Social networks and social competence: Exploring the effects of early adolescent friendships

Conclusions Perhaps the main significance of this work was in its methodological contributions. Most noteworthy were its attempts to expand network analysis beyond the examination of supportive functions, the use of a more objective measure of social support, and the use of a multivariate hierarchical strategy of analysis.This study obtained correlations between social network variables and social competence indices that were highly suggestive. However, it is important to keep in mind that the sample under investigation was fairly small and relatively homogeneous with respect to ethnicity, social class, and even values. Whether the exact nature of these relationships will generalize to different samples remains an empirical question. In fact, one would suppose that some of the results would be quite different for a population that does not highly value school. Further research, ideally longitudinal in nature, is sorely needed to address some of the issues raised by this study, both in terms of the social support/network literature and the possibly changing characteristics of minority children and their social environments as they move from preadolescence to adolescence.The author was in part funded by the American Psychological Association Minority Fellowship Program and the Yale Bush Center of Child Development and Social Policy while this research was undertaken. The author thanks Edmund Gordon, Edward Zigler, Seymour Sarason, Roger Weissberg, Ron McMullen, and Lawrence Cohen for their helpfulness throughout this project.     

Child psychopathology and deviant family hierarchies

The association between child psychopathology and reversals in family hierarchies (where the child is seen as equal or higher in the hierarchy than the parental figures) were examined with the Madanes Family Hierarchy Test on a sample of 177 clinic-referred boys. Madanes' original findings of the association of substance use and deviant family hierarchy were replicated in this younger sample, (age 7 to 12). Boys diagnosed with Conduct Disorder reported significantly more deviant hierarchies while boys diagnosed with Overanxious Disorder reported significantly fewer deviant hierarchies. Follow-up results revealed some instability and lack of informant agreement, but the hierarchy measure was not confounded by age, race, SES, IQ, or parents' marital status.     

Internet gambling, substance use, and delinquent behavior: an adolescent deviant behavior involvement pattern

Internet gambling among adolescents is a growing phenomenon that has received little attention to date. This study examines associations between Internet gambling and the severity of gambling, substance use (SU), and delinquent behavior among 1,870 Quebec students aged 14 to 18. The results show a higher proportion of Internet-gambling (IG) students reporting problematic substance use and delinquency, compared with nongamblers (NG) and non-Internet gamblers (NIG). Furthermore, a higher proportion of at-risk and probable pathological gamblers are found among IG compared with NIG. A moderating effect (Baron & Kenny, 1986) of the gambler categories (NIG, IG) was found in the relationship between the associated problems and the severity of gambling. Among IG, the severity of delinquency and of substance use contributes to explaining gambling severity whereas, among NIG, the severity of delinquency is the only factor that significantly contributes to such an explanation. Discussion of the results is based on Jessor, Donovan, and Costa's (1991) general deviance syndrome theory.     

Adolescent school experiences and dropout,adolescent pregnancy,and young adult deviant behavior

Outside of the family, schools are the most proximal socializing agent available to convey societal norms and prohibitions to young people. In some cases, a positive school experience can compensate for the antisocial influence of family and community. The present study investigated the predictive ability of school-related factors on later deviancy in a random sample of 452 US adolescents 12-18 years of age attending 150 junior or senior high schools in upstate New York and enrolled in a broader prospective study. A measure of conduct problems, obtained 2 years before measurement of school factors, was used to control for the predisposing effects of problematic behavior on later deviance. Academic achievement, academic aspirations, and a learning-focused school environment had deterrent effects on all deviant outcomes assessed--dropping out of school, adolescent pregnancy, engaging in criminal activities, criminal conviction, antisocial personality disorder, and alcohol abuse--independent of age, gender, intelligence quotient, socioeconomic status, childhood conduct problems, and proportion of deviance-oriented friends in adolescence. Given the persistence of deviant behavioral patterns of adolescence into adulthood, the systems-level influences identified in this study should be given careful attention.     

Homophily in stable and unstable adolescent friendships: Similarity breeds constancy

This study examines homophily among adolescent friends. Participants were drawn from a community-based sample of Swedish youth who ranged from 11 to 18 years old. A total of 436 girls and 338 boys identified their closest friends and described their own delinquent activities, intoxication frequency, achievement motivation, and self-worth. Correlations and difference scores describe similarity between reciprocally nominated friends on each dimension. Adolescents who remained friends from one year to the next tended to be more similar than those who did not, during the friendship and, to a lesser extent, before the friendship. Comparisons with random pairs of same-age peers revealed that age-group homophily accounts for most of the similarity between unstable friends but only a fraction of the similarity between stable friends.     

Parental conflict and male adolescent problem behavior.

Mothers in 30 clinical and 35 nonclinical families completed a behavior checklist for a target son and all other sons in the family who were between 13 and 17 years old. Each of these male adolescents completed two perceived parental conflict questionnaires for their biological parents. In each group, child behavior problems and parental conflict were correlated under two conditions: (a) using information pertaining to the target adolescent and (b) using information pertaining to the male adolescent experiencing the greatest behavior difficulties. Correlations increased in the nonclinical group when the information used was for the adolescent experiencing the greatest behavior difficulties.     

