Relations between children’s metamemory and strategic performance: Time-varying covariates in early elementary school

Although much is known about the development of memory strategies and metamemory during childhood, evidence for linkages between these memory skills, either concurrently or over time, has been limited. Drawing from a longitudinal investigation of the development of memory, repeated assessments of children’s (N = 107) strategy use and declarative metamemory were made to examine the development of these skills and the relations between them over time. Latent curve models were used first to estimate the trajectories of children’s strategy use and metamemory and then to examine predictors of children’s performance in each of these domains. Children’s metamemory at the beginning of Grade 1 was linked to child- and home-level factors, whereas the development of both skills was related to maternal education level. Additional modeling of the longitudinal relations between strategic sorting and metacognitive knowledge indicated that metamemory at earlier time points was predictive of subsequent strategy use.     

Observed maternal responses to adolescent behaviour predict the onset of major depression

Two mechanisms have been proposed regarding relations between parental responses to adolescent affective behaviours and the development of depression: the elicitation of parental negativity and the suppression of parental aggression. This study aimed to investigate the boundary conditions under which these two mechanisms operate in relation to the prospective prediction of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) onset in adolescence. A community sample of 159 adolescents (aged 11–13 years) with no history of MDD completed a family interaction assessment with their mothers, and were followed-up with a diagnostic interview 2–3 years later. Results showed that onset of MDD was prospectively predicted by the elicitation of maternal aggression in response to adolescent aggression (in girls only) and maternal dysphoria in response to adolescent aggression, as well as the suppression of maternal aggression and dysphoria in response to adolescent dysphoria. Thus, support was obtained for both the elicitation of negativity mechanism in relation to maternal responses to adolescents’ aggressive behaviours, and the suppression of aggression mechanisms in relation to maternal responses to adolescents’ dysphoric behaviours. Mothers’ responses to adolescents’ aggressive and dysphoric behaviours may differentially influence the risk of MDD onset for adolescents over time.     

Narcissism through the ages: What happens when narcissists grow older?

Three types of adult narcissism, as assessed with Wink’s (1991) observational rating method, were studied over a period of 25 years, with participants from the Intergenerational Studies of the Institute of Human Development, UC Berkeley. Narcissism was assessed on three occasions, from age 34 to age 59. Hypersensitive narcissism was found to decrease, Autonomous narcissism increased, and Willfulness narcissism did not change with age. At age 34, both Willfulness and Autonomous narcissism were related to agentic personality characteristics, but only Autonomous narcissism was related to the communal personality characteristic of empathy. Change in narcissism between age 34 and age 59 was shown to predict change in personality at age 71. The agentic personality characteristics that had been associated with Willfulness narcissism at age 34 were no longer characteristic of those individuals at age 71. In addition, in contrast to Autonomous narcissism, at age 34 Willfulness and Hypersensitivity were associated with emotional maladjustment, and predicted continuing maladjustment and less favorable life outcomes in later life.     

Changes over time in the black–white difference on mental tests: Evidence from the children of the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth

Data for three Peabody achievement tests and for the Peabody picture vocabulary test administered to children of women in the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth show that the black–white difference did not diminish for this sample of children born from the mid 1970s through the mid 1990s. This finding persists after entering covariates for the child's age and family background variables. It is robust across alternative samples and specifications of the model. The analysis supplements other evidence that shows no narrowing of the black–white difference in academic achievement tests since the late 1980s and is inconsistent with recent evidence that narrowing occurred in IQ standardizations during the same period. A hypothesis for reconciling this inconsistency is proposed.     

Trust, Identity, and Ego Integrity: Modeling Erikson’s Core Stages Over 34 Years

Erikson’s core stages (trust, identity, and ego integrity) were modeled over 34 years from college through the late 1950s among 175 men and women tested on the Inventory of Psychosocial Development (Constantinople, Dev Psychol 1:357–372, 1969) testing the hypothesis that each, although united by the theme of wholeness and continuity, would show distinct developmental trajectories. Stage 1 (Trust versus Mistrust) followed a positive linear trajectory and Stage 5 (Identity versus Diffusion) followed a curvilinear trajectory that leveled off in middle adulthood. Stage 8 (Ego Integrity versus Despair) followed a curvilinear trajectory with an increasing trend in middle adulthood. The unique trajectories for each of the psychosocial crisis stages were expected on the basis of Erikson’s theory. In addition, there was also significant variability in either the mean or slope of each stage demonstrating individual differences in change, a central tenet of Erikson’s life span developmental approach.     

