Demographic and familial predictors of early executive function development: Contribution of a person-centered perspective

Executive function (EF) skills are integral components of young children’s growing competence, but little is known about the role of early family context and experiences in their development. We examined how demographic and familial risks during infancy predicted EF competence at 36 months of age in a large, predominantly low-income sample of nonurban families from Pennsylvania and North Carolina in the United States. Using latent class analysis, six ecological risk profiles best captured the diverse experiences of these families. Profiles with various combinations of family structure, income, and psychosocial risks were differentially related to EF. Much of the influence of early risks on later EF appears to be transmitted through quality of parent-child interactions during infancy. Findings suggest that early family environments may prove to be especially fruitful contexts for the promotion of EF development.     

Family predictors of antisocial behavior in adolescence

The goal of the present study was to examine the combined and unique ability of different aspects of family functioning to predict involvement in antisocial behavior in a large nonclinical (community) sample of adolescents. Distinction was made between global (e.g., family socioeconomic status), distal (dispositional characteristics of parents), contextual (family characteristics), and proximal (parent-child interaction) factors that operate within families. Results show that proximal factors were significant predictors of antisocial behavior, independent of their shared variance with other factors. Consistent with the hypothesized mediational model, the effects of distal and contextual factors appear to be mostly indirect: after their association with proximal factors was taken into account, these factors were no longer significantly related to antisocial behavior. The implications of these findings for planning of developmentally appropriate interventions for adolescents and their families are discussed.     

Psychopathology and substance-related problems during early adolescence: a survival analysis.

Examined the chronological and statistical relations among onsets of psychopathology, alcohol and cannabis use, and substance-related problem psychopathology, alcohol and cannabis use, and substance-related problems from late childhood through early adolescence in boys of fathers with substance use disorder (SUD; high average risk: n = 177) and without SUD (low average risk: n = 203) using survival analysis. Proportional hazard models indicated that antisocial disorders were predicted by risk group and mediated the observed relation between risk group and substance-related problems. Negative affect disorders were predicted by risk group but did not predict substance involvement in early adolescence. Results support a model in which paternal SUD predisposes to increased antisocial and negative affect disorders in boys, and antisocial disorders lead to substance-related problems in early adolescence.     

Implicit associations with popularity in early adolescence: an approach-avoidance analysis

This study examined 241 early adolescents' implicit and explicit associations with popularity. The peer status and gender of both the targets and the perceivers were considered. Explicit associations with popularity were assessed with sociometric methods. Implicit associations with popularity were assessed with an approach-avoidance task (AAT). Explicit evaluations of popularity were positive, but implicit associations were negative: Avoidance reactions to popular peers were faster than approach reactions. Interactions with the status of the perceiver indicated that unpopular participants had stronger negative implicit reactions to popular girls than did popular participants. This study demonstrated a negative reaction to popularity that cannot be revealed with explicit methods. The study of implicit processes with methods such as the AAT is a new and important direction for peer relations research.     

Exercise schema and motivational regulation of college students: A person-centered analysis

To further understand the complex psychological processes involved with motivating health behavior, we sought to examine how one's exercise schema may align with self-determined exercise motivation regulations. Few studies have examined patterns of motivation regulations that may be associated with exercise schema in order to better identify unique motivation-based profiles. We conducted a latent profile analysis on responses from 427 college-aged adults to an exercise self-schema measure (schema identification and schema strength) and five exercise regulation subscales (external, introjected, identified, integrated, intrinsic). A three-class latent profile model fit this data best considering both the fit indices and theoretical implications and confirmed previous research grouping individuals into pre-exerciser schematics, aschematics, and exerciser schematics. However, the model also captured individuals that would have been unclassifiable in the original scoring analysis. Future research may examine the stability of these profiles and methods to better understand schema-regulation profiles and exercise behavior.     

