Bioethics 25 (9):516-526 (2011) |Abstract||Objectives: To
investigate whether Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong share
similar perceptions with their Western counterparts regarding
their capacity for autonomous decision-making, and secondarily
whether Chinese parents underestimate their adolescent
children's desire and capacity for autonomous decision-
making.Method:‘Healthy Adolescents’ and their parents were
recruited from four local secondary schools, and ‘Sick
Adolescents’ and their parents from the pediatric wards and
outpatient clinics. Their perceptions of adolescents'
understanding of illnesses and treatments, maturity in judgment,
risk-taking, openness to divergent opinions, pressure from
parents and doctors, submission to parental authority and
preference for autonomy in medical decision-making are surveyed
by a 50-item questionnaire on a five-point Likert scale.Results:
Findings indicate that Chinese adolescents aged 14–16 perceive
themselves to possess the necessary cognitive abilities and
maturity i