Adolescent Internalizing Symptoms and the “Tightknittedness” of Friendship Groups

Adolescents with depression have lower peer status overall, but tend to befriend each other. We examined the “tightknittedness” of their friendship groups by testing whether adolescent friendship groups’ average levels of or variability in internalizing symptoms predict group cohesiveness. We used four waves (9th–12th grades) of survey and social network data on 3,013 friendship groups from the PROmoting School‐Community‐University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience study. Friendship groups with higher average depressive symptoms were less cohesive; groups with higher average anxiety symptoms had greater reciprocity. Groups with greater variability in depressive symptoms had greater density; variability in anxiety symptoms was not consistently associated with cohesion. The friendship groups of depressed adolescents appear less cohesive than the “typical” adolescent friendship group.     

Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescents: Gender Differences in Vulnerability to Parental Distress and Discord

This longitudinal study investigated gender differences in the relation between (1) internalizing symptoms of depression and anxiety reported by adolescents, and (2) emotional distress and marital discord reported by their mothers. Structural equation modeling was used to track the relationship between these variables in a community sample of 116 males and 101 females and their parents across three data intervals roughly corresponding to early adolescence (M = 11,4), mid‐adolescence (M = 13,7), and late adolescence/early adulthood (M = 19,2). For early adolescents, there were no gender differences in the relation between internalizing symptoms and parental distress and discord. Gender differences did emerge, however, by midadolescence, at which time parental disturbances were significantly associated with internalizing symptoms in adolescent females but not adolescent males. The emergence of this risk factor during this developmental phase may help account for frequent findings that place adolescent females at higher risk for anxiety and depression than adolescent males.     

Adolescents' Emotional Experiences of Mother–Adolescent Conflict Predict Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms

Research on adolescent emotion has generally focused on expressions of emotion; however, there are reasons to believe that adolescents' experiences of emotion may be related to adolescent development in unique and important ways. This study examined the relation of adolescents' emotional experiences of conflict with their mothers to their internalizing and externalizing symptoms at three time points, each a year apart. After participating in videotaped conflict negotiation tasks with their mothers, adolescents (N=80) watched the videotape of their interactions and used a joystick to make continuous ratings of how negative, positive, or neutral they felt during the discussions. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to assess relations among their continuous emotion ratings and their internalizing and externalizing symptoms 1 year before the interaction task, at the time of the interaction task, and 1 year later. Adolescents' externalizing symptoms at the time of the conflict task were associated with negative emotion that decreased across the conflict discussion. Relations between emotional experience and internalizing symptoms a year later were moderated by adolescent gender, revealing that a tolerance for increasing negative emotion predicts fewer future internalizing symptoms for girls. The importance of adolescents' ability to tolerate negative emotion during normal developmental conflicts is discussed.     

Exploring Differences in Family Involvement and Depressive Symptoms across Latino Adolescent Groups

This study investigated the association between family involvement and depressive symptoms among a sample of 187 Dominican, Mexican, and Central American adolescents from the Longitudinal Immigrant Student Adaptation Study. The study used the transactional stress model as its theoretical foundation. Findings from a multiple regression model suggest that low levels of family involvement were significantly related to higher levels of depressive symptoms for Dominican youths but not for Mexican or Central American youths. Latina adolescents were significantly more likely to have higher rates of depressive symptoms than their male counterparts. Research and practice implications are discussed.     

Growth Mixture Modeling of Adolescent Body Mass Index Development: Longitudinal Patterns of Internalizing Symptoms and Physical Activity

Growth mixture modeling was used to identify different trajectories of body mass index (BMI) among adolescents ages 10–15 from a national sample. Three distinct classes were found for both boys and girls: “normative” (90.9% and 89.7%), “high increasing” (6.3% and 7.4%), and “decreasing” (2.8% and 2.9%). Multinomial logistic regression identified family income as predictive of class membership for boys and pubertal status and being rural as predictive for girls. Parent‐reported health was a common predictor across gender. Growth curves of internalizing symptoms and physical activity were modeled to explore trends across classes. Findings highlight complexities in the relations between BMI, internalizing symptoms, and physical activity in this developmental period.     

Internalizing Symptoms,Peer Substance Use,and Substance Use Initiation

This study used longitudinal survey and social network data covering sixth through ninth grades to test whether internalizing symptoms make early adolescents more prone to (1) exposure to and (2) influence by substance‐using peers. Random effects regressions revealed that increases in symptoms were significantly associated with increases in the proportion of friends who used cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana; some associations weakened across grades. Event history models revealed that the effect of friends' smoking on smoking initiation decreased as internalizing symptoms increased; symptoms did not moderate the effects of friends' alcohol and marijuana use on alcohol and marijuana use initiation. These findings counter the influence hypothesis of the co‐occurrence of internalizing symptoms with substance use and partly support the exposure hypothesis.     