Physical health correlates of overprediction of physical discomfort during exercise

This study sought to determine if overprediction of physical discomfort prior to and following exercise was related to a number of self-report and objective measures of physical health status in a general population sample. Cross-sectional findings indicated a significant and specific relation between patterns of discomfort overprediction (vs under- or accurate prediction) and negative self-reported health status and attitudes to exercise, lower levels of physical activity, as well as poorer scores for resting heart rate, cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index (but not waist:hip ratio). Females were more likely to overpredict discomfort, were less active and had poorer physical health than males. The potential usefulness of the prediction match-mismatch paradigm for studying exercise-related appraisal processes as proximal determinants of physical activity are discussed. Information obtained from such studies could prove useful in public health education campaigns aimed at increasing levels of physical activity in the general population, particularly among the less active.     

Personality and reasoning ability during retirement age: Report from a Swedish population-based longitudinal study

We examined the association between personality and level and change in reasoning ability in a population-based sample of older adults (62–68 years) using a three-year annual follow-up longitudinal study design (HEARTS; N = 3851). Personality traits were measured using the Mini-IPIP scale and reasoning using a short form of Raven’s Matrices. Findings from a structural equation model, controlling for age, education, and sex, revealed that higher levels on extraversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism were associated with lower reasoning ability (βs: −0.17 to −0.09). Higher levels of openness were associated with better reasoning (β: 0.16). We found no association with rate of change. This evidence replicates previous findings demonstrating that personality traits are associated with individual differences in cognition among older adults.     

A longitudinal study on depressive symptoms and physical activity during the Spanish lockdown

Background/Objective: The aim was to evaluate the evolution of depressive symptoms and to explore the influence of physical activity (PA) practice during the home confinement due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain. Method: Information was collected from 595 confined participants who reported personal and contextual information, depressive symptoms and PA levels at four time points. Results: The changes in depressive symptoms were analyzed using a linear mixed model with cubic splines. Results showed a significant increase, with a significant rise between T1 and T2 (OR = 2.38, 95% CI = 1.83-3.10). It continued growing until T4 (OR = 2.93, 95% CI = 1.97-4.38). A negative relationship was observed between the increase in depressive symptoms and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels, with a significant slope up to 4 hours of MVPA per week (OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.29-0.90) that tended to increase until 16 hours per week of MVPA (OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.20-0.87). Conclusions: Results from a partition model showed that moderate intensity of PA could be enough to prevent an increase of depressive symptoms during home isolation.     

How Economic Disadvantage Affects the Availability and Nature of Mentoring Relationships During the Transition to Adulthood

Supportive nonparental adults, particularly nonfamilial adults, provide critical support during the transition to adulthood, opening doors to educational and career paths. This study examined whether economic disadvantage shapes access to these relationships. Results showed that low‐income adolescents had reduced access to naturally occurring mentors, and the relationships they did form tended to be close bonds with family and friends, rather than nonfamilial adults. Their mentors were more likely to focus on practical support, and less likely to serve as role models or provide career advice. These effects of socioeconomic status on natural mentoring relationships remained evident, even when accounting for youth race/ethnicity. Findings suggest that networks of support differ depending on a youth's socioeconomic context in ways that could perpetuate social and economic inequalities.     

Longitudinal links between career adaptability and academic achievement in adolescence

Contemporary youth spend increasingly longer time in the educational system, where their career pursuits become closely intertwined with their educational goals. As career development is a life-long process, adolescents start working on their careers long before they engage in actual work behaviors. Therefore, in order for school to adaptively prepare youth for their future work lives, career adaptability and academic achievement should be reciprocally and positively linked throughout adolescence. To date, more longitudinal proof for these relations is needed. To address this shortcoming, we investigated cross-lagged associations between these two constructs in a three-wave longitudinal study, testing the moderating role of adolescents' gender, school type, and age. Participants were 1151 adolescents (41.3% boys), who completed the same paper-and-pencil measure three times across an academic year. Results showed positive reciprocal associations between career concern and academic achievement (i.e., Grand Point Average). This indicates that adolescents with a strong future orientation, who were already invested in career planning activities tended to perform better in school and vice-versa, high academic achievement further strengthened adolescents' positive outlooks on their vocational future. We also detected positive unidirectional links from academic achievement to career control and career confidence across one academic year. Interestingly, we did not find significant longitudinal links between career curiosity and academic achievement. These patterns of longitudinal relations applied equally to boys and girls, to those attending university-preparatory and work-bound schools, and to early-to-middle and middle-to-late adolescents. Research and applied implications of these findings are detailed.