Adolescent Adjustment Research Articles

Supplemental Material for Maternal Encouragement of Competitiveness and School Adjustment in Chinese Adolescents

Supplemental Material for Maternal Encouragement of Competitiveness and School Adjustment in Chinese Adolescents

The roles of resilience, peer relationship, teacher-student relationship on student mental health difficulties during COVID-19.

The present cross-sectional study aimed to (a) expand our understanding of the role of risk and resilience factors for adolescent adjustment during coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and (b) examine personal resilience, peer and teacher-student relationships as protective factors against mental health difficulties. A total of 3,662 students from 4th to 11th grades in Urumchi, China completed a survey in June 2020. Urumchi is an ethnically diverse city, with nearly 40% of the population in this school district being ethnic minority students. The schools of Urumchi closed in February 2020 and reopened in April 2020. The results of latent moderated structural equation modeling suggested that peer victimization was associated with greater mental health difficulties in students. Personal resilience and teacher-student relationships were promotive factors for better mental health and also served as a buffer from the negative effect of peer victimization on mental health. The results also showed divergent patterns for elementary versus secondary school students as well as gender differences. Implications for how schools can support students during COVID-19 were discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Inadequate sleep moderates effects of interparental conflict appraisals on adolescent adjustment

ObjectivesPrevious research and theory suggest that interparental conflict that is perceived by youth as frequent/intense, threatening, and/or the responsibility of the youth is predictive of adjustment problems. In contrast, sleep, an important precursor to emotion regulation, is likely a protective factor for youth experiencing interparental conflict. The goal of the current study was to investigate the extent to which adolescents who maintain better and/or longer sleep are buffered from the adjustment problems associated with greater interparental conflict. MethodsOne-hundred and fifty adolescents completed questionnaires assessing interparental conflict (frequency/intensity perceptions as well as threat and self-blame appraisals) as well as internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Participants also wore an actigraph over 1 week to objectively measure sleep quantity and quality; 123 participants had valid actigraphy data. ResultsResults of structural equation modeling analyses revealed that greater sleep quality weakened the association between interparental conflict and adjustment problems, particularly internalizing behaviors. However, sleep quantity was not a moderator. ConclusionThese results suggest that higher quality sleep may protect adolescents from the negative effects of interparental conflict.

Longitudinal Associations between Parental Support and Parental Knowledge on Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Adolescents

When testing longitudinal effects of parenting practices on adolescent adjustment, an integrated consideration of externalizing and internalizing behaviors is a gap in research. This study analyzed how parental support and parental knowledge directly and indirectly influence both antisocial behavior and emotional problems. The sample had 642 adolescents aged 12-15 (mean age = 12.49; 45.4% females) from Spain, who participated in a three-year long study. The results showed longitudinal bidirectional associations between parental support and parental knowledge. Only parental knowledge, however, directly predicted antisocial behavior and emotional problems. Parental support had an indirect effect on outcomes through the mediating effect of parental knowledge. This study has practical implications by indicating that increasing parental knowledge should be the target of educational-prevention programs.

Psychological Peculiarities of Personal Dissonance of Adolescents in the Sphere of Real and Ideal Self-Image

Adolescence is characterized by contradictions of role behaviours and perceptions caused by age adjustment of adolescents. This is reflected in the system of self-attitudes of adolescents, which can lead to intrapersonal conflicts due to the dissonance of conceptions about their own real and ideal self-image. Such dissonances can hinder the construction of one’s own social roles. Therefore, timely detection of risks of personal dissonance emergence in the sphere of subjective perceptions of one’s own real and ideal self-images becomes one of the leading tasks of providing psychological and psychotherapeutic aid to adolescents, aimed at harmonizing their formation in the process of socialization. The aim of the research is to study the factors that determine the psychological peculiarities of personal dissonance of adolescents in the sphere of real and ideal self-image. The research is based on the use of psychodiagnostic methods of Leary (2004) and Pantileev (1993) for the survey of 303 adolescents of both sexes at the age of 14-17, who recognize the presence of discrepancies between real and ideal self-images. Empirical data has shown a relationship between a constellation of psychological factors that determine the emergence of personal dissonances in the sphere of authoritarianism, dominance, suspicion, aggression, subordination, dependency, friendship and altruism. The research will help to understand the psychological factors of the emergence and functioning of personal dissonances of adolescents, which affect both the system of their self-attitude and the building of their social ties. This opens up prospects for improving psychoprophylactic measures aimed at preventing personal dissonances in adolescents.

