Psychological Functioning In Adolescents Research Articles

When Earthquakes Meet COVID-19 Pandemic: The Effects of Simultaneous Large-scale Crises on Psychological Functioning of Adolescents in the Final Year of Upper Secondary Education

When Earthquakes Meet COVID-19 Pandemic: The Effects of Simultaneous Large-scale Crises on Psychological Functioning of Adolescents in the Final Year of Upper Secondary Education

Body Image in Adolescents with Gender Incongruence and Its Association with Psychological Functioning.

During adolescence, many individuals with gender incongruence (GI) experience distress related to body dissatisfaction. This study aims to describe the body (dis)satisfaction of Dutch adolescents referred for GI and to describe the influence of body image on their psychological functioning. Self-report measures on body satisfaction (Body Image Scale) and psychological functioning (Youth Self-Report) were obtained from 787 adolescents (aged 10-18) who were referred to the Center of Expertise on Gender Dysphoria at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers between 1996 and 2016. First, a general description of body satisfaction in adolescents with GI was developed. Secondly, multiple linear regression analyses were performed to determine the association between body image and psychological functioning, both for total problems and for internalizing and externalizing problems separately. Third, regression analyses are repeated for body area subscales. Adolescents with GI report the greatest dissatisfaction with the genital area, regardless of birth-assigned sex. For all other body areas, there were birth-assigned sex differences in satisfaction. The analyses showed that body satisfaction was significantly related to total psychological problems and both internalizing and externalizing problems. Greater body dissatisfaction is significantly associated with worse psychological functioning in adolescents with GI. Clinicians should monitor the body image of adolescents with GI over time, especially during puberty and medical interventions.

Commonality and Specificity in Chinese Parental Emotion Socialization and Adolescents' Psychological Functioning: A Bifactor Approach.

Understanding of the conceptual relations among different parental emotion socialization processes (i.e., whether and how they are distinct or share common components) and their developmental implications for adolescents is limited, especially within Asian cultural contexts. Guided by the parental emotion socialization framework, this study aimed to: (1) investigate a conceptual model that delineates general and specific components in parental emotion socialization with both adolescents and parents within a contemporary Asian cultural context-Beijing, China, and (2) examine whether the common and specific processes predicted adolescents' psychological functioning six months later for both informants. Participants included 1486 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 15.11 years; 52.6% males) and their primary caregivers (Mage = 44.93 years; 44.9% males). Both adolescents and parents self-reported on parental emotion socialization and adolescents completed a measure of their psychological functioning at two time-points. We evaluated the fit of one-factor, first-order factor, and bifactor models for both informants separately. Results indicated a good fit of the bifactor model with a proposed general factor of parent meta-emotion philosophy and specific factors of parental reaction and emotional expressivity, with partial factorial invariance of the parental reaction factor across informants. The common and specific factors uniquely predicted adolescents' psychological functioning. Findings inform the parental emotion socialization framework, particularly our conceptual understanding of the different processes with Asian samples, and have practical implications for the design and implementation of comprehensive and culturally relevant parenting interventions in support of adolescent psychological functioning.

Impact de l’anxiété d’évaluation sur le fonctionnement scolaire et psychologique des adolescents

Plusieurs adolescents, particulièrement les filles, présentent un problème lié à l’anxiété d’évaluation. Les études montrent que l’anxiété d’évaluation a des conséquences négatives aux plans scolaire et psychologique, à court et à long terme. Cette étude vise à examiner de façon longitudinale si l’anxiété d’évaluation affecte négativement le fonctionnement scolaire (engagement scolaire, compétence scolaire perçue et rendement scolaire) et le fonctionnement psychologique (symptômes dépressifs et estime de soi) des jeunes, en contrôlant pour différentes variables au premier temps de mesure, soit les facteurs sociodémographiques, l’adversité familiale, les symptômes d’anxiété sociale et les symptômes d’anxiété généralisée. L’étude a été réalisée auprès de 10 918 adolescents provenant de 71 écoles secondaires au Québec. Les résultats des analyses de régression montrent que l’anxiété d’évaluation est associée à des difficultés scolaires et psychologiques au deuxième temps de mesure avant l’ajout des variables de contrôle. Elle demeure prédictive de la compétence scolaire perçue, d’une plus faible estime de soi et de symptômes dépressifs après l’ajout des variables de contrôle. La discussion porte sur les implications théoriques et cliniques de l’anxiété d’évaluation.

