Self-perceived competence and the relation between life events and depressive symptoms in adolescence: mediator or moderator?

In a 2-wave longitudinal study, 9th-grade students (N = 468) completed self-report measures of stressful life events, depressive symptoms, and 5 domains of self-perceived competence (i.e., academic competence, social acceptance, physical appearance, behavioral conduct, and athletic competence). Teachers and peers also reported about the participants' depressive symptoms. In longitudinal analyses, negative (but not positive) events related to depressive symptoms. Results suggested that self-perceived competence served as a mediator (but not a moderator) of this relation. Negative events predicted changes in self-perceived competence. Self-perceived competence predicted changes in depressive symptoms. Also, the direct effect of negative events on depressive symptoms diminished after controlling for self-perceived competence.     

Social anxiety and interpersonal stress generation: the moderating role of interpersonal distress

Background and Objectives: Existing models of social anxiety scarcely account for interpersonal stress generation. These models also seldom include interpersonal factors that compound the effects of social anxiety. Given recent findings that two forms of interpersonal distress, perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness, intensify social anxiety and cause interpersonal stress generation, these two constructs may be especially relevant to examining social anxiety and interpersonal stress generation together.

Design: The current study extended prior research by examining the role of social anxiety in the occurrence of negative and positive interpersonal events and evaluated whether interpersonal distress moderated these associations.

Methods: Undergraduate students (N?=?243; M?=?20.46 years; 83% female) completed self-report measures of social anxiety, perceived burdensomeness, and thwarted belongingness, as well as a self-report measure and clinician-rated interview assessing negative and positive interpersonal events that occurred over the past six weeks.

Results: Higher levels of social anxiety were associated only with a higher occurrence of negative interpersonal dependent events, after controlling for depressive symptoms. This relationship was stronger among individuals who also reported higher levels of perceived burdensomeness, but not thwarted belongingness.

Conclusions: It may be important to more strongly consider interpersonal stress generation in models of social anxiety.     

童年中期儿童社会能力与学业成就的交叉滞后研究

本研究采用同伴提名法、问卷法,对武汉市一所小学3、4、5、6年级儿童进行6个月的追踪调查。采用交叉时序滞后设计,考察了同伴关系4个特征水平(群体水平、双向关系水平、人际互动水平和个体特征水平)的变量与学业成就的相互预测关系。结果表明,在控制了前测学业成就后,前测的社会喜好、积极友谊质量、社交领导行为可以分别正向预测后测的学业成就,而前测的攻击行为可以负向预测后期的学业成就;在控制了前测的社交自我知觉后,学业成就可以正向预测后期的社交自我知觉。     

Self-perception of competence in Korean children: Age, sex and home influences

The self-perceived competence of 750 Korean children in kindergarten through the seventh grade was investigated using adaptations of Harter's scales for younger and older children. Measures of family characteristics and the home environment were collected to explore the determinants of variation in self-perceived competence. Adaptations of the competence scales yielded maximum similarity of content across the full age span, and also reflected the Korean emphasis on collectivist, intergenerational social skills and on early, direct training in academic cognitive skills. The results replicate two findings reported for North American and European samples; namely, increasing differentiation of domains of self-perceived competence with age, and decreasing levels of self-perceived competence in the opening years of primary school. In addition, the present study also finds two phenomena not evident in previous reports. First, a significant statistical interaction of grade and sex in the cognitive and physical domain was found, such that girls' self-perceived competence decreased more with age than did that of boys. Second, two social domains were differentiated, one reflecting peer acceptance (like the Harter scales) and the other tapping intergenerational and collectivist social skills that are valued in Korean society. Structural equation modeling revealed different patterns of influence for the four outcome measures. Both the analysis of internal variation and comparison with previous reports highlight the importance of a social and cultural perspective in understanding the development of children's self-perceived competence.     

