Self-concept and psychosocial adjustment in adolescence

This study analyses the relationship between a multidimensional measure of self-concept, Self-concept Form-5 Questionnaire (AF5), and a broad set of adolescents' psychosocial adjustment indicators. From the responses of 1,281 participants (53.7% females) aged 12 to 17 years ( M = 14.98 years, SD = 1.74 years), results indicated that higher self-concept scores corresponded to better psychological adjustment, good personal skills and fewer behavioral problems. Although a positive relationship between social self-concept and drug use was found, this significant relationship disappeared once the adolescent's age and sex was controlled for. These results support the idea that the self-concept is a basic theoretical construct closely related to the psychosocial adjustment in adolescence. Also this study helps explain some contradictory results reported in the literature (i.e., a positive relationship between social self-concept and drug use), by showing how the statistical control of a third variable effect (i.e., age) avoids reaching conclusions based on spurious relationships.     

Concepts of kinship relations and inheritance in childhood and adolescence

This paper examines the development and consistency of children's (4, 7, 10, and 14 years) naïve concepts of inheritance using three tasks. A modified adoption task asked participants to distinguish between biological and social parentage in their predictions and explanations of the origins of different feature types (physical characteristics, disabilities, and personality traits). The causal mechanisms task asked participants to rate their preference for various mechanisms of inheritance for physical features. The family relatedness task required participants to provide judgements on the relatedness of family members and explain their understanding of kinship terms. Developmental trends were revealed in all three tasks. There was a trend towards increased consistency in judgements across tasks with age, but low correlations between explanations given in different task contexts. Findings are discussed with reference to the onset and variability of inheritance concepts and the implications for education and future research.     

Jewish-Arab relations in Israel: a psychology of adolescence perspective

Jewish and Arab high school seniors (61 Jewish boys and 51 Jewish girls, 57 Arab boys and 49 Arab girls) participated in a study of future orientation and described their hopes and fears for the future. The present analysis focuses on part of the data pertaining to the respondents' cross-ethnic references. More Arab than Jewish adolescents referred to the other ethnic group. The cross-ethnic references contained hope for peace and fear of war; the Arab statements, however, also showed discontent with Israeli authorities. More Arab than Jewish adolescents referred to collective issues (the people, the state, the world). The percentage of Jewish and Arab adolescents concerned with Jewish-Arab relations relative to the number addressing other aspects of collective concerns were similar (12% for Jews and 16% for Arabs). For Jews, this small number was related to adolescents' egocentrism and for Arabs, to adolescents' ethnocentrism.     

Attachment representations and characteristics of friendship relations during adolescence

Attachment theory proposes that experiences with the primary caregivers are an important basis for the development of close social relationships outside the parent-child relationship. This study examined the association between representations of attachment, as assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), representations of friendship and peer relations, as assessed with an interview in a sample of 43 adolescents. Secure attachment representations were significantly related to interview-based assessments of close friendships, friendship concept, integration in a peer group, and emotion regulation within close friendships. Attachment experiences reported during the AAI, their integration, and their coherency were related to friendship quality and friendship concept. Results show the close associations between attachment representations and friendship relationships during adolescence. The associations between peer relations and attachment representations differed depending on whether an interview approach or a questionnaire approach was used.     

Internalizing symptomatology and academic achievement: Bi-directional prospective relations in adolescence

Prior research has documented negative, concurrent relations between internalizing symptomatology and academic achievement among adolescents. The present study provided the first rigorous, longitudinal examination of the bi-directional, prospective relations between adolescent internalizing symptomatology and academic achievement. One hundred and thirty adolescents reported depression and anxiety annually from 6th through 10th grades, and GPA records were obtained annually from schools. Results showed that (a) high depression and anxiety at the beginning of a school year predicted lower GPA during that school year, and (b) low GPA in any school year predicted higher depression and anxiety at the beginning of the following school year. These findings underscore the tight link between adolescent internalizing symptomatology and academic achievement.     

