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Grounded within self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000; Ryan & Deci, in press), three studies were conducted to develop and psychometrically test a measure of adolescents' perceptions of psychological need support for exercise (viz., for autonomy, competence, and relatedness): the Adolescent Psychological Need Support in Exercise Questionnaire (APNSEQ). In Study 1, 34 items were developed in collaboration with an expert panel. Through categorical confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory, responses from 433 adolescents were used to identify the best fitting and performing items in Study 2. Here, a three-factor nine-item measure showed good fit to the data. In Study 3, responses from an independent sample of 373 adolescents provided further evidence for the nine-item solution as well as for internal consistency, criterion validity, and invariance across gender and social agent (friends, family, and physical education teacher). The APNSEQ was supported as a measure of adolescents' perceptions of psychological need support within the context of exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to test longitudinal (2 years across three occasions) associations between sport participation (SP) and self-esteem (SE) across adolescence (10-18 years), addressing the mediating role of perceived sport competence (PSC) from a developmental perspective. Three waves of data were collected from three age cohorts (10-12, 13-15, and 16-18 years) of school-aged youth (N = 1358). The results demonstrate that SP and SE are related across time and that PSC has an important mediating role in this relationship, both from a skill development and a self-enhancement perspective. In the skill development model, the mediating role of PSC was significantly stronger in the youngest cohort whereas the effect of PSC on subsequent SP in the self-enhancement model was significantly stronger in the 13-15 age group compared with the youngest age group. Keywords: youth sport, adolescence, skill development, self-enhancement [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous research has shown a positive relationship between activity-related social support provided by parents and peers and adolescents' physical activity. However, more information is needed on whether activity-related social support differs by sociodemographic characteristics. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in activity-related social support in a sample of adolescents, by characteristics such as age, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, and physical activity level and to determine which characteristics are the most important predictors of activity-related social support. Methods: Information was provided by 578 boys and 588 girls (11-14 years) on demographic factors, physical activity, and activity-related support. ANOVA, correlations, and multiple regression were performed to address the purposes of the study. Results: Boys, White British, younger, more physically active, and high-SES adolescents perceived more support for physical activity. Age predicted all types of support excluding peer support; ethnicity predicted mother logistic support and sibling support; gender predicted peer support, father explicit modeling, and father logistic support; and SES predicted mother and father logistic support. Conclusions: Families and peers of adolescents who are female, from Black and minority ethnic groups, older, of low-SES, and less active should be targeted for intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study examined predictors of perceived athletic competence and subsequent physical activity in a longitudinal sample of adolescent girls. Methods: A sample of 149 girls was assessed at ages 9, 11, and 13. Perceived athletic competence (PAC) was measured at all ages. Nonaesthetic versus aesthetic sport participation, body fat percentage, and breast development were measured at age 9. Accelerometers were used to measure girls' moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at age 13. Results: Girls who participated in nonaesthetic sports at age 9 reported higher PAC at age 11 than those who participated in only aesthetic sports, while more advanced breast development at age 9 was associated with greater relative declines in PAC between ages 11 and 13. Both age 11 PAC and the relative change in PAC between ages 11 and 13 were significant positive predictors of age 13 MVPA. Results were independent of age 9 socioeconomic status and self-reported physical activity. Conclusion: Perceived athletic competence is a suitable target for intervention efforts designed to increase adolescent girls' physical activity. Particular attention should be focused on girls who are overweight or experiencing puberty. Participation in nonaesthetic sports may be particularly important in the development of PAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the association between volume and intensity of physical activity (PA) and depressive symptoms, anxiety, and body image in a large sample of adolescents in Ottawa and surrounding region. Methods: A total of 1259 (n = 746 girls and n = 513 boys) students responded to surveys on leisure time PA, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and body image. Results: A dose response effect of intensity of PA and psychological distress was observed whereby those who performed greater bouts of vigorous PA exhibited better psychological adjustment than adolescents engaging in mild to moderate intensity activity. Gender impacted the results as vigorous PA was associated with reduced depression but not anxiety in boys, and reduced anxiety but not depression in girls. The positive association between total volume of PA and psychological functioning in the overall sample was no longer significant when gender was considered, except for reduced anxiety in girls. Conclusions: Vigorous PA was associated with reductions in depressive symptoms, anxiety and improvements in body esteem in adolescents, but these associations were differentially influenced by gender. Future research is needed to elucidate the efficacy of vigorous PA as a treatment for mental health problems in male and female adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests an ecological, relationship-based model of children's subjective well-being with 9- to 14-year-old children (n = 25,906) from 14 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. Children completed the Children's Worlds survey, a self-report measure of contextual and well-being indicators. Multilevel modeling was used to predict children's well-being (life satisfaction and self-image) at two levels, child (age, gender, home context, family relationships, peer relationships, school context, teacher relationships, and neighborhood quality), and country (gross domestic product and income inequality). Findings indicated that intercepts varied significantly across countries. The majority of variance in children's well-being was attributed to child-level rather than country-level factors. Country-level factors did not strongly predict well-being but marginally improved model fit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of scientific publications have provided data from different countries suggesting subjective well-being (SWB) continuously decreases during adolescence. A review of these publications reveals authors have used dissimilar scales in diverse countries. Using data from the