Adolescent Sexuality and the Risk of Marital Dissolution

This research investigates whether first sexual intercourse during adolescence is associated with increased risk of first marriage dissolution and tests whether the results are consistent with causal or selection explanations. Drawing on a sample of 3,793 ever‐married women from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, this study estimated event‐history models of first‐marriage dissolution. Results indicate that wanted sexual debut in later adolescence does not directly increase the risk of marital dissolution but is linked indirectly as a result of subsequent premarital sexual outcomes. Sexual debut that is not completely wanted or that occurs before age 16 is associated with increased risk of marital dissolution. The results suggest that the timing and context of adolescent sexual debut have important implications for marital stability.     

Neighborhood Contexts, Fathers, and Mexican American Young Adolescents' Internalizing Symptoms

The family stress model posits that contextual stressors, such as neighborhood danger, negatively influence youth adjustment, including internalizing symptoms, via disruptions in parenting and family processes. The current study examined a culturally and contextually modified family stress model in a diverse sample of Mexican origin fathers and their children (N = 463) from the Southwestern U.S. Results supported the hypothesized negative influence of neighborhood danger on youth internalizing symptoms via disruptions in family cohesion. Paternal warmth did not play a role in linking contextual stress to outcomes. The role of harsh parenting was highly nuanced. Results suggest that both culture and context have the potential to moderate putative family stress model associations for specific parenting behaviors and further our understanding of the ways that culture and context may operate in models of family stress and youth outcomes.     

Mother–Toddler Cortisol Synchrony Moderates Risk of Early Internalizing Symptoms

Cortisol synchrony is the degree to which mother–toddler cortisol levels are mutually regulated within a dyad. Synchrony's impact on toddler development is not well understood, so this study investigated how synchronous cortisol levels (reactivity and total concentration) in mother–toddler dyads moderate the association between risk factors (i.e., maternal worry, toddler inhibition) and early internalizing symptoms. Seventy mothers and their 2‐year‐old toddlers provided interpretable saliva samples. Behavioral observations were made to assess the toddler's temperament at age 2, and mothers reported on their toddler's internalizing symptoms when toddlers were 2 and 3 years old. Results suggest that mother–toddler synchrony in total cortisol concentration moderates the relation between risk factors and internalizing symptoms. Specifically, toddler inhibition and maternal worry were less associated with concurrent toddler internalizing symptoms when dyads demonstrated greater cortisol synchrony in total concentration. Further, synchrony in total cortisol levels marginally moderated the association between toddler inhibition and future internalizing symptoms, such that inhibited toddlers were less likely to demonstrate internalizing symptoms at age 3 when dyads demonstrated more cortisol synchrony. This suggests that cortisol synchrony may serve as an advantageous context that reduces the risk of developing of internalizing symptoms and augments the field's understanding of the implications of shared physiological responses within mother–toddler dyads.     

Gender Differences in Adolescent Perceptions of Parent-Adolescent Openness in Communication and Adolescent Empathy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how the relationship between adolescent perceptions of openness in parent-adolescent communication and adolescent empathy may differ by gender of the respondent. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to test the possibility of an interaction between adolescent gender and parent communication in predicting two other-oriented dimensions of empathy (empathic concern and perspective taking) in 236 adolescents ages 14 tol6. Gender of the adolescent, openness in mother-adolescent communication, and openness in father-adolescent communication were significant predictors of adolescent empathic concern. Gender also moderated the relationship between openness in mother-adolescent communication and empathic concern. Further, openness in mother-adolescent communication was a significant predictor of adolescent perspective taking.     

Disparities in Persistent Victimization and Associated Internalizing Symptoms for Heterosexual Versus Sexual Minority Youth

This study investigated whether lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents were at higher risk for persistent victimization of bullying compared to heterosexual adolescents, and how victimization trajectories were associated with internalizing symptom development across LGB and heterosexual adolescents. Data came from a five‐wave study (M_ageT1 = 11.1 to M_ageT5 = 22.3; n = 151 LGB; n = 1,275 heterosexual) and informants were adolescents and their parents. Adolescents were classified in three victimization trajectories: persistent (5.6%), decreasing (28.1%) or low (66.3%) victimization. LGB adolescents reported more persistent victimization, relative to no (OR = 6.79, 95% CI [3.52, 13.13]) or decreasing victimization (OR = 3.09, 95% CI [1.53, 6.24]), compared to heterosexual peers. Further, persistent victimization was more strongly associated with anxiety among LGB than among heterosexual adolescents.     

Race Differences in Opioid Misuse and Adolescent Suicidality

Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal - The rise of the opioid epidemic coincided with the increased risk of suicide as the leading causes of death among adolescents in the United States. Past...     

