Home Cognitive competence in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong: a six-year longitudinal study
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Cognitive competence in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong: a six-year longitudinal study

  • Daniel T.L. Shek EMAIL logo and Xiao Ping Pu
Published/Copyright: May 20, 2016

Abstract

The developmental trend and correlates of adolescent cognitive competence were examined in a 6-year longitudinal study in Hong Kong. From Secondary 1 to Secondary 6 years, the same cohort of high school students responded to validated measures of cognitive competence, socio-demographic status (i.e. gender, family intactness and economic disadvantage) and family processes (i.e. family functioning, father-child subsystem quality and mother-child subsystem quality). Results indicated that there was a rising trend of cognitive competence over the high school years. Adolescents with better family functioning or better father-child or mother-child subsystem quality demonstrated higher initial level of cognitive competence. However, adolescents with better family functioning showed slower growth rate on cognitive competence over time. Finally, teenage boys showed faster growth rate on cognitive competence than did teenage girls.


Corresponding author: Professor Daniel T.L. Shek, PhD, FHKPS, SBS, JP, Associate Vice President and Chair Professor of Applied Social Sciences, Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Hong Kong, P.R. China

References

1. Currie J, Almond D. Human capital development before age five. In: Ashenfelter O, Card D, editors. Handbook of labor economics. Vol. 4B. Maryland Heights, CA: Elsevier, 2011:1315–486.Search in Google Scholar

2. Stevenson HW, Stigler JW, Lee SY, Lucker GW, Kitamura S, Hsu CC. Cognitive performance and academic achievement of Japanese, Chinese, and American children. Child Dev 1985;56:718–34.10.4324/9780203450499-18Search in Google Scholar

3. Battin-Pearson S, Newcomb MD, Abbott RD, Hill KG, Catalano RF, Hawkins JD. Predictors of early high school dropout: A test of five theories. J Educ Psychol 2000;92:568–82.10.1037/0022-0663.92.3.568Search in Google Scholar

4. Manlove J. The influence of high school dropout and school disengagement on the risk of school-age pregnancy. J Res Adolesc 1998;8:187–220.10.1207/s15327795jra0802_2Search in Google Scholar PubMed

5. Steinberg L. Cognitive and affective development in adolescence. Trends Cogn Sci 2005;9:69–74.10.1016/j.tics.2004.12.005Search in Google Scholar PubMed

6. Lazarus RS, Folkman S. Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York, NY: Springer, 1984:162.Search in Google Scholar

7. Shek DTL, Siu AMH, Lee TY. The Chinese positive youth development scale: A validation study. Res Social Work Pract 2007;17:380–91.10.1177/1049731506296196Search in Google Scholar

8. Heppner PP, Hibel J, Neal GW, Weinstein CL, Rabinowitz FE. Personal problem solving: A descriptive study of individual differences. J Couns Psychol 1982;29:580–90.10.1037/0022-0167.29.6.580Search in Google Scholar

9. Elliott T, Godshall F, Shrout JR, Witty TE. Problem-solving appraisal, self-reported study habits, and performance of academically at-risk college students. J Couns Psychol 1990;37:203–7.10.1037/0022-0167.37.2.203Search in Google Scholar

10. Nezu AM. Differences in psychological distress between effective and ineffective problem solvers. J Couns Psychol 1985;32:135–8.10.1037/0022-0167.32.1.135Search in Google Scholar

11. Snyder CR, Irving LM, Anderson JR. Hope and health: Measuring the will and the ways. In: Snyder CR, Forsyth DR, editors. The handbook of social and clinical psychology: The health perspective. Elmsford, NY: Pergamon, 1990:285–305.Search in Google Scholar

12. Heppner PP, Reeder BL, Larson LM. Cognitive variables associated with personal problem solving appraisal: implications for counseling. J Couns Psychol 1983;30:537–45.10.1037/0022-0167.30.4.537Search in Google Scholar

13. Olson SL, Bates JE, Bayles K. Early antecedents of childhood impulsivity: The role of parent-child interaction, cognitive competence, and temperament. J Abnorm Child Psychol 1990;18:317–34.10.1007/BF00916568Search in Google Scholar PubMed

