The Impact of Pubertal Timing on Adolescents’ Alcohol Use

The relation between pubertal timing and alcohol use was investigated in a nationally representative sample (N= 4,686) of junior high school students who were followed up 2 years later (N= 3,862). Information regarding pubertal timing and status, sex‐role identification, number of alcohol intoxications, substance use, sexual behavior, friends’ alcohol use, and involvement in other types of problem behaviors was obtained. The results showed that early timing of pubertal development correlated with number of alcohol intoxications and number of units consumed on each occasion, and, to a lesser degree, with the frequency of alcohol use. Moreover, correlations were stronger among males than among females. Substantial parts of the association between pubertal timing and alcohol intoxications were mediated through friends’ problem behavior. Pubertal timing predicted alcohol use at follow‐up, but the effect was mostly due to increased alcohol intoxications at initial testing.     

Religiosity and Effortful Control as Predictors of Indonesian Adolescents’ Tobacco and Alcohol Use: Moderation and Mediation

Moderation and mediation models of religiosity and effortful control as predictors of tobacco and alcohol use were tested in this 2‐year longitudinal study of 563 16‐year‐old Muslim Indonesian adolescents. Adolescents reported their effortful control, religiosity, and tobacco and alcohol use and peers provided reports of adolescents’ effortful control. Although both moderation and mediation effects emerged when predicting Year 2 substance use, predictions of change from Year 1 to Year 2 substance use yielded effects of moderation for peer‐ but not self‐reported effortful control for boys; no mediation effects emerged. These findings provide evidence of interconnections between effortful control and religiosity as predictors of substance use and suggest the need for further longitudinal studies that compare moderation and mediation models.     

Adolescents’ Subjective Social Status Predicts Day‐to‐Day Mental Health and Future Substance Use

Adolescents’ subjective social status (SSS) is associated with mental and behavioral health outcomes, independent of socioeconomic status (SES). Many previous findings, however, come from cross‐sectional studies. We report results from a longitudinal study with 151 adolescents identified as at risk for early substance use and behavioral problems sampled from low‐SES neighborhoods. We examined whether adolescent's SSS predicted mental health (depression, anxiety, and inattention/impulsivity) measured over 30 days via ecological momentary assessment and risk for substance use at an 18‐month follow‐up. Results showed that with each perceived step “up” the SSS ladder, adolescents experienced fewer mental health symptoms in daily life and lower future substance use risk after adjusting for objective SES and previous psychopathology. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Adolescents’ Narratives of Schadenfreude

This study explored the experiential determinants of schadenfreude, how schadenfreude changes as a function of relationship, and how recollections of schadenfreude may vary by age. Using a narrative approach, 12‐ and 15‐year‐olds (N = 60) described times they felt schadenfreude toward various peers and adults. We coded their responses to extract information regarding preceding misfortunes and underlying reasons for schadenfreude. We found that adolescents' schadenfreude often involved another’s physical harm and failure, and was rooted in reasons of deservingness and personal gain. There were unique trends in the types of misfortunes and reasons mentioned toward each target of interest. Finally, deservingness reasoning was prominent within 15‐year‐olds’ schadenfreude experiences. The findings are discussed in relation to adolescents’ emotional experiences in conflict situations.     

Sources and Implications of Maternal Accuracy About Young Adolescents’ Vulnerability to Friendship Jealousy

To assist effectively with social difficulties, parents must accurately understand the peer situations that are difficult for their child. Mothers’ insight into their young adolescent's vulnerability to friendship jealousy was assessed by posing identical vignettes to 72 young adolescents and their mothers and matching their responses. Mothers and children also completed questionnaires on their relationship and the child's adjustment. Mothers as a group were poor judges of their child's jealousy, but considerable variability existed. Accuracy was greater when mother–child pairs were closer. Polynomial regression and response surface analyses indicated that maternal accuracy could dampen the friendship and aggression risks otherwise associated with being vulnerable to jealousy.     

The Promotion of Children's and Adolescents’ Social Participation in Italy and Scotland

This article presents the theoretical framework, methodology and the main results of a comparative research on the promotion of children's social participation in Italy and Scotland, which was based on politicians’, managers’ and practitioners’ representations. Promotion of participation here is considered a form of social intervention in which adults construct and treat children as citizens entitled to be involved in decision‐making processes, due to their competence in self‐expression and making choices. The study revealed a coexistence of different images of childhood and social intervention, as well as some interesting differences and similarities between the two socio‐cultural contexts.     

Parenting Practices and Adolescents’ Friendship Networks

Using data on 11,044 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examine the relationship between parenting practices and the composition of an adolescent’s friendship network. In general, parent‐child relationship quality, selecting a neighborhood because of its schools, and parents’ supervision are negatively associated with having a more delinquent friendship network but positively associated with having a more prosocial network. These results suggest that parents have the capacity to shape the characteristics of their child’s friendship networks, even after taking into account the likelihood that adolescents have friends who are similar to themselves.     