international Children's Worlds project (N = 48,040), involving 15 countries, a comparative analysis was performed to determine how mean scores evolve with different SWB scales from the age of 8 onwards. The results support the hypothesis that the tendency of SWB to decrease with age starts at around 10 years of age in most countries, while also confirming that different psychometric scales display different levels of sensitivity to diverse sociocultural contexts and more than one should be used in any research on children and adolescents' SWB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The anorexia nervosa adolescent longitudinal biomarker assessment study (ANABEL) is a 2‐year longitudinal study. Objective: Evaluate several clinical, biochemical, immunological, psychological, and family variables and their interactions in adolescent onset eating disorders (EDs) patients and their 2‐year clinical and biological outcome. This article illustrates the framework and the methodology behind the research questions, as well as describing general features of the sample. Methods: A longitudinal study of 114 adolescents with EDs seeking treatment was performed. Only adolescents were selected during 4 years (2009–2013). The variables were collected at different times: baseline, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months of the start of treatment. Diagnoses were completed through the semi‐structured Kiddie‐Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia interview. Results: At baseline, the mean age was 15.11 (SD = 1.36). The mean ED duration was 10 months (SD = 5.75). The mean body mass index was 16.1 (SD = 1.8). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition diagnosis at baseline for restrictive anorexia nervosa was 69.6%, 17.4% for purgative anorexia nervosa, and 24.3% for other specified feeding disorder. At 12 months, 19.4% were in partial remission, whereas at 24 months, 13.8% had fully recovered and 29.2% had partially recovered. Conclusions: There was an acceptable physical and psychopathological improvement during the first year of treatment, with recovery being more evident during the first 6 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These reflections, spanning six decades of involvement with developmental behavioral science, report on several salutary trends that have shaped that field of social inquiry, e.g., its increasingly trans-disciplinary character. They also take note of some of its enduring limitations, e.g., its failure to engage with theory. In addition, the reflections confront some current issues, such as the widespread stereotyping of adolescents as risk takers, and the growing recourse to reductionist explanation. On balance, however, developmental behavioral science can be seen in retrospect as having evolved in a decidedly positive direction. Clearly, it has yielded a firmer grasp on adolescent behavior and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescence is a critical period for the emergence of a balanced personality in adults. Extraversion, neuroticism, and affective self-efficacy beliefs in emotion regulation showed to be good predictors of psychological well-being in adolescents. We analyzed the association between affective self-efficacy beliefs, personality traits, and psychological well-being of 179 Italian adolescents. We also analyzed the connection between adolescents’ filial self-efficacy beliefs and psychological well-being and possible moderating effects of self-efficacy beliefs on personality traits. Results show that extraversion, neuroticism, and self-efficacy beliefs in emotion regulation are correlated with psychological well-being, while filial self-efficacy does not. Self-efficacy beliefs do not show significant moderating effects on personality traits, even if self-efficacy beliefs in expressing positive emotions reduce negative characteristics of individuals with high level of psychoticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses why children's use of mobile phones is an unparalleled complex developmental phenomenon in hopes of providing a broad context for this special section. It first outlines mobile phones as a sophisticated personalized and multifunction technology. Then it presents mobile phone use by children as an unparalleled complex developmental phenomenon on the basis of its four behavioral elements, two mobile cultures, and two developmental processes. It further illustrates the existing knowledge about children's mobile phones use that has been accumulated over the past 23 years and highlights 12 most studied topics, especially distracted driving and radiation exposure. It concludes with three types of scientific contributions made by the 12 articles in the special section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Erik Erikson's theoretical writings on identity have provided a rich foundation upon which decades of research on identity development have been built. However, literature is lacking regarding adolescents who are aware that they lack knowledge about the self (i.e., values, likes, and dislikes) to the extent that they are stuck and directionless, and therefore unable to engage in the process of identity formation, what we refer to as a state of 'lostness.' Furthermore, while it has been established that supportive relationships facilitate identity development, less is known about whether various domains of social connectedness may diminish 'lostness' over time, and if so, what may be the specific processes or conditions within each connectedness domain that supports this aspect of identity development. To address this gap in the literature, this study drew upon self-report data collected from New Zealand adolescents who provided data for two out of three annual time points of measurement ( N = 1996; 52% female; 52% European New Zealanders, 30% Māori, and 18% Pacific Islanders and Asian New Zealanders) to examine the longitudinal relationships among three domains of social connectedness (i.e., family, school, and peers), 'lostness,' and a potential mediator, confidence. The results showed that all three domains of social connectedness predicted diminished 'lostness' over time, and confidence mediated these relationships. An examination of the opposite direction of influence showed that 'lostness' predicted a decrease in confidence and the three domains of social connectedness, as well. Gender, age, and ethnic group were shown to be moderators of different parts of the model. This study addresses the paucity of research examining 'lost' adolescents, while providing insight into the underlying processes through which three key social contexts-family, school, and peers-exert their influence, and are influenced by, identity processes through confidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the dual systems model of adolescent risk taking, sensation seeking and impulse control follow different developmental trajectories across adolescence and are governed by two different brain systems. The authors tested whether different underlying processes also drive age differences in reward approach and cost avoidance. Using a modified Iowa Gambling Task in a multinational, cross-sectional sample of 3,234 adolescents (ages 9-17; M = 12.87, SD = 2.36), pubertal maturation, but not age, predicted reward approach, mediated through higher sensation seeking. In contrast, age, but not pubertal maturation, predicted increased cost avoidance, mediated through greater impulse control. These findings add to evidence that