Adolescent focal theories: age-trends in developmental transitions

'Do I care?' Young adults' recalled experiences of early adolescent overweight and obesity: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVE

Individual behaviour change to reduce obesity requires awareness of, and concern about, weight. This paper therefore describes how young adults, known to have been overweight or obese during early adolescence, recalled early adolescent weight-related awareness and concerns. Associations between recalled concerns and weight-, health- and peer-related survey responses collected during adolescence are also examined.

DESIGN

Qualitative semi-structured interviews with young adults; data compared with responses to self-report questionnaires obtained in adolescence.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 35 participants, purposively sub-sampled at age 24 from a longitudinal study of a school year cohort, previously surveyed at ages 11, 13 and 15. Physical measures during previous surveys allowed identification of participants with a body mass index (BMI) indicative of overweight or obesity (based on British 1990 growth reference) during early adolescence. Overall, 26 had been obese, of whom 11 had BMI99.6th centile, whereas 9 had been overweight (BMI=95th-97.9th centile).

MEASURES

Qualitative interview responses describing teenage life, with prompts for school-, social- and health-related concerns. Early adolescent self-report questionnaire data on weight-worries, self-esteem, friends and victimisation (closed questions).

RESULTS

Most, but not all recalled having been aware of their overweight. None referred to themselves as having been obese. None recalled weight-related health worries. Recollection of early adolescent obesity varied from major concerns impacting on much of an individual's life to almost no concern, with little relation to actual severity of overweight. Recalled concerns were not clearly patterned by gender, but young adult males recalling concerns had previously reported more worries about weight, lower self-esteem, fewer friends and more victimisation in early adolescence; no such pattern was seen among females.

CONCLUSION

The popular image of the unhappy overweight teenager was not borne out. Many obese adolescents, although well aware of their overweight recalled neither major dissatisfaction nor concern. Weight-reduction behaviours are unlikely in such circumstances.

Levels and confounders of morning cortisol collected from adolescents in a naturalistic (school) setting

Salivary cortisol is widely used in research but little is known about the typical, or expected, functioning of the HPA-axis in adolescents in naturalistic settings, nor whether the extensive array of confounders documented in the literature is applicable in this situation. In a school-based study, 2995 15-year-old pupils provided two saliva samples, 30 min apart, in morning sessions timed to capture peak cortisol decline. The collection protocol was a balance between the large sample size obtainable in a school situation and a limited number of samples, constrained by the school timetable. In addition, pupils completed a questionnaire containing items previously shown to be associated with cortisol levels (e.g. time since awakening and life events), and their height and weight were measured. Outcome measures were cortisol levels at Times 1 and 2, and change (per minute) in cortisol between the two time points. Median (IQR) cortisol levels for males and females were 10.5 (8.1) and 11.6 (9.3) nmol/L at Time 1, and 8.2 (6.0) and 8.1 (6.5) nmol/L at Time 2. 73% had a decline in cortisol level of more than 10% across the two time points, compatible with the expected diurnal pattern. In bivariate analyses, cortisol sampled on Monday, times of measurement and since awakening, prior smoking and several life events were associated with cortisol levels at Times 1 and 2 in both sexes. However, in multivariate analysis, few of these variables remained after controlling for times of measurement and since awakening and, in addition, the final models differed between the sexes. Two events (friend dying and splitting with a boy/girlfriend) predicted cortisol levels in both sexes while age, maturity, recent eating and smoking were predictors only in males. Several factors associated with cortisol change differed from those observed for absolute levels. Further adjustment for school clustering affected some associations, particularly time of measurement. This study managed many of the problems found in naturalistic research on cortisol and provides norms for morning cortisol levels in 15-year-old adolescents.

Life-course experiences and mortality by adult social class among young men

Circumstances over the life-course may contribute to adult social class differences in mortality. However, it is only rarely that the life-course approach has been applied to mortality studies among young adults. The aim of this study is to determine to what extent social class differences in mortality among young Finnish men are explained by living conditions in the parental home and life paths related to transitions in youth. The data for males born in 1956-60 based on the 1990 census records are linked with death records (3184 deaths) by cause of death for 1991-98, and with information on life-course circumstances from the 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1985 censuses. Controlling for living conditions in the parental home-social class, family type, number of siblings, language and region of residence-reduced the high excess mortality of the lower non-manual (RR 1.51, 95% CI: 1.28-1.79), skilled manual (RR 2.94, 2.54-3.40), and unskilled manual class (RR 4.08, 3.51-4.73) by 10% in all-cause mortality. The equivalent reduction for cardiovascular disease was 28% and for alcohol-related causes 16%. The effect of parental home on mortality differences was mainly mediated through its effect on youth paths (pathway model). Educational, marital, and employment paths had a substantial effect-independent of parental home-on social class differences from various causes of death. When all these variables were controlled for adult social class differences in cause specific mortality were reduced by 75-86%. Most of this reduction in mortality differences can be attributed to educational path. However, marital and employment paths had their independent effects, particularly on the excess mortality of unskilled manual workers with disproportionately common exposure to long-term unemployment and living without a partner. In summary, social class differences in total mortality among men in their middle adulthood were only partly determined by parental home but they were mainly attributable to educational, marital, and employment paths in youth.

Naturally occurring mentoring in Japan and the United States: social roles and correlates

Although the word "mentor"has traditionally been used to describe a relationship between an older adult and a younger person, recent work has extended its usage to relationships with peers and groups rather than with individuals and uncoupled the instrumental and affective qualities of the role. This paper examines (a) the extent to which adolescents' relationships with significant others in different social roles are characterized by mentoring and (b) the extent to which mentoring and other relationship functions covary. Adolescents' naturally occurring social relationships are explored in two very different contexts-Japan and the United States-that differ in the norms and patterning of social interactions. College students (N = 365) used questionnaires to describe the extent to which relations with significant others were characterized by mentoring. Results indicate striking similarity in the patterning of results in the two countries and support the traditional view of mentoring. Mentoring is most likely to occur in relationships with adults (especially parents), rather than with peers, and with same-gender, rather than other-gender associates. Mentoring by parents appears to covary with other aspects of positive relationships, but be more independent in relationships with unrelated adults or peers. Although more of the variability in experienced mentoring is attributed to differences between associates than to differences between adolescents in both the United States and Japan, this is especially true of the United States. Results suggest that although "classic" mentoring is most common in both countries, mentoring is somewhat less constrained by social role differences in Japan than is in the United States.

The socioemotional adjustment of adolescents with LD in the kibbutz during high school transition periods

This study examined several aspects of the socioemotional experiences (i.e., loneliness, social skills, reciprocal friendship, reciprocal rejection, and social status) of adolescents with and without learning disabilities in an Israeli kibbutz environment during school transition periods. The sample consisted of 106 students with learning disabilities (LD; 74 boys and 32 girls) and 101 students without learning disabilities (NLD; 62 boys and 39 girls) drawn from seventh grade (i.e., early adolescence) and ninth grade (i.e., middle adolescence). The results revealed that seventh- and ninth-grade adolescents with LD received more social peer rejection than did NLD group adolescents, and students with LD were judged by their teachers to exhibit lower social skills and higher behavioral problems than their classmates. No significant group differences were found on loneliness, but an age-related increase in loneliness feelings was noted, which was independent from group membership and gender. Gender differences on self-report, peer ratings, and teachers' ratings on social measures in favor of girls were demonstrated. The discussion focuses on the potential impact of school transitions and of the developmental environment provided in the kibbutz on adolescents' socioemotional functioning and adjustment.