Journal of Research on Adolescence最新文献

Emotional granularity, reflecting the specificity with which individuals distinguish their emotional experiences, is crucial to emotional well-being. This study examined whether emotional granularity predicts adolescents' social anxiety and depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 140 adolescents (M_age = 11.91) reported daily emotions for 21–28 days at three timepoints: before the pandemic, during the acute phase, and 1 year later. Results showed that negative emotional granularity decreased from prepandemic to the acute phase and increased during the chronic phase. Adolescents with larger decreases in negative granularity during the acute phase and smaller increases during the chronic phase reported higher social anxiety and depressive symptoms at follow-up. Notably, baseline granularity and its stress-related changes were stronger predictors of social anxiety than depression. These findings suggest that the ability to differentiate negative emotions with greater precision may serve as an adaptive emotional process that buffers adolescents against internalizing problems.

Greater mindfulness is thought to give rise to more positive psychological health through more adaptive emotion regulation. While there is extensive evidence linking higher average mindfulness to lower average emotion regulation difficulties, less is known about the momentary-level patterns that occur within individuals. Additionally, it is unclear if the relationship between mindfulness and emotion regulation changes as a function of adolescents' mental health status. This study sought to fill these gaps by investigating the between- and within-person concurrent (same moment) and prospective (next moment) effects of mindfulness on emotion regulation among adolescents exposed to chronic stressors. This study also explored the moderating effects of mental health symptoms. Seventy-nine participants who were 10–18 years old (M = 13.81; SD = 2.16; 56% male; 62% non-Hispanic White) completed ecological momentary assessments (EMA) three times a day for 7 days. Dynamic structural equation modeling revealed that between- and within-person mindfulness was inversely associated with concurrent, but not prospective, emotion regulation difficulties. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and internalizing symptoms also moderated concurrent and prospective within-person associations. Individuals with higher PTSD and internalizing symptoms experienced lower emotion regulation difficulties during moments of greater-than-average mindfulness. Adolescents with higher PTSD symptoms also experienced fewer difficulties regulating their emotions in moments that followed greater mindful nonjudgment. These results highlight that greater momentary mindfulness may be beneficial for emotion regulation within the same moment and across the day for adolescents with mental health difficulties which has meaningful implications for just-in-time interventions. Future research may benefit from incorporating additional EMA measurements to explore the finer grained, short-term dynamics between mindfulness and emotion regulation.

Peer defending is widely promoted as a strategy to reduce bullying, but few studies have investigated whether having more defenders decreases victimization over time from the victim's perspective. This social network study examined the longitudinal association between nominating more defenders and subsequent victimization among (early) adolescents and tested whether this relation is moderated by the popularity status of the defender and the victim. The sample included 1450 participants from 93 secondary school classes (grades 4–9) in Finland (52.51% female; M_age = 12.38 years, SD_age = 1.56). Results from longitudinal social network analyses showed that contrary to expectations, having more defenders did not reduce victimization over time. Moreover, the popularity of the defender or the victim did not moderate this effect. Results did not differ by grade. These findings suggest that defending alone may not protect students from ongoing victimization and highlight the need for broader, multi-level intervention strategies.

This 1-year longitudinal study examined the linear and nonlinear associations between affinity for solitude and social, school, and psychological adjustment in adolescents. Participants included 2675 eighth-grade students (1341 boys; M_age = 14.3 years) in China. Affinity for solitude was assessed through self-reports, and adjustment data were collected from multiple sources. Results showed that affinity for solitude was positively associated with later prosociality. Moreover, affinity for solitude at low to moderate levels, but not at moderate to high levels, positively predicted leadership. Affinity for solitude at low to moderate levels was negatively associated with later aggression, behavioral problems, and learning problems, but the associations were nonsignificant at moderate levels and positive at higher levels. In addition, affinity for solitude at higher levels, but not at low to moderate levels, negatively predicted school attitudes. The results suggest that the moderate level of affinity for solitude is most beneficial for adolescents' adjustment.

Atypical lying (i.e., dishonesty that is excessive, impulsive, for fun, or lacks clear motive) may signal broader developmental risks. This study examined whether baseline levels and changes in parenting, peer, and individual factors were associated with trajectories of atypical lying from ages 14 to 26. Data from 1354 participants (86.41% male; baseline M_age = 16.04; 41.5% Black, 33.5% Hispanic, 20.2% White, 4.8% Other) in the Pathways to Desistance study were analyzed. Results indicate that higher risk (parental hostility, antisocial peer influence, and perceived thrill of crime) and lower protective factors (parental warmth, resistance to peer influence, and psychosocial maturity) were associated with more persistently atypical lying scores. Notably, we highlight which factors are most strongly related to the growth of atypical lying and ways to target them through programs aimed to promote honesty. Overall, our findings underscore the role of early contexts and developmental synchrony in atypical lying.

