Journal of Research on Adolescence最新文献

This study extends situational action theory (SAT) and its developmental ecological action (DEA) model by examining within- and between-individual variations in offending among 1354 serious adolescent offenders using Pathways to Desistance data. It highlights the interplay between morality, self-control, and delinquent peer associations, finding lower offending rates among adolescents with stronger morality, higher self-control, and fewer delinquent peers. Criminogenic exposure increases and declines in morality or self-control heighten crime risk. Self-control is most effective in reducing offending when paired with strong moral values, especially in highly criminogenic environments. Morality's influence grows as self-control strengthens or peer delinquency declines, supporting the DEA model's emphasis on the dynamic interaction of crime propensity and environmental influences.

Gratitude has been empirically linked to psychological and behavioral adjustment outcomes during early adolescence. However, the role of gratitude in relation to friends' adjustment outcomes remains unclear, particularly in more interdependent-oriented cultures. To address this gap, this 1-year longitudinal study applied the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model to simultaneously examine whether gratitude would predict adolescents' and their best friends' depressive symptoms and aggressive behaviors. The sample consisted of 1342 students within 671 friendship dyads, initially in the fourth grade (44.0% boy-dyads; initial M_age = 10.22 years, SD = 0.33). The results indicated that adolescents' gratitude negatively predicted both their own and their best friends' subsequent aggressive behaviors, revealing both actor and partner effects. In addition, adolescents' gratitude only negatively predicted their own subsequent depressive symptoms. The aforementioned findings were stable across gender. The results suggest that adolescents with higher levels of gratitude can contribute positively not only to their own adjustment but also to the development of those around them. These findings deepen the understanding of the “firewall” function of gratitude and highlight the critical role of friendships in mitigating adolescents' maladjustment, offering practical implications for school-based gratitude education.

Allostatic load (AL), the cumulative physiological cost of early adversity, is associated with increased depression risk, especially among disadvantaged adolescents. Bullying, which peaks during adolescence, also predicts depressive symptoms. However, how early (e.g., AL) and recent (e.g., bullying) stressors interact to influence adolescent depression remains unclear. While social mobility belief—adolescents' expectations of upward socioeconomic movement—is often viewed as protective, its effects may vary under stress. Based on the biopsychosocial model, this study examines the interplay among AL, bullying, and social mobility belief in shaping adolescent depression. Participants were 600 adolescents (M_age = 11.44, SD = 1.76; 49.17% boys) from impoverished rural areas in China. Data were collected at two time points at 1-year intervals. Adolescents completed questionnaires assessing bullying experiences, social mobility belief, and depressive symptoms. AL was measured using eight biomarkers: heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dehydroepiandrosterone. Results indicated that AL and bullying exert cumulative effects on depression: bullying predicted higher depressive symptoms among adolescents with high AL, but not among those with low AL. This relationship was further moderated by social mobility belief. A higher social mobility belief may exacerbate depression in adolescents with high AL who face significant bullying. These findings highlight that the role of social mobility belief is context-dependent, rather than a universally protective factor and suggest that interventions should address both physiological stress and perceived opportunity.

The current study examines whether multisystemic therapy (MST), a widely used, developmentally informed, social-ecological intervention for justice-involved youth (JIY), is equally effective for males and females. Justice-involved youth (JIY) have higher rates of substance use relative to youth in the general population. Although interventions like MST often target co-occurring substance use and delinquent behavior, these interventions often neglect female-specific risks and developmental pathways for delinquent behavior and substance use, which raises concern about their appropriateness for female JIY. We use integrative data analysis (IDA) to pool data from three trials of MST to generate sufficient power to detect sex differences in treatment outcomes of self-reported cannabis, alcohol use, and delinquent behavior over the last 90 days. Analyses showed MST was no more effective than services as usual in reducing self-reported substance use and delinquent behavior among JIY through one-year follow-up, nor were treatment outcomes moderated by sex. In the first adequately powered study to compare sex differences in the effects of MST among U.S. JIY, current findings suggest that MST for comorbid delinquent behavior and substance use may need to be improved for both sexes. Continued development and study of effective psychosocial interventions for JIY are needed, and interventions should consider the distinct needs of female JIY.

Despite the growing body of research on cyber dating violence, a comprehensive understanding of gender differences in cyber-violent behaviors across developmental stages remains limited. The main purpose of this meta-analytic review was to estimate the direction and magnitude of gender differences in cyber dating violence perpetration and victimization by synthesizing results from various studies. The second purpose of this study was to examine the effect of potential moderators (i.e., continent, age, grade level, time frame, method of survey administration, the metric of the outcome, study design, publication status, and publication year) on these differences. Various databases were used to identify relevant studies, including PubMed, Web of Science (WoS), Scopus, PsycINFO, ERIC, and ProQuest. Eighty-one individual studies with a total sample of 70,233 participants, ranging in age from 10 to 30 years (M = 18.94), were included based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria in the present study. Most studies were conducted in North America and Europe with the largest proportions from the United States and Spain. Results indicated that there were no statistically significant gender differences (women vs. men; girls vs. boys) in perpetration and victimization of cyber dating violence. Moderator analyses showed that grade level and sample age were statistically significant moderators of gender differences in cyber dating violence victimization. However, other moderators (continent, time frame, method of survey administration, the metric of the outcome, study design, publication status, and publication year) were not statistically significant. This study contributes to understanding gender differences in cyber-violent behaviors during adolescence and emerging adulthood and highlights the importance of some moderators when developing targeted prevention and intervention strategies.