Domain-Differentiated Parental Guilt Induction: Understanding the Structure and Correlates of a Novel Measure

SYNOPSIS Objective. Vignette-based research shows that youth evaluate parental guilt induction (GI) differently depending on the type of issue over which guilt is induced. However, domain differences in the prevalence and associations of parental GI have not been examined in real-world parenting behavior. This study examined the utility of a novel measure of domain-differentiated parental guilt induction (DDPGI) focusing on its psychometric properties and correlates. Design. Surveys were completed by 123 U.S. adolescents (M age = 13.99 years, 54% female, 53% European American) and their mothers. Analyses included factor analysis and invariance tests, then structural equation modeling. Results. Consistent with social domain theory, maternal GI over legitimately regulated issues (moral, conventional, prudential) and personal issues were statistically separable and had differential associations with parenting and youth adjustment. When reported by adolescents, maternal GI over legitimately regulated issues was uniquely associated with more inductive discipline, adolescent empathy, perspective-taking, and moral self-relevance. In contrast, maternal GI over personal issues, especially at high levels, was uniquely associated with more maternal psychological control, maladaptive guilt induction, adolescent adjustment problems, and fewer adolescent moral cognitions and emotions. When reported by mothers, maternal GI showed no significant links with youth adjustment and positive associations between legitimately regulated guilt induction and both adaptive and maladaptive parenting behaviors. Conclusions. Results highlight the importance of measuring parental GI as its own construct, considering the topics over which guilt is induced when conceptualizing the parenting practice as positive or negative, and recognizing family member differences in perceptions of GI.

Assessment of Attachment Representations in Basque Adolescents and their Relationship with Internalizing and Externalizing Problems.

Research has shown a relationship between attachment style and psychosocial adjustment in adolescents. Whereas secure attachment is related to fewer internalizing and externalizing symptoms, the opposite is the case for the various insecure attachment styles. The aim of the two studies reported in this paper was to adapt and validate the CaMir-R (a self-report measure of attachment that has shown adequate psychometric properties) for use among Basque adolescents, and to analyse the relationship between attachment and internalizing and externalizing symptoms. In Study 1, the instrument was adapted using the back translation method and applied to a sample of 203 adolescents and young adults. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the theoretical dimensions of the scale, and its psychometric properties were found to be adequate. In Study 2 we obtained additional validity evidence by applying, in a sample of 786 adolescents and young adults, the attachment representations section of the CaMir-R alongside other measures of attachment and clinical symptoms. The results once again supported the dimensional structure of the instrument, and evidence of convergent validity was obtained based on correlations between CaMir-R scores and scores on the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA). In addition, scores on the five dimensions of attachment representations (Security, Family concerns, Parental interference, Self-sufficiency and resentment of parents and Childhood trauma) were correlated with scores on other measures of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Based on these results, we conclude that the Basque version of the CaMir-R is a valid instrument for assessing the quality of attachment representations among adolescents, and also that internalizing and externalizing problems are related to attachment style. We discuss the importance of attachment in relation to behaviour problems and clinical symptoms.

Work-Family Conflict, Enrichment, and Adolescent Academic Adjustment in Dual-Earner Family.