Transactional Relationships among Cognitive Vulnerabilities, Stressors, and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence

The transactional cognitive vulnerability to stress model Hankin & Abramson (Psychological Bulletin, 127:773–796, 2001) extends the traditional diathesis-stress model by proposing that the relationships among cognitions, depressive symptoms, and stressors are dynamic and bidirectional. In this study three different pathways among these variables were assessed simultaneously: (1) cognitive vulnerabilities and stressors as predictors of depressive symptoms (vulnerability model), (2) depressive symptoms and cognitive vulnerabilities as predictors of stressors (stress generation model), and (3) depressive symptoms and stressors as predictors of cognitive vulnerabilities (consequence model). A fully cross-lagged design panel was employed with 1,187 adolescents (545 girls and 642 boys, Mean Age?=?13.42 years) who were assessed at two time points separated by 6 months. They completed measures of cognitive vulnerabilities (maladaptive schema domains and negative inferential style), stressors, and depressive symptoms. Inferential style and schemas of the disconnection and rejection domain predicted prospective increases in depressive symptoms. Initial levels of depressive symptoms and most cognitive vulnerabilities predicted greater stress generation. Initial levels of stressors and depressive symptoms predicted an increase in negative inferential style and maladaptive schema domains over time. These bidirectional relationships were mostly similar for boys and girls, although there were a few gender differences. The findings support a transactional model with reciprocal relationships among stress, depressive symptoms, and cognitive vulnerabilities. Transactional implications for depression interventions among adolescents are discussed.     

Cognitive Vulnerability to Depressive Symptoms in Children: The Protective Role of Self-efficacy Beliefs in a Multi-Wave Longitudinal Study

The current multi-wave longitudinal study on childhood examined the role that social and academic self-efficacy beliefs and cognitive vulnerabilities play in predicting depressive symptoms in response to elevations in idiographic stressors. Children (N?=?554; males: 51.4 %) attending second and third grade completed measures of depressive symptoms, negative cognitive styles, negative life events, and academic and social self-efficacy beliefs at four time-points over 6 months. Results showed that high levels of academic and social self-efficacy beliefs predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms, whereas negative cognitive styles about consequences predicted higher depression. Furthermore, children reporting higher social self-efficacy beliefs showed a smaller elevation in levels of depressive symptoms when reporting an increases in stress than children with lower social self-efficacy beliefs. Findings point to the role of multiple factors in predicting children’s depression in the long term and commend the promotion of self-efficacy beliefs and the modification of cognitive dysfunctional styles as relevant protective factors.     

Cognitive Vulnerabilities as Predictors of Stress Generation in Early Adolescence: Pathway to Depressive Symptoms

Although individuals with depression have been found to experience a higher rate of stress in their lives, it remains unclear to what extent other personal characteristics may contribute to stress generation. The current study extended past research by examining the effects of two theoretically and empirically supported cognitive vulnerabilities to depression (negative cognitive style and rumination) as predictors of dependent interpersonal and achievement events, independent events, and relational peer victimization. In a diverse sample of 301 early adolescents (56 % female; M_age?=?12.82 years), we found that negative cognitive style prospectively predicted the experience of dependent interpersonal stress and relational victimization, and that rumination did not predict stress in any of the domains. Furthermore, the occurrence of intervening stress mediated the associations between negative cognitive style and subsequent depressive symptoms. Additionally, whereas negative cognitive style predicted relational victimization among both boys and girls, girls were particularly vulnerable to developing depressive symptoms following the occurrence of relational victimization. Thus, a negative cognitive style may contribute to the occurrence of stressful events, which in turn increases depressive symptoms. Girls may be particularly reactive to relational victimization, representing one pathway through which sex differences in depression may emerge.     

Does level of motor competence affect the associations between identity health and self-perceptions in adolescents?