adolescent behavior is best understood as the product of two interacting, but independently developing, brain systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A great deal of research has investigated weight as a predictor for bullying victimization. However, weight is rarely examined in light of its potential role in explaining bullying perpetration, despite the fact that the definition of bullying typically requires a power imbalance, which can refer to either social power or physical size. Using negative binomial regressions, we investigated weight as a predictor of overt and relational bullying behaviors for a sample of 3208 6th-8th graders from 11 schools in a northeastern state. We examined whether this relationship differs by gender, and we explored whether objective size or perception of size is more predictive of perpetration. We also examined whether certain protective factors, like a positive school environment, moderated the effect of weight on bullying perpetration. We found that students who reported a higher BMI engaged in more overt, but not relational, bullying perpetration. Interestingly, students with misperceptions about their weight reported higher levels of both types of bullying perpetration, while students reporting a more positive school climate engaged in less overt and relational bullying. We also found gender differences in that girls are statistically more likely to commit overt bullying if they have a higher BMI. Our results suggest that prevention programs should address weight as a predictor of bullying behaviors, especially for girls, but also that body image and misperception of weight are important topics for prevention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive youth development (PYD) research seeks to understand and promote positive aspects of development in young people. In this the special section, focused upon youth from diverse racial-ethnic backgrounds around the globe, we describe the origins and development of the field, identify key and emerging themes, and present the challenges for work in the area in the years ahead. Central to these are elements that are inherent in many of the articles that constitute the section: These include a need to articulate more clearly the role of social and cultural context in positive development, a need to refine the measures and methods used for collecting data, the significance of social identities, and engagement with other fields of study and with policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on mindfulness interventions with adolescents has burgeoned over the last ten years, and findings have demonstrated increases in overall emotional wellbeing post-intervention. However, little is known about the sex differences in response to mindfulness interventions in this age group. In the present study we examine sex differences in outcomes of physiological stress markers during the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and emotional wellbeing measures before and after a mindfulness intervention ( N = 15) with 10 female and 5 male adolescents. Additionally, we examine sex differences in course engagement and post-intervention use of mindfulness skills during the TSST. Overall, we found some evidence that females were more engaged than males in the class and also reported less stress post-intervention. We conclude by strongly encouraging future research in this area to more clearly elucidate the different ways in which adolescent males and females engage and respond to mindfulness interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Character development in adolescence is of growing interest among psychology researchers and educators, yet there is little consensus about how character should be defined and studied among developmental scientists. In particular, there is no fully developed framework for investigating the developmental relationships among different character strengths. This study examines the developmental relations between purpose and three other key character strengths that emerge during early adolescence: gratitude, compassion, and grit. We analyzed survey ( n = 1005, 50.1% female, 24.1% Caucasian, 43.6% African American, 18.9% Hispanic, 11.9% Asian American) and interview ( n = 98) data from a longitudinal study of character development among middle school students from the United States. Data were collected over the course of 2 years, with surveys conducted four times at 6-month intervals and interviews conducted twice at 12-month intervals. Data analyses showed small but significant correlations between purpose and each of the other three character strengths under investigation. Interview data revealed patterns in ways that adolescents acted on their purposeful aspirations; and interview analyses identified qualitative differences in expressions of gratitude and compassion between adolescents who were fully purposeful and those who were not. The findings suggest that character development can be better understood by investigating the multidirectional developmental relationships among different character strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescent character development is a high priority for educators, policymakers, and front-line youth workers. To meet this growing demand, and as exemplified in the five articles in this special section, character development scholars are drawing from a range of academic disciplines to push beyond the traditional boundaries of the science of character development. These articles highlight important trends in character research, including the co-development of a subset of character strengths, the articulation of developmental trajectories of character, the use of advanced methodological approaches, and the implications for education. Studies such as these are critically important for establishing the research base that will be used to design the character development programs of tomorrow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sociocultural influences of the media, friends, and family on body dissatisfaction in young girls are well documented, yet further increasing our comprehension of the coaction of cognitive processes with sociocultural factors is crucial to understanding the dynamic emergence of body dissatisfaction in early adolescence. The current study examined the roles of appearance related messages and expectations from friends and family and selective attention biases in the development of body dissatisfaction. An ethnically and racially diverse sample of girls (72 % Hispanic White, 17.8 % African-American, 8.5 % non-Hispanic White, and 1.7 % Asian-American) between the ages of 9 and 13 ( N = 118) completed multiple measures of attention, sociocultural attitudes toward weight and shape, and body dissatisfaction. The data from these measures were examined using path analysis. The final model fit well, and demonstrated the coactive effect of selective attention and sociocultural factors on body dissatisfaction. These findings will be instrumental in designing future body dissatisfaction intervention and prevention programs that incorporate cognitive factors, augmenting the existing sociocultural and psycho-educational frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There were two purposes of the present research: first, to add to scholarship about a key character virtue, hopeful future expectations; and second, to demonstrate a recent innovation in longitudinal methodology that may be especially useful in enhancing the understanding of the developmental course of hopeful future expectations and other character virtues that have been the focus of recent scholarship in youth development. Burgeoning interest in character development has led to a proliferation of short-term, longitudinal studies on character. These data sets are sometimes limited in their ability to model character development trajectories due to low power or relatively brief time spans assessed. However, the integrative data analysis approach allows researchers to pool raw data across studies in order to fit one model to an aggregated data set. