Citation

Shek DTL, Li X, Zhu X, Shek EYW. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020; 17(20): e7662.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph17207662

PMID

33096643

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Although studies have examined the influence of materialism on adolescent well-being, there are several methodological limitations: studies examining the influence of materialism on adolescent delinquency are almost non-existent; researchers commonly used cross-sectional designs; the sample size in some studies was not large; validated measures on materialism in non-Western contexts are rare; there are very few Chinese studies. Besides, no study has examined the hypothesis that egocentrism is the mediator in the influence of materialism on adolescent delinquency.

METHODS: Using a short-term longitudinal design, two waves of data were collected from 2648 early adolescents in mainland China. At each wave, students completed validated measures of materialism, egocentrism and delinquent behavior.

RESULTS: Materialism and egocentrism positively predicted adolescent delinquency at Wave 1 and Wave 2 and over time. While materialism at Wave 1 positively predicted increase in delinquency over time, egocentrism did not. However, PROCESS analysis showed that egocentrism mediated the longitudinal influence of materialism on adolescent delinquent behavior.

CONCLUSIONS: Materialism and egocentrism are predictors of adolescent delinquency, with egocentrism serving as a mediator in the influence of materialism on adolescent delinquency.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescents; longitudinal design; delinquency; egocentrism; materialism