Family conflict, mood, and adolescents' daily school problems: moderating roles of internalizing and externalizing symptoms

The Daily Process of Interpersonal Conflict and Mood among Chinese Adolescents: A Multilevel Moderated Mediation Analysis of Cognitive Appraisal, Social Support and Psychological Capital

A growing body of literature has confirmed the within-person process from interpersonal conflict to adolescent mood on a day-to-day timescale. However, research on how, when and for whom adolescent interpersonal conflict relates to their daily mood is underdeveloped. This study examined whether interpersonal conflict is related to mood through threat appraisal and self-blaming attribution and whether these relationships would be moderated by daily social support and psychological capital. Daily experience-sampling data were collected over 14 consecutive days from 264 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 14.74 years, SD = 1.48). The results indicate that adolescents had more negative moods and less positive moods on the days when they experienced more conflicts than usual. Same-day threat appraisal serves as a mediator in the relationship between interpersonal conflicts and negative mood, and same-day threat appraisal and self-blaming attributions play serial mediating roles in the relationship between interpersonal conflicts and same-day positive mood. Furthermore, the relationship between interpersonal conflict and same-day positive mood was moderated by daily social support and psychological capital, i.e., this relationship was stronger in days with more social support and in adolescents with high levels of psychological capital, which is consistent with the reverse stress-buffer model. These findings reveal the instant cognitive mechanism of interpersonal conflict and daily mood and identify when and for whom interpersonal conflict is associated with daily mood.

Food and Mood: Daily Associations Between Missed Meals and Affect Among Early Adolescents

OBJECTIVE

Youth frequently miss meals and experience hunger, yet no studies have assessed how these experiences relate to changes in daily emotional states. This daily diary study examined associations of missing breakfast, missing lunch, and hunger with daily positive and negative affect among young adolescents.

METHODS

A community sample of 133 grade 5 and 6 students (50.4% boys, Mage = 10.77, 19.5% BIPOC) from two public schools completed baseline socio-demographic measures at the beginning of the study and daily measures at the end of the school day over 5 consecutive days. Measures included positive and negative affect, breakfast, lunch, and hunger. Multilevel regression models were constructed to test the associations.

RESULTS

Among participating youth, 27.8% missed breakfast at least once, 15.0% missed lunch at least once, and 26.3% felt hungry at least once. Missing breakfast was associated with increased negative affect (B = 0.36, p = .030) and missing lunch was related to both increased negative affect (B = 0.52, p = .019) and decreased positive affect (B = -0.80, p = .002). Hunger was not related to daily affect.

CONCLUSION

This study provides a unique view of youths' experiences of missing meals, hunger, and daily emotional states. The findings underscore the importance of youth being adequately nourished through school meal programs. Clinicians should screen for and address missing meals among their young patients.

Dynamic Processes of Parent-Adolescent Conflict and Warmth in Chinese Families: Differences between Mothers and Fathers

Parent-adolescent relationships are shaped by daily interactions that include both warmth and conflict, yet most research has focused on aggregate or long-term patterns rather than their day-to-day fluctuations. Guided by family systems theory, this study examined how mothers and fathers distinctly contribute to daily parent-adolescent warmth and conflict, as well as how these interactions vary across families. The sample consisted of 307 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 13.02 years, SD = 0.762 years; 49.51% girls). Participants reported their daily perceptions of warmth and conflict with both their mothers and fathers over a 10-day period. Dynamic structural equation modeling showed significant autoregressive effects for mother- and father-adolescent warmth and conflict. Cross-lagged analyses revealed that higher levels of mother-adolescent conflict, higher levels of father-adolescent warmth, and lower levels of father-adolescent conflict predicted increased mother-adolescent warmth the following day. Additionally, greater father-adolescent conflict predicted greater mother-adolescent conflict the next day. Within-family effects varied in both direction and magnitude across families and some lagged effects were moderated by adolescent age and family income. Overall, these findings emphasize the importance of considering parent gender and family-level variations when examining daily family dynamics. They also suggest that maternal warmth may be especially sensitive to the family's daily relational experiences, highlighting the need for parenting practices and interventions that acknowledge and address this responsiveness.

Daily Interplay of Positive and Negative Events with Adolescents' Daily Well-Being: Multilevel Person-Centered and Variable-Centered Approaches

INTRODUCTION

This study examined associations between adolescents' daily negative and positive events and their coping efficacy, an understudied topic but pivotal to adolescent thriving.

