Journal of Youth and Adolescence最新文献

Early adolescence is a critical period for the development of children's intelligence mindsets, which play a significant role in academic achievement. However, existing research predominantly employs variable-centered approaches, which fail to capture individual differences in mindset-achievement relations. This research addresses this gap by adopting a longitudinal person-centered approach to explore the joint developmental trajectories of growth and fixed mindsets among early adolescents. It further explores how these trajectories relate to changes in academic achievement (i.e., the mean of standardized mathematics and Chinese achievement test scores) over 2 years, accounting for intelligence and sociodemographic factors such as age, sex, and family SES. In two five-wave longitudinal studies with 748 (M_age = 10.23 years, SD = 0.30; 49% girls at T1) and 3258 (M_age = 10.34 years, SD = 0.37; 49% girls at T1) Chinese elementary school students from grades 4 to 6, four distinct mindset trajectory profiles were identified: Growth (initially high growth but low fixed mindsets), Fixed (initially high fixed but low growth mindsets), Moderate (initially moderate levels in both mindsets), and Both-High (initially high levels in both mindsets). Analysis across both studies revealed that students in the Growth trajectory profile exhibited the most significant improvements in academic achievement 2 years later. Conversely, students in the Both-High trajectory profile experienced the least favorable academic outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of recognizing individual differences in mindset trajectories and their potential impact on academic outcomes. The current research underscores the need for educational interventions that are tailored to different mindset profiles to optimize student development and achievement.

Depressive symptoms and aggression frequently occur together, and this co-occurrence may result in more severe developmental problems. However, it is unclear if there are distinct patterns of co-occurrence. This study investigated the co-occurrence patterns of depressive symptoms and aggression, and examined their stability and demographic characteristics. A total of 1010 Chinese adolescents (50.6% girls; mean age at T1 = 12.54 years, SD = 0.42) participated in annual surveys over three years (2019-2021). Three different patterns of co-occurrence were found except for the normal group: depression-dominant co-occurrence (13.6%), aggression-dominant co-occurrence (3.2%), and moderate co-occurrence (6.0%) (T1). In these co-occurrence patterns, adolescents classified as aggression-dominant co-occurrence exhibited the most instability and frequent changes, while adolescents classified as depression-dominant co-occurrence exhibited the most stability. Boys or younger adolescents were more likely to exhibit the aggression-dominant co-occurrence, while girls or older adolescents were more likely to exhibit the depression-dominant co-occurrence. The findings indicate that the co-occurrence patterns observed are distinct and are dominated by aggression or depression, which implies the need for targeted intervention practices.

Although previous studies have shown that self-compassion is associated with self-esteem and depressive symptoms, little is known about the intra-individual processes and the temporal dynamics of these variables. This study used a longitudinal design to explore the association between self-compassion, self-esteem and depressive symptoms among 5785 college students (aged 17-22 years; M_age = 18.63, SD = 0.88; 48.2% females). The participants were assessed six times in a six-month interval over three years. The random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) were used to disentangle within-person processes from stable between-person differences. Results of RI-CLPMs indicated that at the within-person level, self-compassion can positively predict subsequent self-esteem and negatively predict subsequent depressive symptoms, and vice versa. Self-esteem played a longitudinal mediating role in the prediction from self-compassion to depressive symptoms at the within-person level. These results indicate that cultivating self-compassion in college students is crucial as it can bolster their self-esteem and alleviate depressive symptoms.

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is considered a strong risk factor for suicide. Although NSSI is prevalent among adolescents and varies by gender, few studies have examined the gender-specific trajectory of NSSI and its predictors. This study examined the trajectory of NSSI among Chinese adolescent boys and girls separately, and the roles of distal (i.e., childhood maltreatment and its specific subtypes) and proximal risk factors (i.e., emotional dysregulation, peer victimization) on their trajectories. A total of 3290 Chinese adolescents (M_age = 13.08; SD = 0.84; 57.6% boys) participated in assessments at three time points. Latent class growth models identified three trajectories for boys: Low stable (92.5%), moderate increasing (5.0%) and high decreasing (2.5%). Four trajectories were identified for girls: Low stable (87.9%), moderate increasing (7.6%), high decreasing (3.0%) and high stable (1.5%). Multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that both emotional dysregulation and emotional abuse predicted the trajectories of moderate increasing, high decreasing and high stable for girls, as well as predicted moderate increasing and high decreasing trajectories for boys. Peer victimization served as a significant risk factor predicting the moderate increasing and high decreasing trajectories only for girls, while overall childhood maltreatment was a remarkable predictor for the moderate increasing and high decreasing trajectories of boys. The findings highlighted the importance of gender differences in understanding the progression of NSSI and the key predictors, informing effective strategies for prevention and intervention.

Attachment in emerging adults is closely intertwined with emotion regulation, stress coping, and social bonding during the transition from childhood to early adulthood. Due to the critical roles of serotonin in these mental functions, this research explored whether the cumulative genetic effects of serotonergic polymorphisms are associated with individual differences and contextual variations in attachment dimensions over time in emerging adults. Study 1 utilized a cross-sectional design in college students (N = 1088, mean age = 22.71 ± 2.86 years). The results showed significant correlations between a higher cumulative genetic score and elevated levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance. Study 2 employed a three-wave longitudinal design in a cohort of freshmen (N = 523, mean age = 19.54 ± 1.86 years at wave 1). The results demonstrated that a higher genetic score was associated with both higher levels and greater variability in attachment dimensions compared to a lower genetic score. These findings suggest that the cumulative genetic effects of serotonergic polymorphisms contribute to individual differences and dynamic processes in attachment dimensions in emerging adults.