A comparison of momentary time sampling and partial-interval recording for evaluating functional relations

In the current study, momentary time sampling (MTS) and partial-interval recording (PIR) were compared to continuous-duration recording of stereotypy and to the frequency of self-injury during a treatment analysis to determine whether the recording method affected data interpretation. Five previously conducted treatment analysis data sets were analyzed by creating separate graphic displays for each measurement method (duration or frequency, MTS, and PIR). An expert panel interview and structured criterion visual inspection were used to evaluate treatment effects across measurement methods. Results showed that treatment analysis interpretations based on both discontinuous recording methods often matched those based on frequency or duration recording; however, interpretations based on MTS were slightly more likely to match those based on duration and those based on PIR were slightly more likely to match those based on frequency.     

Psychological well-being in adolescence: the contribution of interpersonal relations and experience of being alone

This study investigated the influence of loneliness and relationships with parents and friends on the psychological well-being or adolescent malaise. Data were collected via two questionnaires (LLCA-Marcoen, Goossens & Caes, 1987; TRI-Bracken, 1996) from a sample of 330 Italian adolescents, males and females, aged between 11 and 19. As hypothesized, results showed that a positive relationship with friends and parents promotes psychological well-being in adolescents and reduces malaise. In addition, the study showed that the adolescents were able to distinguish between different states of loneliness; on one hand they could recognize the pain of isolation and social refusal, and on the other, they could recognize the pleasant dimension of loneliness, according to the age and sex. Therefore loneliness can be a risk for the adolescent's well-being if it is caused by social refusal, but it can also be a developmental need (parallel to the need for attachment), and can promote psychological well-being when adolescents choose to be alone.     

Maternal and paternal parenting during adolescence: forecasting early adult psychosocial adjustment

This study investigated the relationship of maternal and paternal parenting behavior (acceptance and firm control) during adolescence to four domains of early adult functioning (internalizing problems, externalizing problems, prosocial competence, and cognitive competence). Twenty-one females and 29 males from intact families, along with their mothers and fathers, participated. Assessments were conducted in adolescence and early adulthood, separated by approximately five and one-half years. Higher levels of maternal firm control during adolescence were associated with more secure early adult romantic attachment and lower levels of educational achievement. There were no main effects for fathers, but paternal parenting behavior interacted with maternal parenting behavior to predict both early adult romantic attachment and delinquency. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Developmental relations between ADHD symptoms and bullying perpetration and victimization in adolescence

It has previously been hypothesized that individuals with elevated attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are at greater risk of bullying perpetration and victimization. Using autoregressive latent trajectory models with structured residuals (ALT‐SR) and four waves (ages 11, 13, 15, and 17) of longitudinal data from the normative z‐proso study (n = 1526, 52% male), we evaluated the developmental relations between ADHD and bullying using both self‐ and teacher‐reported ADHD symptom data. Analyses suggested that ADHD symptoms primarily increase the risk of bullying perpetration, with a within‐person effect of ADHD symptoms on bullying perpetration symptoms identified across ages 13–15 (β = .13) and ages 15–17 (β = .19) based on self‐reported ADHD symptoms and a similar effect identified across ages 11–13 (β = .24) and 13–15 (β = .29) based on teacher‐reported inattention symptoms. There were also some indications of reciprocal effects and effects involving victimization that merit further exploration in future research. Results imply that the content of bullying intervention and prevention programs should take account of ADHD symptoms to ensure that those with elevated symptoms can benefit as much as their typically developing peers. This will involve addressing bullying perpetration that may reflect impulsive/reactive aggression and impaired social skills rather than instrumental aggression. Further, programs should go beyond classical curriculum/classroom‐based delivery to ensure that individuals with elevated ADHD symptoms can be successfully engaged.     

Stage-environment fit during adolescence: trajectories of family relations and adolescent outcomes

Within the framework of stage-environment fit theory, the authors examined the contribution of family relations to adolescent outcomes concurrently and longitudinally, as well as the moderating effects of gender and ethnicity in these associations. Data came from a longitudinal study of European American and African American families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Results demonstrated that gender and ethnicity influenced both the level and rate of change in family relations and adolescent outcomes. Family relations contributed either concurrently or longitudinally to at least 1 of the adolescent outcomes. The effects of gender and ethnic moderation differed according to both the time frame and the outcome assessed.     

