Poster #62 - Children’s Time Use During Early Adolescence in the United States and China

• In Event: Poster Session 19

Abstract

In the West, children spend less time with parents but increasingly spend more time with friends during early adolescence (e.g., Larson & Richard,1991). This trend likely reflects a focus on individuating from parents (e.g., Fuligni & Eccles, 1993). In China, however, with a focus more on family obligations, children are expected to spend more time with family (Pomerantz et al., 2011). Yet studying hard and doing well in school are also considered family obligations of Chinese children (Fuligni et al., 2002). Thus, during early adolescence, Chinese (vs American) children may 1) maintain more time spent with family members (vs friends); 2) when they do spend time with friends, more likely to choose schoolwork over other activities to fulfill family obligations.

Spending time with friends and family fulfills children’s need for connectedness, thereby enhancing their emotional adjustment (Ryan & Deci, 2000). However, the effects may be modulated by cultural contexts. With a focus on individuating from parents, American children may increasingly fulfill their social connectedness via peer relationships (Schater & Margolin, 2019), such that spending time with friends is particularly beneficial. In contrast, feeling obliged to their family, Chinese children may find spending time with family members (vs friends) matters more for their connectedness and emotional wellbeing (Schwartz et al., 2012). However, when Chinese children do schoolwork with friends, such time spent may be emotionally beneficial for them as it is considered children’s effort to fulfill family obligations.

We plan to investigate children’s time with family and friends during early adolescence with attention to the effects of children’s time use. American and Chinese children (N = 934; mean age = 12.67 years) reported their time use three times in early adolescence (i.e., fall of 7th grade, spring of 7th grade, and fall of 8th grade). They indicated how many hours they spent with family and friends on weekends and weekdays and how often (1 = never, 5 = very often) they did five academic-related activities with friends (e.g., “Help each other with schoolwork;” αs = .73-.83). Children also reported on their emotional adjustment (e.g., depression and anxiety; αs >.92). SEM indicated all measures possessed full metric and partial scalar invariance across the two countries.

We will use multiple indicator growth curve modeling to examine trajectories of children’s time use over early adolescence (Lai, 2021; Figure 1). Two-group SEMs (see Figure 2) will be used to examine the role of children’s time use in their emotional adjustment over time with chi-square difference tests indicating country differences in path estimates. Specifically, children’s emotional adjustment measured in the fall of 8th grade will be predicted from their initial level and change rate of time use over three time points, controlling for their emotional adjustment in the fall of 7th grade. The findings from these analyses can potentially inform how culture shapes children’s time use and its effects on children’s emotional adjustment during early adolescence. It will also set a foundation for future research on children’s time use across social and academic domains.

Authors

• Yu Xiong, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author

• Eva Pomerantz, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Lili Qin

• Meifang Wang