There is ample evidence that work-family conflict (WFC) and work-family enrichment (WFE), respectively, have detrimental and beneficial impacts on the functioning of couples, families, and children. In this study, cross-sectional data from 2,136 dual-earner families in China, including parents and their children (51.2% girls, ages: 11.6–19.3 years), were used together with Actor-Partner Interdependence Model-Structural Equation Modeling (APIM-SEM) to test the hypothesis that work-family spillover can impact academic adjustment in adolescents through parental educational expectations and perceived educational expectations. The results of this analysis suggested that academic adjustment among adolescents is primarily influenced by maternal work-family experiences, such that maternal but not paternal WFC can impact academic adjustment in adolescents through parental educational expectations and perceived educational expectations. Maternal WFE was found to be indirectly associated with the academic adjustment in adolescents as a result of actual and perceived educational expectations. Additionally, we observed a significant effect of maternal WFC on the educational expectations of fathers within couple-relationship dyads. These results underscore the importance of the work-family interface as a factor that shapes the overall family health and associated outcomes, especially the importance of maternal work-family experiences in this context. Interventions that aim to promote more positive maternal work environments are thus likely to yield greater benefits for their children and families. Overall, these data indicate that work-family spillover is a core determinant of adolescent development, which warrants further study.

Longitudinal associations between adolescents' sleep and adjustment: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia as a moderator.

Sleep and autonomic nervous system functioning are important bioregulatory systems. Poor sleep and low baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a measure of parasympathetic nervous system activity, are associated with externalizing behaviors and depressive symptoms in youth. Rarely, however, have measures of these systems been examined conjointly. The present study examined baseline RSA (RSA-B) as a moderator of longitudinal relations between adolescent sleep and adjustment. Participants were 256 adolescents (52% girls, 66% White/European American, 34% Black/African American) from small towns and surrounding rural communities in the southeastern United States. Sleep (minutes, efficiency, variability in minutes and efficiency) was assessed at age 15 via actigraphs across seven nights. RSA-B was derived from electrocardiogram data collected at rest. Adolescents self-reported externalizing problems and depressive symptoms at ages 15 and 17. Controlling for age 15 adjustment, findings generally demonstrated that sleep predicted age 17 adjustment particularly at higher (rather than lower) levels of RSA-B, such that adolescents with good sleep (more minutes and lower variability) and high RSA-B were at lowest risk for maladjustment. The results highlight the value of examining multiple bioregulatory processes conjointly and suggest that promoting good sleep habits and regulation of physiological arousal should support adolescent adjustment.

Implicit and explicit emotion regulation in adolescents with dispositional optimism

The development of adaptive emotion regulation (ER) plays a pivotal role in adolescent mental health and socio-emotional adaptation. Dispositional optimism, as an important protective factor for adolescent adjustment, may affect adolescent ER and subsequently influence adaptive outcomes. In this review, the changes and challenges, the role of ER in socio-emotional adjustment, and the developmental characteristics of implicit and explicit ER during adolescence are described. Subsequently, by employing the top-down model of personality, coping, and emotion, how dispositional optimism may affect psychological adjustment from the perspective of ER is analyzed. Furthermore, how the differences in adolescents’ dispositional optimism may be reflected by the differences in implicit ER is discussed. Finally, recommendations for future research are outlined.

Penyesuaian Diri Siswa Tahun Pertama SMP Dimasa Pandemi Covid 19

The transition in education from elementary school to junior high school is a difficult process for teenagers and requires adjustment. The process of adapting to teenagers is becoming increasingly difficult because they are currently faced with the Covid 19 pandemic. The complexity of the developmental task is a stressor for teenagers who are first year students in Junior High School. Self-adjustment is important in order to be able to align the needs of oneself and the situation outside of adolescents in order to get a better relationship between themselves and their environment. The failure of adolescents to make adjustments will cause problems such as irresponsible behavior and neglect of lessons, aggressive attitudes and withdrawing from association with peers. Based on this review, it is necessary to conduct a screening regarding the adjustment of adolescents in first year junior high school students during the Covid 19 pandemic. The research design method used descriptive quantitative. The sample in the study amounted to 81 respondents. The data collection technique used a questionnaire distributed via a google form link. Data analysis used univariate to describe the characteristics of respondents and students' self-adjustment. Data were analyzed with categorization scoring guidelines using frequency and percentage distributions. The results showed that 40.74% had sufficient adjustment and 59.26% had less adjustment. Efforts are needed to improve adolescent adjustment to prevent problems in adolescents.