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the promises and challenges of this new tool for modeling character development. We used data from four studies evaluating youth character strengths in different settings to fit latent growth curve models of hopeful future expectations from participants aged 7 through 26 years. We describe the analytic strategy for pooling the data and modeling the growth curves. Implications for future research are discussed in regard to the advantages of integrative data analysis. Finally, we discuss issues researchers should consider when applying these techniques in their own work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies typically rely on arbitrary decision rules for identifying and excluding invalid responses from the data. In addition, most studies treat independent variables as separate from each other even if their combinations might have importance above the independent contribution of each. Our study aimed to conduct an exploratory latent profile analysis of EMA data to demonstrate an empirical method of identifying invalid responses, and to provide a preliminary investigation of mood profiles. We recruited 20 adolescents between the ages of 13-18 to complete 4 surveys about their internal states each day for 20 days. Participants provided responses on study smartphones using an Android app developed by the study team. Our profile analysis revealed 9 independent profiles. We determined that 3 of these profiles consisted of invalid responses because the integers provided by the participant were nearly invariant. The invalid responses comprised 24.9% of the sample. We also identified 6 valid profiles that were labeled: fatigued (8.7%), good mood/energetic (19.9%), angry/depressed (2.3%), good mood (37.1%), angry (5.7%), and depressed (1.4%). One important implication of the current study is that researchers and clinicians should screen electronic diary data, especially for invariant responding. In addition, it is important for clinicians to note that more than one internal state may drive the mood of an adolescent patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was designed to examine the evidence for Bem's (1981) proposal that strong identification with gender (felt typicality, felt contentedness, felt pressure) promotes restrictive gender-typing (i.e., a preoccupied relationship style for girls; avoidant relationship style for boys). Per a dimension-specific model, I hypothesized that felt typicality and felt contentedness discourage negative gender-atypical attributes, whereas felt pressure encourages gender-typical attributes and discourages gender-atypical ones, without regard for the valence of the attribute. Early adolescents ( N = 144, 73 girls, 71 boys) in southeast England responded to self-report measures of gender identity and relationship styles towards the mother and a close friend twice; first in the Spring of the school year ( M = 12.75 years at Time 1; Time 1 data are partly derived from Menon 2011) and again in the Fall of the next school year. In support of the dimension-specific model, felt typicality and felt contentedness were negatively associated with gender-atypical relationship styles, and felt pressure was positively associated with gender-typical styles at each time-point. Longitudinal associations showed that gender-atypical styles prospectively predicted lower felt typicality and contentedness over time. Further, girls with a gender-atypical avoidant style towards their mother increased in their discontentment with gender over time, but only when they also reported strong felt pressure for gender conformity. Results indicate that gender self-socialization is an important basis for identity development in adolescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research with adolescents has reported a negative relationship between media violence and empathy. There are, however, two important conceptual issues in this earlier literature that deserve further research attention. First, studies often treat empathy as a one-dimensional construct while it consists of both an affective and cognitive component. Second, while aiming to measure empathy, several studies have measured sympathy instead. Driven by these concerns, this study was designed to investigate the longitudinal relationship between media violence, affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and sympathy. Using data from a two-wave panel study with 943 adolescents (10–14 years old), a cross-lagged model tested whether media violence exposure negatively influences empathy and sympathy (desensitization) or whether empathy and sympathy negatively influence media violence exposure (selection). Results were in line with desensitization. However, rather than showing that media violence leads to a decrease in empathy (which previous studies have shown), results indicate a decrease in sympathy instead. These findings provide clarification to existing work as well as offer methodological and practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Insecure attachment can contribute to various psychological problems including body dissatisfaction. It is not clarified which attachment quality, anxiety or avoidance predict lower body satisfaction, and the relationship of maternal and paternal patterns has not been distinguished yet. Our aim was to test these aspects in adolescents. Participants of the large cross-sectional survey were Hungarian children and adolescents ( N = 5214, 51.6 % boys, mean age 14.8 years, SD = 2.6 years). Measures included self-reported body weight and height data, body satisfaction scale, the Experience in Close Relationships Scale-Relationship Structures, and the Child Depression Inventory. Boys had significantly higher body satisfaction, and worse maternal attachment than girls, who showed worse paternal attachment and higher depression. Higher paternal anxiety and avoidance, and maternal avoidance predicted lower body satisfaction in both genders adjusted for age and BMI ( R = 6.1-12.5 %). Depression fully mediated the relationship between dysfunctional maternal attachment and lower body satisfaction in both genders, between dysfunctional paternal attachment and lower body satisfaction in girls, while only partially mediated between dysfunctional paternal attachment and lower body satisfaction in boys. Dysfunctional parental attachment was associated with adolescents' lower body dissatisfaction, mediated by the level of depression. The importance of paternal attachment was highlighted in boys' body concerns. Results suggest that handling negative moods, parental anxiety and avoidance may be useful in the case conceptualizations and treatments related to adolescents' body dissatisfaction that requires further assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background A proper assessment tool is needed to gain more knowledge about fear of intraoral injections in children. Aim