Search

Introduction: Greece was hit particularly hard by the latest economic recession. Method: Using a quasi-experimental design, we examined whether and how psychosocial resources promoted and/or protected youth's school adjustment (academic achievement, school engagement, and conduct) and psychological well-being (absence of emotional symptoms) during the economic crisis. We focused on three family resources (family economic well-being, parental education, and school involvement) and one personal resource (self-efficacy). Data were collected with multiple methods and informants. We compared two cohorts of adolescents, closely matched through Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting, who lived in the same neighborhoods, one before (2005; N = 1057; age M = 12.7 years) and the other during (2013; N = 1052; age M = 12.6 years) the economic recession. Results: Variable- and person-focused analyses revealed that in the context of the economic recession parental education and parental school involvement promoted and/or protected youth's school adjustment, and families' economic wellbeing was linked to both externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Another key finding is that youth who exhibited positive adaptation during the economic crisis were equally well adjusted as youth who were well adjusted before the economic crisis, even though they had fewer resources. Finally, youth with more adequate psychosocial resources were able to keep the same high level of adaptation during the crisis as well-adjusted youth had before the crisis. The findings were robust regarding variations in gender and immigrant status. Conclusion: The results suggest that psychosocial resources are important in understanding the diversity in youth's school adjustment and well-being during a major economic crisis. © 2022 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.

ObjectiveWhat is gained by having others report on one's personality? Research on adult samples has suggested that informant reports are especially informative regarding traits that are highly visible and evaluative (i.e., socially desirable/undesirable instead of neutral), such as Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness. This 18-year longitudinal study aims to demonstrate the unique predictive power of other-rated personality in adolescence, using life outcomes and personality in adulthood as trait criteria.MethodWe examined the unique predictive power of self- and other-rated Big Five personality traits at age 12 and 17 on self-rated life outcomes and personality at age 29 (e.g., educational achievement, work income, depression, moral transgressions, and relationship satisfaction). Participants were 186 German adolescents (53% boys), their parents and friends at age 12, and their mothers and fathers at age 17.ResultsOther-ratings showed unique predictive power beyond self-ratings for all Big Five traits, with the most consistent results for Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness.ConclusionsResults demonstrate the added value of including other-reports on adolescent personality when predicting future life outcomes and personality, especially for highly visible and evaluative traits. The present study sheds light on the predictive power of self- versus other-rated personality and personality-outcome associations.

Objective What is gained by having others report on one’s personality? Research on adult samples has suggested that informant reports are especially informative regarding traits that are highly visible and evaluative (i.e., socially desirable/undesirable instead of neutral), such as Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness. This 18‐year longitudinal study aims to demonstrate the unique predictive power of other‐rated personality in adolescence, using life outcomes and personality in adulthood as trait criteria. Method We examined the unique predictive power of self‐ and other‐rated Big Five personality traits at age 12 and 17 on self‐rated life outcomes and personality at age 29 (e.g., educational achievement, work income, depression, moral transgressions, and relationship satisfaction). Participants were 186 German adolescents (53% boys), their parents and friends at age 12, and their mothers and fathers at age 17. Results Other‐ratings showed unique predictive power beyond self‐ratings for all Big Five traits, with the most consistent results for Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness. Conclusions Results demonstrate the added value of including other‐reports on adolescent personality when predicting future life outcomes and personality, especially for highly visible and evaluative traits. The present study sheds light on the predictive power of self‐ versus other‐rated personality and personality–outcome associations.

We propose a new model of personality development, the disposition–adaptation–environment (DAE) model. It is based on the assumption that two types of individual characteristics can be distinguished: Dispositions make up the relatively stable core of personality at a particular age, and adaptations are the joint outcome of effects of dispositions and environmental characteristics and mediate transactions between dispositions and environments. Whereas distinctions between dispositions and adaptations have been drawn before, the DAE model is unique in that it (i) entails testable hypotheses whether individual characteristics are adaptations or dispositions, (ii) is based on quasi-causal cross-lagged effects, (iii) assigns adaptations a functional role as longitudinal mediators of disposition–environment transaction, and (iv) is developmentally sensitive. We illustrate application of the DAE model with a three-wave longitudinal study of 1118 adolescents who were observed from the first to the third year in middle school, using the Big Five as dispositions, conduct and self-esteem with peers as adaptations, and peer acceptance and rejection as the environmental measures. Hypotheses-driven and exploratory analyses were combined to yield both safe conclusions and novel hypotheses. We compare the model with other models of personality development and discuss extensions that include stable genetic and socio-economic effects. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology

This study examined, first, the longitudinal interplay between immigrant youth's acculturation into the host and ethnic cultures and perceived ethnic discrimination, and, second, whether acceptance and rejection by immigrant and non-immigrant peers longitudinally mediated the link between acculturation and discrimination. 1057 students nested in 49 Greek middle-school classrooms took part in the study (Wave 1; age M = 12.7 years). 532 immigrants provided the acculturation and discrimination data. Together with their 525 Greek classmates, they also provided peer nomination data. Immigrant youth's higher acculturation into the host culture predicted over time decreases in perceived ethnic discrimination. Furthermore, this link was longitudinally mediated by acceptance by Greek peers. The reverse path from perceived ethnic discrimination to acculturation into the Greek culture was not significant. The results suggest that to promote immigrant youth positive adaptation, interventions need to support their acculturation and intergroup contact. © 2018 Elsevier Inc.