The study examined the intergenerational transmission of aggressive conflict resolution toward intimate partners from Generation 1 (G1) parents during Generation 2's adolescence to both G2 and their partners (G2 partner), and the potential spillover effects from G2 and G2 partner's aggressive conflict resolution to G2's harsh and inconsistent parental discipline towards Generation 3 (G3) children. Using data from the Research on Adolescent Development and Relationships (RADAR) project, G1, G2 (51.5% girls; M_age = 14.82 in mid-adolescence, M_age = 29.66 in parenthood), and later G2's partner and G3 were followed from G2's adolescence to adulthood. The sample comprised 1178 G1–G2 dyads, including 222 G1–G2–G3 triads. Path analyses provided evidence for (1) intergenerational transmission, that is, G1's aggressive conflict resolution in G2's mid-adolescence weakly predicted G2's aggressive conflict resolution in G2's adulthood and (2) spillover effects, that is, G2's aggressive conflict resolution predicted G2's harsh and inconsistent discipline toward G3 children. Most of the intergenerational transmission and spillover relations did not differ across G1 and G2 gender. Overall, the findings highlight the intergenerational transmission of aggressive conflict resolution towards intimate partners and its subsequent relation with harsh and inconsistent discipline. Future prevention could target both parental figures in G1 and G2 to disrupt the cycle of aggressive conflict resolution and prevent problematic discipline practices.

While adolescent pregnancy is widely recognized as a marker of early-life disadvantage, less is known about its long-term occupational consequences. This study examines the relationship between adolescent pregnancy experiences and precarious employment in adulthood, distinguishing between three pregnancy outcomes: abortion, miscarriage, and live birth. Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we estimate school-fixed effects regression models to assess whether adolescent pregnancy is associated with greater labor market precarity. To examine underlying mechanisms, we employ multivariate bootstrap mediation analysis to test the mediating roles of educational attainment, incarceration history, and depressive symptoms. Findings indicate that all pregnancy outcomes are linked to increased risk of precarious employment, with educational attainment emerging as a consistent mediator across all outcomes—accounting for 28.2% of the total effect for live birth, 15.4% for miscarriage, and 14.1% for abortion. Incarceration significantly mediates the association for live birth (16.8%) and miscarriage (17.0%), but not abortion. Depressive symptoms have a relatively smaller overall impact, mediating 13.7% of the effect for abortion only. These results underscore the importance of disaggregating adolescent pregnancy experiences and identifying key mechanisms to better understand how early reproductive events shape labor market inequality across the life course. Findings point to the need for targeted, outcome-specific interventions that support continued education, reduce criminal justice exposure, and address mental health to mitigate long-term employment precarity among adolescent pregnancy survivors.

This study examined the role of contextual factors in shaping adolescents' social–emotional learning (SEL) using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018. The sample included 292,466 15-year-old adolescents across 42 countries or economies (18 low- and 24 high-context economies). Network analysis highlighted stress resilience, cooperation, perseverance, and curiosity as pivotal skills of SEL, with stress resilience emerging as central. The results further indicated significant cultural variations in how contextual factors would affect students' SEL: In high-context cultures (where communication relies heavily on implicit and situational cues), teacher–student relationships played a more central role, while in low-context cultures (where communication tends to be explicit and direct), sense of school belonging was prioritized. These results underscored the need for culturally responsive SEL programs, tailored to specific cultural dynamics, to support optimal skill development.

Historically marginalized adolescents experience environmental stressors that contribute to psychological distress and compromised academic outcomes. Prior research highlights the role of a positive school climate and school engagement in promoting both academic achievement and psychological well-being. Building on this work, we propose school engagement may mediate relationships between stressful life events (SLEs) and campus climate on academic achievement and psychological distress. In a sample of 293 historically marginalized adolescents (81.2% Latine), path analyses showed mediation between campus climate, SLEs, and psychological distress via school engagement. Additionally, school engagement partially mediated the link between SLEs and academic achievement. Multiple regression analyses revealed school-related challenges were associated with lower school engagement, more psychological distress, and lower academic achievement. These findings highlight the critical role of school engagement in shaping both academic and psychological outcomes. Implications for equity-focused initiatives are discussed.

Taking risks is a crucial part of adolescent development, encompassing both positive (socially valued) and negative (potentially life-threatening) behaviors. While cognitive control is known to reduce harmful risk behaviors, its relationship with beneficial risk-taking remains unclear. This study investigated how multiple components of cognitive control relate to both types of risk-taking and explored learning as a potential pathway to adaptive risk-taking. We assessed 127 adolescents (ages 12–18, 65% female, 60% White) using experimental cognitive tasks, self-report measures, and an adapted balloon analog risk task. Working memory and proactive control were associated with reduced negative risk-taking (NRT) but not positive risk-taking (PRT). Effortful control showed a unique divergent pattern, being associated with both reduced NRT and increased willingness for PRT. These associations diminished with age, perhaps due to the increasing influence of external factors like opportunity and social context. Better learning in low-risk experimental conditions related to reduced real-world NRT, though this learning ability was not associated with cognitive control measures. These findings contribute to expanding our understanding of how cognitive control relates to adolescent adaptive risk-taking and open up perspectives for effective interventions.