Adolescent Adjustment Research Articles

Parental self-control facilitates adolescent psychological adjustment sequentially through parents' perceived stress/mindful parenting and adolescent self-control.

Adolescence is a unique developmental period marked with significant changes and challenges. As such, maintaining optimal psychological adjustment is crucial for young people, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when their adjustment became more challenging. Self-control is a vital ability assisting individuals to navigate difficulties and stay well-adjusted during turbulent times. While the associations between adolescent self-control and adjustment have been well-documented, parental self-control has been considered to play a more fundamental role in adolescent adjustment. However, this consideration has received scant research. Drawing on the intergenerational transmission model of self-regulation, we examined an understudied yet plausible idea that parental self-control facilitates adolescent adjustment through parents' lower levels of perceived stress/better mindful parenting and adolescents' improved self-control. A two-wave survey study, spanning 1 year apart, was conducted among 426 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 11.6 years, 53.5% boys) and their parents. Parents rated their self-control, perceived stress, and mindful parenting at T1, while adolescents rated their self-control and adjustment (i.e., psychological difficulties and life satisfaction) at T1 and T2. The results of chain mediation model showed that after controlling for demographic covariates and baseline levels of adolescent self-control and adjustment, T1 paternal self-control facilitated T2 adolescent adjustment through fathers' lower levels of perceived stress and adolescents' improved self-control. By contrast, T1 maternal self-control facilitated T2 adolescent adjustment through mothers' better mindful parenting and adolescents' improved self-control. These findings advance our understanding of how self-control is transmitted from parents to offspring and clarify the processes of how parental self-control facilitates adolescent adjustment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

학교스포츠클럽 참가에 따른 다문화 중학생의 또래 지지와 학교적응의 관계에서 다문화 수용의 매개효과

The purpose of this study was to mediation of multicultural acceptance on the association between peer support and school adjustment of the multicultural adolescents’s participation in school sports club. spss win ver 24.0 and amos 26.0 program were used to analyze the data. the results were First, it was found that peer support of the multicultural adolescents’s participation had a significant effect on the school adjustment. Second, it was found that peer support of the multicultural adolescents’s participation had a significant effect on the multicultural acceptance. Third, it was found that the multicultural acceptance of the multicultural adolescents’s participation had a significant effect on the school adjustment. Fourth, it was found that the multicultural acceptance of the multicultural adolescents’s participation i had a partial mediation effect between peer support and school adjustment.

The Role of Peer Counseling in Adolescent Adjustment

The Role of Peer Counseling in Adolescent Adjustment

Parental migration and peer victimization: implications for school and psychological adjustment of left-behind adolescents in rural China

This one-year longitudinal study examined the relations of parental migration and peer victimization and their interactions with later academic and psychological functioning in Chinese adolescents. Participants included 1234 students in seventh grade (633 boys, mean age = 13.25 years) in a rural region of Anhui, China. Data on peer victimization, academic functioning, and psychological problems were obtained from peer nominations, teacher ratings, school records, and self-reports. Results showed that parental migration had significant and negative effects on later academic performance for adolescents who experienced high peer victimization. For adolescents who had not experienced peer victimization, whereas mother migration was not significantly associated with later academic performance, father migration positively contributed to increased academic achievement. In addition, adolescents with one parent who had migrated displayed more psychological problems than adolescents whose parents both migrated or did not migrate. The results suggest that parental migration may contribute differently to adolescent adjustment across domains and that the contributions may be moderated by individual social experiences with others and parental migration status. The results are discussed in the Chinese rural context.

