Journal of Adolescence

INTRODUCTION: Left-behind adolescents are vulnerable to depressive symptoms under the context of parent-adolescent separation. However, limited knowledge is available regarding left-behind adolescents' depression trajectory and the protective resources against it. The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the depression trajectory and its association with parent-adolescent separation (left-behind status, age of separation and duration of separation) and parent-adolescent cohesion (father-adolescent cohesion, mother-adolescent cohesion) among left-behind adolescents...

BACKGROUND: It has been demonstrated that self-efficacy and coping styles are related. However, whether there is a reciprocal longitudinal relation between self-efficacy and coping styles needs to be examined. In this longitudinal study, we tested the reciprocal impacts of self-efficacy and coping styles, taking into account the role of future self-continuity (FSC) in these effects. METHODS: The sample included 346 university students in central and southwestern China (48...

INTRODUCTION: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related stigma affects adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for youth living with HIV. Emotion regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal (reinterpreting adversity to mitigate emotional impact) and expressive suppression (inhibiting emotion-expressive behavior activated by adversity) may moderate the HIV stigma-ART adherence relationship in this group. METHODS: Using baseline data from 208 youth living with HIV aged 15-24 years enrolled in an mHealth ART-adherence intervention, we performed modified Poisson regressions with robust variance between HIV stigma (internalized, anticipated, enacted) and ART nonadherence...

INTRODUCTION: While the study of conspiracy theory beliefs is a relatively new research area, there has been a rise in academic interest in recent years. The literature provides evidence of relationships between conspiracy theory beliefs and a range of factors, but the vast majority of studies are limited to adult samples, and it is unclear how such beliefs present in adolescence. METHODS: The systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA-S format. Relevant databases were searched up to February 23, 2023, for quantitative studies related to adolescent conspiracy theory beliefs...

INTRODUCTION: Negative urgency (the tendency to act rashly when experiencing negative emotions) is a robust risk factor for a number of problem behaviors, including early adolescent drinking. Little is known about the factors that precede the development of negative urgency, and hence the full etiology of this component of risk. The current study aimed to investigate the possibility that facets of childhood maladaptive emotion socialization (the tendency for children's expressions of emotions to be met with punishment, minimized, or invoke a reaction of distress from their parents/caretakers) increases risk for the development of negative urgency and drinking behavior...

INTRODUCTION: The initiation and continued use of tobacco products constitute an ongoing source of preventable disease that continues to pose a significant risk to global adolescent health. Scarce research has sought to explore the influences of two well-known environmental risk factors, parental supervision and peer cigarette use, on genetic and environmental contributions to adolescent cigarette use, especially in non-Western populations. METHODS: Following 602 Chinese twin pairs (52% female, N = 1204) from early to middle adolescence at two-time points (Mage = 12 and 15) from 2006 to 2009 and using multivariate biometric modeling, this study examined gene-environment interplay (i...

INTRODUCTION: Coparenting in unmarried families is a protective factor for positive adolescent adjustment. Although the relations between coparenting and adolescent outcomes have been investigated, it remains unclear whether the specific patterns of maternal and paternal coparenting are associated with adolescent behavioral outcomes. METHODS: The present study includs a longitudinal cohort of 1143 triads of unmarried parents and their adolescents to examine the associations between different patterns of coparenting and adolescent behavioral problems and delinquency...

INTRODUCTION: Early life stress is linked to childhood obesity. As children enter adolescence, early life stress may be associated with increased rejection sensitivity, resulting in activation of behavioral and physiological changes that contribute to higher body mass index (BMI). Understanding the potential influence of rejection sensitivity on the association between early life stress and BMI is important to examine in female adolescents. For this secondary data analysis, we hypothesized that female adolescents with greater early life stress and greater rejection sensitivity would exhibit higher BMI-for-age 12 months later...

INTRODUCTION: The present study examined predictors of negative changes in weight control intentions from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic among adolescents. METHODS: Participants were Canadian secondary school students enrolled in the COMPASS study and had completed self-report surveys before (T1; 2018/2019 and/or 2019/2020 school year) and during (T2; 2020/2021 and/or 2021/2022) the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 11,869, Mage  ± SD = 13...

INTRODUCTION: Although social media (SM) use is nearly ubiquitous among adolescents, there is a lack of clarity concerning the relationship between SM use and mental health outcomes like depression and suicidal ideation (SI), which increase during adolescence. Much of the previous literature has focused on the frequency of SM use; however, the current study examined the relationship between the perceived importance of three types of interactions and functions of SM use and depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation...

