Self Processes in Adolescent Depression: The Role of Self‐Worth Contingencies

Although biased self‐evaluation is a component of several disorders, most measures focus on the content of self‐concepts or level of self‐worth rather than the process by which self‐worth is maintained. This longitudinal study examines the distinctive role of self‐worth contingencies—the extent to which adolescents link self‐worth to external feedback and success in four domains (social, academic, activities, and appearance) in the development of depressive symptoms among a sample of 110 adolescents (age mean=13.62, SD=.52; 58.2% girls). Contingencies predicted change in depressive symptoms over time, but depressive symptoms did not predict change in contingencies over time. This pattern did not hold for the association between self‐worth and depression. Findings provide support for contingencies as a predictor, rather than a symptom, of depressive symptoms among adolescents. Evaluation of contingencies as a diathesis revealed an interaction effect for the social, but not academic domain. The findings have implications self‐worth contingencies as an important cognitive vulnerability to depressive symptoms during adolescence.     

Parental Divorce and Offspring Depressive Symptoms: Dutch Developmental Trends During Early Adolescence

In this study, we investigated if the association between parental divorce and depressive symptoms changes during early adolescence and if developmental patterns are similar for boys and girls. Data were collected in a prospective population cohort of Dutch adolescents (N = 2,149), aged 10 – 15 years. Outcome variables were self‐reported and parent‐reported depressive symptoms. The effects of divorce were adjusted for parental depression. In both self‐reported and parent‐reported data, we found a three‐way interaction of gender, age, and parental divorce, indicating that with increasing age, parental divorce became more strongly associated with depressive symptoms among girls, but not boys. These results suggest that girls with divorced parents are at particularly high risk to develop depressive symptoms during adolescence.     

Longitudinal Patterns of Daily Affect and Global Mood During Adolescence

This study examined grade and sex patterns in real‐time measures of daily mood using Ecological Momentary Assessments via palmtop computers among 8th (N=296) and 10th graders (N=266) for 1 year using a three‐wave longitudinal design. Participants responded to five to seven random prompts/day for 7 consecutive days; when prompted, participants rated eight mood adjectives assessing positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). Global depressed mood was also assessed via self‐report questionnaire at every wave. Mixed‐effects regression analyses indicated that PA modestly but significantly declined across Grade 8 to 11, but NA was relatively stable over time. Sex by time interactions showed that boys experienced greater declines in daily mood over time than did girls. In contrast, global depressed mood did not change over time, and girls reported higher depressed mood than boys. Findings suggest that normative mood declines in adolescence may be driven by deteriorations in PA, rather than increases in NA.     

Teen Dating Violence Perpetration: Protective Factor Trajectories from Middle to High School among Adolescents

Protecting adolescents from the risk of teen dating violence (TDV) perpetration is critical to enhancing prevention efforts. This study examined longitudinal trajectories of four protective factors (i.e., empathy, social support, parental monitoring, and school belonging) across adolescence in relation to four TDV types (i.e., verbal, relational, physical, and sexual). Adolescents (n = 1,668) who reported being in a relationship or dating during high school completed self‐report measures from middle through high school. Results indicated that all protective factors differentiated between TDV perpetrators and nonperpetrators, although these trajectories varied for boys and for girls and across the different types of TDV. Overall, youth who did not perpetrate TDV in high school generally displayed higher protective factors across the TDV perpetration types.     

Physical Activity and Physical Self‐Concept in Adolescence: A Comparison of Girls at the Extremes of the Biological Maturation Continuum

This study examined differences in physical activity and physical self‐concept between the least and most biologically mature female adolescents within chronological age and academic year groups. A total of 252 British female adolescents (M age = 12.9 years; SD = .7) in Years 7–9 completed self‐report measures to assess physical activity and physical self‐concept. Percentage of predicted adult (mature) stature served as the index of biological maturation. Univariate analyses of covariance, controlling for decimal age, revealed that the least mature girls generally held higher perceptions of physical self‐concept but were no more, or less, active than the most mature girls. A subsequent meta‐analysis suggested, however, that across age and year groups the least mature girls were more active than the most mature girls.     