The aims of this study were to evaluate the reliability and validity of the novel Intra-Oral Injection Fear scale ( IOIF-s) and to establish a cutoff score for a high level of such fear. Methods Data were obtained from two samples of 10- to 16-year-olds in Hordaland, Norway. Sample I, 1460 pupils attending elementary and high schools, provided questionnaire-based data. The survey instruments used were IOIF-s, Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale ( CFSS- DS), Mutilation Questionnaire for Children ( MQ-c) and Injection phobia Scale for Children ( IS-c). Sample II was 67 patients, diagnosed with intraoral injection phobia at the Center for Odontophobia, Oral Health Center of Expertise in Western Norway-Hordaland, who provided IOIF-s data. Results Cronbach's alpha was 0.95. The IOIF-s discriminated between subjects with and without intraoral injection phobia and was associated with the other survey instruments of similar construct. Principal component analysis revealed a two-component solution, characterized as 'Contact Fear' and 'Distal Fear'. Receiver-operating characteristic ( ROC) curve indicated that a cutoff score of 38 was appropriate. Conclusion The IOIF-s showed satisfying psychometric properties in terms of reliability and validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neglectful rearing is linked with young adults' substance use and abuse, though the developmental mechanisms that underlie this association are unclear. The present study examines links between self-esteem growth during adolescence, childhood supervisory versus physical neglect severity, and substance use and abuse in young adulthood. A sample of youth was obtained from the Add Health study (N = 8738; 55.4 %-Female; 20 %-African American, 14.7 %-Hispanic). Growth mixture modeling analyses supported declining, ascending, and stable high self-esteem trajectories. The declining and ascending trajectories reported greater neglect and alcohol abuse (but not use) as well as cannabis use and abuse. The findings suggest that compromised development of self-esteem underlies associations between neglect and substance use and abuse. Preventive interventions may benefit from targeting self-esteem among neglected youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life satisfaction is an important indicator of successful development. However, adolescents' life satisfaction tends to be relatively unsteady, and environmental influences play a critical role in shaping life satisfaction among adolescents in the transition to young adulthood. Given the paramount importance that education plays in adolescents' lives, adolescents' life satisfaction may vary as a function of school-related stress experience. At the same time, coping resources may help reduce adverse effects of stress on life satisfaction. With this in mind, we examined whether, and to what extent, perceived stress in education and general self-efficacy (a resource that facilitates coping) affect the life satisfaction of adolescents in transition to young adulthood. We distinguished between baseline levels of stress and self-efficacy and within-person change in stress and self-efficacy to determine whether life satisfaction is sensitive to fluctuations in stress and self-efficacy when person-specific levels of stress and self-efficacy are taken into account. Estimating growth curve models on data from a panel study on the life trajectories of compulsory-school leavers ( n = 5126, 55.3 % female), we found that baseline levels of stress and self-efficacy, as well as within-person change in stress and self-efficacy, affected adolescents' life satisfaction. Moreover, our results showed that baseline self-efficacy mitigated the negative effect of baseline stress on life satisfaction. These findings improve our understanding of two major psychological determinants of adolescents' life satisfaction and extend our knowledge of life satisfaction trajectories during the transition to young adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood and adolescent adversity have been shown to predict later mental and physical health outcomes. Understanding which aspects and developmental timings of adversity are important, and the mechanisms by which they have their impact may help guide intervention approaches. A large subset of adolescents ( N = 457; Female 68.9 %) from the 10-year longitudinal Youth Emotion Project was examined to better understand the associations among childhood/adolescent adversity, substance use disorder, and later health quality. Adolescent (but not childhood) adversities were associated with poorer health in late adolescence/early adulthood, adolescent adversities were associated with subsequent onset of substance use disorder, and adolescent adversities continued to be associated with poorer health in late adolescence/early adulthood after accounting for the variance explained by substance use disorder onset. These associations were observed after statistically accounting for emotional disorders and socioeconomic status. Specific domains of adversity uniquely predicted substance use disorder and poorer health outcomes. In contrast with current recent research, our findings suggest the association between childhood/adolescent adversity and poorer health outcomes in late adolescence and emerging adulthood are not entirely accounted for by substance use disorder, suggesting efforts to curtail family-based adolescent adversity may have downstream health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research consistently suggests that adolescents in single-mother families are at increased risk for depression, the mechanisms that explain this relationship are unclear. In a community sample of adolescents ( N = 368; ages 12-16; 50 % female; 50 % White) and their mothers (42 % single), adolescents completed measures of depressive symptoms, rumination, and depressogenic inferential style at baseline and two yearly follow-ups. Mothers reported on stressful events that occurred in the child's life from birth until baseline. Adolescents raised by single mothers, relative to partnered mothers, experienced more childhood stressors and higher rumination levels at 1-year follow-up. Additionally, higher rumination mediated the relationship between single motherhood and greater youth depressive symptoms at the 2-year follow-up. Clinical implications and developmental considerations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examines adolescents’ interpretations of a televised scene narrative describing a sexual initiation encounter. The study uses the media practice model as a theoretical framework. Two hundred ninety-three 10th, 11th, and 12th graders suggested possible endings to the narrative, reflecting their outcome expectancies for sexual initiation. The adolescents’ suggested scene endings were divided into 10 categories, including emotional, physical, and relational outcomes. A thematic analysis of their outcome expectancies revealed some shared themes, but important individual differences based on gender and sexual experience also were identified, consistent with media practice model assumptions. Male students were more technical and less emotional than female students in their scene interpretations. Adolescents without sexual experience suggested more simplistic and deterministic outcomes than more sexually experienced teens. The study contributes to the understanding of adolescents’ interpretation of mediated narratives in the context of sexual initiation and supports