School adjustment in adolescence explained by social support, resilience and positive affect

In order to develop future academic-professional skills and later social and financial independence, an adequate adolescent school adjustment is essential. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the variables that contribute to its improvement in a stage characterised by its decrease. The aim of the present study is to analyse and compare two theoretical models to determine the prediction of teacher and peer support, resilience and positive affect to school adjustment, measured through emotional engagement, school integration problems and perceived academic performance. The design was cross-sectional and participants were 1397 adolescents in high school (M = 13.88, SD = 1.27). The results reveal that teacher and peer support, resilience and positive affect indirectly predict perceived academic performance through school integration problems and emotional engagement. The negative effect of emotional engagement and support from peers on school integration problems is particularly worth highlighting, along with the prediction of resilience on positive affect and that of support from teachers on emotional engagement. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Psychological adjustment of children and adolescents in residential care with Collaborating Families: A multi-informant assessment

In residential care, programs such as Collaborating Families have been developed so that children and adolescents can experience periods of cohabitation in a positive family environment, which generates benefits for them and complements their residential care. The present study used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to study the psychological adjustment of 37 children and adolescents in residential care with collaborating families, comparing the assessments of 185 informants: the children themselves, their collaborating families, their caregivers at the protection center, as well as a comparison group of peers without collaborating families and their caregivers. In addition, this study analyzed whether the psychological adjustment of these children is related to some of their personal variables and their experience in family collaboration. The results showed significant differences between the psychological adjustment assessed by the different informants. Also, children with collaborating families tended to present a better psychological adjustment compared to the comparison group, with considerable effect sizes. Moreover, significant relationships were found between psychological adjustment and the children’s ratings about their family collaboration. Finally, some practical implications for the development of the program are discussed. En el marco del acogimiento residencial, se ha desarrollado el programa Familias Colaboradoras con el fin de que los niños, niñas y adolescentes tutelados puedan disfrutar de períodos de convivencia en un ambiente familiar positivo, que les genere beneficios y complemente su atención residencial. En este trabajo, a través del instrumento Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), estudiamos el ajuste psicológico de 37 menores de edad en acogimiento residencial con familias colaboradoras, contrastando las valoraciones de 185 informantes: los propios menores de edad, sus familias colaboradoras, los profesionales de referencia del centro, así como un grupo de comparación de iguales sin familias colaboradoras y sus profesionales de referencia. Además, analizamos si el ajuste psicológico de estas personas menores se relaciona con variables personales y la valoración que hacen de la colaboración familiar. Los resultados mostraron diferencias significativas entre el ajuste psicológico valorado por los distintos informantes. Además, los menores de edad con familias colaboradoras tendieron a mostrar un mejor ajuste psicológico frente al grupo de comparación, con tamaños de efecto considerables. Se encontraron también relaciones significativas entre el ajuste psicológico y la valoración de los menores sobre la colaboración familiar. Finalmente, se discuten algunas implicaciones prácticas para el desarrollo del programa.

Back to school after the pandemic: Adjustment of Spanish children and adolescents.

Aiming to mitigate the COVID-19 spread, the government of Spain applied restrictive measures, like schools’ closure. Although the effects of the pandemic on children's emotional well-being have been studied, there is a lack of studies examining school adjustment following the pandemic and the role that the infection has played in the adjustment process. The objective is to analyze the relationship between stressful events related to school experienced by children and their adjustment to school after the home confinement, including anxiety as a mediator variable. Participants were the parents of 219 Spanish children and adolescents aged 3 and 18 years who completed a survey about their children’s anxiety (Spanish Brief Child Version of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale), the stressful events experienced related to school (Stressful Events related to Pandemic Inventory), and the adjustment to school (Adjustment of Children after Pandemic School Closure Scale). Results showed that social distance was the most reported stressful event (87%). Having COVID-19 and experiencing bullying were directly related to a high level of anxiety. Children´s who decreased social contact and experienced bullying showed a worse adjustment to school. Anxiety was an indirect mediator of this relationship. Findings highlight the importance of supervising school adaptation and promoting strategies to prevent emotional problems when the youths are exposed to stressful situations. Para frenar la propagación del COVID-19, el gobierno español aplicó medidas restrictivas, como el cierre escolar. Aunque los efectos de la pandemia en el bienestar emocional de los niños han sido estudiados, faltan estudios que examinen la adaptación escolar tras la pandemia y el papel que la infección ha tenido en el proceso de adaptación. El objetivo es analizar la relación entre los eventos estresantes relacionados con la escuela y la adaptación escolar después del confinamiento, incluyendo la ansiedad como mediadora. Los participantes fueron 219 padres de niños y adolescentes españoles de entre 3 y 18 años que completaron encuestas sobre la ansiedad de sus hijos (Spanish Brief Child Version of the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale), los eventos estresantes vividos relacionados con la escuela (Stressful Eventos relacionados con el Inventario de Pandemia), y la adaptación escolar (Escala de Ajuste de los Niños después del Cierre Escolar de la Pandemia). Los resultados mostraron mayor prevalencia en el evento estresante distancia social (87%). Tener COVID-19 y sufrir acoso escolar se relacionó directamente con una mayor ansiedad. Los niños que disminuyeron el contacto social y sufrieron acoso escolar mostraron peor adaptación escolar, siendo la ansiedad un mediador indirecto. Los hallazgos destacan la importancia de supervisar la adaptación escolar y promover estrategias para prevenir problemas emocionales en jóvenes expuestos a situaciones estresantes.

