Growth of preference for solitude in urban and rural Chinese adolescents

Frontiers in Psychiatry

Psychiatry

Dan Li¹  Xinyin Chen²  Xinxin Sun³  Xuan Wu³  Junsheng Liu⁴  Xi Chen⁵ 

[1] Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China;Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States;School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China;School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China;Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, China;School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China;Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, Shanghai, China;

关键词: preference for solitude;    adolescents;    social-cultural context;    urban;    rural;    China;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1151534

 received in 2023-01-26, accepted in 2023-06-19,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionAs individuals enter adolescence, their preference for solitude (PFS) increases with age, which may be a result of balancing the need for social affiliation and the need for autonomy and independence. These needs are shaped by the social-cultural contexts, and thus the growth rate of PFS may differ across social-cultural contexts.This study examined to what extent the developmental trajectory of PFS differed between urban and rural Chinese adolescents.MethodsAdolescents in urban (n = 326,168 boys, Mage =12.00 years, SD = 0.61) and rural (n = 449, 198 boys, Mage =11.82 years, SD = 0.58) regions in China reported their PFS and shyness each year from Grade 6 to Grade 8. Longitudinal measurement invariance of PFS was established between the urban and rural samples. Location and gender differences in the intercept and the slope of PFS were examined using a latent growth model, while controlling for shyness at each time point.ResultsThe analyses revealed that adolescents in both urban and rural regions showed an increasing trajectory of PFS. Although urban and rural adolescents did not differ in the initial level of PFS at Grade 6, urban adolescents’ PFS increased faster than that of the rural adolescents. The urban-rural difference in the slope of PFS remained significant after controlling for the associations between the intercept and the slope of PFS and shyness at each time point. In addition, in the rural region, boys showed a faster increase of PFS than girls, yet gender differences in the initial level of PFS and the developmental trajectory in the urban region were nonsignificant.DiscussionThe findings reveal a normative increasing trend of PFS during early adolescence and faster increase for urban than rural adolescents. To promote adolescents’ psychological well-being, parents, teachers and practitioners need to help adolescents establish a good balance between social interaction and solitude. When deciding what is a good balance, it is important to consider the social-cultural context.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Chen, Sun, Wu, Liu, Li and Chen.