METHODS

The sample included 153 parent-adolescent triads; adolescents' mean age, 15.71 years (SD = 1.53), 51% girls. Parents were in their midlife (Mage mother = 47.82, SD = 4.90; Mage father = 50.39, SD = 5.80). The study used a daily diary methodology to test within-person links to establish a temporal order of effects. Over seven consecutive days, adolescents reported on 14 daily negative and positive events. Adolescents, mothers, and fathers reported on adolescents' daily coping efficacy.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Multilevel latent profile analysis (MLPA) identified 4 day-level event profiles: "low event day" (34% of days), reflecting low levels of both positive and negative events and low coping efficacy and positive and negative mood; "positive day" (44%), reflecting dominance of intense positive events and corresponding high coping efficacy and positive mood; "mixed day," reflecting a combination of intense positive and negative events with average coping efficacy and positive mood despite high negative mood and impaired coping. Multilevel path analysis showed adolescents reported increased coping efficacy a day after increased academic load, and parents reported increased adolescent coping efficacy a day after positive parent-adolescent interactions. Fathers reported decreased adolescent coping efficacy a day after peer disappointment. Findings suggest positive events predominate in adolescents' lives, and their coping efficacy is sensitive to dynamic changes in the valence of context.

A Quality Improvement Initiative to Decrease Behavioral Health Unit Readmission Rates

OBJECTIVE

Youth behavioral health inpatient beds are limited during a time of crisis. Around one-third of youth admitted to a behavioral health unit (BHU) will be readmitted within 1 year of discharge, with 8% to 13% being admitted within 30 days. In one study, they found that more than one-third of patients initially admitted for suicidal ideation or attempt were readmitted within 7 days. Our objective was to decrease 7-day and 30-day readmission rates to our BHU by 20% by May of 2023.

METHODS

We collected baseline data through medical record review for our pediatric BHU readmissions from July 2020 until July 2021. Interventions, such as standardized workflows and checklists, were trialed with Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles beginning October 2021 until November 2022. Performance was analyzed using statistical process control charts (U-charts). Sustainment was tracked through December 2023. Length of stay (LOS) was tracked as a balancing measure. Compliance with our readmission checklist was tracked as a process measure.

RESULTS

Both 7-day and 30-day readmission rates to the pediatric BHU decreased as interventions were initiated and adopted. The rates of patients readmitted within 7 and 30 days decreased from a baseline mean of 5.54 to 2.83 (49%) and 11.52 to 7.38 (36%) per 100 hospitalizations, respectively. The LOS for the BHU decreased from 5.58 to 5.09 days. The readmission checklist was used for 81 out of 83 patients, or 97.5%.

CONCLUSION

Adoption of multiple interventions produced a decrease in readmissions to a pediatric BHU.

Assessing attitudes toward seeking psychological professional help among adolescents: the roles of demographics and self-esteem

BACKGROUND

Various factors associated with attitudes toward the utilization of professional psychological help among the school-going population have been explored, but studies from Arabian Gulf countries are lacking. This study aimed to assess attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, examine how demographic factors and self-esteem are associated with seeking psychological help, and understand the interaction between these variables.

METHODS

A cross-sectional correlational design was used. A random sample of Omani secondary school students (n = 2165) aged 15-18 years completed the demographics sheet, the Scale of Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help (SATSPH), and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Hierarchical regression analysis with interaction was performed to test the moderating role of self-esteem in the relationship between selected demographics and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help (ATSPH).

RESULTS

Most of the adolescents exhibited poor attitudes toward ATSPH. The findings demonstrated a significant moderating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between demographics (sex and age) and ATSPH (ΔR 2 = 0.002, F (7, 2156) = 4.839, p < 0.001). In terms of sex, women may have more positive attitudes toward seeking help than men. However, when self-esteem is considered, the positive effect of being female can reverse at higher levels of self-esteem, suggesting that men with higher self-esteem may have more positive attitudes toward seeking help than women with higher self-esteem. Furthermore, initially, age was not significant. However, when self-esteem was introduced as a moderator, age was a significant predictor. These findings indicate that the effect of age on seeking professional psychological help is influenced by self-esteem.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights that attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help among Omani adolescents are generally poor and are influenced by both demographic factors and self-esteem. Although women tend to have more positive attitudes than men do, this can change with varying levels of self-esteem. Similarly, the effect of age on these attitudes is dependent on self-esteem levels. This underscores the complex interplay between demographic factors and self-esteem in shaping attitudes toward psychological help-seeking behaviors. Therefore, more studies of this nature are warranted.