Taking a person-centered approach to personality: A latent-profile analysis of the HEXACO model of personality

Our study applies a person-centered approach to the HEXACO model of personality using latent profile analysis (LPA). While the traditional variable-centered approach assumes that the relations among variables within a population are homogenous, the person-centered approach identifies subgroups within samples that have similar scores on several variables of interest, in this case, the six factors of personality. Data from two independent samples were collected at a large North American university. The results of LPA revealed five distinct and interpretable profiles that replicated and were found to be consistent across both samples. We discuss how our findings attest to the meaningfulness of personality profiles, and suggest additional ways in which a person-centered approach might be applied in personality research.     

Stability and change in adolescent spirituality/religiosity: a person-centered approach

Although there has been a substantial increase over the past decade in studies that have examined the psychosocial correlates of spirituality/religiosity in adolescence, very little is known about spirituality/religiosity as a domain of development in its own right. To address this limitation, the authors identified configurations of multiple dimensions of spirituality/religiosity across 2 time points with an empirical classification procedure (cluster analysis) and assessed development in these configurations at the sample and individual level. Participants included 756 predominately Canadian-born adolescents (53% female, 47% male) from southern Ontario, Canada, who completed a survey in Grade 11 (M age = 16.41 years) and Grade 12 (M age = 17.36 years). Measures included religious activity involvement, enjoyment of religious activities, the Spiritual Transcendence Index, wondering about spiritual issues, frequency of prayer, and frequency of meditation. Sample-level development (structural stability and change) was assessed by examining whether the structural configurations of the clusters were consistent over time. Individual-level development was assessed by examining intraindividual stability and change in cluster membership over time. Results revealed that a five cluster-solution was optimal at both grades. Clusters were identified as aspiritual/irreligious, disconnected wonderers, high institutional and personal, primarily personal, and meditators. With the exception of the high institutional and personal cluster, the cluster structures were stable over time. There also was significant intraindividual stability in all clusters over time; however, a significant proportion of individuals classified as high institutional and personal in Grade 11 moved into the primarily personal cluster in Grade 12.     

Emotional inertia prospectively predicts the onset of depressive disorder in adolescence

Emotional inertia refers to the degree to which a person's current emotional state is predicted by their prior emotional state, reflecting how much it carries over from one moment to the next. Recently, in a cross-sectional study, we showed that high inertia is an important characteristic of the emotion dynamics observed in psychological maladjustment such as depression. In the present study, we examined whether emotional inertia prospectively predicts the onset of first-episode depression during adolescence. Emotional inertia was assessed in a sample of early adolescents (N = 165) based on second-to-second behavioral coding of videotaped naturalistic interactions with a parent. Greater inertia of both negative and positive emotional behaviors predicted the emergence of clinical depression 2.5 years later. The implications of these findings for the understanding of the etiology and early detection of depression are discussed.     

Smoking,depression, & stress: predictors of fibromyalgia health status

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of smoking, stress, and depression on fibromyalgia health status. Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic musculoskeletal pain condition that negatively affects health status. Health status is not only affected by the constellation of physical symptoms, but also by mood symptoms, stress levels, and patient behaviors (e.g. smoking). Participants were 491 individuals with a physician’s diagnosis of FMS. They completed self-report measures of their current levels of depression, stress, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and health status. A linear regression analysis was conducted to determine whether these measures predicted FMS health status. All three measures predicted worse health status, predicting 51.5% of the variance in health status. However, it is important to evaluate and treat more than just the physical symptoms of FMS. Attention should also be paid to mental health status and to engagement in unhealthy behaviors in order to reduce their effects on FMS health status. Future researchers should design and evaluate interventions that target these modifiable risk factors to determine the extent to which they could improve health outcomes.     

Psychological talent predictors in early adolescence and their empirical relationship with current and future performance in soccer