Economic stress, parenting, and adolescents’ adjustment during the COVID‐19 pandemic

AbstractObjectiveThis investigation examined pathways through which financial stress impacts parents’ and adolescents’ well‐being during the COVID‐19 pandemic.BackgroundPandemic‐related stress (e.g., financial stress) experienced by parents may indirectly affect adolescents’ well‐being, although the pathways involved are currently unknown.MethodFamilies currently living in the United States and having adolescents between 12 and 18 years old participated in this investigation (N = 272). Parents responded to questionnaires online about their financial situation, personal well‐being, relationship with their oldest typically developing adolescent (12–18 years old; Mage = 14.74; SDage = 1.80; 46.4% young women), and their adolescents’ well‐being.ResultsHigher levels of financial stress were related to higher levels of parental psychological distress, higher levels of parenting stress, and higher levels of adolescent loneliness. Higher stay‐at‐home intensity was related to higher levels of parenting stress, higher levels of parent–adolescent conflict, and poorer adolescent adjustment. Several significant indirect paths were identified between financial stress and adolescents’ adjustment. The relationship between financial stress and adolescents’ well‐being (i.e., internalizing behaviors and loneliness) was mediated by parental psychological distress and parenting stress. When parenting stress was a mediator, the effect was more pronounced the more time families spent at home.ConclusionParents who were worried about their financial situation had greater difficulty with psychological distress and parenting stress, especially when parents were spending more time at home.ImplicationsUnderstanding the way in which financial stress influences parents’ and adolescents’ adjustment during the pandemic will inform and prepare practitioners and policymakers for similar situations in the future.

The Role of Sense of Belonging and Family Structure in Adolescent Adjustment.

The present study adopted an ecological perspective, and examined effects of sense of belonging to multiple contexts in relation to adolescent adjustment, as well as possible differences between adolescents from intact and divorced families. Self-report questionnaires were used to investigate perceptions of family, school, peer, and neighborhood belonging among 969 adolescents. Results showed that mean level differences in belonging exist based on family structure, and that levels of family and neighborhood belonging vary between post-divorce maternal and paternal households. For all adolescents, sense of belonging predicted self-reported well-being, internalizing, and externalizing problems. Belonging was found to partly explain the relation between divorce and adjustment. Improving adolescents' belonging could therefore be an important step in ensuring a better adjustment post-divorce.

Types of parental psychological control and rural and urban Chinese adolescents' psychological well-being and academic functioning.

The present study took a differentiated perspective on parental psychological control to examine its impact on adolescent adjustment among urban (n=349, females: 53%) and rural (n=293, females: 54%) Chinese adolescents (Mage =12.14years). Four times over the first 2years of Junior High school (from October, 2016 to April, 2018), adolescents reported on parental psychological control, their psychological well-being (life satisfaction and depressive symptoms), and academic relative autonomy. Adolescents' grades also were obtained. The findings show generally negative effects of social comparison shame, love withdrawal and harsh psychological control (but not shared shame or parental relationship-oriented guilt induction) on adolescents' psychological well-being, and negative effects of social comparison shame on adolescents' academic functioning.

We stick together! COVID-19 and psychological adjustment in youth residential care

BackgroundChildren and youth residential care institutions were forced to introduce adaptations to their regular functioning in order to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic challenges. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the lockdown on the adolescents' psychological adjustment and whether adolescents' perceived cohesion mitigated the increase of adolescents' psychological adjustment problems. ParticipantsParticipants were 243 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years, living in 21 different residential care institutions. ResultsThe results suggested a moderating role of cohesion on the stability of adolescents' emotional distress across time. Lower levels of cohesion were related with higher emotional distress stability across time. On the contrary, as cohesion increased, the association between adolescents' emotional distress at T0 and T1 decreased. DiscussionResults are discussed considering the mechanisms raised by the institutions to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and minimize the negative effects on the psychological adjustment of adolescents living in residential care.

Risks in Adolescent Adjustment by Internet Exposure: Evidence From PISA.