BackgroundAdolescence is a particularly important time for the development of self-perceptions and identity as many environmental and personal factors are influential. One relatively unexplored factor is level of motor competence.AimTo examine the relationship between identity health and self-perceptions in male and female adolescents with low motor competence (LMC) compared to typically developing (TD) adolescents.MethodAdolescents (N = 160, 64.4% males, M_age = 14.45 yrs., SD = 0.75) completed the Adolescent Motor Competence Questionnaire (AMCQ), Assessment of Identity Development in Adolescence (AIDA), and Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA). Based on the AMCQ score, the sample was grouped into LMC and TD. Pearson's product moment correlations between the AIDA and SPPA subscales were derived for gender, competence groups, and gender x competence sub-groups.ResultsOverall, males had lower AIDA scores (healthier identity) than the females and significant associations with all self-perception domains. For females, only scholastic and social competence, physical appearance, behavioural conduct, close friendship and Global Self-worth (GSW) domains were significantly related to their AIDA score. The adolescents in the LMC group had higher AIDA scores (less-healthier identity) and fewer self-perception domains [scholastic competence, physical appearance, behavioural conduct, close friendships and GSW] were associated to their AIDA scores. For the TD group, all self-perception domains were significantly correlated with their AIDA scores. When grouped by gender and motor competence, the TD males had the healthiest identity scores which were strongly associated with all self-perception subdomains. For males with LMC, only scholastic competence, behavioural conduct and GSW domains were significantly related with their identity score. Females from both competence groups reported significant associations between physical appearance, close friendships, behavioural conduct, and social competence domains with their identity scores. Scholastic competence was also significantly associated with identity only for females with LMC.ConclusionPositive self-perceptions across a range of domains are associated with a healthier identity, but differ according to level of motor competence and gender. For those with LMC, the self-perception subdomains unrelated to physical activity and sport, such as school-based aspects were associated with a healthier identity. These findings should guide school based interventions to provide support in these domains in order to strengthen self-worth and identity health.     

Social dissimulation,perceived competence and personality

The Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (JEPQ) (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1975) was completed by 129 boys (mean age 10 yr 10 months: SD = 4 months) and 119 girls (mean age 10 yr 11 months; SD = 3 months) from Belfast. Belfast boys' and girls' scores were significantly (P < 0.001) higher than the English standardisation data on psychoticism and extraversion, but their mean scores for neuroticism and the lie scale were remarkably similar. Belfast boys display significantly different intercorrelations in comparison with (i) the standardisation data—neuroticism/psychoticism (P < 0.01) and lie scale/neuroticism (P < 0.05)—and (ii) Belfast girls—neuroticism/psychoticism (P < 0.05). Psychoticism appears to play a highly salient role in Belfast boys' self-construals. Most of these pupils (n = 189) also completed the Perceived Competence Scale for Children (PCSC) (Harter, 1982). The PCSC minimises social dissimulation: the highest positive correlation with the lie scale being (r = 0.1). Correlations with the domains of the PCSC display the saliency of extraversion for girls' self-perceived physical competence and general competence, and for boys' self-perceived social competence, and the saliency of neuroticism for girls' self-perceived social competence.     

Life stress,social support,and locus of control during early adolescence: Interactive effects

Examined the relationships between negative events, locus of control, social support, and psychological adjustment in an early adolescent sample. Of interest were the potential stress-buffering effects of social support and the conjunctive effects of social support and locus of control upon adjustment. Family support was positively related to adjustment in several domains, whereas school support was only related to school competence. Peer support was positively related to peer competence and anxiety, and negatively related to school competence. Examination of the buffering hypothesis suggested that both family and school support served to moderate the relationship between negative events and school competence. Conjunctive effects were also detected in that school support buffered number of negative events best for those individuals with an internal locus of control for successes.     

Today's misery and yesterday's happiness: Differential effects of current life-events on perceptions of past wellbeing

Negative events – such as romantic disappointment, social rejection or academic failure – influence how we feel and what we think. Either component can influence evaluations of our past life, but in opposite ways: when sad feelings serve as a source of information, they give rise to negative evaluations; when current events serve as a standard of comparison, they give rise to positive evaluations. Because comparison requires applicability of the standard, its benefits should be limited to the domain of the event. Consistent with this rationale, three experiments showed a robust paradoxical effect: people who experienced romantic disappointment (Experiment 1), social exclusion (Experiment 2) or academic failure (Experiment 3) were more satisfied with their past romantic, social, or academic life, but less satisfied with all other domains of their past. The negative influence in unrelated domains was mediated by mood, whereas the positive influence in the event domain was not. Thus, last year's social life looks good compared to today's social rejection, but all other aspects of last year's life suffer.     

