Citation
Bush, Kevin R. (2003). Commentary: Physical and Mental Health of Contemporary Chinese Children. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 24, 397-401.Abstract
There have been very few studies examining family and youth development in Mainland China (Bush, 2000a; Bush, Peterson, Cobas, & Supple, 2002). The small body of literature that does exist from the People’s Republic of China includes studies utilizing convenience sampling, samples of college students, and retrospective reports of adults. Therefore, the potential representativeness of the data and the Center’s ability to compare their findings to previous data they have collected underscores the value of this report. Additionally, considering the dearth of studies examining the development of children in the People’s Republic of China with published research reports available to non-Chinese speaking audiences, the authors must be commended on the effort taken to share their findings with a broad international audience. Moreover, considering the social and economic changes that have taken place in China during the past few decades, this report is very timely. The authors provide much needed information about the current development of Chinese youth, described in the context of the changing social and economic factors impinging upon Chinese youth and their families.