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents' attachment security toward parental figures has been assessed in multiple cultures and languages. In some cultural contexts, the presence of a secondary parental figure is ubiquitous, though its effect on children's and adolescents' well-being has been understudied. The present study aimed to validate a culture-specific Arabic instrument of attachment security, in an adolescent sample of Qatar. Since foreign domestic workers (Khadama) play a key role as secondary caring figures in Middle Eastern countries, the new instrument included parents (i...

INTRODUCTION: Left-behind children are a special group that needs urgent attention. Due to enduring separation from their parents, loneliness is considered the most common and prevalent developmental hurdle in the experiences of left-behind children. This longitudinal cross-lagged study examined the direction of the association between loneliness and both internalizing and externalizing symptoms, with considering gender and left-behind status differences. METHODS: A total of 1175 rural Chinese children (48...

INTRODUCTION: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) young people experience higher prevalence rates of suicidality than their heterosexual and/or cisgender peers. However, there is limited research that can inform suicide prevention efforts. Our aim was to synthesize quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research on risk and protective factors among LGBTQ+ young people, from countries with a high Global Acceptance Index. METHODS: A scoping review guided by Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage framework, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews protocol...

INTRODUCTION: Creating romantic relationships characterized by high-quality, satisfaction, few conflicts, and reasoning strategies to handle conflicts is an important developmental task for adolescents connected to the relational models they receive from their parents. This study examines how parent-adolescent conflicts, attachment, positive parenting, and communication are related to adolescents' romantic relationship quality, satisfaction, conflicts, and management. METHOD: We interviewed 311 adolescents at two time points (females = 52%, ages 15 and 17) in eight countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States)...

INTRODUCTION: In a diverse society, individuals often need to make prosocial decisions toward others who vary on a range of intertwined social identities. Adolescence is a prime time to promote intergroup prosociality due to identity salience during this developmental stage. In this study, our goal was to develop and provide initial validation, of a novel measure on intergroup prosocial behavior considering gender and race/ethnicity. METHOD: We used two independent samples of early adolescents (N1  = 118, Mage  = 12...

INTRODUCTION: As college students navigate new developmental milestones, many families rely on digital technology to stay connected and aid in the transition to adulthood. Digital location tracking apps allow for parental monitoring in new ways that may have implications for youth development. Although recent research has begun to examine prevalence and motivations for digital location tracking in adolescence, we know little about how and why families continue to track into the transition to college, and how this may relate to perceptions of helicopter and autonomy supportive parenting...

BACKGROUND: Parent-adolescent relationship quality is theorized to be an important correlate of adolescent affective well-being. Little is known about the within-family processes underlying parent-adolescent relationship quality and affective well-being over a period of months. This three-wave, preregistered study examined within- and between-family associations between parent-adolescent relationship quality (support and conflict) and adolescent well-being (negative and positive affect)...

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic likely affected adolescent sexual behaviors and alcohol use, although how is not well understood. METHOD: Youth were sampled from the national, online longitudinal Growing up with Media study. They responded via text messaging to open-ended questions about how the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted the sexual behavior and alcohol use of adolescents. Conventional content analysis summarized open-ended responses. RESULTS: 416 responses were analyzed from 335 participants (aged 15-30, US residents), 81 of whom provided data for both topics...

INTRODUCTION: Research suggests that girls who reach menarche at an early age are at greater risk for negative sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes than their later-maturing counterparts, but very little research has examined this issue in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in West Africa. The goal of the current study was to determine whether early menarche was associated with any SRH outcomes in a sample of Ghanaian girls. METHODS: The study data were drawn from the baseline assessment of a longitudinal study involving two age cohorts (13-14 and 18-19 years) of 700 adolescent girls from Ghana...

INTRODUCTION: We investigated whether gender-typed traits (masculinity and femininity) contemporaneously predicted self-reported peer victimization, peer-reported peer victimization, and sibling victimization. We also tested the moderating role of sex and popularity. METHODS: A sample of 2782 British pupils aged 11-16 from Central England, UK was screened for bullying involvement and popularity using self-report and peer nominations, and a subsample of 704 (52.7% girls) completed a measure of gender-typed traits (masculinity and femininity)...