This study examined how Greek and immigrant youth adapted to school life during the economic recession in Greece. Two cohorts of adolescents (Mage = 12.6 years) were compared, one assessed before the crisis and the other during the crisis (N = 1,057 and 1,052, respectively). Cohort findings were disaggregated by immigrant status, generation, and ethnic group. Crisis-cohort youth experienced more economic problems, displayed worse conduct, higher levels of absenteeism, and lower self-efficacy than precrisis youth. The cohorts did not differ in well-being, school engagement, and academic achievement. Most crisis-cohort groups showed a pervasive increase in conduct problems compared to the precrisis cohort. However, some of these groups also showed an increase in academic achievement. © 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Objective: In multiethnic classrooms, acceptance and rejection by classmates of one's own versus other ethnicity is influenced by in-group preference, the societal status of the ethnicities, and composition of classrooms. We aimed at (a) confirming these effects for immigrant versus nonimmigrant adolescents in newly formed classrooms, (b) longitudinally studying the change of these effects over the next 2 years, and (c) studying the longitudinal links between immigrants' acculturation and acceptance/rejection by (non)immigrants. Method: This was a multilevel, longitudinal study of 1,057 13-year-old students nested in 49 classrooms over the first 3 years of middle school in Greece. Immigrant composition of classrooms varied strongly (average 44%), and immigrants in a classroom were ethnically homogeneous (78% same-ethnic). Students' acceptance and rejection by Greek and immigrant students were sociometrically assessed every year. Multilevel analyses were conducted for questions a and b and cross-lagged analyses for question c. Results: Initially, immigrants were less accepted and more rejected by their classmates than Greeks. However, in classrooms with more than 66% immigrants, they were more accepted and less rejected. Over time, (a) immigrants and Greeks did not differ in being rejected and (b) immigrants in classrooms with few immigrants became increasingly more accepted. Finally, immigrants with higher involvement with the Greek culture were more accepted by their Greek classmates. Conclusion: Immigrants' peer relations with Greeks were positively affected by increasing opportunity for intergroup contact and involvement with the Greek culture. Interventions supporting acculturation and intergroup contact may prove beneficial for immigrant students. © 2017 American Psychological Association.

Bayesian statistical methods are becoming ever more popular in applied and fundamental research. In this study a gentle introduction to Bayesian analysis is provided. It is shown under what circumstances it is attractive to use Bayesian estimation, and how to interpret properly the results. First, the ingredients underlying Bayesian methods are introduced using a simplified example. Thereafter, the advantages and pitfalls of the specification of prior knowledge are discussed. To illustrate Bayesian methods explained in this study, in a second example a series of studies that examine the theoretical framework of dynamic interactionism are considered. In the Discussion the advantages and disadvantages of using Bayesian statistics are reviewed, and guidelines on how to report on Bayesian statistics are provided. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12169 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.12169/pdf

Although numerous studies have emphasized the role evaluations by others play for people's self-esteem, the perspective of others and the social diversity of real-life contexts have largely been ignored. In a large-scale longitudinal study, we examined the link between adolescents' self-esteem and their self- and peer-perceived popularity in socially diverse classrooms. First, we tested the competing directions of effects predicted by sociometer theory (i.e., peer-perceived popularity affects self-esteem, mediated by self-perceived popularity) and the self-broadcasting perspective (i.e., self-esteem affects peer-perceived popularity). Second, we examined differential effects of popularity in the own social group ("us") versus others ("them") by using immigrant status groups (i.e., immigrants versus host-nationals). We examined 1,057 13-year-old students in 3 annual waves. Cross-lagged analyses revealed that popularity among peers of the in-group but not among peers of the out-group prospectively predicted self-esteem, which was mediated by self-perceived popularity. Self-esteem in turn prospectively predicted self- but not peer-perceived popularity. In sum, the findings provide support for sociometer theory and a conscious sociometer mechanism but no support for the self-broadcasting perspective. The findings further demonstrate that the sociometer was more responsive to popularity in immigrant status in- than out-groups. In conclusion, the findings underscore the need to consider the perspective of others and their social group memberships to better understand the complexities of the link between self-esteem and popularity. © 2015 American Psychological Association.