14. Culp AMD, Hubbs-Tait L, Culp RE, Starost HJ. Maternal parenting characteristics and school involvement: Predictors of kindergarten cognitive competence among Head Start children. J Res Child Educ 2000;15:5–17.10.1080/02568540009594772Search in Google Scholar

15. Olson DH. Insiders’ and outsiders’ view of relationships: Research strategies. In: Levinger G, Raush H, editors. Close relationships: perspectives on the meaning of intimacy. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1977:115–35.Search in Google Scholar

16. Tamis-LeMonda CS, Shannon JD, Cabrera NJ, Lamb ME. Fathers and mothers at play with their 2- and 3-year-olds: contributions to language and cognitive development. Child Dev 2004;75:1806–20.10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00818.xSearch in Google Scholar PubMed

17. Luna B, Garver KE, Urban TA, Lazar NA, Sweeney JA. Maturation of cognitive processes from late childhood to adulthood. Child Dev 2004;75:1357–72.10.1111/j.1467-8624.2004.00745.xSearch in Google Scholar PubMed

18. Collins WA. Parent-child relationships in the transition to adolescence: Continuity and change in interaction, affect, and cognition. In: Montemayor R, Adams G, Gullotta T, editors. Advances in adolescent development. Vol. 2, From childhood to adolescence: a transitional period? Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1990:85–106.Search in Google Scholar

19. Luna B, Thulborn KR, Munoz DP, Merriam EP, Garver KE, Minshew NJ, et al. Maturation of widely distributed brain function subserves cognitive development. Neuroimage 2001;13:786–93.10.1006/nimg.2000.0743Search in Google Scholar PubMed

20. Anderson VA, Anderson P, Northam E, Jacobs R, Catroppa C. Development of executive functions through late childhood and adolescence in an Australian sample. Dev Neuropsychol 2001;20:385–406.10.1207/S15326942DN2001_5Search in Google Scholar PubMed

21. Jonassen DH. Toward a design theory of problem solving. Educ Techol Res Dev 2000;48:63–85.10.1007/BF02300500Search in Google Scholar

22. Schneider W, Lockl K. The development of metacognitive knowledge in children and adolescents. In: Perfect TJ, editor. Applied metacognition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 224–58.10.1017/CBO9780511489976.011Search in Google Scholar

23. Luna B, Padmanabhan A, O’Hearn K. What has fMRI told us about the development of cognitive control through adolescence? Brain Cogn 2010;72:101–13.10.1016/j.bandc.2009.08.005Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

24. Turiel E. The development of social knowledge: Morality and convention. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983.Search in Google Scholar

25. Hofer BK, Pintrich PR. The development of epistemological theories: Beliefs about knowledge and knowing and their relation to learning. Rev Educ Res 1997;67:88–140.10.3102/00346543067001088Search in Google Scholar

26. Ackerman PL. Cognitive ability and non-ability trait determinants of expertise. Educ Res 2003;32:15–20.10.3102/0013189X032008015Search in Google Scholar

27. Schunk DH, Meece JL. Self-efficacy development in adolescence. In: Pajares F, Urdan T, editors. Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, 2006:71–96.Search in Google Scholar

28. Christie D, Viner R. Adolescent development. Br Med J 2005, 330:301–4.10.1136/bmj.330.7486.301Search in Google Scholar

29. Maccoby EE, Jacklin CN. The psychology of sex differences. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1974.10.1515/9781503620780Search in Google Scholar

30. Weiss EM, Kemmler G, Deisenhammer EA, Fleischhacker WW, Delazer M. Sex differences in cognitive functions. Pers Indiv Differ 2003;35:863–75.10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00288-XSearch in Google Scholar

31. Ankney CD. Sex differences in relative brain size: the mismeasure of woman, too? Intelligence 1992;16:329–36.10.1016/0160-2896(92)90013-HSearch in Google Scholar

32. Geary DC, Saults SJ, Liu F, Hoard MK. Sex differences in spatial cognition, computational fluency, and arithmetical reasoning. J Exp Child Psychol 2000;77:337–53.10.1006/jecp.2000.2594Search in Google Scholar PubMed

33. Allen MJ. Sex differences in spatial problem-solving styles. Percept Mot Skills 1974;39:843–46.10.2466/pms.1974.39.2.843Search in Google Scholar

34. Hyde JS, Linn MC. Gender differences in verbal ability: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull 1988;104:53–69.10.1037/0033-2909.104.1.53Search in Google Scholar