Adolescent Emotional Reactivity in Family and School Contexts: Prospective Links to Adolescent Psychopathology

Emotional reactivity has been linked to adolescent psychopathology and mental health problems. However, limited research has investigated the distinct associations between emotional reactivity in multiple interpersonal contexts and the development of adolescent psychopathology. The current study examined emotional reactivity to interparental conflict, parent-adolescent conflict, and school problems as predictors of adolescent internalizing problems, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms six months later. The sample included 139 adolescents (54% girls; Mage = 13.30, SDage = 0.73) and their parents who completed 10-day daily reports and 6-month follow-up assessments in Taiwan. Results showed that negative emotional reactivity to interparental conflict was associated with increased internalizing problems, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms, after controlling for emotional reactivity to parent-adolescent conflict and school problems, outcomes at baseline, mean negative emotions, and sex. Furthermore, the associations between both positive and negative emotional reactivity to interparental conflict and adolescent anxiety symptoms was stronger for girls than boys. Findings suggested that heightened emotional reactivity to interparental conflict is a risk factor for predicting adolescent psychopathology, especially for girls' anxiety symptoms. Results highlight the importance of emotional reactivity across multiple interpersonal contexts in adolescence.

A closer look into the affect dynamics of adolescents with depression and the interactions with their parents: An ecological momentary assessment study

Adolescents with depression tend to perceive behavior of parents as less positive than adolescents without depression, but conclusions are based on retrospective reports assessed once or over long time intervals, with the risk of memory biases affecting the recall. The current study used ecological momentary assessments to examine the link between adolescent affect and the amount of warmth and criticism expressed by both mothers and fathers in families with adolescents with depression versus adolescents without psychopathology in daily life. It also explored the possible bias by assessing parenting on the momentary, daily (EMA), and retrospective level. The sample consisted of 34 adolescents with depression and 58 parents and 80 healthy controls and 151 parents (adolescents: Mage = 15.8, SD = 1.41; 67.5% girls, parents: Mage = 49.3, SD = 5.73; 54.1% mothers). Participants completed retrospective questionnaires and four surveys a day for 14 consecutive days. Preregistered multilevel models showed that momentary parenting reports of adolescents with depression and healthy controls did not differ. The associations between perceived parenting of both mothers and fathers and adolescent affect did also not differ between the two groups. These results illustrate that adolescents generally benefit from supportive parenting, but substantial differences between individuals were found. In contrast to the momentary data, both adolescents with depression and their parents did report more negative parenting on retrospective questionnaires than healthy controls and their parents indicating that adolescents with depression may have a negativity bias in their retrospective recall. These findings are highly relevant for clinical practice and underscore the need for careful assessments on different time scales and including all family members.

Prevalence and correlates of emotion dysregulation among children and adolescents in Lebanon: results from a National Survey

BACKGROUND

Data on Emotion Dysregulation among youth in Lebanon is scarce. Given that Emotion Dysregulation is associated with psychopathology and has a negative impact on youth outcomes, there is a need to better understand the prevalence, clinical and demographic correlates of Emotion Dysregulation.

METHODS

This study is a secondary analysis of the Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents in Lebanon Study which recruited 1517 youth and one parent from a nationally representative sample. Participants completed The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders, Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Peer Relations Questionnaire, Conflict Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ).Parents completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Dysregulation Profile was used to measure Emotion Dysregulation.

RESULTS

The prevalence of Emotion Dysregulation was 11.26% among children aged 5 to < 8 years, 9.40% among children aged 8 to < 12 years and 6.60% among those older than 12 years. Emotion Dysregulation was associated with psychopathology across age groups and a number of correlates were identified. In the final regression models, among children aged 5 to < 8 years; Emotion Dysregulation was associated with lower odds of father employment (OR = 0.235;CI[0.078,0.704]). For those aged 8 to < 12 years old, Emotion Dysregulation was associated with acceptable school performance (OR = 2.246,CI[1.209,4.173]) as opposed to a good school performance, having a chronic physical illness (OR = 2.962; CI [1.495,5.867)], and higher parental GHQ scores (OR = 1.034;CI [1.010,10.58)] indicating worse parental mental health. Adolescents aged 12 years and older who screened positive for Emotion Dysregulation were more likely to be younger (OR = 0.688, CI[0.527,0.899]), be a bully (OR = 2.467;CI[1.036,5.875] and to have higher parental CBQ scores (OR = 1.092;CI [1.011,1.180]), indicating worse parent-child conflict. Youth who screened positive for emotion dysregulation were more likely to seek psychiatric care than their counterparts who screen negative for emotion dysregulation.

