Journal of Adolescence最新文献

Introduction: In today's multiethnic schools, promoting youth connectedness and well-being requires equipping students with the skills to navigate cultural diversity. Cultural intelligence (CQ), defined as the ability to interact effectively across diverse cultural contexts, is a key asset in this regard. This study explored whether the Italian adaptation of the Identity Project, an 8-week school-based intervention originally designed to support ethnic-racial identity development, could also enhance adolescents' CQ as a secondary outcome.

Methods: A total of 594 adolescents (M_age = 14.2 years, 51.9% girls, 38.6% immigrant background) from three high schools in northeastern Italy participated in a randomized controlled trial at the classroom level. Pre- and post-intervention surveys assessed four CQ dimensions: motivational, cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral. Post-intervention focus groups further explored students' subjective experiences across the sessions to provide contextual information and complement the quantitative findings.

Results: At posttest, students in the intervention group reported significantly higher metacognitive CQ compared to controls. Motivational CQ also increased, but only among youth without an immigrant background. No significant effects emerged for cognitive or behavioral CQ. Thematic analysis of focus group data reflected this pattern, with adolescents describing more cultural awareness and interest in learning about other cultures.

Conclusion: Albeit preliminary, these findings suggest that identity-focused interventions like the Identity Project may yield small changes in the metacognitive dimension of CQ, with subgroup-specific patterns for motivational CQ. Replication is needed to determine whether such small effects translate into secondary benefits for youth intercultural competence in diverse school settings.

Introduction: Family emotional expressiveness (FEE) is an important manifestation of parental emotion socialization that influences children's socioemotional development. However, previous research examining FEE and social skills from the perspective of parental emotion socialization has primarily focused on socioemotional skills and has simply treated FEE as a global construct. More importantly, whether parental emotion socialization can spill over to other social systems (e.g., friendship) and form a reciprocal association with them remains unknown.

Methods: Using data from 901 children (M_age = 8.41, SD = 0.50, 50.9% female) in the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD SECCYD), this study examined the reciprocal associations among positive and negative FEE, social skills, and friendship quality. The potential gender differences were also examined.

Results: Results showed that positive FEE predicted later social skills and vice versa only among girls. Moreover, for girls, positive FEE was related positively to the subsequent friendship quality via social skills whereas this indirect effect was not observed among boys. Moreover, boys' friendship quality-but not girls'-was negatively associated with negative FEE over time.

Conclusions: This study highlights that parental emotion socialization appears to be particularly effective for girls, as positive FEE provides a foundation for girls' subsequent social skills and the formation and maintenance of high-quality friendships. However, for boys, friendship is the important source of social support during this developmental stage and can mitigate negative emotional dynamics within their families. These findings offer new insights for gender-specific socialization interventions from middle childhood to early adolescence.

Introduction: Despite increasing rates of suicidal thoughts and behavior among Latinx populations in the US, no prior research has examined Latinx youth and caregiver disagreement (discordance) in youth-reported thoughts of death or suicidal thoughts, as well as factors associated with discordance.

Methods: Data were derived from youth aged 13-17 (M = 14.99 [SD = 1.52]) and caregivers (n = 127 dyads) who identified as Latinx/Hispanic living in a US Midwest city. The youth sample was mostly (61.7%) assigned female at birth; all youth identified as cisgender. Youth thoughts of death and suicidal thoughts were indexed with the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire. Predictors of discordance included demographics (e.g., age), youth psychopathology (e.g., internalizing and externalizing symptoms), caregiver anxiety, interpersonal factors (e.g., family conflict), and ethnic discrimination, identity, and socialization. Percent agreement and Cohen's Kappa were used to describe discordance. Univariable logistic regression was used to examine predictors of discordance calculated in two ways: (1) youth endorsement/caregiver denial, and (2) youth denial/caregiver endorsement.

Results: Among the final analytic sample of 120 dyads, agreement between caregiver and youth was minimal or weak (κ = 0.24-0.43). Caregiver and youth denial discordance were associated with nearly every predictor domain. For example, greater ethnic socialization was associated with reduced odds of caregiver denial discordance (odds ratio = 0.93, 95% confidence interval = 0.87-0.99).

Conclusions: Discordance between reporters may be crucial for clinical conceptualization. Future research is needed to examine complex longitudinal pathways between family support, ethnic experience and discrimination, and suicidal thoughts discordance among Latinx families.