35. Gallagher AM, De Lisi R, Holst PC, McGillicuddy-De Lisi AV, Morely M, Cahalan C. Gender differences in advanced mathematical problem solving. J Exp Child Psychol 2000;75:165–90.10.1006/jecp.1999.2532Search in Google Scholar PubMed

36. Hyde JS, Fennema E, Lamon SJ. Gender differences in mathematics performance: A meta-analysis. Psychol Bull 1990;107:139–55.10.1037/0033-2909.107.2.139Search in Google Scholar PubMed

37. Deng YC. Gender differences of agricultural college students’ career self-efficacy. J Huazhong Agric Univ (Soc Sci Ed) 2011;4:124–7.Search in Google Scholar

38. Bouffard-Bouchard T. Influence of self-efficacy on performance in a cognitive task. J Soc Psychol 1990;130:353–63.10.1080/00224545.1990.9924591Search in Google Scholar

39. Deutsch M. The role of social class in language development and cognition. Am J Orthopsychiat 1965;35:78–88.10.1111/j.1939-0025.1965.tb02270.xSearch in Google Scholar PubMed

40. Cooper B, Dunne M. Assessing children’s mathematical knowledge: Social class, sex, and problem-solving. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press, 1999.Search in Google Scholar

41. Hoff E, Laursen B, Tardif T. Socioeconomic status and parenting. In: Bornstein MH, editor. Handbook of parenting. 2th ed. Vol. 2, Biology and ecology of parenting. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 2002:231–52.Search in Google Scholar

42. Kennedy WA, van de Riet V, White JC. A normative sample of intelligence and achievement of Negro elementary school children in southeastern United States. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev 1963;28:1–112.10.2307/1165738Search in Google Scholar

43. McCall RB. Nature-nurture and the two realms of development: a proposed integration with respect to mental development. Child Dev 1981;520:1–12.10.2307/1129210Search in Google Scholar

44. Mpofu E, van de Vijver FJ. Taxonomic structure in early to middle childhood: a longitudinal study of Zimbabwean schoolchildren. Int J Behav Dev 2000;24:204–12.10.1080/016502500383331Search in Google Scholar

45. Seiffge-Krenke I, Shulman S. Coping style in adolescence: a cross-cultural study. J Cross Cult Psychol 1990;21:351–77.10.1177/0022022190213006Search in Google Scholar

46. Ali SR, McWhirter EH, Chronister KM. Self-efficacy and vocational outcome expectations for adolescents of lower socioeconomic status: a pilot study. J Career Assess 2005;13:40–58.10.1177/1069072704270273Search in Google Scholar

47. Long N, Forehand R, Fauber R, Brody GH. Self-perceived and independently observed competence of young adolescents as a function of parental marital conflict and recent divorce. J Abnorm Child Psych 1987;15:15–27.10.1007/BF00916463Search in Google Scholar PubMed

48. Bachman JG. Youth in transition (Vol. 2): the impact of family background and intelligence on tenth-grade boys. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute Social Research University Michigan, 1970.Search in Google Scholar

49. Kohn M, Rosman BL. Social-emotional, cognitive, and demographic determinants of poor school achievement: Implications for a strategy of intervention. J Educ Psychol 1974;66:267–76.10.1037/h0036282Search in Google Scholar

50. Sing M. The quality of life in Hong Kong. Soc Indic Res 2009;92:295–335.10.1007/978-90-481-3483-0_5Search in Google Scholar

51. Yan YW. The influence of parents’ divorce on the development of adolescent cognitive intelligence. J South Normal Univ 1991;4:87–92. [Chinese].Search in Google Scholar

52. Zhen SY, Xi CY. Intelligence test analysis for 219 adolescents. Med J Liaoning 1995;4:197–8. [Chinese].Search in Google Scholar

53. Wang YC, Jie CG. Correlation study among personality traits and coping styles of adolescents in single-parent families. Med J Chin People Health 2014;14:7–9. [Chinese].Search in Google Scholar

54. Kazdin AE, Siegel TC, Bass D. Cognitive problem-solving skills training and parent management training in the treatment of antisocial behavior in children. J Consult Clin Psychol 1992;60:733–47.10.1037/0022-006X.60.5.733Search in Google Scholar