累积生态风险与青少年的学业和社交能力：子女责任感的风险补偿与调节效应

以613名青少年（平均年龄13.96岁,女生372人）为被试,考察子女责任感在累积生态风险与男、女生学业能力和社交能力关系中的风险补偿与调节效应。多重回归分析表明：（1）累积生态风险对男、女生的学业能力、社交能力都具有显著的负向预测作用;（2）子女责任感可以正向预测累积生态风险背景下女生的学业能力以及男生的社交能力,因此具有风险补偿效应;（3）子女责任感在累积生态风险与女生学业能力之间起“风险缓冲”作用,在累积生态风险与女生社交能力的关系中却具有“风险增强”作用,出现了“韧性代价”的现象;（4）子女责任感在累积生态风险与男生学业能力、社交能力关系中的调节效应均不显著。以上结果初步表明,某些处境不利儿童的健康发展可能存在代价,对逆境儿童的韧性发展可能不宜过分乐观。     

Preliminary study of self-perceived communication competence amongst adults who do and do not stutter

PurposeAdults who stutter report a significant impact of stuttering on their quality of life, including negative thoughts and attitudes toward communication. In addition to this impact, adolescents who stutter also report lower levels of self-perceived communication competence (SPCC) compared to fluent peers. The purpose of this study was to extend the investigation of SPCC to adults who do and do not stutter. Additional aims investigated included if 1) SPCC predicted overall impact of stuttering, and, 2) stuttering frequency predicted SPCC among adults who stutter.MethodsTwenty-four adults who stutter and twenty-seven adults who do not stutter matched for age, gender, and education completed the Self-Perceived Communication Competence Scale (Richmond & McCroskey, 1997). All participants who stutter completed the Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES [ages 18+]; Yaruss & Quesal, 2006) and speaking samples to measure stuttering frequency.ResultsAdults who stutter reported significantly lower SPCC scale total scores than adults who do not stutter. For adults who stutter, lower SPCC scale scores significantly predicted more severe overall impact of stuttering as measured by the OASES. Stuttering frequency did not predict SPCC scale scores.DiscussionThis is the first study to report differences in self-perceived communication competence between adults who do and do not stutter. Results suggest adults who stutter report lower self-perceived communication competence compared to adults who do not stutter. Adults who perceive themselves to have greater communication competence reported less severe overall impact of stuttering, and stuttering frequency did not influence SPCC. Clinical implications for intervention are discussed.     

Negative life events and symptoms of depression and anxiety: stress causation and/or stress generation

Background and Objectives: Stressful life events are known to contribute to development of depression; however, it is possible this link is bidirectional. The present study examined whether such stress generation effects are greater than the effects of stressful life events on depression, and whether stress generation is also evident with anxiety. Design: Participants were two large age cohorts (N = 732 aged 44 years; N = 705 aged 63 years) from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 study. Methods: Stressful life events, depression, and anxiety symptoms were measured twice five years apart. Cross-lagged panel analysis examined the mutual influences of stressful life events on depression and on anxiety over time. Results: Life events predicted later depressive symptomatology (p = .01), but the depression predicting life events relationship was less strong (p = .06), whereas earlier anxiety predicted life events five years later (p = .001). There was evidence of sex differences in the extent to which life events predicted later anxiety. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of stress causation for depression and weaker evidence for stress generation. In contrast, there was strong evidence of stress generation for anxiety but weaker evidence for stress causation, and that differed for men and women.     

Self-rated competence, current weight, and body-image among college women

125 female undergraduates (M age = 19.7 yr.) self-rated their academic, social, and psychological competence and were assessed with respect to current weight, weight concern, and body attitudes. Self-rated academic, social, and psychological competence were not related to current weight; however, less positive self-evaluations of social competence were related to weight concern, negative appraisals of appearance, and dissatisfaction with body parts. Subjective ratings of academic and psychological competence were not significantly associated with any of these variables.     

High self-perceived social competence in rejected children is related to frequent fighting

