Journal of Youth and Adolescence最新文献

Sexual minority youth experience disproportionate rates of mental health symptomatology relative to their heterosexual peers. Less is known about why these disparities have persisted despite growing public awareness of sexual diversity. The developmental collision hypothesis states that increased cultural visibility of sexual diversity has accelerated the developmental timing of sexual minority identity formation processes such that they collide with early adolescence, a uniquely sensitive period for experiencing identity-based stigma and associated mental health vulnerability. To test this hypothesis, levels and relations between ages of sexual minority identity development milestones, frequency of LGBT-related victimization, and depressive symptoms were examined across three age-matched but cohort-distinct samples of sexual minority adolescents. Data come from three secondary datasets of sexual minority youth who were adolescents in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, respectively: the Challenges and Coping Study, the Victimization and Mental Health among High Risk Youths Study, and the Risk and Protective Factors for Suicide among Sexual Minority Youth Study (n = 1312; M_age = 17.34, SD = 1.30; 52% female). Adolescents from more recent cohorts reported earlier mean ages of several milestones but similar frequencies of LGBT-related victimization relative to those from less recent cohorts. Path analysis models showed that earlier milestones were associated indirectly with more depressive symptoms through LGBT-related victimization. Notably, earlier ages of self-identification and disclosure of a sexual minority identity were also directly related to less depressive symptoms. Few generational differences in relations between constructs emerged. Findings garner initial support for the developmental collision hypothesis and suggest that LGBT-related victimization, rather than earlier milestones themselves, increases mental health vulnerability.

Suicide is prevalent among left-behind youth, a group that has yet to be thoroughly explored in terms of the developmental dynamics of their suicide risk and associated factors. This study adopted a person-centered approach to investigate the developmental trajectories of suicide risk among Chinese left-behind adolescents, along with multi-dimensional predictors. A total of 774 left-behind adolescents (M_age = 13.60, 50.1% female) completed three surveys over a year, with six-month intervals. Result of Latent Class Growth Modeling identified three subgroups with distinct developmental trajectories: High Risk-Escalating (7.6% of participants started at the highest levels with a worsening trend), Risk-Holding (21.6% maintained a stable but risk level starting above the critical threshold), and Low Risk-Diminishing (70.8% started low and continued to decrease). Gender (being a female), increased levels of childhood maltreatment, psychological pain, and depression were risk factors for High Risk-Escalating and/or Risk-Holding trajectories, while increased sense of control and regulatory emotional self-efficacy played protective roles. The findings underscore the malignant developmental patterns of suicide risk among left-behind adolescents. The predictive factors play a crucial role in distinguishing and improving these developmental trajectories.

Research suggests that character attributes may enable youth to envision and perform civic actions that benefit society, but few studies have examined the longitudinal associations between character attributes and civic actions. As a response to this gap, this study investigated how specific character attributes (purpose, future mindedness, humility, and moral courage) may be differently linked to various civic actions (community service, political activities, social activism) cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Survey data were collected from 521 adolescents (M_age = 14.44, SD = 1.92, 58.5% girls, 60.8% White). Structural equation models demonstrated that purpose and future mindedness were positively associated with all three civic actions at Time 1, but not at Time 2. Humility was not associated with any Time 1 civic actions, but was negatively associated with Time 2 political activities. Moral courage was positively associated with Time 1 social activism and Time 2 political activities. Results illuminate the short-term interplay between character attributes and civic actions and point to internal resources that may promote different forms of youth civic action.

Bullying victimization is prevalent among adolescents and often linked to emotional problems. Prior studies have been focused on the concurrent or longitudinal associations between bullying victimization and emotional problems, but the daily associations and the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Implementing daily diary method, the study aimed to examine the links between daily victimization and positive and negative affect as well as the mediating role of sleep quality and disturbance. A total of 265 Chinese adolescents (M_age = 11.65, SD = 0.74; 32.80% females) participated in this study and completed 7-day daily diaries on bullying victimization (traditional and cyber victimization), sleep quality and disturbance, and affect. As hypothesized, at the between-person level, sleep disturbance mediated the relationships between both traditional and cyber victimization and subsequent negative affect. At the within-person level, sleep quality mediated the pathway between traditional victimization and next-day negative affect; furthermore, sleep disturbance mediated the pathway between traditional victimization and positive affect the following day. These findings highlight the mediating roles of sleep quality and sleep disturbance in the relationships between stressful victimizing experiences and emotional problems and also provide novel insights into these associations.

Boundary diffusion is a particular risk after divorce and has been associated with adolescents’ adjustment problems. Yet, its potential impact on parent-adolescent relationship quality is less straightforward, as previous findings support both an alienation and conflict perspective. Therefore these associations (daily and half-yearly) were examined in recently divorced families, addressing both within-dyad changes and between-dyad differences. Data were collected among a sample of N = 133 (pre)adolescents (M_age = 11.76; 51.5% boys) from 76 divorced families, using a measurement burst design: Every six months, 14 consecutive days of daily diaries were collected, for 5 waves. Between dyads, adolescents who experienced more boundary diffusion than others, also reported more conflict with both their parents. Within dyads, when adolescents experienced more boundary diffusion than usual by one of their parents (actor), warmth decreased and conflict increased between this parent and the adolescent, that same and the following day. Adolescents also engaged in more conflict with the other parent that day. These findings mostly supported the conflict perspective: Post-divorce boundary diffusion appears to be a general risk factor for parent-adolescent conflict with both parents, and from day-to-day boundary diffusion was linked to a deteriorated parent-adolescent relationship quality, especially with the parent that triangulated or parentified them. There were no significant long-term associations, nor did any moderator (age, gender, living arrangement) explain heterogeneity in effects.

