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Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong pp 35–49Cite as

Positive Youth Development in Junior Secondary School Students: Do Gender and Time Matter?

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Part of the book series: Quality of Life in Asia ((QLAS,volume 5))

Abstract

There is a dearth of studies examining gender and time differences in positive youth development attributes among Chinese adolescents. To fill this research gap, this study examined the direct effects of gender and time and the interaction effect of gender and time on different indicators of positive youth development. Over 3 years, the data were collected from a sample of junior secondary school students randomly drawn from secondary schools in Hong Kong. The results showed that gender effect was significant. While boys scored higher than girls on cognitive-behavioral competence and positive identity, girls were found to score higher than boys on prosocial attributes and general positive youth development qualities. Significant time differences were found for some indicators of positive youth development. No interaction effect of gender and time was found. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.

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Acknowledgment

The preparation for this work and the Project P.A.T.H.S. were financially supported by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. The authorship is equally shared by the first author and second author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Hong Kong

    Daniel T. L. Shek Ph.D., B.B.S., S.B.S., J.P. & Florence K. Y. Wu Ed.D.

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  1. Daniel T. L. Shek Ph.D., B.B.S., S.B.S., J.P.
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  2. Florence K. Y. Wu Ed.D.
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Correspondence to Daniel T. L. Shek Ph.D., B.B.S., S.B.S., J.P. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hunghom, Hong Kong SAR

    Daniel T.L. Shek

  2. The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Education, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

    Rachel C. F. Sun

  3. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Hong Kong SAR

    Cecilia M.S. Ma

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Shek, D.T.L., Wu, F.K.Y. (2014). Positive Youth Development in Junior Secondary School Students: Do Gender and Time Matter?. In: Shek, D., Sun, R., Ma, C. (eds) Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong. Quality of Life in Asia, vol 5. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-143-5_3

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