Families in Youth-to-Parent Aggression Situation: Clinical Symptoms, Parenting and Family Functioning

ABSTRACT One objective of this study was to obtain the psychological functioning profile of adolescents involved in youth-to-parent aggression (YPA) situations, as well as their family functioning, analyzing variables that had not received empirical attention, such as emotional intelligence, parental criticism, the parent-to-child bond, or knowledge of family history. Another objective was to explore which predictors related to adolescent characteristics, parenting and family functioning were most useful for discriminating between YPA and non-YPA groups. Participants were two equivalent groups (one from a family therapy center specializing in the treatment of YPA and a group from the general population), with a total of 133 adolescents and 256 parents. Regarding the psychological functioning of adolescents, the results indicated low emotion regulation and anxious-depressive symptomatology of adolescents involved in YPA. The parenting style was characterized by high overprotection and low care. However, family criticism (AUC = .828) was identified as the best predictor of YPA, with the capacity to discriminate between YPA and non-YPA groups. Families involved in YPA may have a rigid disengaged family functioning and affectionless-controlling parenting style. The central role of family criticism in YPA was unknown. The current study contributes to the literature by showing the need for individual psychological treatment and family therapy of all members of the family as a whole involved in YPA, not just the adolescent aggressors.

The Strong African American Families Program: Disrupting the Negative Consequences of Racial Discrimination Through Culturally Tailored, Family-Based Prevention

Racism continues to be a major source of stress for African Americans and can impair psychological functioning. Adolescents experiencing discrimination may engage in self-soothing, but risky behaviors, which leave them at risk for negative life trajectories. Black pride has been identified as a key factor in explaining the heterogeneity in responses to discrimination. Racial socialization, strategies parents use to promote Black pride and protect youth from discrimination, is an important focus of family-based prevention programs serving African American families. This study tests the efficacy of a culturally tailored preventive intervention for rural African American families to disrupt the negative consequences of discrimination on adolescent psychological functioning. Four waves of data from the Strong African American Families (SAAF) efficacy trial (Murry & Brody in Journal of Marital & Family Therapy 30(3):271-283, 2004) with 667 African American families in rural Georgia were used for this study. Structural equation modeling was used to test study hypotheses. Adolescent experiences with discrimination at age 15 predicted concurrent psychological functioning and multiple risk behaviors at age 16, including sexual risk behavior, substance use problems, academic failure, and juvenile justice involvement. Mediation analyses demonstrated that psychological functioning was a significant mediator of these relations. The SAAF program was associated with increases in racial socialization, which in turn fostered gains in adolescent Black pride. Black pride was indirectly associated with reduced risk behavior through adolescent psychological functioning, but Black pride did not moderate the effect of discrimination on psychological functioning. This study confirms that family-based prevention can support African American adolescent mental health in the context of discrimination. However, more emphasis on reducing exposure to discrimination is needed.

The Importance of Perceived School Climate and Personal Strengths Use for Psychological Functioning among High School Students

The aim of this study was to determine the importance of high school students’ personal strengths use and the perceived school climate on their psychological functioning. The sample of 258 students from a gymnasium filled in measures for adolescent psychological functioning, strengths use and perceived school climate. Contrary to what was expected, the results revealed that personal strengths use did not moderate the relationship between students’ perceived school climate and their psychological functioning. However, both factors – perceived school climate and strengths use – independently of each other, significantly predicted students’ psychological functioning. Therefore, in order to achieve more positive developmental outcomes, it is not enough to create a good climate at school, it is also important to create opportunities for students to use their personal strengths.

Irregular sleep habits, regional grey matter volumes, and psychological functioning in adolescents.

