Psychosocial functioning of hospitalized Chinese adolescents and their families.

The purpose of this study was to describe behavioral and emotional problems, social competence, and family functioning of hospitalized Chinese adolescents and to compare their psychosocial functioning with normative samples of Chinese adolescents and their families. A convenience sample of 103 hospitalized adolescent patients and their families participated. Families came from geographical areas in the Chinese Mainland (5 hospitals) and Hong Kong (2 hospitals). Parents completed a Chinese version of the Child Behavior Checklist for ages 4 to 18 years and the Family Assessment Device. Adolescents responded to a Chinese version of the Youth Self-Report. Youth in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong appear to be quite similar in many domains of behavioral functioning. Hospitalized adolescents in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland exhibited behavioral and emotional profiles that were qualitatively similar to the norms reported in community samples of Chinese and Chinese-American adolescents, albeit significantly lower than their healthy counterparts. This study examined, for the first time, the psychosocial functioning of hospitalized Chinese adolescents and their families. Our findings contribute to the cultural relevance of measuring adolescent and family responses to a known stressor and are useful for international comparisons by health care providers and researchers.