Although numerous studies have examined the association between parental autonomy support and adolescent internalizing problems, their within-person bidirectional dynamics and the underlying mediating mechanisms remain largely underexplored among Chinese early adolescents. The present study investigates the reciprocal relations between parental autonomy support and adolescents' internalizing problems, as well as the mediating role of self-compassion, using a four-wave longitudinal design and random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling (RI-CLPM). The sample comprised 4731 early adolescents from China (44.9% girls; M_age = 10.91, SD = 0.72), with data collected at 6-month intervals over an 18-month period. Results from the RI-CLPM revealed a bidirectional association between parental autonomy support and adolescents' internalizing problems, with self-compassion serving as a significant mediator in both directions. Specifically, higher levels of autonomy-supportive parenting predicted lower internalizing problems both directly and indirectly through increased self-compassion. Conversely, elevated internalizing symptoms predicted decreases in parental autonomy support, with self-compassion acting as a mediating pathway. These findings highlight a dynamic interplay between parenting and adolescent internalizing problems, emphasizing the dual role of family support and self-related emotional capacities in shaping psychological adjustment. Interventions aimed at enhancing autonomy-supportive parenting and strengthening adolescents' self-compassion may be particularly effective in mitigating internalizing difficulties during early adolescence.

Longitudinal evidence on social media use and cognitive abilities trajectory coupling across early adolescence is sparse. In this study, data from the ABCD Study (Baseline N ~ 12,000; M_age = 9.9; White = 52.0%, Hispanic = 20.3%, Black = 15.0%, Asian = 2.1%, Other = 10.5%; Female = 47.8%) were used to examine whether growth processes in social media use and cognitive performances (i.e., crystallized abilities, inhibitory control/attention, and processing speed) were associated over 4 years in early adolescence. Parallel process latent growth curve models revealed that the trajectory of social media use was negatively coupled with crystallized and inhibitory control/attention performance trajectories, indicating potential trade-offs. Conversely, the trajectories of social media and processing speed were positively coupled, possibly due to practice-based transfer.

Many adolescents experience peer victimization during this critical period for development. Emotion regulation strategies, including cognitive reappraisal and emotional suppression, can help adolescents cope with such experiences. Although unidirectional relations between peer victimization and emotion regulation strategies have been examined, few studies have explored the potential bidirectional relations of these variables (Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 24, 141). Using a cross-lagged panel model and data from the ABCD Study, we investigated the reciprocal relations between relational victimization, reputational victimization, overt victimization, cognitive reappraisal, and emotional suppression from 11 to 14 years. The sample consisted of 11,868 USA adolescents (6181 boys, 5664 girls, 17 other), and 6173 identified as White (1784 Black, 2410 Hispanic, 252 Asian, and 1247 Other). Results did not support a bidirectional relation of victimization and emotion regulation strategy. Instead, the type of victimization was associated with specific emotion regulation strategies, but emotional regulation strategies were not significantly associated with any type of peer victimization. Future research should consider the complex contextual and developmental aspects related to promoting emotion-focused coping strategies.

Effective emotion regulation is critical for adolescents' psychological well-being, yet how parent–adolescent communication patterns predict adolescent emotion regulation—and vice versa—remains underexplored, particularly in Chinese culture where parenting roles are gendered. The present study examined bidirectional associations between communication patterns of adolescents' emotional distress in parents and adolescents and their emotion regulation difficulties in a sample of late adolescents from China (n = 954, 47.1% male, M_age = 15.25 years, SD = 0.54). Adolescents reported their communication patterns with both mothers and fathers and their own emotion regulation difficulties at two time points (over 8 months). Results showed that female adolescents reported higher difficulties than males. Both male and female adolescents reported engaging in more active and reactive emotion sharing with mothers than with fathers, but perceived a greater lack of solicitation from fathers than from mothers. Contrary to the bidirectional hypothesis, only active and reactive emotion sharing negatively predicted adolescents' emotion regulation difficulties longitudinally, and this effect was observed only in father–son dyads. Additionally, both active and reactive emotion sharing with fathers and mothers predicted decreased adolescents' unresponsiveness, and active and reactive emotion sharing with fathers predicted fathers' reduced lack of solicitation over time, both of which suggested a dynamic process of the parent–adolescent emotional interaction. In general, these findings underscore the importance of considering parent and adolescent gender in understanding family emotion communication and adolescents' emotion regulation. Fathers' unique role in predicting male adolescents' emotional development warrants focused attention.

In the context of various risk factors that threaten adolescents' prosociality and well-being, life awe, which provides a broader perspective on life, may help to foster positive youth development. The current study aims to examine whether life awe is positively associated with adolescents' prosocial behavior and subjective well-being during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted two complementary studies to test our hypotheses using a mixed-methods approach. Study 1 analyzed 16,591 valid Weibo blogs from 12,498 Chinese adolescents (M_age = 20.69, SD_age = 2.76; 74.08% female) posted in the COVID-19 pandemic (January 1, 2020–December 31, 2020). This study explored semantic associations among life awe, prosocial behavior, and subjective well-being in a real-world context. Study 2 involved two waves of longitudinal data from 2299 Chinese adolescents (M_age = 14.63, SD_age = 1.62; 38.32% female) collected during the postpandemic period (October 2023–April 2024), providing longitudinal insights into these relationships. The results of two studies indicated that life awe was significantly and positively associated with adolescents' prosocial behavior and subjective well-being during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. By advancing empirical understanding of life awe, these findings suggest that life awe could serve as a novel target for interventions aimed at promoting positive youth development both during public crises such as pandemics and in everyday life.