Changing sleep rhythms in adolescents often lead to sleep deficits and a delay in sleep timing between weekdays and weekends. The adolescent brain, and in particular the rapidly developing structures involved in emotional control, are vulnerable to external and internal factors. In our previous study in adolescents at age 14, we observed a strong relationship between weekend sleep schedules and regional medial prefrontal cortex grey matter volumes. Here, we aimed to assess whether this relationship remained in this group of adolescents of the general population at the age of 16 (n = 101; mean age 16.8 years; 55% girls). We further examined grey matter volumes in the hippocampi and the amygdalae, calculated with voxel-based morphometry. In addition, we investigated the relationships between sleep habits, assessed with self-reports, and regional grey matter volumes, and psychological functioning, assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and tests on working memory and impulsivity. Later weekend wake-up times were associated with smaller grey matter volumes in the medial prefrontal cortex and the amygdalae, and greater weekend delays in wake-up time were associated with smaller grey matter volumes in the right hippocampus and amygdala. The medial prefrontal cortex region mediated the correlation between weekend wake up time and externalising symptoms. Paying attention to regular sleep habits during adolescence could act as a protective factor against the emergence of psychopathology via enabling favourable brain development.

Caregiver and divine support: Associations with resilience among adolescents following disclosure of sexual abuse

BackgroundSocial support is believed to be important for fostering adolescent resilience following sexual abuse. Caregiver support is often examined as a source of support for adolescents, but divine support (support from God or a higher power) has received scant research attention. ObjectiveThis study examines relations of caregiver support and divine support with resilience following adolescent sexual abuse. Participants and SettingParticipants were 548 adolescents aged 11–17 (Mage = 13.78; 91% female) and their non-offending caregivers (Mage = 39.68; 79% mothers). Families were recruited from a children’s advocacy center located in the southern United States following a disclosure of sexual abuse. MethodsAdolescents completed measures of caregiver and divine support and their social and academic functioning; caregivers and adolescents reported on adolescent psychological functioning. Resilience was operationalized as the absence of clinical levels of psychological symptoms together with the presence of adaptive levels of social and academic functioning. ResultsBoth caregiver support (r = .19, p < .001) and divine support (r = .14, p = .001) were positively associated with resilience. Considered together in regression analyses, caregiver support (OR = 1.02, p = .001) and divine support (OR = 1.06, p = .04) were both associated with resilience. ConclusionClinicians and researchers should consider the potential contribution of caregiver and divine support to adolescent resilience following sexual abuse.

Associations of sleep with psychological problems and well‐being in adolescence: causality or common genetic predispositions?

BackgroundWhereas short and problematic sleep are associated with psychological problems in adolescence, causality remains to be elucidated. This study therefore utilized the discordant monozygotic cotwin design and cross‐lagged models to investigate how short and problematic sleep affect psychological functioning.MethodsAdolescent twins (N = 12,803, 13–20 years, 42% male) completed questionnaires on sleep and psychological functioning repeatedly over a two‐year interval. Monozygotic twin pairs were classified as concordant or discordant for sleep duration and trouble sleeping. Resulting subgroups were compared regarding internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and subjective well‐being.ResultsCross‐sectional analyses indicated associations of worse psychological functioning with both short sleep and problematic sleep, and cross‐lagged models indicate bidirectional associations. Longitudinal analyses showed that an increase in sleep problems experienced selectively by one individual of an identical twin pair was accompanied by an increase of 52% in internalizing problem scores and 25% in externalizing problem scores. These changes were significantly different from the within‐subject changes in cotwins with unchanged sleep quality (respectively, 3% increase and 5% decrease). Psychological functioning did, however, not worsen with decreasing sleep duration.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that sleep quality, rather than sleep duration, should be the primary target for prevention and intervention, with possible effect on psychological functioning in adolescents.

