Premium
Life events, locus of control, and behavioral problems among Chinese adolescents
Author(s) -
Liu Xianchen,
Kurita Hiroshi,
Uchiyama Makoto,
Okawa Masako,
Liu Lianqi,
Ma Dengdai
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(200012)56:12<1565::aid-7>3.0.co;2-u
Subject(s) - locus of control , psychology , psychopathology , checklist , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , population , logistic regression , demography , medicine , sociology , cognitive psychology
This study examined associations of life events and locus of control with behavioral problems among 1365 Chinese adolescents by using the Youth Self‐Report (YSR), Adolescent Self‐Rating Life Events Checklist (ASLEC), and the Nowicki–Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children. Results indicated that the overall prevalence of behavioral and emotional problems was 10.7% (95% CI = 9.9–11.5%). Logistic‐regression analyses showed that a total of 13 negative life events mainly coming from academic domain and interpersonal relationships, high life‐stress score, and high external locus score significantly increased the risk for behavioral problems. Life stress and locus of control significantly interacted with behav??ioral problems. These findings support the linkage between stressful life events and psychopathology in a general population of adolescents from mainland China, and demonstrate the stress‐moderating effects of locus of control on psychopathology as well. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 56: 1565–1577, 2000.