Marital and Cohabitation Dissolution and Parental Depressive Symptoms in Fragile Families

The consequences of divorce are pronounced for parents of young children, and cohabitation dissolution is increasing in this population and has important implications. The mental health consequences of union dissolution were examined, by union type and parental gender, using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n= 1,998 for mothers and 1,764 for fathers). Overall, cohabitation and marital dissolution were both associated with increased maternal and paternal depressive symptoms, though for married mothers, depressive symptoms returned to predissolution levels with time. Difference‐in‐difference estimates indicated no differences in the magnitude of the increase in depressive symptoms by type of dissolution, though pooled difference models suggested that married fathers increased in depressive symptoms more than cohabiting fathers. Potential time‐variant mediators did not account for these associations, though greater family chaos was associated with increased maternal depressive symptoms, and decreased social support and father–child contact were associated with increased paternal depressive symptoms.     

Mother–Adolescent Conflict Interaction Sequences: The Role of Maternal Internalizing Problems

Adaptive mother–adolescent conflict interactions are characterized by the ability to move from negative to positive emotions. The current micro‐observational study investigated how mothers and adolescents make transitions between positive, neutral and negative emotions and whether these transitions depend on maternal internalizing problems. We used three annual waves of conflict interaction observations among 102 mother–adolescent dyads. Mothers were more likely than adolescents to initiate positivity after negativity whereas adolescents were more likely than mothers to reciprocate negativity. Mothers high and low in internalizing problems were equally likely to drive transitions toward positivity. Our study indicates that an active role of mothers in regulating negativity toward positivity is desirable because adolescents are likely to maintain dysfunctional interaction patterns of rigid negativity.     

Linking Childhood Maltreatment With Girls' Internalizing Symptoms: Early Puberty as a Tipping Point

Earlier physical maturation may often be preceded by a range of adversities and life stressors. This study investigates childhood maltreatment, internalizing symptoms, and pubertal timing in girls residing in foster care (N = 100, M = 11.54 years old at Time 1). Girls were assessed at two time points 2 years apart. There were no direct effects of maltreatment on internalizing symptoms; rather, childhood sexual abuse predicted earlier pubertal development which, in turn, was associated with higher levels of internalizing symptoms concurrently and longitudinally. This distinctive role for early pubertal timing suggests that the heightened sexual circumstances of puberty may be especially disturbing for girls whose lives have already been disrupted by inappropriate and unwanted sexual experiences.     

Interparental Relationship Sensitivity Leads to Adolescent Internalizing Problems: Different Genotypes,Different Pathways

Several studies have established that child interparental conflict evaluations link parent relationship functioning and adolescent adjustment. Using differential susceptibility theory and its vantage sensitivity complement as their framework, the authors examined differences between adolescents who vary in the DRD4 7 repeat genotype (i.e., 7+ vs. 7?) in how both interparental conflict and positivity affect adolescents' evaluations of interparental conflict (i.e., threat appraisals) and how these evaluations affect internalizing problems. Results from longitudinal multiple‐group path models using PROSPER data (N = 452) supported the hypothesis that threat appraisals for 7+ adolescents would be more affected by perceptions of interparental positivity compared to 7? adolescents; however, threat appraisals for 7+ adolescents were also less affected by interparental conflict. Among 7? adolescents, interparental conflict perceptions were associated with higher threat appraisals, and no association was found for perceptions of positivity. For adolescents of both genotypes, higher threat was associated with greater internalizing problems.     

Long‐Term Effects of Fathers' Depressed Mood on Youth Internalizing Symptoms in Early Adulthood

While an accumulating body of research has documented increased risk of psychopathology among children of depressed fathers, most studies have used cross‐sectional design, and little is known about offspring outcomes beyond childhood. Using prospective data from a community sample (N = 395), we found that paternal depressive symptoms when children were in early adolescence (age 13) predicted offspring depressive and anxiety symptoms at age 21, controlling for baseline youth symptoms, maternal depressive symptoms, and other known correlates of internalizing problems in early adulthood. Associations were not moderated by maternal depressive symptoms or child gender. These results suggest that the unique and long‐term effects of paternal depression on children's risk of mood disorders may persist into adulthood.     

Associations of Parenting Dimensions and Styles with Internalizing Symptoms in Children and Adolescents: A Meta-Analysis

The present meta-analysis integrates research from 1,015 studies on associations of parenting dimensions and styles with internalizing symptoms in children and adolescents. Parental warmth, behavioral control, autonomy granting, and authoritative parenting showed very small to small negative concurrent and longitudinal associations with internalizing symptoms. In contrast, harsh control, psychological control, authoritarian, and, in part, neglectful parenting were associated with higher levels of internalizing symptoms. Parental warmth, behavioral control, harsh control, psychological control, autonomy granting, and authoritative parenting predicted change in internalizing symptoms over time, with associations of internalizing symptoms with parental warmth, psychological control, and authoritative parenting being bidirectional. Moderating effects of study characteristics are identified. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Examining Racial Differences in Internalizing and Externalizing Diagnoses for Children Exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences

Clinical Social Work Journal - A substantial evidence base has established both that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) deleteriously impact youth mental health outcomes and that racial biases in...