High levels of aggression have long been assumed to be related to low self-esteem. Empirical studies have, however, never demonstrated any relation between low self-esteem and aggressive behaviour. Recently Baumeister and colleagues (1996 Baumeister, RF, Smart, L and Boden, JM. 1996. Relation of threatened egotism to violence and aggression: The dark side of high self-esteem. Psychological Review, 103: 5–33. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) proposed that aggressive behaviour does not result from low, but from unrealistically high self-esteem. They expect aggressive behaviour to occur when an unrealistically positive evaluation of oneself is disputed or threatened by others. In the present study Baumeister's proposition was tested for the domain of social acceptance in 179 third- and fourth-grade children. Self-esteem in the social domain was operationalized as self-perceived social competence, while threats to high self-perceived social competence were operationalized as rejection by peers. Participants completed the Dutch version of the Self-Perception Profile for Children and sociometric ratings of (dis)likeability and aggressiveness. Three rival hypotheses were tested: (1) the traditional hypothesis that aggressive behaviour is associated with low self-perceived competence; (2) the simplified hypothesis that aggressive behaviour is associated with high self-perceived competence; and (3) Baumeister's original hypothesis that aggressive behaviour is related to high self-perceived competence only when the latter is combined with less-favourable judgments from others. No support was found for the traditional hypothesis. Baumeister's original hypothesis was supported and explained more variance in aggressive behaviour than the simplified hypothesis.     

Prospective associations between changes in mental health symptoms and health-related quality of life in veterans seeking posttraumatic stress disorder residential treatment

Background and Objectives: This study examined prospective associations between changes in mental health symptoms (posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], depression) and health-related quality of life (physical health, psychological well-being) for veterans with PTSD. Design: This study focused on 139 patients who completed a residential treatment program for PTSD in the Veterans Health Administration. Methods: Patients completed the veteran-specific, 12-item Medical Outcomes Study Short Form, PTSD Checklist – Military version, and Beck Depression Inventory at pre-treatment, discharge, and a four-month follow-up. When accounting for demographic factors, combat exposure, and baseline scores on the respective outcome variables (e.g. mental health, physical health, PTSD, and depressive symptoms), a series of multivariate analyses were conducted for treatment-related changes in mental and physical health on the outcome measures. Results: Reductions in PTSD symptomatology during the treatment period were prospectively linked with better health-related outcomes at the four-month follow-up. In addition, improved physical health and psychological well-being during treatment were each similarly associated with better PTSD and depression outcomes in the months following treatment. Conclusions: Addressing concerns in mental and physical health might have synergistic effects across both domains, supporting the need for holistic models and integrated health care strategies for treating veterans with PTSD.     

Self-perceived and independently observed competence of young adolescents as a function of parental marital conflict and recent divorce

The self-perceived and independently observed cognitive and social competence of young adolescents as a function of parental conflict and recent divorce was investigated. Subjects were 40 young adolescents between the ages of 11 years 1 month and 15 years 1 month. A 2×2 factorial design was used, with the independent variables being parental marital status (married vs. recently divorced) and parental conflict (high vs. low). Dependent variables included the following measures of adolescent competence: adolescent-completed measures of self-perceived competence, teacher-completed measures, behavioral observations, and school grades. The results indicated that the level of parental conflict, rather than parental marital status, appears to be the critical variable associated with adolescents' independently observed levels of cognitive and social competence. In regard to adolescents' self-perceived levels of cognitive and social competence, parental marital status was found to be the critical variable. The implications of these findings are discussed.This research was supported by the William T. Grant Foundation and the University of Georgia's Institute for Behavioral Research.     

Effects of gender role self-discrepancies and self-perceived attractiveness on social anxiety for women across social situations

Background and objectives: Psychosocial factors, such as gender role norms, may impact how social anxiety disorder (SAD) is experienced and expressed in different social contexts for women. However to date, these factors have not been examined via experimental methodology. Design: This was a cross-sectional, quasi-experimental controlled study. Methods: The current study included 48 highly socially anxious (HSA) women (70.9% meeting criteria for SAD) and examined the relationships among psychosocial factors (i.e. gender role self-discrepancies and self-perceived physical attractiveness), self-perceived social performance, and state anxiety, across two in vivo social tasks (i.e. conversation and opinion speech). Results: On average, participants reported belief that they ought to be less feminine for the speech task and more masculine for both the conversation and speech tasks. Also, for the conversation task, only lower self-rated attractiveness predicted poorer self-perceived performance and greater post-task state anxiety, above gender role self-discrepancies and confederate gender. For the speech task, only greater self-discrepancy in prototypical masculine traits predicted poorer performance ratings, and it was related to greater state anxiety in anticipation of the task. Conclusion: For HSA women, psychosocial factors may play different roles in social anxiety across social contexts.