Journal of Research on Adolescence最新文献

Most research on emotional functioning focuses on the intensity of emotions. Little is known about how current emotion predicts future emotion, or how emotions fluctuate. Understanding how day-to-day emotional dynamic indices change over time, especially during adolescence, is important, as this developmental stage represents a critical period for emotional development. This study investigates the developmental trajectories of emotional dynamics in adolescents. One hundred seventy nine adolescents (44.1% males, M_age = 12.80 ± 0.41) at baseline participated in the current study as part of a larger longitudinal study (the Circadian Light in Adolescence, Sleep and School [CLASS] Study). Positive and negative affect were assessed daily via ecological momentary assessment (EMA) for 2 weeks every 6 months over 2 years. Bayesian multilevel location scale models were used to characterize emotional dynamic trajectories. Positive affect inertia (p = .005) and variability (p < .001) decreased, and negative affect intensity (p = .015) increased significantly over time. Higher positive affect intensity was associated with lower positive affect variability, with a coefficient of −.25. All negative affect dynamic indices were significantly correlated with each other (r = .26 to .75). Adolescent's negative affect intensity increased with age, while positive affect inertia and variability decreased. The increase in negative affect intensity, combined with its positive relationship to emotional problems, may heighten vulnerability to negative emotional states. The reduction in positive affect inertia and variability suggests improved flexibility in regulating positive affect, potentially offering a stabilizing effect. Research should explore their link to clinical mood disturbances and their potential as early warning signs.

Despite indications of positive associations between ethnic-racial identity and youth adjustment in ethno-racially diverse European contexts, little is known about how to effectively support ethnic-racial identity development through intervention to elicit such desirable outcomes. This longitudinal preregistered study examined whether a school-based intervention, the Identity Project, impacted psychosocial and academic adjustment through the ethnic-racial identity processes of exploration and resolution among adolescents in Sweden. The study included 509 adolescents attending the 10th grade (M_age = 16.28, SD = 0.80; 52% migration background; 65% self-identified girls). Participants were randomized into an intervention or wait-list control group. Data were collected and assessed at baseline and three times postintervention. Path analyses indicated a positive indirect intervention effect on psychosocial and academic adjustment through resolution, but not through exploration. However, the intervention did not moderate the associations between resolution and youth adjustment, and the intervention effects did not differ based on migration background, suggesting that the links between resolution and youth adjustment may be a normative part of adolescence. In sum, despite small intervention effects, the current study highlights the potential benefits of supporting youth toward ethnic-racial identity resolution.

Most studies about the relation between economic hardship and child/adolescent outcomes include either objective assessments of economic hardship, such as income and social benefits, or both objective and subjective assessments without disentangling their effects. The aim of this meta-analysis was to synthesize the evidence about the strength of the association between perceived (subjective) economic hardship and psychological outcomes of school-aged children and adolescents (ages 6–18). We hypothesized a negative association between perceived economic hardship (by children, parents, or both) and child/adolescent positive adjustment outcomes and a positive association between perceived economic hardship and child/adolescent negative adjustment outcomes. The design and reporting of this meta-analysis followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Based on a comprehensive and systematic literature search of relevant peer-reviewed articles and dissertations, 53 cross-sectional studies (344 effects) were included in this meta-analysis. We used correlated and hierarchical effects models with robust variance estimation to synthesize the results. Results showed a small but significant negative pooled effect size for positive adjustment outcomes (r = −.132, 95% CI [−0.171, −0.092], p < .001) and a positive pooled effect size for negative adjustment outcomes (r = .177, 95% CI [0.129, 0.225], p < .001). For both positive adjustment and negative adjustment outcomes, type of outcome was a significant moderator. Additionally, parent education was a significant moderator for positive adjustment outcomes, with stronger effects for studies with less educated parents. For negative adjustment outcomes, the moderator informants was also significant. Notably, despite our broad age range, child/adolescent age was not a significant moderator. We also conducted supplementary analyses for the few studies reporting longitudinal effects, which yielded similar, albeit expectedly smaller, effect sizes. Overall, the results point to a small significant relation between perceived economic hardship and adjustment outcomes, which can have implications for research with children and adolescents, by informing strategies to mitigate the effects of perceived hardship.