How parental coping socialization influences the adjustment of children and adolescents: Perspectives from long-term and real-time timelines

How parental coping socialization influences the adjustment of children and adolescents: Perspectives from long-term and real-time timelines

Differences in Levels of Social Anxiety in Adolescent Girls in Makassar City Seen from Locus of Control

One of the developmental tasks that adolescents must go through is social adjustment in adolescents. Difficulties in the social adjustment process due to the standards that apply in the environment make teenagers afraid of being evaluated negatively and even experiencing social anxiety. One factor of anxiety is the role of the control center or locus of control. Locus of control is divided into internal and external. The aim of this research is to see whether there are differences in the level of social anxiety in adolescent girls in terms of locus of control. The criteria for subjects in this research are female teenagers aged 12-18 years who live in Makassar City. The subjects in this research were 400 female teenagers who live in Makassar City. The method used in this research is quantitative. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U Test. The results showed that there were differences in the level of social anxiety among female adolescents in the city of Makassar in terms of Locus of Control with a significance value of 0.000 (p<0.05). This research illustrates that adolescents with an external locus of control orientation tend to have high social anxiety. It is hoped that the results of this research will be able to pay attention to what things adolescent girls can control when facing social situations or in the social environment. Teenagers are expected to have understanding and confidence and also be able to see things that are beyond their personal abilities, which are things that can have an impact on themselves.

Adolescent Adjustment to Parental Marital Transitions: Experiences in Urban, Rural and Suburban Communities

ABSTRACT This study aimed to (1) identify the perceived helpfulness of relationships and resources adolescents relied on in their transition to their parents’ divorce or separation and (2) to ascertain any differences in experiences with these resources and relationships based on rurality. A retrospective design was implemented with 47 young adults who experienced parental divorce or separation between the ages of 10 and 18. Three themes were constructed through coding reliability thematic analysis. Participants indicated that helpful resources and relationships provided support in: (a) managing emotions following parental marital transitions, (b) reframing the experience of a parental marital transition, and (c) assistance with boundaries following a parental marital transition. Nearly half of the rural participants did not rely on formal resources (e.g., therapist/counselor), but across rurality levels the perceptions of what made these relationships and resources helpful in adapting to a parental marital transition were similar.

Congenital melanocytic naevus (CMN) through the lens: Using photo-elicitation interviews to explore adjustment in adolescents with a rare birthmark condition

Adolescents with the rare birthmarks congenital melanocytic naevi (CMN) experience physical and psychosocial challenges, many of which stem from looking different from the ‘norm’. However, some adjust and have positive experiences. Understanding the lived experiences of adolescents who have adjusted to CMN can provide a holistic picture of adjustment and inform the development of support and interventions for others with the condition. Open, participant-driven photo-elicitation interviews were conducted with four White females (15–17 years) who self-identified as having adjusted to CMN. Participants chose five photographs which were used to guide the interviews (47–80 min). Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the transcribed interview data. Three superordinate themes were identified: ‘Accepting My ‘True’ Self’ (1), ‘I am Not Alone in This’ (2), and ‘Developing as a Person’ (3). The themes related to accepting CMN as part of their identity, developing a positive body image (e.g., body appreciation, broad conceptualisations of beauty, body image flexibility), feeling supported and accepted by family, friends, and others with CMN, and developing adaptive coping skills. Findings suggest positive body image may be important for adjustment and can be determined by an individual. The benefits of using photo-elicitation within appearance research are discussed.