CONCLUSION

Age, school performance, parental mental health, parental conflict, chronic physical illness and bullying emerge as important correlates of Emotion Dysregulation. Findings add to the limited data on Emotion Dysregulation in Lebanon and the region and are a first step towards developing intervention and prevention strategies.

Longitudinal panel networks of risk and protective factors for early adolescent suicidality in the ABCD sample

Rates of youth suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) are rising, and younger age at onset increases vulnerability to negative outcomes. However, few studies have investigated STBs in early adolescence (ages 10-13), and accurate prediction of youth STBs remains poor. Network analyses that can examine pairwise associations between many theoretically relevant variables may identify complex pathways of risk for early adolescent STBs. The present study applied longitudinal network analysis to examine interrelations between STBs and several previously identified risk and protective factors. Data came from 9,854 youth in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study cohort (Mage = 9.90 ± .62 years, 63% white, 53% female at baseline). Youth and their caregivers completed an annual measurement battery between ages 9-10 through 11-12 years. Panel Graphical Vector Autoregressive models evaluated associations between STBs and several mental health symptoms, socioenvironmental factors, life stressors, and substance use. In the contemporaneous and between-subjects networks, direct associations were observed between STBs and internalizing symptoms, substance use, family conflict, lower parental monitoring, and lower school protective factors. Potential indirect pathways of risk for STBs were also observed. Age-specific interventions may benefit from prioritizing internalizing symptoms and early substance use, as well as promoting positive school and family support.

Parent Psychopathology and Behavioral Effects on Child Brain-Symptom Networks in the ABCD Study

OBJECTIVE

Parents play a notable role in the development of child psychopathology. In this study, we investigated the role of parent psychopathology and behaviors on child brain-symptom networks to understand the role of intergenerational transmission of psychopathology. Few studies have documented the interaction of child psychopathology, parent psychopathology, and child neuroimaging.

METHOD

We used the baseline cohort of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (N = 7,151, female-at-birth = 3,619, aged 9-11 years) to derive brain-symptom networks using sparse canonical correlation analysis with the Child Behavior Checklist and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We then correlated parent psychopathology symptoms and parental behaviors with child brain-symptom networks. Finally, we used the significant correlations to understand, using the mediation R package, whether parent behaviors mediated the effect of parent psychopathology on child brain connectivity.

RESULTS

We observed 3 brain-symptom networks correlated with externalizing (r = 0.19, internalizing (r = 0.17), and neurodevelopmental symptoms (r = 0.18). These corresponded to differences in connectivity between the default mode-default mode, default mode-control, and visual-visual canonical networks. We further detected aspects of parental psychopathology, including personal strength, thought problems, and rule-breaking symptoms to be associated with child brain connectivity. Finally, we found that parental behaviors and symptoms mediate each other's relationship to child brain connectivity.

CONCLUSION

The current study suggests that positive parental behaviors can relieve potentially detrimental effects of parental psychopathology, and vice versa, on symptom-correlated child brain connectivity. Altogether, these results provide a framework for future research and potential targets for parents who experience mental health symptoms to help mitigate potential intergenerational transmission of mental illness.

PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY

Utilizing data from 7,151 participants in the ABCD Study, the authors found that positive parental behaviors, like acceptance and appropriate parental monitoring may reduce the potentially detrimental effects of parental psychopathology on child brain connectivity. These results provide potential targets for parents that experience mental health symptoms, or clinicians who treat families, to help mitigate potential intergenerational transmission of mental illness.