Previous cross-sectional studies have linked over-parenting to adolescent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), but within-person associations, especially across cultures, remain unexplored. This study investigated the transactional association between over-parenting and NSSI among Chinese (N = 596, M_age = 15.05, SD_age = 1.27) and Belgian (N = 213, M_age = 14.22, SD_age = 1.57) adolescents using a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) across three waves with a 3-month interval. The results revealed no significant within-person predictive effects between over-parenting and NSSI over time in either the Chinese or Belgian subsample. However, a significant between-person association was observed in the Chinese sample, but not in the Belgian sample. Multi-group RI-CLPM analysis indicated no significant cross-cultural differences in autoregressive and cross-lagged paths, nor in between- or within-person associations, suggesting cultural similarities. Potential mechanisms linking over-parenting to NSSI and directions for future research are discussed.

Racial discrimination represents a pervasive source of stress that is associated with internalizing symptoms such as anxiety and depression among Black youth. Emergent research suggests that the link between racial discrimination and internalizing symptoms may be influenced by individual and family level processes, such as youth age and parental racial worry. Building from this prior scholarship, the current study examined whether youth age and parental racial worry uniquely and conjointly moderated the association between youth racial discrimination and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Participants were 189 Black adolescents (ages 11–18; 48% female; M_age = 14.43) and their primary caregivers (M_age = 42.75) who completed surveys assessing youth racial discrimination frequencies, youth anxiety and depression symptoms, and parental racial worry. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that racial discrimination and parental racial worry were positively associated with youth anxiety and depression symptoms. Further, results also demonstrated that the association between racial discrimination and anxiety symptoms was significant across age groups and levels of parental racial worry, except for older adolescents whose caregivers reported low levels of worry. Findings highlight the importance of considering how youth age and parental racial worry may intersect to exacerbate mental health concerns among Black youth.

Adolescents' educational aspirations have substantial implications for their educational and psychological outcomes. However, little is known about the heterogeneity in trajectories of educational aspirations throughout adolescence, as well as their potential antecedents and impacts. Using data from a 5-wave longitudinal study lasting for 8 years of a nationally representative sample of 2553 adolescents (aged 10–15 years at baseline survey, M_age = 12.45, SD_age = 1.73; 49.7% girls) recruited from 25 provinces in China, this study investigated distinct developmental patterns of educational aspirations from Time 1 to Time 5 and tested how they were related to educational and psychological outcomes at Time 5 when the participants were 18–23 years old. Growth mixture modeling identified three distinct trajectories of educational aspirations: low-increasing (35.8%), moderate-stable (55.1%), and high-decreasing (9.1%). After controlling for covariates, individuals who followed the low-increasing trajectory reported lower levels of actual educational attainment at Time 5 compared with the other two groups, as well as more depressive symptoms than the moderate-stable trajectory group. However, the three trajectory groups did not differ significantly from one another in terms of subjective well-being. Furthermore, age, gender, parental educational levels, residence, and perceived academic performance are significant predictors of distinct educational aspiration trajectories. These findings emphasize the value of considering heterogeneous developmental patterns among adolescents when examining the long-term effects of educational aspirations on educational attainment and psychological well-being.