Impact of Parenting Practices and Family Functioning on Psychological Adjustment of Adolescents with ADHD: Role of Early Maladaptive Schemas

Aim: The main objective of this study was to measure the impact of early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) in parenting practices, family functioning and psychological adjustment of adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The study also explored gender differences on study variables and differences based on age group. 
 Methods: A cross-sectional research design, including a sample of 100 adolescents (Male=50, Female=50) was selected from different special education institutions, schools and colleges of government and private sector in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The age of the sample ranged from 12 to 20 years (M=14.73, SD=1.82). The data was collected using Alabama Parenting Questionnaire, Family Assessment Device, Young's Schema Questionnaire, and Personality Assessment Questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using Pearson Product Moment, t-test, One-Way ANOVA, and Hayes process macro for mediation analysis.
 Results: A simple mediation analysis confirmed the significant partial mediation. The indirect effect of healthy family functioning was found to be significant. The direct and indirect effect of positive dimensions of parenting practices was significant. The negative dimensions of parenting practices were also found to have significant direct and indirect effect on psychological adjustment. EMSs significantly partially mediated the relationship between parenting practices, family functioning and psychological adjustment.
 Conclusion: According to the results, it was concluded that parenting practices and family functioning significantly influence the psychological adjustment of adolescents with ADHD. In addition, the EMSs play a significant role in the psychological adjustment of adolescents with ADHD. Gender differences were found on subscale of inconsistent discipline in parenting practices and subscale of emotional instability in psychological adjustment. Similarly, on EMSs these differences were found on six subscales including emotional deprivation, emotional inhibition, defectiveness/shame, social inhibition, vulnerability to harm, and self-sacrifice of EMSs.
 Recommendations: The results suggest broader treatment strategies, considering the parents and family of adolescents with ADHD. The finding can also be incorporated with interactive session for children, parents and family members to develop understanding of the nature of problem, related complexities within families and sorting strategies for adolescents with ADHD. Furthermore, in educational set up these finding may help in training workshops for the teachers to improve the understanding of the needs of adolescents with ADHD.

Connecting adolescent friendships to physical health outcomes: A narrative review

AbstractFriendships are developmentally significant peer relationships that meaningfully contribute to adolescent adjustment. Despite extensive evidence that friendships contribute to adolescents’ psychological well‐being and mental health, less is known about the connections between adolescents’ friendships and physical health outcomes. Therefore, the current review synthesizes a growing body of research examining associations between adolescent friendships and physical health. The findings reviewed provide evidence for links between the quantity, quality, and stability of adolescents’ friendships and their corresponding subjective and physiological health. Consistency of findings varied as a function of friendship dimensions and health outcomes studied. In turn, we end the review with a discussion of conceptual and methodological consistencies and inconsistencies across the studies reviewed, a proposed agenda for future research, and a presentation of a novel process‐oriented model explaining how friendships may contribute to adolescent physical health.

Heritage culture and national identity trajectories: Relations to classroom cultural diversity climate and socioemotional adjustment for adolescents of immigrant descent

Adolescents’ heritage culture and national identities are potential developmental assets for socioemotional adjustment. The school context can support the development of such identities. Therefore, the aims of our study are to (1) identify patterns of heritage and national identity trajectories across mid-adolescence, (2) test whether they are predicted by classroom cultural diversity climate, and (3) test whether they are linked to socioemotional adjustment. Adolescents of immigrant descent in Germany (N = 431, 50.3% female, Mage = 12.36 at T1) filled out surveys at the beginning (T1) and end of 7th grade (T2), and end of 8th grade (T3). Using latent growth mixture models, three trajectories were identified, which had stable, moderate national identities but varied in heritage identity: “high decreasing heritage identity”, “moderate stable identities”, and “low increasing heritage identity”. At the classroom level (but not individual level) diversity climate at T1 predicted a “moderate stable identities” trajectory, compared to a “low increasing heritage identity” trajectory. Further, adolescents in the “moderate stable identities” trajectory reported higher life satisfaction at T3 compared to those in the “low increasing heritage identity” trajectory. Overall, the findings suggest heterogeneity in identity trajectories with implications for socioemotional adjustment.

