In Chinese societies, violence among adolescent dating partners remains a largely ignored and invisible phenomenon. The goal of this study is to examine the relationships among gender-role beliefs, attitudes justifying dating violence, and the experiences of dating-violence perpetration and victimization among Chinese adolescents. This study has used self-reporting measures to collect data from a probability sample of 976 adolescents (mean age = 15.9) in three Chinese societies: Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. Research results reveal a high prevalence of dating violence (including physical violence, sexual violence, and controlling behavior) among Chinese adolescents with dating experience: the perpetration rate is 27.3% and the victimization rate is 39%. Study results demonstrate that adolescents who endorse traditional gender-role beliefs tend to view dating violence as acceptable behavior. Boys’ endorsement of traditional gender roles, boys’ attitudes justifying boy-on-girl violence, and boys’ attitudes against girl-on-boy violence predict boys’ actual sexual-violence behavior. Moreover, boys’ attitudes justifying boy-on-girl dating violence is the strongest predictor of boys’ perpetration of physical and sexual dating violence. This study also shows that boys’ hostility is a significant predictor of boys’ controlling behavior. Programs for preventing dating violence should include components designed to challenge traditional gender-role beliefs and attitudes justifying dating violence.

This study examines (1) the associations between multiple types of child maltreatment and Internet addiction, and (2) the mediating effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on these associations. We collected data from a national proportionately stratified random sample of 6233 fourth-grade students in Taiwan in 2014. We conducted bivariate correlations and sets of multiple regression analyses to examine the associations between multiple types of maltreatment (5 types in total) and Internet addiction, and to identify the mediating role of PTSD. The results reveal that being male and experiencing abuse (psychological neglect, physical neglect, paternal physical violence, sexual violence) were associated with increased risk among children of developing PTSD and Internet addiction. Moreover, PTSD mediated the associations between multiple types of maltreatment (except maternal physical violence) and Internet addiction. This study demonstrates (1) the effects of multiple types of maltreatment on the PTSD and Internet addiction of children and (2) the importance of early prevention and intervention in addressing related public-health concerns

The safe reopening of colleges and universities this fall is an ongoing concern in many countries. This article's authors, including some from the National Taiwan University, share the combination ... Reopening colleges and universities during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses a special challenge worldwide. Taiwan is one of the few countries where schools are functioning nor...

This study examined the joint impact of experiencing both interparental violence and child physical maltreatment on young adults' self-esteem. It also tested the hypothesis of parental and peer relationship qualities as mediators in the relationship between childhood histories of family violence and adult self-esteem. Data were collected from a national probability sample of 1,924 college students in Taiwan. Research results demonstrated that experiencing both interparental violence and physical maltreatment during childhood have long-term and detrimental impact on adult self-esteem. This impact was statistically independent of other potential confounding factors. Moreover, participants experiencing dual violence during childhood reported lower self-esteem than those experiencing only one type of family violence or none at all. Male participants who experienced dual violence reported lower self-esteem than female participants who experienced dual violence. Further analyses revealed that parental and peer relationship qualities mediated the joint impact of interparental violence and physical maltreatment on adult self-esteem.

The current study examines the relationship between parents’ and children’s reports of parenting and their effects on children’s mental health symptoms. Six hundred and sixty-six parent-child dyads in Taiwan participated in this study. The parents and the children filled out the parenting questionnaires, and the children also reported their general mental health. The results demonstrated that parental-reported and child-perceived parenting were positively correlated, but parents tended to report lower scores on authoritarian parenting and higher scores on Chinese parenting than did their children. There were also significant gender differences: The mothers reported higher authoritative parenting than did the fathers; and the boys perceived higher authoritarian and Chinese-culture specific parenting than did the girls. Moreover, the Chinese parenting had a negative effect on children’s mental health outcomes. Finally, our results showed that children’s perception of parenting had a stronger effect on children’s mental health symptoms than did parental reports on parenting, urging future research to include the children’s report when investigating the effects of parenting on children’s mental health outcomes.