Interparental conflict and adolescent problem behavior: an examination of mechanisms

The purpose of the present study was to examine several competing hypotheses which have been utilized to explain the negative relationship between interparental conflict and child/adolescent problems. These mechanisms of operation have included modelling, genetic transmission, disrupted parenting, the role of perceptual/appraisal processes of the conflict, and an inhibition hypothesis. One hundred and forty-two young adolescents and their mothers served as subjects. Eighty were from intact families and 62 from recently divorced families. Data were collected from the perspective of the adolescent, mother, behavioral observer, and social studies teacher. The results indicated that intact and divorced samples had to be considered separately as different pathways contributed to adolescent behavior problems in the two samples. For externalizing problems, a direct path between interparental conflict and problem behavior existed for the divorced sample whereas an indirect path through the adolescent's perceptions of the conflict existed for the intact sample. The different context in which the interparental conflict occurred for the two samples was offered as an explanation of this difference. For internalizing problems a significant direct path existed between conflict and problem behavior for both samples; however, the indirect paths through the adolescent's perceptions and through poor parenting skills contributed only for the divorced sample. The results suggest that various mechanisms appear to operate in influencing how interparental conflict influences behavior problems of young adolescents. Both the type of problem examined and the marital status of the parents appear important in determining the relative impact of the mechanisms. Implications for the behavior therapist are noted.     

The normative development of child and adolescent problem behavior

The aim of this study was to identify normative developmental trajectories of parent-reported problems assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; T. M. Achenbach, 1991) in a representative sample of 2,076 children aged 4 to 18 years from the general population. The trajectories were determined by multilevel growth curve analyses on the CBCL syndromes in a Longitudinal multiple birth-cohort sample that was assessed 5 times with 2-year intervals. Most syndromes showed a linear increase or decrease with age or a curvilinear trajectory, except for thought problems. Trajectories for most syndromes differed for boys versus girls, except those for withdrawn, social problems, and thought problems. These normative developmental trajectories provide information against which developmental deviance in childhood and adolescence can be detected.     

Emotion dysregulation and adolescent psychopathology: a prospective study

Background

Emotion regulation deficits have been consistently linked to psychopathology in cross-sectional studies. However, the direction of the relationship between emotion regulation and psychopathology is unclear. This study examined the longitudinal and reciprocal relationships between emotion regulation deficits and psychopathology in adolescents.

Methods

Emotion dysregulation and symptomatology (depression, anxiety, aggressive behavior, and eating pathology) were assessed in a large, diverse sample of adolescents (N = 1065) at two time points separated by seven months. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the longitudinal and reciprocal relationships between emotion dysregulation and symptoms of psychopathology.

Results

The three distinct emotion processes examined here (emotional understanding, dysregulated expression of sadness and anger, and ruminative responses to distress) formed a unitary latent emotion dysregulation factor. Emotion dysregulation predicted increases in anxiety symptoms, aggressive behavior, and eating pathology after controlling for baseline symptoms but did not predict depressive symptoms. In contrast, none of the four types of psychopathology predicted increases in emotion dysregulation after controlling for baseline emotion dysregulation.

Conclusions

Emotion dysregulation appears to be an important transdiagnostic factor that increases risk for a wide range of psychopathology outcomes in adolescence. These results suggest targets for preventive interventions during this developmental period of risk.     

Measures of child and adolescent psychopathology in Asia

This article reviews measures of child and adolescent psychopathology used in Asian cultures. Sixteen imported measures from the West are identified and their psychometric equivalence across cultures is reviewed; 2 new measures are briefly introduced. Although initial evidence is generally promising, more studies are needed to support their use in Asia. One recently developed Singapore measure cannot be considered genuinely indigenous. Culture-specific items proposed for imported measures could be grouped into existing diagnostic constructs. There is, as yet, no strong theoretical support for culture-bound diagnostic constructs in Asian cultures.     

Parenting and adolescent problem behavior: an integrated model with adolescent self-disclosure and perceived parental knowledge as intervening variables

Parental monitoring, assessed as (perceived) parental knowledge of the child's behavior, has been established as a consistent predictor of problem behavior. However, recent research indicates that parental knowledge has more to do with adolescents' self-disclosure than with parents' active monitoring. Although these findings may suggest that parents exert little influence on adolescents' problem behavior, the authors argue that this conclusion is premature, because self-disclosure may in itself be influenced by parents' rearing style. This study (a) examined relations between parenting dimensions and self-disclosure and (b) compared 3 models describing the relations among parenting, self-disclosure, perceived parental knowledge, and problem behavior. Results in a sample of 10th- to 12th-grade students, their parents, and their peers demonstrated that high responsiveness, high behavioral control, and low psychological control are independent predictors of self-disclosure. In addition, structural equation modeling analyses demonstrated that parenting is both indirectly (through self-disclosure) and directly associated with perceived parental knowledge but is not directly related to problem behavior or affiliation with peers engaging in problem behavior.     

The relationship between defenses and symptoms in adolescent psychopathology

The relationship between defense mechanisms and symptoms was assessed in a group of 196 psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents. Defense mechanisms were measured through the use of the Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI); symptoms and problem behaviors were measured with the Youth Self-Report. Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that externalizing symptoms are associated with defenses that locate the conflict outside of the self, whereas internalizing symptoms are associated with defenses that locate the conflict within the self. In contrast to previous reports, no gender differences were found in defense preference, though gender differences were found in the relation of defenses to symptoms. The findings are consistent with clinical theory of defense processes and support the distinction between internalizing/externalizing behaviors and personality dimensions for both symptoms and defenses. The study supports the validity of the adolescent form of the DMI.     

Orienting-reflex behavior and clinical psychopathology

The effects of diagnosis, sex, age and medication on the orienting-reflex behavior of 263 psychiatric patients and 58 normal subjects were studied. Significant differences between the normal and patient groups and within the patient groups in different diagnostic categories were found. In the patient populations, further variations by types of medication received were found, whereas sex and age did not affect the orienting reflex. On the basis of frequency of response only normal subjects and patients could be distinguished, whereas amplitude analysis revealed a continuum in which the highest responses were given by normal subjects and the lowest by patients with chronic organic brain damage. In all subgroups the amplitudes of the responses of patients receiving antidepressant medication were higher than those of patients receiving antipsychotic medication.