Journal of Early Adolescence

The current study investigated early adolescents' experiences of friend-related stress across middle school and its developmental consequences following the transition to high school. Using a sample of approximately 1,000 middle school students, four unique friend-related stress trajectories were observed across middle school: consistently low friend-related stress (57% of the sample), consistently high friend-related stress (7%), moderate and increasing friend-related stress (22%), and moderate but decreasing friend-related stress (14%)...

In line with family systems theory, we examined patterns of hostile interactions within families and their associations with externalizing problems among early-adolescent children. Using hostility scores based on observational data of six dyadic interactions during a triadic interaction ( n = 462) (i.e., child-to-mother, mother-to-child, child-to-father, father-to-child, mother-to-father, father-to-mother)-Latent Profile Analysis supported three distinct profiles of hostility. The Low/Moderate Hostile profile included families with the lowest levels of hostility across dyads; families in the Mutual Parent-Child Hostile profile scored higher on parent-child hostility, but lower on interparental hostility; the Hostile Parent profile showed higher levels of parent-to-child and interparental hostility, but lower child-to-parent hostility...

This study examined the mediating effect of friends' characteristics (problem behavior and academic achievement) in the association between students' background (family and individual factors) and later academic adjustment, as operationalized by problem behavior and academic achievement. We recruited 998 participants in three public middle schools and used three annual waves of data collection (Grades 6, 7, and 8). We found that students' own academic achievement and problem behavior are predictors of later adjustment...

Peer relations researchers have suggested that dyadic and peer group relationship characteristics may interact with each other to affect behavior. Building on prior work that has pitted the relative effects of dyadic and peer group relationship characteristics on susceptibility to peer influence, the present study sought to integrate dyadic and group characteristics into a moderational model by testing whether friendship quality and peer group identification together exacerbate risk for conforming to peer norms for substance use...

The present study examined associations between effortful control, a trait marker of self-regulation, adaptive HPA system functioning (as reflected by the CAR), and concurrent and longitudinal depressive problems, in a sample of preadolescent Latino youth ( N = 119, mean age = 11.53 years, 59% female). We hypothesized that trait readiness for self-regulation (e.g., effortful control) could be related to physiological state readiness for self-regulation (e.g., CAR), and that both may counter depressive problems...

The current study investigated the mechanisms through which a parenting intervention for military families fosters positive peer adjustment in children. A sample of 336 families with a history of parental deployment enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of the After Deployment Adaptive Parenting Tools (ADAPT) preventive intervention. ADAPT is a 14-week preventive intervention designed to strengthen parenting in military families. The intervention was associated with improvements in mother's and father's parental locus of control (i...

Developmental shifts during early adolescence relate to type 1 diabetes (T1D) self-management, increased risk of emotional distress, and worsening health status. Less is known about positive experiences related to T1D. This study evaluated associations of positive well-being (PWB) with diabetes burden, self-management, and glycemic control. Youth ( N = 55, age = 12-13 years; X̄ age = 12.75 + 0.56 years, 50.9% male, 38.2% non-Caucasian) reported PWB, depressive symptoms, and diabetes burden. Parents reported on overall T1D adherence...

This study examined South African early adolescent youth (aged 10 to 14) and their female caregivers ( N = 99 dyads) participating in an HIV prevention intervention over a period of eight months. We examined youth perceptions of neighborhood cohesion, safety, and collective monitoring as they related to concurrent and longitudinal associations with youth (externalizing behavior and hope about the future) and family (parent-youth relationship quality, parental involvement, and parental responsiveness to sex communication) functioning while controlling for baseline characteristics...

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with health-risk behaviors in general samples of adults and adolescents. The current study examined the association between ACEs and these behaviors among a high-risk sample of early adolescents. Five hundred and fifteen 9-11-year-old children placed in foster care due to maltreatment were interviewed about their engagement in violence, substance use, and delinquency. A multi-informant ACEs score was derived based on exposure to six adverse experiences. Regression analyses examined the relationship between ACEs and risk behaviors and the potential moderating effects of age, sex, and minority status...

The present study examined influences of 6th grade student-reported parent educational involvement on early adolescent peer group affiliations at 7th and 8th grade. In addition, student gender and ethnicity were explored as possible moderators. Drawn from a large effectiveness trial, participants in this study were 5,802 early adolescents across twenty middle schools in the Northwest region of the United States. Findings suggested that specifically parent's educational involvement in 6th grade predicted increases in positive peer affiliation, when controlling for a general score of parent monitoring practices...