Parental differential treatment of siblings linked with internalizing and externalizing behavior: A meta-analysis

This meta-analysis linked relative and absolute parental differential treatment (PDT) with internalizing and externalizing behavior of children and adolescents. Multilevel meta-analysis data represented 26,451 participants based on 2890 effect sizes coming from 88 sources, nested within 43 samples. Participants were between 3.18 and 18.99 years of age (Mage = 12.64, SD = 3.89; 51.31% female; 82.23% White; 54.68% from the United States). Less-favored treatment (relative PDT) was linked to more internalizing and externalizing behavior. Additionally, greater differences in parenting between siblings (absolute PDT) were linked to more internalizing and externalizing behavior. Some links were moderated by other factors. For example, some effects were stronger when PDT was reported by children, and others, when siblings were closer in age.

Peer Stress Spills Over to Family Stress in the Context of Emotion Regulation Difficulties: A Daily Diary Study with Chinese Adolescents

Conflict in peer and family relationships becomes more common in the adolescent period when compared to previous developmental periods. These typical developmental challenges can be exacerbated in the context of poor emotion regulation skills. Using daily diary data, the current study examined the stress spillover effects of peer and family stress on one another, as well as the moderating role of emotion regulation challenges (i.e., emotional inhibition, dysregulation). A sample of 310 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 13.02 years, SD = 0.76 years, 50.7% boys) completed an initial measure of emotion regulation difficulties, then reported on peer and family stress for 10 consecutive weekdays. Results indicated that there was an overall same-day peer stress spillover effect in which adolescents' peer stress on a given day was negatively associated with later conflictual interactions with their parents. Further, the relation between peer stress and same- and next-day family stress was exacerbated in the context of high levels of emotional inhibition. Family stress did not significantly relate to next-day peer stress, nor was this association moderated by difficulties with emotion regulation. These results highlight the temporal sequence of daily peer-to-family stress spillover. Though emotional inhibition may be culturally adaptive for maintaining interpersonal harmony, it can be maladaptive in managing stress for Chinese adolescents.

Within-family associations of parent-adolescent relationship quality and adolescent affective well-being

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). In addition, we examined whether the associations differed between mothers and fathers, and for adolescents' affective well-being in different social contexts (at home, at school, with peers).

METHODS

The sample consisted of 244 Dutch adolescents (61.5% girls; age range: 12-17 years; mean age = 13.8 years). Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were used.

RESULTS

At the between-family level, higher levels of support and lower levels of conflict were associated with higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative affect. At the within-family level, increases in support and decreases in conflict were concurrently associated with increases in positive affect and decreases in negative affect. More parent-adolescent conflict than typical also predicted increases in negative affect, 3 months later, and more negative affect and less positive affect than typical predicted increased conflict, 3 months later. These within-family effects were largely similar for fathers and mothers. Associations for conflict occurred through bidirectional processes: Parent-adolescent conflict shaped and was shaped by adolescents' emotions at home, at school, and with peers.

CONCLUSION

Results suggest that parent-adolescent relationship quality (especially conflict) and adolescent affective well-being cofluctuate and predict each other over time within families.

Longitudinal relations among family dysfunction, depressive symptoms, and cyberbullying involvement in Chinese early adolescents: Disentangling between- and within-person associations

Family dysfunction plays an important role in cyberbullying and cybervictimization. However, little research has investigated the longitudinal relations and the mediating mechanisms between them during adolescence. This study examined the longitudinal relations between family dysfunction and cyberbullying and cybervictimization, along with whether depressive symptoms function as mediators between them at the within-person level. A total of 3,743 Chinese adolescents (46.2% females; Mage = 9.92 years; SD = 0.51) participated a five-wave longitudinal study with a 6-month time interval. The results of random intercept cross-lagged panel model found that: (1) family dysfunction directly predicted depressive symptoms and vice versa at the within-person level; (2) depressive symptoms directly predicted cyberbullying and cybervictimization at the within-person level, but not vice versa; (3) family dysfunction indirectly predicted cyberbullying and cybervictimization via depressive symptoms at the within-person level; (4) at the between-person level, there were significant associations among family dysfunction, depressive symptoms, cyberbullying and cybervictimization. The results are discussed on the basis of the mechanisms that lead to cyberbullying and cybervictimization.