We examined behavioral school engagement trajectories of immigrant and non-immigrant early adolescents in relation to their academic achievement. Data were based on teacher judgments and school records. Students from immigrant families living in Greece and their non-immigrant classmates (N = 1057) were assessed over the three years of middle school (ages 13 to 15). Academic achievement influenced later school engagement more strongly than vice versa for both immigrant and non-immigrant students. Low achievement, being an immigrant student and social adversity were found to be risk factors for the initial level of behavioral engagement. An overall increase in students' absenteeism over the course of the study was stronger for immigrant students. The immigrant status effect was due to immigrant students' lower achievement. The results suggest that immigrant youth may disengage from school to protect themselves from academic failure. This would also be a plausible explanation for earlier findings that immigrant and non-immigrant students do not differ in psychological well-being, even though immigrant students have significantly lower academic achievement. Implications for interventions to promote academic achievement and to prevent disengagement in immigrant students are discussed. © The Author(s) 2014.

Despite research showing that immigrant adolescents differ in the degree to which they feel personally discriminated against, little is known about individual predictors of their perceived personal discrimination. We studied the role of a major developmental task in adolescence that is highly relevant for discrimination experiences: being liked by peers. We followed N = 532 13-year old immigrant students (n = 294 boys) in Greek high schools over 2 years to examine longitudinal links between personal ethnic discrimination and social preference among host-national and immigrant classmates. We applied a sociometric method to asses peer preference and we assessed self-perceived preference. Cross-lagged models revealed that preference among host-national peers but not by immigrant peers predicted low personal ethnic discrimination beyond self-perceptions of preference and group ethnic discrimination. Group ethnic discrimination moderated the effect of preference among host-national peers on low personal ethnic discrimination. Peer preference, in turn, did not feed back on personal ethnic discrimination. Findings highlight the importance of being liked by host-national classmates for immigrant adolescents: it can prevent feelings of being personally discriminated against, even if they perceive their group to be discriminated against. © The Author(s) 2015.

Immigrant youth differ in their adaptation, which is judged on the basis of how well they deal with developmental and acculturative tasks. While immigrant adolescents are faced with the realities of 2 different cultures, they also have to master age-salient tasks, such as self-efficacy and identity development. To get a better insight into the interplay of developmental and acculturative tasks and their relationship with family functioning, we used 3-wave longitudinal data over a 2-year period from 13-year-old immigrant students (N = 609) in Athens, Greece. Cross-lagged models revealed that family functioning and acculturation were resources for the mastery of developmental tasks. Involvement in the host culture prospectively predicted self-efficacy beliefs, and involvement in the ethnic culture prospectively predicted ethnic identity. These effects increased over time. Family functioning prospectively predicted self-efficacy and ethnic identity. These effects decreased over time. The findings suggest that a well-functioning family, for early adolescents, and being involved in the host culture and in ethnic cultures, for middle adolescents, are particularly important resources to master the tasks of their developmental period. Our findings underscore the importance of developmentally sensitive approaches and the need to account for acculturative challenges in order to understand individual differences in immigrant youth adaptation. © 2013 American Psychological Association.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether and how individual differences contribute to the translation of perceived group discrimination into perceived personal discrimination. One hundred forty-five Pontic Greek and 269 Albanian students (mean age 12.9 years) enrolled in Greek urban public schools were assessed in Grade 1 of high school. Albanians reported higher discrimination against their ethnic group, but not higher discrimination against themselves, personally, than Pontic Greeks. Personal discrimination could be predicted by perceived group discrimination as well as from individual characteristics of immigrant students, independently of their ethnicity. Furthermore, when students reported high, but not low, group discrimination, many of their individual characteristics were shown to buffer against translating perceived group discrimination into experiences of personal discrimination. These results highlight the importance of individual differences, in addition to perceptions of group discrimination, for feelings of being discriminated against as an individual and suggest that high group discrimination of immigrants, independently of ethnic background, does not necessarily result in high personal discrimination, if individual protective factors are present. © 2012 Hogrefe Publishing.

This study examined growth patterns in adaptation of immigrant youth from a risk and resilience perspective. Students from first- and second-generation immigrant families living in Greece and their nonimmigrant classmates (N = 1,057) were assessed over the first 3 years of secondary school (ages 13-15). Three-level hierarchical linear models were used to disentangle individual and classroom-level effects on initial level and change in academic achievement, conduct, peer popularity, and psychological well-being. At the individual level, adaptation was more related to self-efficacy and parental school involvement (resources) than immigrant status and social adversity (risks). Only for academic achievement did risks explain variance when resources were controlled. Parental school involvement moderated the effect of immigrant status for initial level and growth in achievement. For all students, achievement and conduct worsened over time. At the classroom level, socioeconomic and ethnic composition of the classroom moderated the effects of self-efficacy and immigrant status on academic achievement and peer popularity, respectively. Second-generation immigrants were more popular than first-generation immigrants, but showed a larger decrease over time in school achievement. Results support a developmental, differentiated, and contextualized approach to the study of immigrant youth adaptation. © 2012 Cambridge University Press.