Journal of youth and adolescence
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Research documents that lability in parent-child relationships-fluctuations up and down in parent-child relationships-is normative during adolescence and is associated with increased risk for negative outcomes for youth. Yet little is known about factors that predict lability in parenting. This study evaluated whether children's behaviors predicted lability in parent-child relationships. ⋯ Among parents with high levels of internalizing problems, higher levels of youth maladjustment were associated with greater lability in parents' warmth. Among parents with low in internalizing problems, higher levels of youth maladjustment were associated with less lability in parents' warmth. The discussion focuses on how and why parent internalizing problems may affect parental reactivity to youth problem behavior and intervention implications.
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Peer victimization is a common experience among high school students and is associated with many negative adjustment outcomes, making it necessary to investigate the individual and contextual factors that may ameliorate the consequences of peer victimization. The current study explores whether social competence offline and online mediates the relationship between peer victimization and psychological adjustment for adolescents. High school students (n = 303, Mage = 15.83, 65.2% female) reported about their peer victimization experiences, social skills, perceptions of peers' acceptance offline and social media acceptance, and self-worth. ⋯ Path analysis revealed that offline social skills mediate the relationship between peer victimization and self-worth. Also, there was a modest correlation between the indicators of offline social skills and online social skills indicating that they are not identical and have different associations with self-worth. Since teens are interacting with social media as another context of their everyday life, the implications for interventions aimed at targets of peer-victimization are meaningful.
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There is some evidence that mindful parenting, a parenting approach that involves the practice of bringing mindful awareness to the parent-child relationship, is associated with several positive psychosocial outcomes in adolescents. However, only a few studies have investigated the mechanisms that may underlie that association. This study explores whether the link between mindful parenting and adolescents' well-being is mediated by adolescents' attachment representations, self-compassion and mindfulness skills. ⋯ The path model was invariant across stages of adolescence but some relations in the model varied across gender. Self-compassion and mindfulness seem to develop within a parent-child relationship characterized by affection, self-regulation, and mindful awareness. These two resources, along with mindful parenting and positive representations of the parent-child relationship, are associated with adolescents' well-being.
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Despite efforts to increase female representation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), females continue to be less motivated to pursue STEM careers than males. A short-term longitudinal study used a sample of 1449 high school students (grades 9-12; 49% females) to examine pathways from gender and mindset onto STEM outcomes via motivational beliefs (i.e., expectancy beliefs, task value, and cost). Mindset, motivational beliefs, and STEM career aspirations were assessed between the fall and winter months of the 2014-2015 school year and math grades were obtained at the conclusion of the same year. ⋯ Expectancy beliefs mediated the pathway between gender and math achievement. This mediated pathway was stronger for females than for males, such that females had higher math achievement than males when they endorsed a growth mindset. Findings suggest possible avenues for improving female's interest in STEM.
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Understanding the interrelation among problem behaviors and their change over time is fundamental for prevention research. The Healthy Teens Longitudinal Study followed a cohort of adolescents from Grades 6-12. Prior research identified two distinct trajectories of perpetration of physical dating violence: Low and Increasing. ⋯ The difference in the rate of change between groups was not significant. This longitudinal study highlights that problem behaviors-physical dating violence, suicidal ideation and attempts, weapon carrying and threats, marijuana and alcohol use-cluster together as early as sixth grade and the clustering persists over time. The combination of these behaviors poses a great public health concern and highlight the need for early interventions.