their complex, active, and developmentally consistent understanding of this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Lonely adolescents report that they have poor social skills, but it is unknown whether this is due to an accurate perception of a social skills deficit, or a biased negative perception. This is an important distinction, as actual social skills deficits require different treatments than biased negative perceptions. In this study, we compared self-reported social skills evaluations with peer-reported social skills and meta-evaluations of social skills (i.e., adolescents' perceptions of how they believe their classmates evaluate them). Based on the social skills view, we expected negative relations between loneliness and these three forms of social skills evaluations. Based on the bias view, we expected lonely adolescents to have more negative self- and meta-evaluations compared to peer-evaluations of social skills. Participants were 1342 adolescents (48.64 % male, M = 13.95, SD = .54). All classmates rated each other in a round-robin design to obtain peer-evaluations. Self- and meta-evaluations were obtained using self-reports. Data were analyzed using polynomial regression analyses and response surface modeling. The results indicated that, when self-, peer- and meta-evaluations were similar, a greater sense of loneliness was related to poorer social skills. Loneliness was also related to larger discrepancies between self- and peer-evaluations of loneliness, but not related to the direction of these discrepancies. Thus, for some lonely adolescents, loneliness may be related to an actual social skills deficit, whereas for others a biased negative perception of one's own social skills or a mismatch with the environment may be related to their loneliness. This implies that different mechanisms may underlie loneliness, which has implications for interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review is offered for several articles on various research on topics including aggression, violence, and sexual acting out in adolescence, is presented.

Background and Aims The exploration and resolution of ambivalence play an essential role in motivational interviewing (MI) theory. However, most adolescent MI studies have not examined ambivalence as a contributor to behaviour change. This paper reviewed research findings on the role of ambivalence in the adolescent change process. Methods and results We undertook a narrative review of the published empirical and theoretical literature on ambivalence and mechanisms of change in MI for adolescents and found that current MI evaluations appear not to have access to reliable and valid measures of ambivalence in adolescence or neuroimaging methods to evaluate the mechanisms of treatment response. Conclusions Improved instrumentation is needed to assess adolescents' ambivalence in clinical and research settings. Innovative methodology, including neuroimaging, may help identify factors mediating relationships between adolescents' ambivalence and treatment response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research regarding the prevalence of Internet gaming disorder (IGD) among South Korean middle school students, and it mentions the interrelationships between IGD, physical aggression, and non-psychotic psychological symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and impulsiveness. According to the article, 5.9 percent of the teenage boys and girls that were studied were classified as adolescents with IGD. Mood modification and behavioral salience are assessed.

Indicators of social and economic status are important health determinants. However, evidence for the influence of family socioeconomic status in adolescent wellbeing is inconsistent and during this period of development youth may begin to develop their own status positions. This study examined social and economic health inequalities by applying a multidimensional and youth-orientated approach. Using a recent (2010-2011) and representative sample of Swedish 14-year olds (n = 4456, 51 % females), the impact of family socioeconomic status, youth economic resources and peer status on internalizing symptoms and self-rated health were examined. Data was based on population register, sociometric and self-report information. Aspects of family socioeconomic status, youth's own economy and peer status each showed independent associations, with poorer wellbeing observed with lower status. However, there were equally strong or even stronger effects of peer status and youth's own economy than family socioeconomic status. Lower household income and occupational status were more predictive of poor self-rated health than of internalizing symptoms. The findings suggest that youth's own economy and peer status are as important as family socioeconomic status for understanding inequalities in wellbeing. Thus, a focus on youth-orientated conceptualizations of social and economic disadvantage during adolescence is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many late adolescents who transition to the college environment perceive changes in psychosocial stress. One such stressor, loneliness, has been associated with numerous health problems among adolescents and adults. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis is one mechanism through which loneliness may affect health. Guided by a risk and resilience framework, the present study investigated the association between longitudinal changes in loneliness from high school to college and diurnal cortisol activity (waking levels, cortisol awakening response, diurnal slope) by sampling saliva intensively 5 times a day for 3 weekdays in a US sample of late adolescents in their first semester of college (N = 70; Mage = 18.49, SD = 0.38). The present study also explored how the link between loneliness and cortisol might depend on coping efficacy—one’s belief in successfully coping with future stressors or novel situations. Results from hierarchical linear growth curve models demonstrated that an increase in loneliness across this contextual transition was associated with steeper cortisol slopes in college. Coping efficacy at baseline (in high school) significantly moderated the relation between changes in loneliness and diurnal slopes, such that late adolescents with low levels of coping efficacy who reported increased loneliness across the transition exhibited significantly flatter diurnal slopes in college. Higher levels of coping efficacy at baseline also significantly predicted lower waking cortisol levels during the first semester of college. These results suggest that coping efficacy may serve as a protective factor by contributing to regulation of daily physiological stress activity for late adolescents as they struggle with loneliness across the transition to college. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), this article examines gender differences in obtaining a wide array of educational, social, and cultural resources across forty countries, and assesses the extent to which these differences are consistent with predictions that come from rational choice, cultural, and evolutionary approaches. Analyses confirm that daughters are the greater beneficiaries of social and cultural resources, as well as of some educational resources. Meanwhile, sons have greater exposure to a smaller number of resources that are conducive to the acquisition of technological skills. These patterns are consistent with the thesis that there are gendered spheres of investment in home resources. Although gender inequality measured at the national level reconfigures the effects of gender on home resources, particularly cultural activity, there appears to be some dearth of a strong consistent pattern about the cross-national variations in gender differences. Results also fail to support evolutionary predictions, most notably of a strong version of the Trivers-Willard hypothesis that son favoritism should prevail in high-status families and daughter favoritism in low-status families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Drinking among college-aged individuals can be problematic. The motivational model of use, which examines various cognitive factors, personal characteristics, and environmental factors, can provide a greater understanding of what contributes toward the decision to drink in these young adults.Objectives: The current study evaluates proposed paths from risk factors for alcohol use, motives for drinking, and subsequent outcomes of alcohol use, drawing from seminal research on the motivational model and drinking motives.Methods: This model was tested in a sample of 303 undergraduate drinkers (77.9% female, mean age = 19.8 years), and evaluated the potential impact of gender and pattern of use.Results: Results indicate that expectancies, maladaptive coping, and negative affect personality styles are associated with coping motives for drinking, and that coping motives are significantly related to problems associated with use. These results are similar for males and females, and among heavy and lighter drinkers.Conclusion: Findings support the role of the coping motive in problematic outcomes associated with drinking and suggest that expectancies, negative affect personality styles, maladaptive coping, and drinking motives are potential targets of prevention and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Subjective well-being as a predictor for later behavior and health has highlighted its relationship to health, work performance, and social relationships. However, the majority of such studies neglect the developmental nature of well-being in contributing to important changes across the transition to adulthood. Methods To examine the potential role of subjective well-being as a long-term predictor of critical life outcomes, we examined indicators of positive and negative affect at age 14 as predictors of relationship, adjustment, self-worth, and career outcomes a decade later at ages 23 to 25, controlling for family income and gender. We utilised multi-informant methods including reports from the target participant, close friends, and romantic partners in a demographically diverse community sample of 184 participants. Results Early adolescent positive affect predicted fewer relationship problems (less self-reported and partner-reported conflict, and greater friendship attachment as rated by close peers) and healthy adjustment to adulthood (lower levels of depression, anxiety, and loneliness). It also predicted positive work functioning (higher levels of career satisfaction and job competence) and increased self-worth. Negative affect did not significantly predict any of these important life outcomes. In addition to predicting desirable mean levels of later outcomes, early positive affect predicted beneficial changes across time in many outcomes. Conclusions The findings extend early research on the beneficial outcomes of subjective well-being by having an earlier assessment of well-being, including informant reports in measuring a large variety of outcome variables, and by extending the findings to a lower socioeconomic group of a diverse and younger sample. The results highlight the importance of considering positive affect as an important component of subjective well-being distinct from negative affect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of digital media use and the ability to be in almost constant connection to the Internet has raised a number of concerns about how Internet use could impact cognitive abilities. In particular, parents and policy makers are concerned with how being 'constantly online' might disrupt social and cognitive development. This review integrates the latest empirical evidence on Internet use with relevant experimental studies to discuss how online behaviors, and the structure of the online environment, might affect the cognitive development of adolescents. Popular concerns are discussed in light of the reviewed evidence, and remaining gaps in knowledge are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the age of digital technology, as teens seem to be constantly connected online, via social media, and through mobile applications, it is no surprise that they increasingly turn to digital media to answer their health questions. This study is the first of its kind to survey a large, nationally-representative sample of teens to investigate how they use the newest digital technologies, including mobile apps, social networking sites, electronic gaming and wearable devices, to explore health topics. The survey covered the types of health topics teens most frequently search for, which technologies they are most likely to use and how they use them, and whether they report having changed their behaviors due to digital health information. In addition, this survey explores how the digital divide continues to impact adolescents. Results of this study indicate that teens are concerned about many health issues, ranging from fitness, sexual activity, drugs, hygiene as well as mental health and stress. As teens virtually always have a digital device at their fingertips, it is clear that public health interventions and informational campaigns must be tailored to reflect the ways that teens currently navigate digital health information and the health challenges that concern them most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing amount of sociological research is directed at unpacking the social processes behind neighborhood effects on youth behavioral outcomes. The goal of the current study is to build upon these prior efforts and advance research on neighborhood cultural mechanisms and adolescent sexual-partnering behaviors. We formulate and test a series of multilevel hypotheses informed by Anderson's research on the relationship between neighborhood cultural processes and multiple sexual partnering or "player-like" sexual behavior. The hypotheses are tested using data from a multisite sample of African American adolescent males from the Family and Community Health Study. Results from a series of multilevel models provide evidence of both contextual and indirect effects of neighborhood culture on sexual partnering; moreover, these effects are conditioned by neighborhood structural deprivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess measurement invariance of adolescents' daily reports on identity across time and sex. Adolescents (N = 497; mean age = 13.32 years at Time 1, 56.7% boys) from the general population reported on their identity commitments, exploration in depth and reconsideration on a daily basis for 3 weeks within 1 year across 5 years. We used the single-item version of the Utrecht Management of Identity Commitments Scale (UMICS; Klimstra et al., 2010), a broad measure of identity-formation processes covering both interpersonal and educational identity domains. This study tested configural, metric, scalar, and strict measurement invariance across days within weeks, across sex, across weeks within years, and across years. Results