Longitudinal adolescent studies in Mainland China: review and reflection

Abstract Longitudinal studies are important for understanding adolescent development. In this study, eight examples of longitudinal adolescent research in different fields in Mainland China were examined. The review showed that longitudinal studies in Mainland China were grossly inadequate. There were also few studies on adolescent life satisfaction, sensitive developmental issues (such as sexuality and suicide) and program evaluation. Panel study was the dominant longitudinal design but most of them did not have many time points for data collection. Most studies were based on convenience sampling and some adolescent sub-populations, while adolescents in rural areas and those with disabilities were not adequately covered. Finally, most of the tools used were self-report measures and validated measures are desperately needed.