ObjectivesThis study examined the relationship of talented soccer players' psychological characteristics with current and future performance.DesignBoth a cross-sectional and a prospective design were used.MethodThe sample consisted of 2677 U12 players in the German talent development program. Self-report questionnaires captured psychological dispositions and skills that were assigned to the areas of motivation, volition, self-referential cognition, and emotion. Current performance was operationalized by a motor score representing speed abilities and technical skills as well as by coaches' subjective ratings (A = highly promotion-worthy, B = promotion-worthy, C = partly promotion-worthy). The level of future performance was assessed by examining whether individuals were selected for professional clubs' youth academies in U16.ResultsThis study revealed that only self-referential cognitions had a significant and relevant association with the motor score (0.10 ≤ r ≤ 0.37). The players in the subjectively rated categories significantly differed in 10 of 17 psychological scales (0.01 ≤ η² ≤ 0.03). In most of the scales, A-players showed more positively connoted values compared to B- and C-players. Logistic regressions demonstrated that 10 of 17 characteristics explained a significant proportion of players' future success. Players with high dispositions in these characteristics had a greater chance of achieving a higher performance level compared to players with low dispositions (1.61 ≤ OR ≤ 2.65).ConclusionsExpanding on previous research, this study enabled comparisons between a wide range of psychological characteristics with regard to their relevance for soccer performance, leading to conclusions for talent identification and development.     

Longitudinal predictors of weapon involvement in middle adolescence: Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

This study uses longitudinal data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (N = 13,277) to examine the childhood and early adolescence factors that predict weapon involvement in middle adolescence, which in this study is exemplified by having carried or used a weapon. It finds that childhood experiences of low family income and domestic abuse between parents predict weapon involvement at age 17 years. Other predictors include childhood externalizing problems and self-harm in early adolescence. Further early adolescent behaviors and experiences that predict weapon involvement are own substance use, peer substance use, school exclusion, and high levels of electronic gaming. These findings provide concrete areas for targeting risk factors both in childhood and the early adolescent period, with an indication that early intervention and prevention are likely to reduce the need for later action.     

Smoking among New Yorican adolescents: time 1 predictors of time 2 tobacco use

The authors identified longitudinal relationships between early risk and protective factors from the domains of family, personality, and peer influences and later tobacco use in Puerto Rican adolescents living in New York. Aspects of the ethnic minority experience as moderators of familial risk and protective factors were investigated. Participants were 282 female and 276 male Puerto Rican adolescents interviewed twice, 5 years apart. The authors used hierarchical regression analyses to identify a model with direct and indirect paths. Family, personality, peer, and early smoking domains were directly related to later adolescent smoking. Partial mediation occurred. The authors identified risk-protective and protective-protective interactions between variables from the ethnic minority experience and family domains. Interventions to reduce smoking among Puerto Rican adolescents should focus on multiple contexts, including aspects of the ethnic minority experience.     

Career adaptability development in adolescence: Multiple predictors and effect on sense of power and life satisfaction

This longitudinal panel study investigated predictors of career adaptability development and its effect on development of sense of power and experience of life satisfaction among 330 Swiss eighth graders. A multivariate measure of career adaptability consisting of career choice readiness, planning, exploration, and confidence was applied. Based on Motivational Systems Theory four groups of predictors were assessed: positive emotional disposition, goal decidedness, capability beliefs and social context beliefs. Influence of gender, age, immigration background, parental educational level, and college-bound or vocational education plans were also assessed. Perceived social support and positive emotional disposition, non-immigration background, and continuing to vocational education were single significant predictors of more career adaptability development over the school year. Supporting the connection of career adaptability and positive youth development, increase in career adaptability over time predicted increase in sense of power and experience of life satisfaction.     

Stress and smoking in adolescence: a test of directional hypotheses.

The authors conducted a comparative test of the hypotheses that (a) stress is an etiological factor for smoking and (b) cigarette smoking causes increases in stress (A. C. Parrott, 1999). Participants were a sample of 1,364 adolescents, initially surveyed at mean age 12.4 years and followed at 3 yearly intervals. Measures of negative affect, negative life events, and cigarette smoking were obtained at all 4 assessments. Latent growth modeling showed negative affect was related to increase in smoking over time; there was no path from initial smoking to change in negative affect. Comparable results were found for negative life events, with no evidence for reverse causation. Results are discussed with respect to theoretical models of nicotine effects and implications for prevention.     