Adolescents' negative expectations of their peers were examined as predictors of their future selection of hostile partners, in a community sample of 184 adolescents followed from ages 13 to 24. Utilizing observational data, close friend- and self-reports, adolescents with more negative expectations at age 13 were found to be more likely to form relationships with observably hostile romantic partners and friends with hostile attitudes by age 18 even after accounting for baseline levels of friend hostile attitudes at age 13 and adolescents' own hostile behavior and attitudes...

Nolen-Hoeksema proposed that rumination increases stressful events and circumstances; however, few studies have examined this question. Thus, we explored whether (a) rumination predicted increases in the generation of chronic and acute stress, (b) excessive reassurance seeking (ERS) mediated links between rumination and stress generation, (c) rumination increased exposure to acute independent (uncontrollable) stress, and (d) rumination predicted chronic stress generation in certain domains, but not others. These questions were examined in a 1-year study of 126 early adolescent girls ( M age = 12...

This study investigated the structure and concurrent validity of the Beliefs About Fighting Scale (BAFS). Participants were 2,118 students from three urban middle schools who completed measures of their beliefs, frequency of physical aggression, victimization, and nonviolent intentions. Ratings of students' frequency of physical aggression, physical victimization, and nonviolent behavior were also obtained from their teachers. The majority of the sample was African American (81%). Confirmatory factor analyses supported a model with separate factors representing beliefs against fighting, beliefs that fighting is sometimes necessary, beliefs supporting reactive aggression, and beliefs supporting proactive aggression...

This study examined the relationship between developmental assets during early and mid-adolescence and early adult sexual behaviors among American Indians using a subsample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health ( N = 465). Grounded in an assets framework, the authors explored the protective role of personal, family, school, and community assets as well as cumulative assets for sexual behaviors including early sexual debut, number of sexual partners, and frequency of condom use. The results indicated that certain assets during early and mid-adolescence, such as self-control, family support, and school attachment were protective for various risky sexual behaviors in early adulthood...

Mounting research supports that co-rumination, the tendency to seek peer support by engaging in extensive negatively focused discussion, is a risk factor for adolescent psychopathology. It is unclear, though, how this interpersonal tendency develops. Parental responses to adolescents' negative affect likely shape how youth utilize peer relationships to regulate distress, as they shift to reliance on peer support during this developmental stage. For example, nonsupportive parental responses may fail to instill healthy regulation strategies, resulting in ineffective forms of peer support, such as co-rumination...

School moves during adolescence predict lower peer integration and higher exposure to delinquent peers. Yet mobility and peer problems have several common correlates, so differences in movers' and non-movers' social adjustment may be due to selection rather than to causal effects of school moves. Drawing on survey and social network data from a sample of 7th and 8th graders, this study compared the structure and behavioral content of new students' friendship networks to those of not only non-movers, but also of students about to move schools; the latter should resemble new students in both observed and unobserved ways...

This study examined two competing hypotheses regarding the moderators of the association between relational aggression and peer status in early adolescence. The mitigation relational aggression hypothesis examined whether positive social behaviors reduced the negative effects of relational aggression, thus amplifying the association between relational aggression and perceived popularity. The effective use of relational aggression hypothesis examined whether leadership skills facilitated the proficient use of relational aggression, thus amplifying the association between relational aggression and perceived popularity...

Although religiousness has been identified as a protective factor against adolescent substance use, processes through which these effects may operate are unclear. The current longitudinal study examined sequential mediation of afterlife beliefs and future orientation in the relation between adolescent religiousness and cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use. Participants included 131 adolescents (mean age at Time 1 = 12 years) at three time points with approximately two year time intervals. Structural equation modeling indicated that higher religiousness at Time 1 was associated with higher afterlife beliefs at Time 2...

Basic knowledge of human reproduction can help youth prepare for puberty and make later classes focused on advanced reproductive health topics manageable. With the intention of potentially informing the creation of learning materials, we conducted a needs assessment among children ages 7 to 12 in our suburban Chicago community to ascertain their current understanding of, and beliefs and misconceptions about, human reproduction, and to determine their needs for additional reproductive health education. We held qualitative focus group interviews with local children...

Using structural equation modeling, we examined the relationship of Hispanicism on recent substance use and whether Americanism moderated the effect in a sample of 1,141 Hispanic adolescents. The Bicultural Involvement Questionnaire (BIQ) was used to determine the degree of individual comfort in both Hispanic (Hispanicism) and American (Americanism) cultures. Hispanicism was associated with greater family functioning ( β = 0.36, p < .05) and school bonding ( β = 0.31, p < .01); Americanism moderated the effect of Hispanicism on substance use ( β = 0...