Biracial Black–White adolescents report more psychological distress than most monoracial youth, but less is known about the factors that precede or protect Biracial youth from such distress. This study examines how racial identity invalidation (RII; the denial of a Biracial person's racial identity/belonging) relates to depressive symptoms and satisfaction with life (SWL) among 330 Biracial Black–White adolescents in the United States (67% boys; M_age = 14.8, SD = 1.5). Guided by the identity capital model, it also examines whether racial flexibility (e.g., shifting between different racial identities based on what race is valued in a social context) and personal authenticity moderate those associations. The analyses included two moderated moderation regression models, which showed that RII was associated with more depressive symptoms and less satisfaction with life. Significant interaction effects emerged, illustrating that racial flexibility and authenticity may be promotive and protective for Biracial Black–White adolescents. The two moderators, however, functioned differently for each indicator of well-being (e.g., depressive symptoms vs. satisfaction with life). Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Improving cannabis treatment for adolescents and young adults (AYA) is a public health priority. Sleep difficulties may serve as a treatment barrier, as AYA may use cannabis as a sleep aid and cessation may induce withdrawal-related sleep problems. While research has identified associations between cannabis use, CUD, and sleep, few studies have examined these associations during AYA treatment, and no studies have conducted day-level analyses. The present study examined day-level, temporal associations between cannabis use and sleep difficulties during AYA CUD treatment. From 2009 to 2012, AYA (N = 65, 51% female, 15–24 years, 57% White) completed a 42-day ecological momentary assessment study while receiving cognitive behavioral therapy plus motivational enhancement therapy. Each day, participants reported on cannabis use quantity, sleep duration, and trouble sleeping. We used time-varying effect modeling to examine how day-level associations between cannabis use, sleep duration, and trouble sleeping changed across treatment, and if CUD severity moderated these associations. During the first week of treatment, cannabis grams were related to longer sleep among AYA with severe CUD and shorter sleep among AYA with mild CUD. During the second week, greater cannabis grams related to shorter sleep duration, regardless of CUD severity. Additionally, during these first 2 weeks, cannabis grams were related to reduced trouble sleeping. Cannabis use was otherwise unassociated with sleep duration and trouble. Findings suggest clinicians treating AYA CUD should provide greater sleep management skills early in treatment.

Past research has associated adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with higher levels of affective distress. However, the mediation and moderation mechanisms among adolescents are less clear, particularly regarding the inconsistent findings on whether typical resilience factors (e.g., individual resilience and social support) effectively buffer the impacts of ACEs. Previous debates often did not adequately consider the interplays of resilience factors with different ACE dimensions, with less attention to the corresponding unique moderated mediation pathways (e.g., via basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration). This study examined the moderated mediation mechanisms linking two ACE dimensions (i.e., maltreatment versus household dysfunction) to adolescent affective distress, with the mediating role of basic psychological needs and the moderating role of different resilience factors (i.e., individual resilience, peer support, and teacher support). A two-wave longitudinal survey obtained 992 valid adolescent participants from China (mean age = 14.215 years, SD = 1.165 at Wave 1). Structural equation modeling was used to examine moderated mediation models. The results showed that (1) Maltreatment (not household dysfunction) positively predicted affective distress (total effects); (2) needs frustration (not needs satisfaction) significantly mediated the maltreatment-affective distress relation, with maltreatment positively related to needs frustration, which in turn positively predicted affective distress; (3) individual resilience, peer support, and teacher support intensified the link between maltreatment and needs frustration, with the moderating effects on other pathways nonsignificant. This study reveals the distinct impacts of the two ACE dimensions and underscores the limitations and risks of the resilience factors in the ACE context.

Youth-police contact is increasingly acknowledged as a stressor and a racialized adverse childhood experience that can undermine youths' mental health. There is limited empirical research, however, on youths' disclosure of police stops to trusted others and how disclosure might mitigate adverse mental health responses to police stops. The present study examines patterns of disclosure following direct and witnessed police stops and their implications for posttraumatic stress among a diverse sample of Black youth. Data come from the Survey of Police-Adolescent Contact Experiences (SPACE), a cross-sectional survey of a community-based sample of Black youth ages 12–21 in Baltimore City, Maryland (n = 341), administered from August 2022 to July 2023. Logistic and negative binomial regression methods were employed to examine key predictors of disclosure and associations between disclosure to recipients (e.g., family members, friends, nonfamilial adults) and police-initiated posttraumatic stress symptoms (PI-PTSS) following memorable stops. Results reveal most youth disclosed direct (65.18%) and witnessed (53.59%) stops. Still, in multivariable models, older youth, lesbian/gay and bisexual youth, and children of immigrant parents were less likely to disclose direct (but not witnessed) stops. Disclosure to a wider range of individuals—and to family members specifically—was associated with reduced PI-PTSS stemming from direct stops, whereas disclosure to nonfamilial adults (e.g., teachers, counselors) was associated with reduced PI-PTSS stemming from witnessed stops. Overall, our findings suggest disparities in Black youths' disclosure of police stops and that disclosure is generally associated with fewer trauma symptoms.