Lin J‐P, Yi C‐C. Filial norms and intergenerational support to aging parents in China and Taiwan Int J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: S109–S120 © 2011 The Author(s), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This study compared intergenerational relations in China and Taiwan. It has been assumed that cultural homogeneity results in filial norms being the shared dominant family value. However, due to different socio‐economic experiences, other situational factors could produce different effects in China and Taiwan. Specifically, geographical distance, parental demands, and children's resources were incorporated in the analysis. We suspected that different situational factors might interact with filial norms in producing varying effects on intergenerational support. Data were taken from the 2006 East Asian Social Survey. Results confirmed that the patriarchal family model of intergenerational support remains strong in both China and Taiwan. The traditional Chinese filial norms significantly accounted for all aspects of intergenerational support examined.

Due to rapid aging of populations in East Asia, intergenerational relations are changing. This study examines these changes in four East Asian societies, chosen for their shared cultural background of patriarchy: China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Data were taken from the 2006 East Asian Social Survey. The authors' analyses show that in these four East Asian societies, contemporary intergenerational relations reveal both continuity and change. Despite changing family structures, co-residence between generations remains clearly patriarchal, and the main flow of intergenerational support is still from adult children to parents. The dominant patriarchal culture also expresses itself in the continuing influence of filial norms on intergenerational relations, in that sons tend to perform various filial duties much more than daughters. However, the emergence of prolonged co-residence of young, unmarried and less educated adult children with their parents implies that the traditional pattern of intergenerational support in East Asia is changing. In addition, while filial norms remain strong the actual practice of filial responsibility may be shared among adult siblings with various resources. The study concludes that intergenerational relations in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan share similar features, in that both change and continuity of relational patterns are observed.

Clinical inhibitors Darunavir (DRV) and Amprenavir (APV) are less effective on HIV-2 protease (PR2) than on HIV-1 protease (PR1). To identify molecular basis associated with the lower inhibition, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and molecular mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann surface area (MM-PBSA) calculations were performed to investigate the effectiveness of the PR1 inhibitors DRV and APV against PR1/PR2. The rank of predicted binding free energies agrees with the experimental determined one. Moreover, our results show that two inhibitors bind less strongly to PR2 than to PR1, again in agreement with the experimental findings. The decrease in binding free energies for PR2 relative to PR1 is found to arise from the reduction of the van der Waals interactions induced by the structural adjustment of the triple mutant V32I, I47V and V82I. This result is further supported by the difference between the van der Waals interactions of inhibitors with each residue in PR2 and in PR1. The results from the principle component analysis suggest that inhibitor binding tends to make the flaps of PR2 close and the one of PR1 open. We expect that this study can theoretically provide significant guidance and dynamics information for the design of potent dual inhibitors targeting PR1/PR2.

This study examines the intergenerational relationships in an East Asian society, Taiwan. Types of relations from children’s perspective are used to illustrate the dynamics between adult children and their parents. Due to the rapidly declining co-residence between generations, it is assumed that those who do not practice co-residence with parents will become the majority and thus, will become the focus of analysis. Data are taken from the 2006 Taiwan Social Change Survey (Phase 5 Wave 2). The sample is constituted by 756 adults with at least one parent alive but who are not co-residing at the time of the survey. The intergenerational solidarity model proposed by Bengtson is used as the theoretical framework. The analysis first presents the difference between the co-resident and the non-co- resident groups. Then the Latent Class analysis is performed to derive five types of relations with the Normative type being the highest, followed by the Detached and the Tight-knit, then the Sociable, and lastly the Intimate but Distant type. The final analysis focuses on mechanisms accounting for different relational types. Preliminary result from Multinomial Logistic Regression indicates that the relational types derived may be an outcome of the interplay between individual resources and patriarchal norms. Most importantly, gender differentials appear to follow the prescribed cultural norm in that married sons are likely to endorse the filial norm and to fall into the Normative type, while married daughters tend to enjoy close emotional relationships and to engage in functional exchanges with parents. The paper concludes that future intergenerational relationships in Taiwan may continue to be of the strong Normative type, but at the same time, the Tight-knit type between generations may be observed. The cultural implication of possible future development is briefly discussed.

