Trends in adolescent development in the People's Republic of China

Interest in adolescence and adolescent medicine has dramatically increased among medical professionals in the past few years in the People's Republic of China. This article will focus on changing medical practices towards adolescents in the People's Republic since 1949. It is not all meant to be exhaustive, but rather to indicate the range of medical work extent on adolescent medicine. The 'tasks' of adolescence, as presently understood in the West, such as individuation, separation from family, and sexual identity will be examined in a Chinese context. Changing patterns in birth control, vocational choice, and youth group organizations will then be covered. Finally, attention will be drawn to recent Chinese research on adolescence which has appeared in English language journals. Research for this article comes from a lecture and research period spent in the People's Republic from January to March 1981. Follow-up correspondence and research exchange has continued to this writing. Approximately 25 cities were visited with lectures and professional exchange occuring in six: Beijing, Shanghai, Kaifent, Chengdu, Wuhan and Changsha. Though the cultural context is different, it became clear that there are many similarities between the adolescent process in the United States and the People's Republic of China.