Predictors Of Adolescent Adjustment Research Articles

Impact of Relocations on Mental Health and School Functioning of Adolescents from Canadian Military Families

The study aim was to explore the impact of one aspect of military lifestyle, frequent relocations, on the adjustment of youth from Canadian military families. In all, 134 parents completed online questionnaires about their 13- to 18-year-old adolescents. Internalized and externalized problems, school functioning, and prosocial behaviors were assessed. Parental perceived stress levels were also measured. Analyses revealed that the mobility rate (i.e., the number of relocations/adolescent age) was not related to youth academic performance, greater suspensions/expulsions from school, or internalized problems. Conversely, mobility rate correlated positively with the presence of externalized problems and negatively with prosocial behaviors. Although these associations were not significant when relocation recency (measured by living in the same community for less than 12 months) was taken into account, they remained a trend, suggesting that adjustment issues were not completely resolved after the transition period. Relocation recency, rather than mobility rate, was a better predictor of adolescent adjustment. Furthermore, parental perceived stress was the variable most associated with adolescent internalized/externalized problems and prosocial behaviors. These results indicate that greater attention should be given to adolescent adjustment in the year following a relocation, because this is the period in which adolescents are at greater risk of developing difficulties. Additionally, the substantial influence of parental stress on youth well-being indicates the importance of services to help parents alleviate their own stress.

JPP Student Journal Club Commentary: Interpersonal Stressors and Resources as Predictors of Adolescent Adjustment Following Traumatic Brain Injury.

JPP Student Journal Club Commentary: Interpersonal Stressors and Resources as Predictors of Adolescent Adjustment Following Traumatic Brain Injury.

Featured Article: Interpersonal Stressors and Resources as Predictors of Adolescent Adjustment Following Traumatic Brain Injury.

The present study sought to examine adolescents' perceptions of their interpersonal stressors and resources across parent, sibling, friend, and school relationships, and the longitudinal associations with self-reported adjustment after traumatic brain injury (TBI) over a 12-month period. We examined the main effects of stressors and resources on internalizing and externalizing symptoms in 152 adolescents who had sustained complicated mild-to-severe TBI. We also investigated the conjoint effects of stressors and resources and the moderating effects of TBI severity with stressors and resources on outcomes. High stressors consistently predicted worse adjustment. High resources were generally only associated with fewer internalizing symptoms. Main effects were qualified by interactions between school stressors and resources in predicting externalizing symptoms and between friend stressors and resources in predicting internalizing and externalizing symptoms. For school stressors, the effects of resources on externalizing symptoms functioned as a buffer. In comparison, the buffering effects of friend resources on internalizing and externalizing symptoms disappeared at moderate-to-high levels of friend stress. Moderating effects of TBI severity were also observed, such that as family resources increased, only adolescents with complicated mild-to-moderate TBI, but not those with severe TBI, experienced decreases in internalizing and eternalizing symptoms. Interpersonal stressors and social support have important implications for adolescent adjustment after TBI. Adolescents with low levels of school resources, with high levels of friend stress, and who sustain severe TBI are at greatest risk for difficulties with adjustment.

Stress and Coping Predicts Adjustment and Glycemic Control in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes.

Adolescents with type 1 diabetes are at increased risk for deteriorating glycemic control, poor quality of life, and depressive symptoms. Stress and coping are related to these outcomes in adolescents with diabetes, yet few studies have examined these constructs longitudinally. This study aimed to describe stress and coping in adolescents with type 1 diabetes and to examine coping strategies as predictors of adolescent adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms, quality of life) and glycemic control. Adolescents with type 1 diabetes completed measures of diabetes-related stress, coping, symptoms of depression, and quality of life at baseline, 6months, and 12months. Data on glycemic control were collected from the adolescents' medical charts. The adolescents' use of primary control coping (e.g., problem solving) and secondary control engagement coping (e.g., positive thinking) strategies predicted significantly fewer problems with quality of life and fewer depressive symptoms over time. In contrast, the use of disengagement coping strategies (e.g., avoidance) predicted more problems with quality of life and depressive symptoms. Coping was not a significant predictor of glycemic control. Coping mediated the effects of diabetes-related stress on depressive symptoms and quality of life. The ways in which adolescents with type 1 diabetes cope with diabetes-related stress predict quality of life and symptoms of depression but not glycemic control. Through the use of screening to identify adolescent's diabetes-related stress and targeted interventions to improve coping strategies, there is potential to improve outcomes.

Physiological reactivity moderates the association between parental directing and young adolescent friendship adjustment.

This study examined whether the longitudinal association between parental directing of friendships (i.e., encouraging or discouraging certain friendships) and young adolescents' friendship adjustment (i.e., friendship quality and friends' positive characteristics) was moderated by skin conductance level reactivity (SCLR) to peer stress. Participants included 123 young adolescents (M age = 12.03 years at Time [T]1; 50% boys; 58.5% European Americans). At T1 (summer before the transition to middle school), parents reported on the extent to which they directed adolescents toward or away from certain peers, and adolescents' SCLR was assessed during a lab-based peer evaluation task. At T1 and T2 (spring of the first year of middle school), adolescents reported on the quality of their friendships and positive peer affiliations. Controlling for T1 friendship adjustment, parental directing predicted higher friendship quality and more positive peer affiliations, but only among young adolescents with lower SCLR, which was conceptualized as a marker of underarousal and insensitivity to stress. Results are discussed with reference to the developmental period of early adolescence and related research on interactions between parental control and child characteristics as predictors of adolescent adjustment.