Although sleep has been linked to activities in various domains of life, one under-studied link is the relationship between unhealthy sleep practices and conduct problems among adolescents. The present study investigates the influence of adolescents' unhealthy sleep practices-short sleep (e.g., less than 6 h a day), inconsistent sleep schedule (e.g., social jetlag), and sleep problems-on conduct problems (e.g., substance use, fighting, and skipping class). In addition, this study examines unhealthy sleep practices in relationship to adolescent emotional well-being, defiant attitudes, and academic performance, as well as these three domains as possible mediators of the longitudinal association between sleep practices and conduct problems. Three waves of the Taiwan Youth Project (n = 2,472) were used in this study. At the first time-point examined in this study, youth (51% male) were aged 13-17 (M = 13.3). The results indicated that all three measures of unhealthy sleep practices were related to conduct problems, such that short sleep, greater social jetlag, and more serious sleep problems were concurrently associated with greater conduct problems. In addition, short sleep and sleep problems predicted conduct problems one year later. Furthermore, these three unhealthy sleep practices were differently related to poor academic performance, low levels of emotional well-being, and defiant attitudes, and some significant indirect effects on later conduct problems through these three attributes were found. Cultural differences and suggestions for prevention are discussed.

This study explores premarital sex among adolescents and its health outcomes in a typical East Asian society, Taiwan. As a collective society in terms of cultural heritage, a particular target of this study was perceived peer pressure and its contextual influence. The data were taken from the Taiwan Youth Project, 2004 and 2007, and never married youth aged 20 years constituted our sample (N=3530). Best friends' sexual behavior and other context-related factors, such as school attendance and community participation, are presumed to influence adolescent premarital sex as well as their health status. Logistic regression models show a positive and significant association between the perception of friends' sexual behavior and the likelihood of adolescent premarital sex engagement, after adjusting for the youth's own sex-related experience and attitudes, individual characteristics, and family background. The analysis also confirms that school attendance and community participation are significantly associated with a lower likelihood of having premarital sex. Furthermore, adolescent premarital sex was found to be linked to the perceived health status of the youth (self-rated health, smoking, and drinking), as expected. These findings demonstrate the importance of peers and social context, which suggests that HIV prevention and health promotion programs for youth need to take friendship networks and social context into consideration.

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Objectives Most researchers have examined forms of loneliness as discrete and emotional distress. The approach proposed in this study captures the reality that many persons experience more than one dimension of loneliness—varying degrees coupled with their psychological well-being in a family context. This study explores the latent structure of loneliness during young adulthood and its association with psychological well-being, as well as how these are related to their family characteristics in adolescence. Methods Data are from 2,748 young people, a cohort sample from the Taiwan Youth Project (TYP). Loneliness was assessed by a 6-item de Jong-Gierveld short scale with emotional and social loneliness domains. We describe the clustering between loneliness domains and psychological well-being, namely depressive symptoms, self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, and alcohol use using latent class cluster analysis. In addition to incorporating the Taiwanese family context, multivariate multinomial logistic regression models included data on family cohesion and parental guan (parental control) in adolescence. This might be associated with choices in partnership and childbearing, and influence loneliness in young adulthood. Results Our results demonstrate a three-cluster model of loneliness involving emotional loners, serious emotional loners, and severe emotional/social loners. We also found that a feeling of serious emotional loneliness and severe emotional/social loneliness were significantly associated with psychological well-being, even adjusting for individual characteristics. Among young adults who had a partner, the married adults were significantly less likely to feel serious emotional loneliness than those who were living alone. Furthermore, young adults with stronger family cohesion during early adolescence were less likely to suffer from serious emotional loneliness (Relative risk ratios [RRR] 0.77, 95% CI 0.65–0.91) and severe emotional/social loneliness (RRR 0.54, 95% CI 0.34–0.85) in young adulthood. Discussion This measurement strategy provides a foundation for future research into how experts can address loneliness clusters in order to better understand psychological well-being during young adulthood and family context in adolescence. This is important because our results suggest that the various loneliness domains do not occur independently, but rather are embedded in patterns and are associated with family characteristics.