Journal of Research on Adolescence最新文献

The relationship between low self-esteem and bullying involvement, particularly the temporal antecedence of the relationship, has been inconclusive. A potential explanation for these mixed findings is the limited consideration of bullying subtypes (i.e., physical, verbal, and relational) within longitudinal frameworks. This study examines the longitudinal relationships of self-esteem with each type of bullying perpetration and victimization by gender. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models were analyzed with the data from 3617 South Korean adolescents (female = 48.3%, age mean = 12.43, SD = 1.48 in the first wave) of the Seoul Education Longitudinal Study for three waves (7th to 9th grade). The results revealed that self-esteem was an outcome of both bullying perpetration and victimization. That is, it is not personal traits such as self-esteem that lead adolescents to engage in or become victims of bullying, but rather, involvement in bullying results in a subsequent decline in self-esteem. When all three subtypes of bullying involvement were considered simultaneously, only physical perpetration and relational victimization negatively predicted subsequent self-esteem. These findings underscore the importance of differentiating bullying subtypes in longitudinal analyses of self-esteem and point to the need for closer attention to the possibility that physical perpetration and relational victimization may be associated with subsequent decreases in self-esteem.

Research suggests that adolescents often perceive parental behaviors—such as expressions of warmth and affection—differently than their parents do. These parent–adolescent discrepancies offer meaningful insight into family functioning during adolescence and adolescent mental health, though existing findings remain mixed. Grounded in interpersonal acceptance–rejection theory (IPARTheory), this study investigates longitudinal, bidirectional associations between parent–adolescent discrepancies in perceived parental warmth and adolescent internalizing symptoms. The sample included 1219 parent–adolescent dyads (both mothers and fathers) from 12 cultural groups across 9countries, followed across three time points spanning 5 years, with children's mean age being 10.72 years (SD = 0.67) at Wave 1, 13.19 years (SD = 0.90) at Wave 2, and 15.60 years (SD = 0.94) at Wave 3. The results of latent congruence models showed that mothers reported higher warmth than adolescents, whereas no significant discrepancies emerged between fathers and adolescents. The cross-sectional analyses indicated that a higher parent–adolescent discrepancy in parental warmth perceptions was linked to increased internalizing symptoms in adolescents and lower overall warmth perceived by parents and adolescents in the dyad. However, over the long term, marginal effects were observed only between greater internalizing symptoms in adolescents and lower overall warmth experienced, and vice versa. Additionally, some cross-cultural differences in the discrepancies between parents and adolescents were identified. These findings highlight the importance of congruence between parents' and adolescents' perceptions of parental warmth, which may play a critical role in reducing adolescent internalizing symptoms, at least in the short term. Future research should deepen these dynamics across different cultures and developmental stages to improve intervention strategies and strengthen family-based mental health support.

The co-development of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and distress tolerance (DT) and adolescent problematic mobile phone use (PMPU) and their relationships at both the between- and within-person levels remain poorly understood, particularly among Chinese adolescents navigating the highly stressful pre-college entrance examination period in East Asia. Further, the potential moderating effects of early-life environmental unpredictability (EEU) on these relationships are yet to be tested. This large-sample Chinese cohort study seeks to address these gaps through a three-wave design. A total of 4548 Chinese high school students (50.70% female; M_age = 16.87, SD = 0.81) were surveyed at baseline. The study employed latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) and the random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM). Univariate LGCMs identified an average continuous decline in PMPU among all adolescents. Parallel LGCMs indicated that individuals with higher PMPU levels also tended to report greater IU and DT (between-person effects). The results of the RI-CLPM revealed that DT consistently predicted subsequent PMPU and IU, while PMPU also predicted DT and IU (within-person effects). Importantly, all these findings exhibited different patterns of differentiation across groups with varying levels of EEU. In summary, this study highlights the complex relationship among IU, DT, and adolescent PMPU, emphasizing the crucial moderating role of EEU in these dynamic associations.

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.