Variance Decomposition of the Continuous Assessment of Interpersonal Dynamics (CAID) system: Assessing sources of influence and reliability of observations of parent-teen interactions.

The Continuous Assessment of Interpersonal Dynamics (CAID) is an observational tool that measures warmth and dominance dynamics in real time and is sensitive to individual, dyadic, and contextual influences. Parent-adolescent interpersonal dynamics, which conceptually map onto parenting styles, are an integral part of positive adolescent adjustment and protect against risky outcomes. The current study's goal was to test the degree to which sources of influence on CAID data observed in a previous study of married couples generalize to a sample of parent-adolescent dyads. We examined data from ten raters who rated moment-to-moment warmth and dominance using CAID in a sample of 61 parent-adolescent dyads (N = 122) who were largely non-Hispanic White (62%) or African American (30%) based on parent report (adolescent M age = 14; 57% female). Dyads interacted in four different discussion segments (situations). We applied Generalizability Theory to delineate several sources of variance in CAID parameters and estimated within and between-person reliability. Results revealed a number of different influences, including the person, kinsperson (adolescent versus parent), dyad, rater, situation, and interactions among these factors, on ratings of parent-adolescent interpersonal behavior. These results largely replicate results from married couples, suggesting that the factors that influence ratings of interpersonal interactions largely generalize across sample types.

Associations of caregiver-adolescent conflict and caregiver emotional support with adolescent trauma symptoms and adjustment after sexual abuse

BackgroundEmotional support from a caregiver is believed to be important for reducing the likelihood of adolescent trauma symptoms and adjustment problems after sexual abuse. Conflict with a caregiver, another relational dynamic, is very common during adolescence, but little is known about how it might operate in tandem with emotional support to influence adolescent trauma symptoms and adjustment after sexual abuse. ObjectiveTo better understand how caregiver emotional support and caregiver-adolescent conflict jointly contribute to adolescent trauma symptoms and adjustment after sexual abuse. Participants and settingParticipants were 477 adolescents (Mage = 13.59, SD = 1.77) and a non-offending caregiver presenting at a children's advocacy center. MethodsAdolescents completed measures of caregiver-adolescent conflict, caregiver emotional support, and their own trauma symptoms and adjustment. Caregivers completed a measure of adolescent adjustment. ResultsCaregiver-adolescent conflict and caregiver emotional support each correlated in the expected direction with adolescent trauma symptoms and adjustment (conflict correlations ranged from 0.27 to 0.38, all p values ≤.001; support correlations ranged from −0.15 to −0.21, all p values ≤.01). Regression analyses, which simultaneously considered conflict and support, indicated that conflict related to adolescent trauma symptoms and each of the measures of adolescent adjustment, whereas caregiver emotional support contributed to caregiver reports of adolescent adjustment. Caregiver-adolescent conflict did not moderate any of the relations between caregiver emotional support and adolescent trauma symptoms or adjustment. ConclusionsIn the aftermath of sexual abuse, caregiver-adolescent conflict contributes to adolescent trauma symptoms and adjustment.