How Parental Incarceration Shapes the Timing and Structure of Fertility for Children of Incarcerated Parents

The timing and structure of fertility have important implications for individuals and society. Families play a critical role in fertility; however, little is known about how parental incarceration shapes fertility despite it being a common experience in the life course of disadvantaged children. This study examines the consequences of parental incarceration for children's fertility using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. I employ multiple-decrement life tables and survival analyses to estimate the relationship between parental incarceration and fertility. Individuals who experience parental incarceration have different timing of fertility, with earlier first births and a quicker pace of subsequent births, as well as more nonmarital fertility, compared with those who do not experience parental incarceration. This analysis finds consistent evidence that parental incarceration is associated with the timing and structure of fertility and suggests that a parent's incarceration carries consequences over the life course of children. This study advances our understanding of how mass incarceration shapes American families, illustrates how the broader consequences of mass incarceration contribute to social inequality, and provides evidence that the enduring implications of incarceration span multiple generations.

Associations of caregiver-adolescent conflict and caregiver emotional support with adolescent trauma symptoms and adjustment after sexual abuse

BACKGROUND

Emotional support from a caregiver is believed to be important for reducing the likelihood of adolescent trauma symptoms and adjustment problems after sexual abuse. Conflict with a caregiver, another relational dynamic, is very common during adolescence, but little is known about how it might operate in tandem with emotional support to influence adolescent trauma symptoms and adjustment after sexual abuse.

OBJECTIVE

To better understand how caregiver emotional support and caregiver-adolescent conflict jointly contribute to adolescent trauma symptoms and adjustment after sexual abuse.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Participants were 477 adolescents (Mage = 13.59, SD = 1.77) and a non-offending caregiver presenting at a children's advocacy center.

METHODS

Adolescents completed measures of caregiver-adolescent conflict, caregiver emotional support, and their own trauma symptoms and adjustment. Caregivers completed a measure of adolescent adjustment.

RESULTS

Caregiver-adolescent conflict and caregiver emotional support each correlated in the expected direction with adolescent trauma symptoms and adjustment (conflict correlations ranged from 0.27 to 0.38, all p values ≤.001; support correlations ranged from -0.15 to -0.21, all p values ≤.01). Regression analyses, which simultaneously considered conflict and support, indicated that conflict related to adolescent trauma symptoms and each of the measures of adolescent adjustment, whereas caregiver emotional support contributed to caregiver reports of adolescent adjustment. Caregiver-adolescent conflict did not moderate any of the relations between caregiver emotional support and adolescent trauma symptoms or adjustment.

CONCLUSIONS

In the aftermath of sexual abuse, caregiver-adolescent conflict contributes to adolescent trauma symptoms and adjustment.

A moment of autonomy support brightens adolescents' mood: Autonomy support, psychological control and adolescent affect in everyday life

This experience sampling study examined whether autonomy-supportive and psychologically controlling interactions with parents are intertwined with adolescents' momentary affect. For 7 days (in 2020), 143 adolescents (Mage  = 15.82; SDage  = 1.75; 64% girls; 95% European, 1% African, 3% unknown) reported 5 or 6 times a day how they felt and how interactions with parents were experienced. Preregistered dynamic structural equation models on 1439 (including 532 adjacent) parent-adolescent interactions revealed significant within-family associations: Adolescents experienced more positive affect during and following autonomy-supportive interactions, and vice versa. Adolescents felt more negative affect during and 3 h before psychologically controlling interactions. Between-family associations showed significant linkages between parenting and affect. These findings show that a moment of autonomy support can alter adolescents' everyday well-being.

Testing transactional processes between parental support and adolescent depressive symptoms: From a daily to a biennial timescale

Transactional processes between parental support and adolescents' depressive symptoms might differ in the short term versus long term. Therefore, this multi-sample study tested bidirectional within-family associations between perceived parental support and depressive symptoms in adolescents with datasets with varying measurement intervals: Daily (N = 244, Mage = 13.8 years, 38% male), bi-weekly (N = 256, Mage = 14.4 years, 29% male), three-monthly (N = 245, Mage = 13.9 years, 38% male), annual (N = 1,664, Mage = 11.1 years, 51% male), and biennial (N = 502, Mage = 13.8 years, 48% male). Preregistered random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) showed negative between- and within-family correlations. Moreover, although the preregistered models showed no within-family lagged effect from perceived parental support to adolescent depressive symptoms at any timescale, an exploratory model demonstrated a negative lagged effect at a biennial timescale with the annual dataset. Concerning the reverse within-family lagged effect, increases in adolescent depressive symptoms predicted decreases in perceived parental support 2 weeks and 3 months later (relationship erosion effect). Most cross-lagged effects were not moderated by adolescent sex or neuroticism trait level. Thus, the findings mostly support adolescent-driven effects at understudied timescales and illustrate that within-family lagged effects do not generalize across timescales.