Background: Belief in a just world reflects individuals' fundamental assumptions about fairness and has been widely linked to adolescents' prosocial behavior. However, personal and general belief in a just world do not always align, and little is known about how their discrepancy relates to prosocial behavior, particularly in collectivistic cultural contexts. Moreover, selfish motivational tendencies represented by the Dark Triad may interact with just-world beliefs in shaping adolescents' prosocial behavior, yet this joint effect remains insufficiently understood.

Method: Using two-wave longitudinal data from 822 Chinese adolescents (63.26% girls; M_age = 15.99, SD = 0.85) collected over a 6-month interval, this study applied polynomial regression and response surface analysis to examine how the discrepancy between personal and general belief in a just world relates to subsequent prosocial behavior and how this association varies across levels of Dark Triad traits.

Results: The results showed that greater discrepancy between the two beliefs was associated with lower prosocial behavior. Importantly, this pattern emerged only among adolescents with low levels of Dark Triad traits. For adolescents with high Dark Triad traits, prosocial behavior was unrelated to the discrepancy between personal and general belief in a just world, suggesting that their prosocial actions are driven primarily by instrumental or self-interested motives.

Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of considering belief in a just world discrepancy in understanding adolescents' prosocial behavior within a collectivistic context and underscore the interactive role of justice-related beliefs and dispositional motivational orientations in prosocial development.

Introduction: Rising political polarization worldwide has created a social climate where adolescents with migrant backgrounds face increased risk of mistreatment based on their ethnic, cultural, or religious identities. Promoting prosocial bystander behavior in schools is one way to address this issue. Relatedly, this study examined how adolescents' moral identity and perspective-taking skills relate to defending behavior, and whether teachers' responses to ethnic victimization moderated these associations.

Methods: The sample included 792 adolescents (M_age = 16.47, SD = 0.67; 59.3% females; 31.1% adolescents with migrant backgrounds) living in Sweden.

Results: Adolescents with stronger perspective-taking skills and higher moral identity were more willing to defend classmates who were targets of ethnic victimization. These associations were particularly pronounced when adolescents perceived their teachers as actively intervening in such incidents. Notably, when teachers were perceived as inactive or indifferent, the positive association between perspective-taking and defending behavior weakened.

Conclusions: This study highlights that adolescents' willingness to intervene in ethnic victimization incidents is associated with their perspective-taking skills and moral values. Importantly, it also underscores the crucial role of teachers as key socialization agents who can either foster or hinder adolescents' potential to intervene in negative inter-ethnic interactions. Together, these findings emphasize the importance of raising teacher awareness about the impact of their responses and equipping them with the skills needed to effectively address negative inter-ethnic interactions.

Introduction: Peer victimization is associated with lower adolescent well-being, but the underlying psychological processes and potential regulatory factors remain underexplored. Guided by a socioecological framework, this study examines whether body image perception is related to the link between peer victimization and subjective well-being, and whether resilience and parental emotional support are connected with these associations.

Methods: Data were drawn from the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment, including 39,144 adolescents (52.6% female; aged 15-16 years) from nine countries and economies, representing a broad range of socioeconomic backgrounds as indexed by the PISA Economic, Social and Cultural Status measure (M = -0.28, SD = 1.12). Structural equation modeling was used to test a moderated mediation model in which body image perception was specified as a mediator, and resilience and parental emotional support were specified as moderators.

Results: Peer victimization was negatively associated with subjective well-being, with body image perception statistically associated with both peer victimization and subjective well-being. Resilience was related to a weaker association between peer victimization and body image perception, while parental emotional support was related to a weaker association between peer victimization and subjective well-being. However, resilience was not related to the victimization-well-being association, nor was parental emotional support associated with the peer victimization-body image pathway. Notably, both resilience and parental emotional support were associated with a weaker positive relationship between body image perception and subjective well-being.

Conclusions: Body image perception is associated with the link between peer victimization and adolescents' subjective well-being. Resilience and parental emotional support show pathway-specific associations rather than acting as general buffers. Findings highlight the relevance of adolescents' coping resources and emotional support networks in the associations examined.

Introduction: Aggression during the transition from primary to secondary school represents a critical developmental concern, yet little is known about its dynamic association with perceived social support during this vulnerable period. This study aimed to examine the short-term trajectories of aggression and perceived social support and to test their dynamic interrelations across the critical first semester.