Why Haven’t You Texted Me Back? Adolescents’ Digital Entrapment, Friendship Conflict, and Perceived General Health

ABSTRACT Objective Many adolescents feel pressure to be constantly available and responsive to others via their smartphones and social media. This phenomenon has been understudied using quantitative methods, and no prior study has examined adolescents’ specific stress about meeting digital availability expectations within a best friendship, or entrapment. The present study offers an important preliminary examination of this unique digital stressor in a developmental context by examining prospective associations between digital entrapment, psychosocial adjustment, and health in adolescence. Method Students in a rural, lower-income school district in the southeastern US (n = 714; 53.8% female; 45.9% White, 22.7% Black, 24.0% Hispanic/Latino) completed self-report measures of digital entrapment, perceived general health, friendship conflict, and depressive symptoms at two timepoints, one year apart. Results Digital entrapment, which 76.3% of the sample reported experiencing, was associated prospectively with higher levels of friendship conflict and worse perceived general health one year later among boys, but not girls. Findings suggest that digital entrapment is an extremely common experience for adolescents that may disproportionally affect boys. Entrapment was not prospectively associated with depressive symptoms. Conclusions Results offer insight into how boys may have different social media experiences significant to their development and health, while much work exploring gender differences in social media use thus far has elucidated negative effects for girls. Boys may perceive and respond to novel social norms of digital environments differently such that digital entrapment has the potential to be detrimental to their friendships and health.

ADJUSTMENT OF ADOLESCENCE IN RELATION TO GENDER

Adjustment is ongoing process where persons keep adjusting their behavior according to the needs and circumstances of the environment. This helps to balance between one’s needs and desires. Adjustment is the challenge for each and every living being and more challenging for the adolescent. Since it is the rapid phase of growth and development of their physical, emotions and sexual. Most of adolescence faced difficulty in adjusting themselves socially, educationally and emotionally into their day-to-day life. The aim of the present research was to study the emotional adjustment, social adjustment and educational adjustment of male and female adolescents in relation to gender. The sample consisted of 120 adolescents that was collected from different school of Ahmedabad city. 60 males and 60 females from age group of 14 years to 18 years were selected. Here gender was taken as an independent variable whereas different areas of adjustment such as emotional adjustment, social adjustment and educational adjustment were taken as dependent variables. For data collection, an adjustment inventory for school students by A.K. Sinha and R.P. Singh was used. To analyze the data, a ‘t’ test was used. Results indicate that significant differences were found between male and female adolescents in relation to emotional, social, educational, and adjustment.

Cultural Identity and the Academic, Social, and Psychological Adjustment of Adolescents with Immigration Background

As Western societies become more ethnically and culturally diverse, understanding the acculturation of immigrant youth is essential for fostering social cohesion. How the cultural identity formation of ethnic minority adolescents relates to their academic, social, and psychological adjustment is an important and as yet unresolved research question. This study examined to what extent identifying with the heritage and/or host culture is an individual resource or risk factor for the adjustment of immigrant youth in Germany. A random sample of 15–17-year-olds (N = 1992; Mage_w1 = 15.3 years, SD = 0.64; 44.5% girls; 44.7% students with immigrant background) was assessed twice: at the end of 9th and 10th grade. Academic performance and three dimensions of social/psychological adjustment (school attachment, self-esteem, and life satisfaction) were examined. Results showed that biculturalism was the modal identification pattern. Contrary to expectations, cultural identification did not differ systematically with perceived distance from the majority culture. Multivariate structural equation modeling revealed that both heritage and host identification can be developmental resources, but that their effects are dependent on the dimension of adjustment; biculturalism only proved to be a cumulative resource for school attachment. The domain specificity of the findings challenges the generalization claims of predominant acculturation theories.

The promise of leveraging social identities in interventions to enhance the well‐being and lives of adolescents

AbstractIdentity development is theorized to be a cornerstone of adolescence. An abundance of evidence has documented the significance of specific social identities (e.g., ethnic‐racial or sexual identity) in the adjustment of adolescents. Research has found that youth who have explored their social identities and have more positive views of their social groups are likely to adjust more successfully across many developmental outcomes. Given evidence documenting the importance of social identities, in this article, we argue that identities should be leveraged to promote positive adjustment, particularly among youth experiencing marginalization. We present a theoretically driven rationale for why social identities should be considered assets that provide opportunities for intervention to improve youth's lives. We also describe two interventions that efficaciously targeted social identity development and demonstrated positive effects on adjustment. We close with directions for research and implementation and a call to invest in this important work.