What I do like is the summer: psychodrama with adolescents on summer holidays

Este artigo apresenta uma intervenção psicodramática com sete adolescentes ao longo de oito sessões no período de férias escolares de verão, que decorreu numa clínica hospitalar de Psiquiatria e Saúde Mental do norte de Portugal. A pertinência da manutenção do processo psicoterapêutico já iniciado em alguns adolescentes, e a necessidade de dar uma resposta psicoterapêutica a outros, fez com que se desse continuidade a um grupo de intervenção durante o verão, altura em que o acompanhamento grupal é habitualmente suspenso. Considera-se que a presença nestas sessões, para além da ação terapêutica, pôde constituir-se como uma continuidade do cumprimento de um compromisso semanal extrínseco ao contexto sociofamiliar pela promoção de trocas sociais com pares comprometidas pela interrupção escolar. O estudo, de caráter retrospectivo, teve como objetivo identificar os problemas/dificuldades, assim como compreender a experiência subjetiva dos adolescentes sobre o processo terapêutico em grupo de psicodrama. Para tal, foi aplicado um conjunto de instrumentos ideográficos antes, durante e após a intervenção. Os resultados deste estudo serão discutidos tendo em conta as implicações para a investigação e prática clínica psicodramática. A avaliação final da experiência sugere que o psicodrama promoveu mudanças ao nível do comportamento e funcionamento psicológico dos adolescentes, nomeadamente na diminuição da percepção de ansiedade e de desadequação no desempenho social, na melhoria do autoconceito e da identificação/expressão emocional que são reveladoras de saúde mental.

Adolescent Identity Development in Japan

AbstractAdolescence is a critical period of identity development. Since identity development occurs between an individual and the culture, we assume that there are diverse pathways of adolescent identity development across different cultural contexts. However, much of the research on adolescent identity development has been conducted in Western contexts. Research on adolescent identity development in Japan, a non‐Western country characterized as individualistic collectivism in culture and marked by prolonged adolescence in society, provides insight into how aspects of culture and society are crucial to the global study of adolescent identity development. Evidence from Japanese adolescents highlights differences from their Western peers in the developmental process of identity, including its instability and uncertainty, and similarities in the importance of identity to adolescent psychological functioning for both global and cultural indices. Going forward, researchers need to further clarify the interdependence between adolescent identity and the cultural and social context across and within cultures.

Conceptualizing Digital Stress in Adolescents and Young Adults: Toward the Development of an Empirically Based Model.

Existing literature provides a complicated picture of the relationship between digital media use and psychological outcomes. Both correlational and some experimental studies suggest that social media use specifically can be associated with diminished psychological functioning in adolescents and young adults. However, these effect sizes are not large, and must be considered in light of studies that suggest some positive outcomes associated with some uses of digital media, and a range of moderators of the identified associations. Although a growing body of evidence suggests that digital stress may be an important intervening factor between digital media use and psychosocial outcomes, this literature is complicated by multiple nomenclatures for similar or identical constructs. Our review of the literature suggests four potentially related components of digital stress, including availability stress, approval anxiety, fear of missing out, and communication overload. This conceptualization is consistent with recent published frameworks for understanding digital media's influence on peer relationships. Clinicians working with adolescents and young adults are encouraged to assess digital media use in the context of clients' overall psychological and social functioning, and in consideration of clients' specific uses of media. Future research is needed to examine the associations among components of digital stress and clinical outcomes, and to provide valid measures to assess digital stress in research and clinical settings.

Effects of earlier bedtimes on sleep duration, sleep complaints and psychological functioning in adolescents

To investigate the association between bedtimes, sleep duration, sleep complaints and psychological functioning, we assessed early, middle and late adolescents who attended boarding schools with the same school schedules. Moreover, we studied whether particularly evening types benefit from set bedtimes. A total of 1571 adolescents (age range = 11 to 21 years; mean age = 16.51 years ± 1.83; 55% females) attending boarding schools in German-speaking Switzerland were assessed. Adolescents who slept at the boarding schools (n = 1013, 64%; INTERNS) were compared with adolescents attending the same schools but who slept at home (n = 558, 36%; EXTERNS). INTERNS’ regular bedtimes were supervised by school staff, whereas EXTERNS had variable bedtimes. Participants were split into early, middle and late adolescents and morning and evening types. Participants completed questionnaires covering sociodemographic information, sleep-related information, chronotype and psychological functioning. Irrespective of attending boarding school full time or living at home, older adolescents reported shorter sleep duration compared to younger adolescents. INTERNS, early, middle and late adolescents reported more sleep complaints and more psychological issues than EXTERNS. Under supervised conditions, particularly older adolescents and evening types reported longer sleep duration but did not report less sleep complaints or more favourable psychological functioning. Within a larger sample of adolescents attending boarding schools, longer sleep duration was found among full-board students with supervised set bedtimes, particularly for older adolescents who are evening types. In general, adolescents with earlier set bedtimes reported longer sleep duration, but did not report less sleep complaints or more favourable psychological functioning.