Intensity of Aggression in Childhood as a Predictor of Different Forms of Adult Aggression: A Two‐Country (Finland and the United States) Analysis

This study examined the prediction of different forms of adult aggression in 2 countries from child and adolescent aggression. It was based on 2 longitudinal projects: the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS; N=196 boys and 173 girls) conducted in Finland and the Columbia County Longitudinal Study (CCLS; N=436 boys and 420 girls) conducted in the United States. The same peer‐nominated items for aggression were used in both studies at age 8; comparable measures of aggression were also available in adolescence (age 14 in the JYLS/19 in the CCLS) and adulthood (ages 36/30 and 42/48). Results showed that in both countries and in both genders, aggression in school age was linked significantly to physical aggression and lack of self‐control of anger in adulthood but not to verbal aggression. This differential predictability of aggression over 40 years suggests that individual differences in physical aggression are more determined by lasting individual differences (including emotional reactivity) than are individual differences in verbal aggression.     

Longitudinal Associations Between Other‐Sex Friendships and Substance Use in Adolescence

The impact of the changes in the gender composition of friendship networks during early adolescence on substance use in late adolescence was examined. The hypothesis was that initial level and increase in the proportion of other‐sex friends in the network would be associated with higher levels of substance use among girls, but not among boys. Girls and boys (n=390) were interviewed annually from ages 12 to 18 (79% retention). For both boys and girls, initial level in the proportion of other‐sex friends predicted alcohol use in late adolescence, whereas it was predictive of drug use in girls only. Moreover, for girls only, a faster increase in the proportion of other‐sex friends in the network predicted later use of alcohol and drugs.     

The Effects of Middle School Weight Climate on Youth With Higher Body Weight

This study examines whether social‐emotional difficulties associated with higher body weight vary across schools as a function of the school's weight climate. Weight climate, characterized by weight‐policing, was assessed indirectly by examining how strongly self‐reported weight predicts victim reputation within 26 ethnically diverse middle schools. Social‐emotional indicators included self‐reported loneliness, school belonging, and self‐esteem. In schools with stronger weight‐policing at seventh grade, loneliness was intensified by eighth grade among both girls (n = 2,101) and boys (n = 1,985) with higher weight. Similar effects were found for low self‐esteem among girls. Additionally, boys—regardless of their weight—reported lower sense of belonging in schools with stronger weight‐policing. The study offers a new method to estimate school weight climate, and the findings provide insights for interventions.     

Peer Crowd Affiliation and Internalizing Distress in Childhood and Adolescence: A Longitudinal Follow‐Back Study

Concurrent and longitudinal associations between peer crowd affiliation and internalized distress were examined in a sample of 246 youth (148 girls, 98 boys). Children completed measures of depression, social anxiety, loneliness, and self‐esteem when they were in grades 4 to 6 (Time 1), and again 6 years later during adolescence (grades 10 – 12; Time 2). At Time 2, adolescents also reported their self‐concept and their identification with reputation‐based peer crowds, including Populars, Jocks, Brains, Burnouts, Non‐Conformists, and None/Average crowds. Results indicated that adolescents' report of peer crowd affiliation was concurrently associated with self‐concept and levels of internalizing distress. Follow‐back analyses of internalizing trajectories revealed that Populars/Jocks had experienced significant declines in internalizing distress across development, whereas Brains exhibited some increases in internalizing distress between childhood and adolescence.     

Temporal Relationships Among Depressive Symptoms,Risky Behavior Engagement,Perceived Control,and Gender in a Sample of Adolescents

The goals of the study were to examine whether (a) risky behaviors precede depressive symptoms or, conversely, depressive symptoms predict risky behavior engagement; (b) gender moderates the relationship between risky behavior engagement and depressive symptoms; and (c) perceived control strengthens the association between risky behavior engagement and depressive symptoms. At Time 1, 118 adolescents completed self‐report measures assessing perceived control, risky behavior engagement, and depressive symptoms. Follow‐up assessments occurred every 6 weeks (Times 2–5), and participants completed measures assessing risky behavior engagement and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that neither risky behavior engagement nor depressive symptoms emerged as main effects for the sample as a whole. When examining the relationship between depressive symptoms and risky behavior engagement as a function of gender, boys', but not girls', risky behavior engagement predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms. Irrespective of whether we examined boys or girls, depressive symptoms did not predict risky behavior engagement. With regards to the role of cognitive vulnerability, adolescents with lower levels of perceived control reported higher levels of depressive symptoms following risky behavior engagement. These findings suggest that both gender and cognitive vulnerability factors may potentiate the relationship between risky behavior engagement and subsequent depressive symptoms.     