Adolescents’ Perceived Parenting Styles and Their Substance Use: Concurrent and Longitudinal Analyses

The relation between parenting style and adolescent substance use (tobacco, alcohol, hashish, and amphetamines) was examined concurrently (at age 14) for licit drug use and longitudinally (from age 14 to 17) for both licit and illicit drug use in a sample of 347 youth from compulsory schools in Reykjavik, Iceland. After controlling for adolescent perceptions of parental and peer use, own previous use, and gender, results indicated that adolescents who characterized their parents as authoritative were more protected against substance use than adolescents who perceived their parents as neglectful, both concurrently and longitudinally. Compared with adolescents who characterized their parents as authoritative and neglectful, those from authoritarian and indulgent families each showed a different pattern of substance use both with regard to the type of substance and over time in a longer term perspective.     

Evaluating the Use of Commercially Available Wearable Wristbands to Capture Adolescents’ Daily Sleep Duration

Commercially available wearable devices are marketed as a means of objectively capturing daily sleep easily and inexpensively outside of the laboratory. Two ecological momentary assessment studies—with 120 older adolescents (aged 18–19) and 395 younger adolescents (aged 10–16)—captured nightly self‐reported and wearable (Jawbone) recorded sleep duration. Self‐reported and wearable recorded daily sleep duration were moderately correlated (r ~ .50), associations which were stronger on weekdays and among young adolescent boys. Older adolescents self‐reported sleep duration closely corresponded with estimates from the wearable device, but younger adolescents reported having an hour more of sleep, on average, compared to device estimates. Self‐reported, but not wearable‐recorded, sleep duration and quality were consistently associated with daily well‐being measures. Suggestions for the integration of commercially available wearable devices into future daily research with adolescents are provided.     

Parents’ Union Dissolution and Adolescents’ School Performance: Comparing Methodological Approaches

We use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement Study to estimate how parents’ union dissolution influences changes in adolescents’ mathematics course work gains, overall grade point average, and course failure rates during a window of approximately 1 year (N =2,629). A primary purpose of this study is demonstrating the utility of propensity score matching techniques for studying topics such as ours that pose methodological challenges such as dealing with endogeneity and selection bias. We compare propensity score matching techniques to ordinary least squares (OLS) regression methods to show and discuss comparability of results obtained using these different procedures. Findings suggest that associations between parents’ union dissolution and achievement may be causal, regardless of method used.     

Adolescents’ Daily Experience of Fathers’ Emotional Support and Self‐Evaluation in Korea

Recently, fathers’ role in children's development has been recognized internationally. In Asian countries, similar conversations have emerged but there has been a lack of empirical studies that considered the unique cultural contexts. As a response, based on Bronfenbrenner's process‐person‐context‐time model, the present study examined the daily dynamics and individual differences in the experience of fathers’ emotional support and self‐evaluation in social roles among 283 Korean adolescents in 5th and 8th grade. Through Hierarchical Linear Modeling, within‐person associations between adolescents’ experience of fathers’ emotional support and self‐evaluation in social roles on the same day and the next day were found, with individual differences by grade level and family affluence. Theoretical and practical implications within the relevant cultural context are discussed.     

Alcohol and Drug Use,and Sources of Stress

ABSTRACT

The purposes of this survey were to assess the prevalence of self-reported chemical use, concerns regarding coworker and family members' chemical use, and issues relating to life stress. A total of 2,567 faculty, staff, and administrators from a medium-sized, eastern, land-grant institution responded to a 20 item survey. Results indicated that tobacco was the most frequendy used chemical followed by alcohol. Participants were most concerned both about coworkers drinking and family member's drinking. Respondents also reported significant concerns regarding coworker's drug use. Applications for prevention, intervention and programming are discussed. Suggestions for future research are also provided.     

Depressive Symptoms and Academic Achievement: The Role of Adolescents’ Perceptions of Teachers’ and Peers’ Behaviors

This present study, using a longitudinal design, investigated how depressive symptoms are related to academic achievement and whether the perceptions of teachers’ and peers’ behaviors moderated this relation. A sample of 302 adolescents (60.10% girls, M_age = 17.35) completed scales measuring the depressive symptoms and perception of their teachers’ support/equity and peers’ cooperation/cohesiveness behaviors at Time 1. The adolescents’ average grades were also collected. The adolescents’ depressive symptoms and average grades were measured again at Time 2. The results showed that depressive symptoms measured at Time 1 were negatively associated with academic achievement measured at Time 2. The adolescents’ perception of their peers’ cooperation/cohesiveness moderated the relation between depressive symptoms and academic achievement. The results’ implications for educational practice are discussed.     

Bidirectional Relations Between Authoritative Parenting and Adolescents’ Prosocial Behaviors

This study examined the bidirectional relations between authoritative parenting and adolescents’ prosocial behavior over a 1‐year time period. Data were taken from Time 2 and 3 of the Flourishing Families Project, and included reports from 319 two‐parent families with an adolescent child (M age of child at Time 2 = 12.34, SD = 1.06, 52% girls). Cross‐lag analyses supported bidirectional relations between parenting and prosocial behavior with particular emphasis on the role of the adolescents’ prosocial behavior on subsequent parenting. Results also varied as a function of the reporter. Discussion focuses on the implications for understanding the multifaceted nature of prosocial development in adolescence.     

