Key words: prosocial behavior, antisocial behavior, parent-adolescent conflict, adolescent social behavior