Tailoring emotions in romantic relationships: A person-centered approach

Adapting the concept of emotional labor to romantic relationships, we examined how people tailor their emotions based on beliefs about partner expectations. Participants (N = 521) completed measures of faking one’s felt emotions (surface acting) and attempting to change felt emotions (deep acting) in response to four contexts. Using latent profile analysis, we identified five profiles (non-actors, deep-actors, moderates, actors, and extreme regulators), and evaluated how profile membership corresponded to relationship quality, self-esteem, and general emotional regulation tendencies. Relationship quality was higher among deep actors and non-actors compared with actors and extreme regulators. Although people may benefit from deep acting, the co-occurrence of surface acting appears to maximize the costs and minimize the benefits of deep acting in romantic relationships.     

Personality traits in adolescence as predictors of religiousness in early adulthood: findings from the Terman Longitudinal Study

The authors examined the associations of the Big Five personality factors with religiousness in adulthood for a 19-year longitudinal sample of 492 adolescents age 12 to 18. Among the Big Five, Conscientiousness in adolescence was uniquely related to higher religiousness in early adulthood. For adolescents high in Emotional Stability, the link between strength of religious upbringing and religiousness in adulthood was weaker than it was for adolescents who were less emotionally stable. These findings replicate the work of others demonstrating the importance of Conscientiousness as a predictor of religiousness and suggest that emotionally unstable adolescents might be more likely to adopt levels of religiousness that are similar to those of their parents.     

Life events and depression in adolescence: relationship loss as a prospective risk factor for first onset of major depressive disorder

Although stressful life events have consistently been linked to the onset of major depressive disorder (MDD), most research has not distinguished 1st episodes from recurrences. In a large epidemiologic sample of older adolescents (N = 1,470) assessed at 2 time points, the risk conferred by a recent romantic break-up was examined as a predictor of 1st onset versus recurrence of MDD. Results indicated a heightened likelihood of 1st onset of MDD during adolescence if a recent break-up had been reported; in contrast, a recent break-up did not predict recurrence of depression. These results held for both genders and remained significant after controlling for gender. Additional analyses to determine the discriminant validity and specificity of these findings strongly supported the recent break-up as a significant risk factor for a 1st episode of MDD during adolescence. Implications of these findings and subsequent research directions are discussed.     

Encopresis in adolescence: two case studies.

Encopresis is an underreported psychopathological symptom of adolescence, not necessarily defining a specific diagnostic entity. The two cases presented offer an opportunity to evaluate encopresis occurring in markedly different adolescent pathological entities and developmental backgrounds. The first patient presented a longitudinal life course wherein toilet training and fecal considerations were prominent throughout his development. Indeed, this young man had such areas of cohesive functioning, as to be appropriately considered within the range of characterological pathology, severe, though it may be. In marked contrast, the second patient's encopresis represented but a small part of a totally encompassing psychotic disintegration.     

Growth in temperament and parenting as predictors of adjustment during children's transition to adolescence

The author examined relations among demographic risk (income, maternal education, single-parent status), growth in temperament (fear, irritability, effortful control), and parenting (rejection, inconsistent discipline) across 3 years and the prediction of children's adjustment problems in a community sample (N=190; ages 8-12 years at Time 1). Family income was related to higher initial levels of fear, irritability, rejection, and inconsistency and lower effortful control but was not related to changes in these variables. Higher initial rejection predicted increases in child fear and irritability. Higher initial fear predicted decreases in rejection and inconsistency. Higher initial irritability predicted increases in inconsistency, and higher initial effortful control predicted decreases in rejection. When growth of parenting and temperament were considered simultaneously, increases in effortful control and decreases in fear and irritability predicted lower Time 3 internalizing and externalizing problems. Increases in rejection and inconsistent discipline predicted higher Time 3 externalizing, although sometimes the effect appeared to be indirect through temperament. The findings suggest that temperament and parenting predict changes in each other and predict adjustment during the transition to adolescence.     

Evaluating social fears in late adolescence: Study with a Portuguese sample

This work intends to psychometrically evaluate a measure of social fears for late adolescents, who may differently perceive social fear stimulus. A community sample of 794 late adolescents was recruited and assessed, using the Social Anxiety and Avoidance Scale for Adolescents. Internal structure analysis indicates that late adolescents adopt a unique perspective on social experiences. Internal consistency and convergent validity relating to thoughts typical of social anxiety were found. The instrument may be useful for evaluating social fears throughout adolescence.