Previous studies investigated short-term effects of COVID-19 on families. However, much is unknown about how families with adolescents fared throughout the pandemic, as well as factors that might explain interindividual differences in adjustment. The current study used latent change score models to investigate associations between changes in adolescents' mental health, parent-adolescent relationship quality, and COVID-19-health-related stress from Fall 2019 to Spring 2021, and whether personality predicted changes in adolescents' mental health, relationship quality, and stress. Participants were 242 adolescents (M_age = 11.56, SD = 0.44, 50% girls). Parent-adolescent negative interactions decreased from before the pandemic to the first lockdown, and stronger decreases (both in this period and between Fall 2020 and Spring 2021) were associated with simultaneous stronger increases in mental health. From Spring to Fall 2020, decreases in stress were stronger for less extraverted adolescents and were associated with better mental health. More agreeable adolescents reported a stronger decrease in stress between Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. The findings suggest that it is important to consider heterogeneity in designing future intervention and prevention programs. Especially adolescents with existing problems and from multi-problem families might be at risk for adverse consequences during pandemic-like situations.

Youth’s social status (popularity and likability) relates with social status goals as well as bullying and prosocial behaviors within the context of classroom norms for bullying and prosocial behaviors, but less clear is how each of these factors interrelates with each other. The current study empirically analyses the concurrent relationships among social status goals, bullying and prosocial behaviors, and classroom norms with social status. Participants were a nationally representative sample of 6,421 Slovenian early adolescents (50% females; M_age = 13 years; SD = 6 months). Findings indicated that popularity goals were related to bullying behaviors and bullying behaviors were related to popularity. In contrast, likability goals are related to prosocial behaviors, and prosocial behaviors are related to popularity and likability. The role of classroom norm salience was complex as bullying increased popularity in low-bullying environments, whereas prosocial behaviors enhanced likability in high prosocial classroom contexts. Students high on both bullying and prosocial behaviors (bistrategic controllers) demonstrated higher popularity and likability compared to their peers., but had similar relationships among their social status goals, bullying, prosocial behaviors, and social status as all other peers. The findings demonstrate a clear relationship among social status goals, bullying and prosocial behaviors, and social status (popularity and likability), while suggesting that classroom norms may differentiate how bullying/prosocial behaviors might align with social status.

Few studies have comprehensively examined the reciprocal relation between specific parenting practices and children's academic performance across parent and child gender. The present study investigated the bidirectional associations between parental warmth/control and children's academic performance using a three-wave longitudinal multi-informant design. A total of 814 families (M_{child age} = 10.36 years; SD = 1.22, 57% girls) participated in the study. Results of the random-intercept cross-lagged models indicated that paternal warmth promoted children's academic performance at the between-family level, whereas maternal warmth promoted children's academic performance at the within-family level. Interestingly, paternal control predicted better academic performance in boys over time (i.e., the within-family level) but contributed to girls' worse academic performance than others (i.e., the between-family level). These results highlighted the gender-universal effects of parental warmth and the gender-specific effects of parental control on child academic performance in the Chinese context. These findings underscored the necessity of considering parent-child dynamics across different parent-child gender dyads.

Adolescence is usually the beginning of externalizing problems. At the same time, as adolescents mature it drives changes in teacher-student relationships. Even though bidirectional associations between teacher-student relationships and cyberbullying perpetration exist, studies examining this link at the within-person level are lacking. This longitudinal study tested the process of influence between teacher-student relationships and cyberbullying perpetration and examined whether teacher-student relationships predicted cyberbullying perpetration by using the random-intercept cross-lagged model. Participants included 2,407 Chinese adolescents (50.23% girl, M age = 12.75, SD = 0.58 at baseline) from seven schools at three-time points with one-year intervals. Results showed that initial levels and changes of teacher-student relationships significantly predicted cyberbullying perpetration. The relation between teacher-student relationships and cyberbullying perpetration was stable over time at the within-person level, but not at the between-person level. Furthermore, self-esteem significantly predicted cyberbullying perpetration at the between-person level, but not at the within-person level. The results indicate that adolescents with higher teacher-student relationships compared to their own average, tended to be those who later experienced lower cyberbullying perpetration and vice versa. Low self-esteem is not a risk factor for cyberbullying perpetration at the within-person level.

Research shows that both-sex attracted adults have poorer mental health than other- and same-sex attracted adults, but evidence regarding whether similar disparities exist among adolescents remains limited. To investigate this, the current study examines differences in life satisfaction and emotional problems between both-, other- and same-sex attracted adolescents. It also studies whether bullying victimization can explain these differences and whether the associations vary by gender and age. Cross-sectional data from the nationally-representative Dutch Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study conducted in 2017 and 2021 were analyzed, including 11,683 adolescents (M_age = 14.7, SD = 1.60; 49.7% girls). Both-sex attracted adolescents (n = 507, 4.3%) report lower life satisfaction and more emotional problems than their other- (n = 10,930, 93.6%) and same-sex attracted peers (n = 246, 2.1%). Bullying victimization partially explains the mental health disparities between both- and other-sex attracted adolescents, yet does not account for differences between both- and same-sex attracted peers. The links between romantic attraction and mental health outcomes were similar across gender and age, but differences existed concerning bullying victimization. The results suggest that both-sex attracted adolescents are a unique group that deserves special attention in the literature on mental health disparities.