Method: A five-wave longitudinal investigation was conducted with 1120 Chinese students (51.52% females; M_age = 12.45 years, SD_age = 0.53), who completed monthly self-report questionnaires assessing perceived social support and aggression. Latent growth modelling was applied to estimate individual trajectories, and multivariate latent growth modelling was subsequently applied to examine the dynamic associations between these trajectories over time.

Results: Both perceived social support and aggression showed significant linear declines over the first semester. Higher initial perceived social support predicted lower initial aggression and a steeper subsequent decline. Moreover, changes in perceived social support were negatively associated with changes in aggression: students whose perceived support declined more rapidly showed a slower reduction in aggression.

Conclusions: The findings highlight that maintaining social support, beyond its initial level, is a crucial protective factor for facilitating adaptive behavioral adjustment during the transition to secondary school. Interventions aimed at sustaining students' social support networks during this vulnerable developmental transition may promote positive adaptation and reduce aggression.

Introduction: Given the marked rise in the number of adolescents openly identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ), there are more opportunities for peer interactions and friendships between cisgender heterosexual and LGBTQ adolescents. Yet, little is known about the development of cisgender heterosexual adolescents' openness toward engaging with LGBTQ individuals and how this relates to their own well-being. The present study seeks to address these gaps.

Methods: This study examined the developmental trajectory of LGBTQ other group orientation (openness and willingness to engage with LGBTQ individuals) and its effect on the psychological and social well-being of cisgender heterosexual adolescents from Grade 9 through Grade 10, measured across five time points. The sample consisted of 287 cisgender heterosexual adolescents (M_age = 14.07, SD = 0.42; 43.90% boys, 56.10% girls) from the United States.

Results and conclusion: Results revealed small increases in LGBTQ other group orientation over time, suggesting that participants developed a more positive orientation toward LGBTQ peers as they transitioned through their first year and a half of high school. Furthermore, increases in LGBTQ other group orientation were positively associated with increases in social well-being but not psychological well-being. These findings indicate that increased LGBTQ other group orientation can contribute to enhanced social well-being for cisgender heterosexual adolescents, highlighting the importance of fostering inclusive environments that promote positive intergroup relations.

Introduction: Adolescent mothers are at a heightened risk of experiencing adversity (e.g., financial insecurity) that may influence the patterns of their caregiving sensitivity across time. Ample research has focused on child outcomes related to caregiving sensitivity; however, less literature exists identifying the patterns of change and/or consistency across time, specifically amongst at-risk samples. Thus, the current study examined longitudinal patterns of parenting sensitivity in a sample of adolescent mothers.

Method: Participants included 162 adolescent mothers and their first-born children from the midwestern and southeastern United States drawn from the Notre Dame Adolescent Parenting Project (NDAPP). Maternal sensitivity was measured when children were 6 months, 1-, 3-, and 5-years of age via researcher observation.

Results: Growth mixture modeling revealed that a one-class model was the best fit for the data, and that the slope of maternal sensitivity across timepoints was significant and positive. That is, mothers in general improved in sensitivity across time and no subgroups with differing trajectories emerged.

Discussion: Mothers showed similar increases in their parenting sensitivity across time. It may have been that patterns of sensitivity were largely homologous because mothers came from comparable backgrounds and therefore navigated the transition into parenthood and childrearing in similar ways. Findings from this study also bring focus to adolescent mothers' improvement in parenting sensitivity across time. Such results aid in further reducing stigma associated with adolescent motherhood by highlighting their similarity to adult parent samples.

Non-human animals are ubiquitous in the lives of youth. Yet most theory and research on adolescent development are anthropocentric, focusing almost exclusively on youth's relationships with human others. Given that many adolescents worldwide grow up alongside non-human animals, this omission is not simply a theoretical gap but a misrepresentation of the multispecies conditions in which development unfolds. In this paper, I invite developmental psychologists to (re)imagine adolescence through a multispecies lens. I show how such an approach disrupts speciesism within the discipline of human development and expands existing understandings of adolescence as a socially constructed phase of life. I then outline four starting places for multispecies-inclusive developmental inquiry: (1) recognizing non-human animals as social actors; (2) centering youth voices; (3) understanding development as relationally constituted within multispecies geographies; and (4) situating multispecies relations within social structures. Centering non-human animals opens the way to an expansive and ecologically grounded account of adolescence.