The Longitudinal Impact of Screen Time on Adolescent Development: Moderation by Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia

PurposeTo date, little is known about underlying psychophysiological contributions to the impact of media content and overall screen time on adolescent psychological functioning. In the present study we examine respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) as a moderator of the link between specific types of media content use, overall media exposure, and the development of internalizing and aggressive symptoms in youth. MethodsA sample of 374 adolescents (mean age = 15) reported on their media use, internalizing behavior, and aggressive behavior at time 1 (2011) and 1-year follow-up (2012). RSA reactivity was gathered during a challenging laboratory task. Path analyses were conducted to test the hypothesized three-way interaction model between media use, media content, and RSA reactivity, separately for internalizing and aggressive problems. ResultsSignificant interactions were found for aggressive, but not prosocial, media content. For aggressive content, youth exhibiting RSA withdrawal reported significantly greater internalizing and aggressive symptoms when exposed to higher amounts of screen time and aggressive content. ConclusionsThese findings suggest that profiles of heightened RSA withdrawal may place adolescents at greater risk to the negative impact of violent media, whereas prosocial media content may not significantly impact youth development of psychopathology. Implications for the role of psychophysiology in our understanding of media effects are discussed.

Adolescent Psychological Functioning and Membership in Latent Adolescent-Parent Communication Dual Trajectory Classes.

The primary goal of this study was to examine the relationship between adolescents' psychological functioning (as indicated by depressive symptoms) and substance use (alcohol and drug use) and membership in adolescent-parent communication trajectory subgroups in a large, diverse community sample of adolescents from the United States (n=1,057; 53% female; 51% Caucasian; Age: M=16.15, SD=.75). Adolescents completed questionnaires at three annual assessments. Fit indices from parallel process growth mixture models suggested three dual trajectory classes: (1) Average communication with both parents (Average-Both); (2) Good adolescent-mother and poor adolescent-father communication (Good-Mom/Poor-Dad); and (3) Poor adolescent-mother and good adolescent-father communication (Poor-Mom/Good-Dad). The trajectory classes differed by gender. In addition, psychological functioning and substance use were differentially related to the trajectory classes.

Psychological functioning in adolescents referred to specialist gender identity clinics across Europe: a clinical comparison study between four clinics

Adolescents seeking professional help with their gender identity development often present with psychological difficulties. Existing literature on psychological functioning of gender diverse young people is limited and mostly bound to national chart reviews. This study examined the prevalence of psychological functioning and peer relationship problems in adolescents across four European specialist gender services (The Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, and Switzerland), using the Child Behavioural Checklist (CBCL) and the Youth Self-Report (YSR). Differences in psychological functioning and peer relationships were found in gender diverse adolescents across Europe. Overall, emotional and behavioural problems and peer relationship problems were most prevalent in adolescents from the UK, followed by Switzerland and Belgium. The least behavioural and emotional problems and peer relationship problems were reported by adolescents from The Netherlands. Across the four clinics, a similar pattern of gender differences was found. Birth-assigned girls showed more behavioural problems and externalising problems in the clinical range, as reported by their parents. According to self-report, internalising problems in the clinical range were more prevalent in adolescent birth-assigned boys. More research is needed to gain a better understanding of the difference in clinical presentations in gender diverse adolescents and to investigate what contextual factors that may contribute to this.