Problematic use and abuse of the Internet has manifested new risks among adolescents that affect academic, social, and emotional adjustment. In the academic domain, the role of Internet use on school performance and learning is studied, including the level of competence as a factor in this domain. On the social level, we measure how Internet use affects school climate and problems related to bullying. On the emotional aspect, the relationship between Internet use and satisfaction and positive feelings is studied, including wellbeing as a construct part of this domain. To find these relationships, data obtained from the Program for International Student Assessment survey, 2018 edition are used. Structural equation modeling was used to determine the most significant relationships between the aspects studied and Internet use. Internet use includes four independent variables: two on abuse (time of use on a weekday outside of class and on a weekend) and two on problematic use (perception about forgetting time and perceived discomfort if the Internet does not work). The results answer three research questions: (1) how the constructs created relate to the four independent variables on Internet usage, (2) how the observed variables respond to the latent constructs, and (3) how all these constructs are related to each other. These results highlight the need to teach young people to use the Internet in a useful and healthy way, as a preventive measure, and help professionals who detect technology abuse to act with effective measures to prevent the psychological consequences, working on the academic, social, and emotional aspects that have shown the greatest relationship. The problematic Internet use is a complex problem and it is impossible and imprudent to relate it to isolated factors: It is necessary to consider different factors to better understand the problem.

Linkages between Interparental Conflicts and Adjustment of Adolescents in Hong Kong: The Mediating Role of Locus of Control

Linkages between Interparental Conflicts and Adjustment of Adolescents in Hong Kong: The Mediating Role of Locus of Control

Developmental timing of parent-youth intimacy as a protective factor for adolescent adjustment problems.

Parent-youth intimacy protects adolescents from adjustment problems, including weight concerns, low self-esteem, and depressive symptoms. This study aimed to identify when in development parent-youth intimacy emerges as a protective factor, how this protective effect changes in its strength across adolescence, and whether there are differences in intimacy-adjustment linkages depending on parent and youth gender. The sample was 388 predominately White American adolescents (50.8% female; ages 12-20 years, M = 15.2, SD = 1.63 at Time 1) from 202 families. Time-varying effect models revealed that associations between intimacy and adjustment problems were dynamic and differed by parent and youth gender and across adjustment problems. Father-youth intimacy was associated with fewer weight concerns across most of adolescence for girls and boys, and these effects were strongest in mid- and late adolescence, respectively. Mother-youth intimacy was associated with boys' but not girls' weight concerns, and only in early adolescence. Father-youth intimacy was associated with fewer depressive symptoms for boys and girls across most of adolescence, whereas mother-youth intimacy was associated with fewer depressive symptoms in mid-adolescence. However, the association between intimacy and depressive symptoms was strongest during mid-adolescence for mother- and father-youth intimacy. Finally, father-youth intimacy was associated with higher self-esteem from early through mid-adolescence for boys and girls, whereas mother-youth intimacy was associated with higher self-esteem across most of adolescence for girls and during early and late adolescence for boys. Findings have implications for the timing and targets of family interventions and highlight parents' unique and shared roles in adolescents' adjustment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Selfie Appearance Investment and Peer Feedback Concern: Multi-Method Investigation of Adolescent Selfie Practices and Adjustment.

Sharing "selfies" on social media is common among adolescents. The frequency with which adolescents post selfies may be less important than behaviors and cognitions underlying selfie-posting, and these practices may differ by gender. This multi-method study explored selfie practices in a school-based sample of 639 adolescents (M age=17.6; 53.5% female). Participants completed self-report measures of selfie practices, body esteem, depressive symptoms, and peer behaviors. In addition, a subset of participants' social media pages (n = 245) were observationally-coded for numbers of selfies, followers, and likes. Factor analyses revealed two distinct selfie practices: selfie appearance investment and selfie peer feedback concern. Girls posted selfies more frequently, and reported greater levels of appearance investment and concern over peer feedback on selfies compared to boys. Multiple group structural equation models indicated that for boys and girls, selfie appearance investment was associated with depressive symptoms. For girls only, selfie peer feedback concern was associated with excessive reassurance-seeking and lower body esteem. No associations were revealed between observationally-coded measures of selfie-posting frequency and psychosocial outcomes. Overall, findings suggest that frequency of selfie-posting may be less relevant for understanding adolescent adjustment than investment in and concern over the selfie-posting experience.

Military Stressors, Parent-Adolescent Relationship Quality, and Adolescent Adjustment

Military Stressors, Parent-Adolescent Relationship Quality, and Adolescent Adjustment