Journal abstracts from current research in the field of child and adolescent mental health

Gonzales NA, Coxe S, Roosa MW, White RMB, Knight GP, Zeiders KH and Saenz D (2011) Economic hardship, neighborhood context, and parenting: Prospective effects on Mexican–American adolescent's mental health. American Journal of Community Psychology 47(1–2): 98–113 O’Kane D (2011) A phenomenological study of child and adolescent mental health consultation in primary care. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 18(2): 185–188 Sentse M, Ormel J, Veenstra R, Verhulst FC and Oldehinkel AJ (2011) Child temperament moderates the impact of parental separation on adolescent mental health: The trails study. Journal of Family Psychology 25(1): 97–106 Leo RJ, Srinivasan SP and Parekh S (2011) The role of the mental health practitioner in the assessment and treatment of child and adolescent chronic pain. Child and Adolescent Mental Health 16(1): 2–8 James AC, Winmill L, Anderson C and Alfoadari K (2011) A preliminary study of an extension of a community dialectic behaviour therapy (DBT) programme to adolescents in the looked after care system. Child and Adolescent Mental Health 16(1): 9–13 Flouri E, Hickey J, Mavroveli S and Hurry J (2011) Adversity, emotional arousal, and problem behaviour in adolescence: The role of non-verbal cognitive ability as a resilience promoting factor. Child and Adolescent Mental Health 16(1): 22–29 Paradis AD, Giaconia RM, Reinherz HZ, Beardslee WR, Ward KE and Fitzmaurice GM (2011) Adolescent family factors promoting healthy adult functioning: A longitudinal community study. Child and Adolescent Mental Health 16(1): 30–37 Webster-Stratton C, Rinaldi J and Reid JM (2011) Long-term outcomes of Incredible Years parenting program: Predictors of adolescent adjustment. Child and Adolescent Mental Health 16(1): 38–46 Baruch G, Vrouva I and Wells C (2011) Outcome findings from a parent training programme for young people with conduct problems. Child and Adolescent Mental Health 16(1): 47–54 Davis Kenaley BL and Williams NJ (2011) A preliminary evaluation: Demographic and clinical profiles and changes in functioning in children receiving psychosocial rehabilitation. Children and Youth Services Review 33(2): 301–307

Long-Term Outcomes of Incredible Years Parenting Program: Predictors of Adolescent Adjustment*

BACKGROUND AND METHOD: Fifty-eight boys and 20 girls with early onset conduct problems whose parents received the Incredible Years (IY) parent treatment program when they were 3-8 years (mean 58.7 months) were contacted and reassessed regarding their social and emotional adjustment 8-12 years later. Assessments included home interviews with parents and teenagers separately. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Adolescent reports indicated that 10% were in the clinical range on internalising behaviours, 23% had engaged in major delinquent acts, and 46% reported some substance use. Eighteen percent of children had criminal justice system involvement and 42% had elevated levels of externalising behaviours (mother report). Post-treatment factors predicting negative outcomes (delinquent acts) were maternal reports of behaviour problems and observed mother-child coercion.

Predictors of Adolescent Adjustment: Parent-Peer Relationships and Parent-Child Conflict

A telephone survey of 114 mothers and their sons, 132 mothers and their daughters, 64 fathers and their sons, and 64 fathers and their daughters investigated the predictors of adolescent adjustment, as separately estimated by parents and their children. Results revealed that the best predictors of adolescent adjustment were the level of conflict within the household over mundane domestic matters and the parent's general disposition towards the child's friends. When results were broken into parent-child gender dyads (mother-son, mother-daughter, father-son, father-daughter), it emerged that the father's perceptions tended to be the dominant predictor of adolescent male adjustment.

The Goodness of Fit in Autonomy Timetable Expectations between Asian-American Late Adolescents and their Parents

The purpose of this study was to examine the goodness of ”t of autonomy timetable expectations between Asian-American late adolescents and their parents. The “goodness of ”t” model (Lerner & Lerner, 1983; Thomas & Chess, 1977) was used as a framework to guide this study. All 99 Asian-American late adolescents completed self-report questionnaires. Results indicate that, overall, late adolescents would have liked to experience an earlier timetable of autonomy than their parents had allowed. However, there was variation in the sample, that is, there were some adolescents who did not want a different timetable than they were allowed. Also, it was found that the goodness of ”t between the autonomy timetable that adolescents would have liked and what their parents had allowed was a better predictor of adolescent adjustment than simply knowing the timetable of autonomy that adolescents had actually experienced. Late adolescents who experienced a good ”t with perceived parental expectations of autonomy reported higher levels of self-esteem and emotional closeness to their parents, and lower levels of depression, behaviour misconduct, and insecurity with parents, compared to their poor ”tting counterparts. It is proposed that the concept of “goodness of ”t” is a useful framework for the investigation of autonomy development, and subsequent adjustment in Asian-American late adolescents.