Factor Structure of the Affective Style Questionnaire in Flemish Adolescents

Emotion regulation plays an important role in both healthy and problematic adolescent psychological functioning. Emotion regulation tendencies can be assessed with the Affective Style Questionnaire (ASQ; Hofmann & Kashdan, 2010), but its validity in Dutch speaking adolescents has not been investigated so far. Two methods, namely traditional confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the recently developed exploratory structural equations modeling (ESEM), were compared to examine the dimensional structure of the ASQ in a Flemish adolescent sample (N = 1,601). Although, as expected, the ESEM-model fit the data better than the CFA-model, the fit indices indicated that both models did not have an acceptable fit. With a shortened version of the ASQ, model fit improved substantially, but only the ESEM solution provided a good fit. The ESEM results support the use of the adapted ASQ to effectively assess the affective styles of concealing, adjusting and tolerating in Dutch-speaking adolescents.

Psychological characteristics of Italian gender dysphoric adolescents: a case-control study.

Gender dysphoria (GD) is associated with clinically significant distress and impairment in social, scholastic, and other important areas of functioning, especially when early onset is reported. The aim of the present study is to assess the psychopathological features associated with GD in adolescence, comparing a group of gender dysphoric adolescents (GDs) with a group of non-referred adolescents (NRs), in terms of body uneasiness, suicide risk, psychological functioning, and intensity of GD. A sample of 46 adolescents with GD and 46 age-matched NRs was evaluated (mean ± SD age = 16.00 ± 1.49 and 16.59 ± 1.11 respectively, p > 0.05). Subjects were asked to complete the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT) to explore body uneasiness, the Youth Self Report (YSR) to measure psychological functioning, the Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale (MAST) for suicide risk, and the Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults (GIDYQ-AA) for GD assessment. Adolescents with GD reported significantly higher levels of body uneasiness (BUT-GSI, F = 380.13, p < 0.0001), as well as a worse psychological functioning (YSR, F = 13.06 and p < 0.0001 for "total problem scale" and F = 12.53, p = 0.001 for "internalizing" scale) as compared to NRs. When YSR subscales were considered, GDs showed significantly higher scores in the "withdrawal/depression", "anxiety/depression", and "social problems" (all p < 0.0001). In addition, GDs showed significantly higher levels in the "attraction to death" and "repulsion by life" scales and lower scores in the "attraction to life" scale (all p < 0.0001). Finally, GIDYQ-AA score was significantly lower (meaning a higher level of gender dysphoria symptoms) in GDs vs. NRs (p < 0.0001). GD adolescents reported significantly higher body dissatisfaction and suicidal risk compared to NRs. In addition, results confirmed a significant impairment in social psychological functioning in adolescents with GD.

Psychological contributors to noncompletion of an adolescent preoperative bariatric surgery program

BackgroundNoncompletion of preoperative bariatric programs is a significant problem among adolescents. Adult studies suggest that psychological factors contribute to noncompletion of preoperative bariatric programs. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the association between adolescent psychological functioning and completion of the preoperative phase of a bariatric program. SettingThe study was conducted at a tertiary care children’s hospital affiliated with a university medical center. MethodsSeventy-four adolescents and their parents completed an assessment measure of psychological functioning with the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition. We compared these scores between adolescents who completed the preoperative phase of the bariatric program and proceeded to surgery (completers) to those who did not (noncompleters) using multivariate analysis of covariance and logistic regression analyses, adjusting for demographic characteristics and baseline body mass index. ResultsThe mean age was 16.0 (1.1) years, most were female (79.8%), and the group was diverse (48.6%, Caucasian; 33.8%, black; 17.6%, other, including Hispanic, Asian, and biracial). Average body mass index was 50.5 (7.6) kg/m2. Forty-two percent of participants were noncompleters. Noncompleters were reported by parents to have more clinically significant externalizing and internalizing behaviors and fewer adaptive behaviors. Noncompleters self-reported more clinically significant internalizing symptoms, emotional problems, and poor personal adjustment. ConclusionAdolescents who did not complete the preoperative phase of a bariatric surgery program had more clinically significant psychological symptoms across multiple domains compared with those who successfully proceeded to bariatric surgery. Early identification and treatment of psychological symptoms may be important in helping adolescents successfully proceed to surgery.