55. Pettit GS, Bates JE, Dodge KA. Supportive parenting, ecological context, and children’s adjustment: a seven-year longitudinal study. Child Dev 1997;68:908–23.10.2307/1132041Search in Google Scholar

56. Xue H, Yu Q, Jia P, Sun L, Ju XZ. The effect of parenting style on children’s intellectural and non-intellectural development. Chin J Public Health 1998;14:212–3. [Chinese].Search in Google Scholar

57. Zhao JB, Liang JL, Liu ZN, Quan MD, Li G. The associations among adolescents’ intelligence, parenting style, and academic achievement. Chin Ment Health J 1999;4:234. [Chinese].Search in Google Scholar

58. Wang CK, He ZW. The relationship between parental rearing styles with general self-efficacy and emotional intelligence in middle school students. Chin Ment Health J 2002;11:781–5. [Chinese].Search in Google Scholar

59. Shek DT. Assessment of family functioning in Chinese adolescents: The Chinese family assessment instrument. In: Singh NN, Ollendick TH, Singh AN, editors. International perspectives on child and adolescent mental health. Vol. 2, Selected Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Child & Adolescent Mental Health. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier, 2002:297–316.Search in Google Scholar

60. Shek DT. Paternal and maternal influences on the psychological well-being, substance abuse, and delinquency of Chinese adolescents experiencing economic disadvantage. J Clin Psychol 2005;61:219–34.10.1002/jclp.20057Search in Google Scholar PubMed

61. McFarlane AH, Bellissimo A, Norman GR. Family structure, family functioning and adolescent well-being: The transcendent influence of parental style. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1995; 36:847–64.10.1111/j.1469-7610.1995.tb01333.xSearch in Google Scholar PubMed

62. Stern AE, Lynch DL, Oates RK, O’Toole BI, Cooney G. Self-esteem, depression, behaviour and family functioning in sexually abused children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1995;36:1077–89.10.1111/j.1469-7610.1995.tb01352.xSearch in Google Scholar PubMed

63. Shek DT, Lin L. Delinquent behavior in high school students in Hong Kong: Socio-demographic, personal and family determinants. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol 2016;29(1 Suppl):61–71.10.1016/j.jpag.2015.10.009Search in Google Scholar PubMed

64. Bongers IL, Koot HM, van der Ende J, Verhulst FC. The normative development of child and adolescent problem behavior. J Abnorm Psychol 2003;112:179–92.10.1037/0021-843X.112.2.179Search in Google Scholar

65. Shek DT, Law MY. Parental behavioral control, parental psychological control and parent-child relational qualities: relationships to Chinese adolescent risk behavior. In: Shek DT, Sun RC, Ma C, editors. Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong: family life, psychological well-being, and risk behavior. Singapore: Springer, 2014:51–69.Search in Google Scholar

66. Shek DT, Ma C. Impact of the project P.A.T.H.S. in the junior secondary school years: individual growth curve analyses. ScientifiWorldJ 2011;11:253–66.10.1100/tsw.2011.6Search in Google Scholar PubMed PubMed Central

67. Lam CM, Lam MC, Shek DT, Tang VM. Coping with economic disadvantage. A qualitative study of Chinese adolescents from low-income families. Int J Adolesc Med Health 2004;16:343–57.10.1515/IJAMH.2004.16.4.343Search in Google Scholar

68. Amato PR, Keith B. Parental divorce and the well-being of children: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull 1991;110:26–46.10.1037/0033-2909.110.1.26Search in Google Scholar PubMed

69. Phelan P, Davidson AL, Cao HT. Students’ multiple worlds: negotiating the boundaries of family, peer, and school cultures. Anthropol Educ Quart 1991;22:224–50.10.1525/aeq.1991.22.3.05x1051kSearch in Google Scholar

70. Steinberg LD. Transformations in family relations at puberty. Dev Psychol 1981;17:833–40.10.1037/0012-1649.17.6.833Search in Google Scholar

71. Taylor SE. Adjustment to threatening events: A theory of cognitive adaptation. Am Psychol 1983;38:1161–73.10.1037/0003-066X.38.11.1161Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2016-1-10
Accepted: 2016-1-20
Published Online: 2016-5-20
Published in Print: 2016-11-1

©2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 30.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/ijdhd-2017-5008/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button