The Development of Multiple Self‐Concept Dimensions During Adolescence

The purpose of this research was to analyze the development of self‐concept during adolescence. Participants included 484 teenagers (226 boys and 258 girls) from middle‐class families in the Basque Country region of Spain (M_age = 14.99, SD = 1.81 in Time 1 and M_age = 15.64, SD = 1.80 in Time 2). Longitudinal analysis found differences in the general school dimension. Six dimensions (math, verbal, general school, physical abilities, parent relationships and same‐sex relationships) reported a linear trend with a decreasing monotonic pattern; self‐esteem fit a cubic trend and physical appearance a quadratic trend line. Males showed higher means in self‐esteem, math, physical abilities, physical appearance, emotional stability and parent relationships; and females had higher values in verbal and general school.     

Welfare Reform and Teenage Pregnancy,Childbirth, and School Dropout

This study estimates the effect of welfare reform on adolescent behaviors using a difference‐in‐differences approach. After defining the prereform and reform cohorts and considering the life course development of adolescent behavior by following each cohort from age 14 to age 16, we compare the welfare‐target and nontarget populations in the two cohorts. The difference‐in‐differences estimates are obtained using an event history model. Our analysis suggests that welfare reform has not reduced teenage fertility and school dropout. We find modest evidence that welfare reform is associated with higher risk of teenage births for girls in welfare families and higher risk of school dropout for girls in poor families. A combination of a difference‐in‐differences approach and a life course perspective can be a useful way to delineate the effect of societal‐level change on family phenomena.     

SOCIAL BACKGROUND,EDUCATION, AND INEQUALITY

The role parents' education plays for the educational achievements of children is a source of unequal opportunities. Through this channel the number of educated affects the options of future cohorts, creating a social multiplier effect making improvements in education self‐reinforcing. Policies to compensate for inequalities of opportunities—public education or transfers—have very different implications. Transfers not only reduce inequality on impact but also reduce social mobility, while public education—even if a perfect substitute to private education—works in the opposite direction. Social impediments to education are similar to a market imperfection, and publicly provided education may lead to a Pareto improvement. (JEL D3, I2, H2, H4)     

Parental Emotional Support,Science Self‐Efficacy,and Choice of Science Major in Undergraduate Women

Former participants in a high school enrichment program for girls interested in science careers were surveyed 1 to 2 years after high school graduation. After reporting their college major, they completed measures of science self‐efficacy and quality of emotional bonds with parents. Of the 41 women, 5 were not enrolled in college. Those actually majoring in science (n = 23) reported significantly higher science self‐efficacy than those who were undecided or had chosen nonscicnce majors (n = 13). Science self‐efficacy was significantly negatively associated with recollections of fathers as having been highly controlling and likely to use a “love withdrawal” parenting style.     

Attachment Style With Mother,Father, Best Friend,and Romantic Partner During Adolescence

Self‐reported attachment styles with mother, father, best friend, and romantic partner were assessed longitudinally across adolescence. Three cohorts (ages 13, 16, and 19 years; N=373) from a community sample were followed across 2 years. There was only one change in attachment styles with age: the oldest adolescents were more dismissive than the younger. Adolescents were more secure with mother than with father, and most dismissive and fearful with father. Boys were more dismissing than girls, who were more fearful with a romantic partner (n=158). Across time, attachment insecurity with father was associated with insecurity with a best friend. Attachment insecurity with a romantic partner was associated primarily with insecurity with friend, but changes over time tended to be associated with insecurity with mother. Results support the view of a differentiated hierarchy of attachment figures in adolescence, with the quality of parental attachment contributing to close extra‐familial relationships.     