Same-sex attraction, social relationships, psychosocial functioning, and school performance in early adolescence

The authors examined whether 13- to 15-year-old adolescents who experience feelings of same-sex attraction (SSA) differ from those without such feelings in the quality of relationships with parents, peers, and class mentors and in psychosocial functioning (health status and school performance). The authors also assessed whether differences in psychosocial functioning resulted from differences in the quality of social relationships. Data were collected from 866 Dutch high school students (mean age 13.61 years) by means of a computer-based questionnaire. Of the participants, 74 (8.5%) reported having feelings of SSA. The participants with SSA rated the quality of their relationships with their fathers and their peers lower than did those without SSA. Participants with SSA also had poorer mental health (higher levels of depression and lower levels of self-esteem) and lower school performance. A mediation analysis revealed that differences in psychosocial functioning resulted from differences in the quality of the same-sex attracted youths' social relationships, especially with fathers and peers.     

Dealing with laughter and ridicule in adolescence: relations with bullying and emotional responses

We investigated the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia), the joy in being laughed at (gelotophilia), and the joy in laughing at others (katagelasticism) in adolescent students (N = 324, 13–15 years). Gelotophobia was associated primarily with the victim and katagelasticism with the bully-role (self- and peer reports). Gelotophobia correlated with laughing at oneself if experiencing an embarrassing situation. Gelotophilia increased with the propensity to laugh if observing or experiencing embarrassment; katagelasticism increased with laughing if observing something embarrassing in another person. Imagining potentially embarrassing situations was associated with greater feelings of anxiety, shame, sadness, and embarrassment; gelotophilia with joy and cheerfulness. The study breaks the ground for a better understanding on how adolescent students deal with laughter and ridicule.     

A longitudinal latent variable analysis of reciprocal relations between depressive symptoms and delinquency during adolescence

In this longitudinal study, reciprocal relations between depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior were examined for a sample of 1,218 male and female adolescents (mean age, 15.51 years at Time 1). Associations were examined within a latent variable approach, controlling for indicator-specific tendencies, students' age and parental education, time-specific 3rd-variable influences, level of prior problem behavior, and measurement error. Findings thus provided relatively unbiased estimates of existing plausible causal relations. Analyses revealed a relatively small unidirectional effect of delinquency on depression for boys (at 1 of 3 time points), and bidirectional effects of comparable size for girls. The circular process for the girls was explained drawing on gender socialization theory and theories of offending behavior. Implications for preventive interventions are also discussed.     

Concerns about breast cancer and relations to psychosocial well-being in a multiethnic sample of early-stage patients.

Much work on psychosocial sequelae of breast cancer has been guided by the assumption that body image and partner reaction issues are focal. In a tri-ethnic sample of 223 women treated for early-stage breast cancer within the prior year, the authors assessed a wider range of concerns and relations to well-being. Strongest concerns were recurrence, pain, death, harm from adjuvant treatment, and bills. Body-image concerns were moderate; concern about rejection was minimal. Younger women had stronger sexual and partner-related concerns than older women. Hispanic women had many stronger concerns and more disruption than other women. Life and pain concerns and sexuality concerns contributed uniquely to predicting emotional and psychosexual disruption; life and pain concerns and rejection concerns contributed to predicting social disruption. In sum, adaptation to breast cancer is a process bearing on several aspects of the patient's life space.     

A device for recording automatic audio tape recording

Adaptation of a commercially available timer for use as a means of operating an audio tape recorder several times during the day is described. Data on a mother's rates of commanding her children were collected via both physically present observer and recorder methods in order to compare the usefulness of the recordings with direct observation. There was a high positive relationship between observer-recorder command rates, with the observer rates being consistently higher, when data were collected via both methods simultaneously as well as at different points in time.