Gender,Family Structure,and Adolescents’ Primary Confidants

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (N = 4,190), this study examined adolescents’ reports of primary confidants. Results showed that nearly 30% of adolescents aged 16 – 18 nominated mothers as primary confidants, 25% nominated romantic partners, and 20% nominated friends. Nominating romantic partners or friends was related to increased risk‐taking behaviors, supporting the attachment notion that shifting primary confidants to peers in adolescence may reflect premature autonomy from parents. Tendencies to prefer romantic partners over parents varied by gender and family structure, which were greater for those from single‐father families and girls from mother‐stepfather families, but less for those from single‐mother families and boys from mother‐stepfather families, compared with their counterparts from two‐biological‐parent families.     

Effects of Physical and Emotional Maternal Hostility on Adolescents’ Depression and Reoffending

This study examines whether (1) mothers vary in the way they express hostility toward their delinquent adolescent offspring, (2) different types of maternal hostility differentially affect adolescents’ depression and recidivism, and (3) adolescent depression serves as a mechanism through which maternal hostility predicts later reoffending. The sample consists of 1,216 male first‐time offenders, aged 13–17 years (M = 15.80, SD = 1.29). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the premise that maternal hostility could be distinguished into two subtypes: emotional and physical hostility. Adolescent offenders who experienced emotional or physical hostility by their mothers reported greater depressive symptoms and reoffending 6 months later. Further, the relation between maternal hostility (of each type) and adolescent reoffending was partially explained by depressive symptomology.     

Adolescents’ understanding of poverty and the poor in rural Malaysia

The aim of this research was to explore Malaysian adolescents’ perception of poverty and the poor. The data consisted of 79 semi-structured interviews with school children aged 12-13 and 15-16 years old from rural and urban areas in Sabah, Malaysia. According to them, poverty is mainly economic. Their responses about the causes of poverty can be categorised as individualistic, structural, fatalistic and other factors (such as age, geography, land and encouragement). Older respondents from rural and urban areas gave more individualistic and structural attributions compared to the younger respondents. While they believed that government is most responsible to help the poor, other parties such as the poor, public and NGO’s should also work together to alleviate poverty. They suggested that these parties can contribute in terms of donation, infrastructural improvement, education, attitudinal change and job opportunities. Respondents acknowledged that hard work and education are important to improve their standard of living. However, education is regarded as a ticket to seek their fortune elsewhere. These results emphasised the need for the Malay adolescents to learn about not being dependent on the government for employment in order to avoid mass urban migration in the near future.     

Parenting Practices,Family Obligation,and Adolescents’ Academic Adjustment: Cohort Differences with Social Change in China

This study examined possible changes in the functions of parenting practices across different historical time points in terms of the effects of parenting practices on adolescents’ academic adjustment and their indirect effects via family obligation values. This study used a time‐lagged design that recruited Chinese high school students in 2010 (N = 1,040) and 2018 (N = 1,302). Structured equation modeling revealed the total effects of acceptance/involvement and strictness/supervision on academic adjustment and their indirect effects through family obligation values were positive and statistically equivalent across cohorts. However, the indirect effect of psychological autonomy granting on academic adjustment through family obligation values was negative in 2010 (in rural) but was not statistically significant in 2018 (urban and rural). These findings indicate that along with the sociodemographic change toward Gesellschaft (e.g., more urbanized, wealthier, higher level of education), psychological autonomy granting tends to exert less negative influence on adolescents’ adjustment in the later cohort.     

Family Versus Individual Therapy: Impact On Discrepancies Between Parents’ And Adolescents’ Perceptions Over Time

This study examined the degree of disagreement between runaway adolescents and their primary caretakers, defined as informant discrepancies, on their view of their family. How these discrepancies changed over time and whether family therapy or individual therapy could impact that change were also explored. The current sample (N = 179 dyads) included adolescent substance abusers residing in a runaway shelter and their primary caretakers. Adolescent gender was examined as a correlate of change, and treatment attendance was controlled. The intraclass correlation coefficient was used to measure discrepancies between the individuals within a dyad. Results showed that among those receiving family therapy, but not individual therapy, informant discrepancies decreased significantly over time. Additionally, dyads with a male adolescent showed a significantly slower rate of improvement in discrepancy scores across time compared with dyads with a female adolescent. Previous research indicates that lower levels of discrepant perceptions are associated with better individual and relationship functioning. Therefore, this study’s findings support family therapy as superior to individual therapy for addressing parent–child discrepancies––possibly through its focus on improving family communication, perspective taking, and understanding.     

Transactional Process of African American Adolescents’ Family Conflict and Violent Behavior

This is the first longitudinal study of urban African American adolescents that has examined bidirectional effects between their family conflict and violent behavior across all of high school. Structured interviews were administered to 681 students each year in high school at ages 15, 16, 17, and 18 years. We used structural equation modeling to test a transactional model and found bidirectional effects between family conflict and violent behavior across the middle years of high school, while accounting for sex and socioeconomic status. Findings suggest a reciprocal process involving interpersonal conflict in African American families and adolescent engagement in youth violence.