The adversity faced by left-behind children due to parental migration affects their depressive symptoms, but little is known about the mechanism underlying this association and protective factors from a dynamic perspective. The present study examined the association between family adversity and the developmental trajectory of depressive symptoms, and the potential mediating and moderating role of personal growth initiative in this association among left-behind children. A total of 363 left-behind children (48.8% female; M_age = 12.97 at T1, SD_age = 0.55) from five rural middle schools in the Hunan Province of China participated in this three-wave study, employing one-year intervals between assessments. The results indicated the initial level of personal growth initiative mediated the association between family adversity at T1 and the development of depressive symptoms, while the growth rate of personal growth initiative both mediated and moderated this association, with consistent effects across sexes. These findings underscore the critical role of personal growth initiative in the association between family adversity and depressive symptoms among left-behind children.

Leadership in peer groups is an important issue in adolescent socioemotional development, yet it has received limited attention in research. This one-year longitudinal study examined peer group leadership and the roles of social, academic, and psychological characteristics in the dynamics of group leadership. Participants included 1061 Chinese students (initial mean age =11.17 years; SD = 6.98 months; 49.4% female). Data were collected from peer assessments, teacher ratings, and self-reports. The longitudinal social network analysis (SIENA) indicated that peer group leadership was fluid with leadership status evolving over time across groups in a hierarchical manner. Adolescents displaying higher social competence and aggression and lower shyness were more likely to become group leaders. Academic performance and loneliness were not significantly associated with the dynamics of peer group leadership. The results help understand peer group leadership and contributions of social behaviors to the attainment of leadership status in peer groups in early adolescence.

Late emerging adulthood is pivotal for identity exploration and development and is interrelated with life satisfaction. In the development of identity and life satisfaction, it is important to have a stable employment status that supports the foundation of life. However, the interrelationships among identity, life satisfaction, and employment status in late emerging adulthood are unclear. Using a two-wave longitudinal survey, this study examined identity development and whether the relationship between identity and life satisfaction varies by employment status. Participants included 875 Japanese emerging adults (65.5% women, M_age = 24.74, SD_age = 0.44). Multivariate analysis of variance showed that identity synthesis decreased for those who lost their jobs or those who changed from being full-time to part-time employment. Additionally, individuals with full-time employment had higher identity synthesis and lower confusion than those with part-time or no employment. Multi-group path analysis indicated that identity synthesis was positively associated with life satisfaction and confusion was negatively associated, and these relationships did not differ by employment status. These findings suggest that identity development in late emerging adulthood varies by employment status and that the association between identity and life satisfaction may not be moderated by employment status. Overall, this study contributes to elucidating the characteristics of identity development along employment status and its relationship to life satisfaction in late emerging adulthood.

Current research on asexual youth is limited, especially in understanding the impact of their outness and the intersection of sexual orientation with gender minority identities. This study investigates the influence of outness on experiences of harassment, discrimination, violence, and the risk of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among asexual youth, with a focus on those with transgender and non-binary identities. Data for this study were obtained from the 2021 Ace Community Survey, an international online survey designed to assess the needs and health status of the Ace community, targeting respondents aged 13 and older. The analysis involved a subsample of 5574 respondents aged 13 to 24 (mean age = 19.28), including 2361 cisgender (mean age = 19.65), 1,195 transgender (mean age = 18.80), and 2,018 non-binary individuals (mean age = 19.13). The results revealed that experienceds of sexual violence, verbal aggression, and physical harassment and bullying not only correlated with but also completely mediated the relationship between outness and NSSI. Asexual transgender youth experienced heightened levels of discrimination and NSSI but demonstrated notable resilience against the negative effects of identity disclosure, highlighting complex dynamics of vulnerability and protection within these communities.

Although support for violent and non-violent radicalization can co-occur, only a few adolescents who support non-violent radicalization also support or engage in violent acts. Yet, little is known about what factors are associated with adolescents' paths towards or away from violent and/or non-violent radicalization. Within a socio-ecological and positive youth development framework, this study investigates profiles of support for violent and non-violent radicalization among adolescents attending high schools in Quebec (Canada) and whether such profiles are differently associated with experiences of social adversity, school-, family- and peer-related factors and psychological distress. Adolescents (N = 1911; M_age = 15.7; SD_age = 0.98; 48.7% girls) completed an online survey during school hours. A Latent Profile Analysis on scores of support for violent and non-violent radicalization was conducted. A multinomial logistic regression was used to explore the associations between profiles and variables of interest. We identified six profiles of adolescents. The heterogeneity of profiles suggested multiple and complex combinations of support for violent and non-violent radicalization as well as their co-existence in some but not all profiles. Adolescents who reported less discrimination, more positive school experiences and more family support were less likely to belong to profiles that supported violence. Primary prevention efforts in the field of support for violent radicalization must adopt a socio-ecological and social justice approach and consider the diversity of adolescents' profiles, attitudes and experiences.