Dreams, aspirations and related behavior in children and adolescents: impacts on child developmental outcomes

Abstract

Abstract“Dreams”, “aspirations” and related constructs are traditionally regarded as facilitators of adolescent educational attainment in the Chinese context. Besides, there is an emergent need to widen the understanding of such constructs and their impact on children and adolescent developmental outcomes. This paper discusses the developmental outcomes of dreams, aspiration and related concepts based on a thorough review of the literature. Besides outlining the impacts of aspirations, dreams and related constructs on children and adolescents, features of related intervention programs, including themes of the intervention programs, program participants, methods of implementation and evaluation in both Western and Chinese contexts are also documented.

Family functioning and resilience in children in mainland China: life satisfaction as a mediator

“…Resilience is an important internal developmental asset that helps adolescents face various developmental challenges, such as identity formation, stress management, and relationship formation. Strong resilience in children and adolescents is associated with better self-autonomy, critical thinking skills, social competence, a sense of purpose, and problem-solving abilities ( Zolkoski and Bullock, 2012 ) as well as better development in various life domains ( Wu et al, 2017 ). Under COVID-19, resilience can help children and adolescents overcome various adaptation issues, such as anxiety, social isolation, economic stress, and uncertainty.…”

“…According to the Developmental Systems Theory (DST) that advocates the influence of different systems on developmental outcomes ( Ford and Lerner, 1992 ), cultivating resilience involves three main factors, including personality traits, family system characteristics, and the broader social context such as schools and communities ( Zolkoski and Bullock, 2012 ). Given the collectivistic nature of Chinese culture ( Wu and Tseng, 1985 ; Wu et al, 2017 ), family system characteristics appear to play a more prominent role ( Wu et al, 2017 ), as highlighted by “the persistence of a closely knit family as the center of Chinese culture” ( Wu and Tseng, 1985 , p. 8). Furthermore, as “resilience is not a simple linear causal process in which limited to the strength that leads directly to a good developmental outcome” ( Akbar et al, 2014 , p. 517), there is a need to explore the interactions between the diverse protective factors and multiple processes involved in resilience.…”

Unravelling adolescent girls’ aspirations in Nepal: Status and associations with individual-, household-, and community-level characteristics

“…As part of non-cognitive and socio-emotional skill development, adolescence is a key time for the development of aspirations [3]. Aspirations influence behavioural choices and exposure to factors and thus, may be important drivers of life outcomes, including health and wellbeing, nutrition, reproductive health, labour participation, and education [4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

Social and Physical Ecologies for Child Resilience: Wisdom from Asia and Africa

“…Resilience is an important internal developmental asset that helps adolescents face various developmental challenges, such as identity formation, stress management, and relationship formation. Strong resilience in children and adolescents is associated with better selfautonomy, critical thinking skills, social competence, a sense of purpose, and problem-solving abilities (Zolkoski and Bullock, 2012) as well as better development in various life domains (Wu et al, 2017). Under COVID-19, resilience can help children and adolescents overcome various adaptation issues, such as anxiety, social isolation, economic stress, and uncertainty.…”

“…According to the Developmental Systems Theory (DST) that advocates the influence of different systems on developmental outcomes (Ford and Lerner, 1992), cultivating resilience involves three main factors, including personality traits, family system characteristics, and the broader social context such as schools and communities (Zolkoski and Bullock, 2012). Given the collectivistic nature of Chinese culture (Wu and Tseng, 1985;Wu et al, 2017), family system characteristics appear to play a more prominent role (Wu et al, 2017), as highlighted by "the persistence of a closely knit family as the center of Chinese culture" (Wu and Tseng, 1985, p. 8). Furthermore, as "resilience is not a simple linear causal process in which limited to the strength that leads directly to a good developmental outcome" (Akbar et al, 2014, p. 517), there is a need to explore the interactions between the diverse protective factors and multiple processes involved in resilience.…”