Self‐Competence and Depressive Symptoms in Middle–Late Adolescence: Disentangling the Direction of Effect

This study examined the temporal relation between self‐competence (academic, social, athletic, physical appearance, and close friend) and depressive symptoms in a large, diverse community sample of 636 adolescents. Surveys were administered to all 10th‐ and 11th‐grade students at participating high schools at baseline (mean age = 16.10, SD = .71) and 1 year later. Girls reported higher levels of self‐competence in close friendships and more depressive symptoms, whereas boys reported higher levels of self‐competence in athletics and physical appearance. However, there were no gender differences in the associations between self‐competence and depressive symptoms. Results from autoregressive, cross‐lagged path analyses indicated that depressive symptoms predicted self‐competence more consistently than self‐competence predicted depressive symptoms during middle–late adolescence. Implications for prevention are discussed.     

“We're Supposed to Look Like Girls,But Act Like Boys”: Adolescent Girls’ Adherence to Masculinity Norms

In the ecological systems perspective, gender ideologies are part of the macrosystem that shapes human development. A growing literature indicates that youth accommodate and resist such ideologies, with adherence to masculinity norms being linked with negative adjustment. Most masculinity research focuses on boys’ adherence to masculinity, but girls are also pressured to uphold masculinity norms. Using mixed modeling, we examined girls’ adherence to masculinity and psychological (self‐esteem, depressive symptoms) and social (peer support and conflict) well‐being in the United States (N = 407; M_age = 12.28) and China (N = 356; M_age = 12.41). In both countries, adherence to masculinity was negatively associated with psychosocial well‐being. Chinese girls reported greater masculinity adherence, but associations with psychosocial well‐being were not moderated by nationality.     

Linking Self‐Regulation and Risk Proneness to Risky Sexual Behavior: Pathways through Peer Pressure and Early Substance Use

The linkages between self‐regulation in childhood, risk proneness in early adolescence, and risky sexual behavior in mid‐adolescence were examined in a cohort of children (N=518) from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The possible mediating role of two early adolescent variables (substance use and negative peer pressure) was also examined. Self‐regulation was assessed by maternal report at ages 8–9, and risk proneness, comprising aspects of sensation seeking and decision making, was assessed by adolescent self‐report at ages 12–13. Structural equation models predicting risky sexual behavior at ages 16–17 indicated that self‐regulation operated partly through early adolescent substance use, whereas risk proneness operated through early adolescent substance use and negative peer pressure. The overall model did not differ significantly for boys and girls, although there were gender differences in the strength of particular paths. These long‐term longitudinal results support the importance of early self‐regulation and risk proneness in setting the stage for adolescent sexual risk taking and implicate substance use and negative peer pressure as processes through which risk proneness and poor self‐regulation lead to risky sexual behavior.     

Body Image and Self‐Esteem Among Adolescent Girls: Testing the Influence of Sociocultural Factors

In Western cultures, girls' self‐esteem declines substantially during middle adolescence, with changes in body image proposed as a possible explanation. Body image develops in the context of sociocultural factors, such as unrealistic media images of female beauty. In a study of 136 U.K. girls aged 11–16, experimental exposure to either ultra‐thin or average‐size magazine models lowered body satisfaction and, consequently, self‐esteem. Self‐esteem was also lower among older than among younger girls. Structural equation modeling showed that this age trend was partially accounted for by a corresponding downward trend in body satisfaction; this, in turn, was fully accounted for by upward age trends in awareness and internalization of sociocultural attitudes toward appearance, and in social comparison with media models. Results support calls for early educational interventions to help girls to deconstruct advertising and media images.     

Birth Cohort and Age Changes in the Self‐Esteem of Chinese Adolescents: A Cross‐Temporal Meta‐Analysis, 1996–2009

The present cross‐temporal meta‐analysis involving 68 studies (n = 35,499) found that Chinese adolescents' scores on the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale decreased substantially from 1996 to 2009. The decline of self‐esteem across birth cohorts was associated with the slide of social connection level of Chinese adolescents. Correlations between self‐esteem and corresponding social indicators like the floating population and divorce rate were significant. Analysis on self‐esteem age differences showed that self‐esteem development in China was different from Western results: self‐esteem scores followed a roughly increasing trend from Grade 7 through Grade 12 with double dip points at Grades 7 and 11.