indicated that daily diary reports show strict measurement invariance across days, across weeks within years, across years, and across boys and girls. These results support the use of daily diary methods to assess identity at various time intervals ranging from days to years and across sex. Results are discussed with regard to future implications to study identity processes, both on smaller and larger time intervals. (PsycINFO Database Record [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale (PBFS), a self-report measure designed to assess adolescents' frequency of victimization, aggression, and other problem behaviors. Analyses were conducted on a sample of 5,532 adolescents from 37 schools at 4 sites. About half (49%) of participants were male; 48% self-identified as Black non-Hispanic; 21% as Hispanic, 18% as White non-Hispanic. Adolescents completed the PBFS and measures of beliefs and values related to aggression, and delinquent peer associations at the start of the 6th grade and over 2 years later. Ratings of participants' behavior were also obtained from teachers on the Behavioral Assessment System for Children. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a 7-factor model that differentiated among 3 forms of aggression (physical, verbal, and relational), 2 forms of victimization (overt and relational), drug use, and other delinquent behavior. Support was found for strong measurement invariance across gender, sites, and time. The PBFS factors generally showed the expected pattern of correlations with teacher ratings of adolescents' behavior and self-report measures of relevant constructs. (PsycINFO Database Record [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To examine demographic and clinical characteristics as potential predictors of change for children and youth with emotional disorders treated at two child and adolescent mental health outpatient services (CAMHS) in Norway. Methods: The study was of naturalistic observational type with "treatment as usual" (TAU). The sample consisted of 84 children and youth with emotional disorders. The Health of the Nation Outcome Scale (HONOSCA), and the Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) were administered at intake (T0), during the assessment (T1) and approximately six months after assessment (T2). Change was analysed by means of the linear mixed models procedure. Results: For the HONOSCA total score, youths with a diagnosis of depression had statistically higher symptom severity levels at baseline and significantly lower change rates as compared to youths with an anxiety disorder. Conclusions: The current study adds to the limited knowledge of predictors of rate of change for children and adolescents with emotional disorders treated within CAMHS. Our results point to a special need to improve clinical care for depressed children and adolescents. Important limitations comprising the external validity of the study concern missing data, a small study sample, and lack of information regarding the content and extent of the service provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Two groups of clients at sequential developmental stages, adolescents and emerging adults, were compared regarding their presenting problems, psychological distress, and relationship representations over one year of psychotherapy. Method: Thirty adolescents aged 14–18 years and 30 emerging adults aged 22–28 years, with similar demographic background, completed outcome measures and interviews according to the Core Conflictual Relationship Theme (CCRT) method. Results: The groups differed significantly in the presenting problems but did not differ in their initial levels of distress; their symptoms improved to a similar extent after one year of psychotherapy; differences between the groups in the representations of others were consistent with age-specific developmental challenges; levels of representations were associated with levels of symptoms at the end-point of treatment. Conclusion: Clinicians need to be attuned to the specific difficulties and challenges of these continuous yet distinct developmental stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress exposure during development may influence adulthood stress response severity. The present study investigates persisting effects of two adolescent stressors upon adulthood response to predator exposure (PE). Rats were exposed to underwater trauma (UWT) or PE during adolescence, then to PE after reaching adulthood. Rats were then exposed to predator odor (PO) to test responses to predator cues alone. Behavioral and neuroendocrine assessments were conducted to determine acute effects of each stress experience. Adolescent stress altered behavioral response to adulthood PE. Acoustic startle response was blunted. Bidirectional changes in plus maze exploration were revealed as a factor of adolescent stress type. Neuroendocrine response magnitude did not predict severity of adolescent or adult stress response, suggesting that different adolescent stress events may differentially alter developmental outcomes regardless of acute behavioral or neuroendocrine response. We report that exposure to two different stressors in adolescence may differentially affect stress response outcomes in adulthood. Acute response to an adolescent stressor may not be consistent across all stressors or all dependent measures, and may not predict alterations in developmental outcomes pertaining to adulthood stress exposure. Further studies are needed to characterize factors underlying long-term effects of a developmental stressor. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies in rodents have shown that early life trauma leads to anxiety, increased stress responses to threatening situations, and modifies food intake in a new environment. However, these associations are still to be tested in humans. This study aimed to verify complex interactions among anxiety diagnosis, maternal care, and baseline cortisol on food intake in a new environment in humans. A community sample of 32 adolescents and young adults was evaluated for: psychiatric diagnosis using standardized interviews, maternal care using the Parental Bonding Inventory (PBI), caloric consumption in a new environment (meal choice at a snack bar), and salivary cortisol. They also performed a brain fMRI task including the visualization of palatable foods vs. neutral items. The study found a three-way interaction between anxiety diagnosis, maternal care, and baseline cortisol levels on the total calories consumed (snacks) in a new environment. This interaction means that for those with high maternal care, there were no significant associations between cortisol levels and food intake in a new environment. However, for those with low maternal care and who have an anxiety disorder (affected), cortisol was associated with higher food intake; whereas for those with low maternal care and who did not have an anxiety disorder (resilient), cortisol was negatively associated with lower food intake. In addition, higher anxiety symptoms were associated with decreased activation in the superior and middle frontal gyrus when visualizing palatable vs. neutral items in those reporting high maternal care. These results in humans mimic experimental research findings and demonstrate that a combination of anxiety diagnosis and maternal care moderate the relationship between the HPA axis functioning, anxiety, and feeding behavior in adolescents and young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]