Daily association between parent-adolescent relationship and life satisfaction: The moderating role of emotion dysregulation

INTRODUCTION

In adolescence, life satisfaction is an early indicator of later psychological well-being. However, researchers know little about how daily family relationships shape adolescent life satisfaction. The current study examined the day-to-day associations between parent-adolescent relationships and life satisfaction, and whether adolescent emotion dysregulation moderated these associations.

METHODS

A total of 191 adolescents (Mage  = 12.93, SDage  = 0.75, 53% female) recruited from junior high schools in Taiwan participated in a 10-day daily diary protocol. We conducted multilevel analyses to examine within-family and between-family processes.

RESULTS

At the within-family level, adolescents reported higher life satisfaction on days when parent-adolescent closeness was higher, but lower life satisfaction on days when parent-adolescent conflict was higher. At the between-family level, higher parent-adolescent closeness was associated with greater life satisfaction on average, while parent-adolescent conflict was not related to adolescent life satisfaction. Cross-level interactions indicated that within-family changes in parent-adolescent closeness and conflict were only associated with life satisfaction for adolescents with higher levels of emotion dysregulation, indicating emotion dysregulation may intensify the role of daily parent-adolescent relationships in shaping adolescent life satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS

This study expands current literature and provides novel evidence that changes in day-to-day parent-adolescent relationships have important implications for adolescent life satisfaction, especially for youth higher in emotion dysregulation. The findings underscore the importance of evaluating family and individual characteristics to better support adolescent well-being.

Emotional Reactivity to Daily Family Conflicts: Testing the Within-Person Sensitization

Although the sensitization hypothesis posits that heightened reactivity to interparental conflict is linked to adolescent psychopathology, limited studies tested whether sensitization would emerge in parent-adolescent conflict and across ethnicity or culture. This study revisits the sensitization hypothesis by examining adolescent emotional reactivity to interparental and parent-adolescent conflicts on a daily timescale. The sample included 163 adolescents (55% girls; Mage  = 12.79) and their parents (78% females; Mage  = 45.46) who completed a 10-day reports in Taiwan. Multilevel modeling results showed that, instead of interparental conflict, adolescents with greater histories of parent-adolescent conflict exhibited higher emotional reactivity when parent-adolescent conflict was higher. The findings underscore the importance of parent-adolescent conflict in evaluating adolescent developmental risk.

Longitudinal association of family conflict and suicidal behaviors among Chinese adolescents: The mediation effect of internalizing and externalizing problems

OBJECTIVE

Family conflict is a risk factor for suicidal behaviors among adolescents. However, few longitudinal studies have investigated this association and explored the mediation effect of behavioral and emotional problems. This study aimed to examine the longitudinal association between family conflict, internalizing and externalizing problems, and suicidal behaviors in a large sample of Chinese adolescents.

METHOD

This longitudinal study of 7,072 adolescents was based on the Shandong Adolescent Behavior & Health Cohort (SABHC). Participants completed a self-administrated questionnaire to assess family conflict, internalizing and externalizing problems, suicidal behaviors, and family demographics at baseline. Excluding adolescents with any suicidal behavior at baseline (N = 839), others (N = 6,233) were allowed to report their internalizing and externalizing problems and suicidal behaviors one-year later. Path analyses were conducted to examine the mediation relationship of internalizing and externalizing problems between family conflict and suicidal behaviors.

RESULTS

Of 6,233 participants, mean age was 14.52 at baseline and 51.2% were males. Adolescents with subsequent suicidal behaviors reported higher scores in family conflict, internalizing and externalizing problems (Ps < 0.01). Path analyses showed that internalizing and externalizing problems played a significant mediating role in the associations of family conflict with suicidal behaviors after adjusting for covariates.

CONCLUSIONS

Family conflict is associated with suicidal behaviors in adolescents, which is partially mediated by internalizing and externalizing problems. Internalizing problems is the major mediator between family conflict and suicidal thought or suicide plan; however, internalizing and externalizing problems play similar mediating roles in the family conflict-suicide attempt link.

Everyday Conflict in Families at Risk for Violence Exposure: Examining Unique, Bidirectional Associations with Children's Anxious- and Withdrawn-Depressed Symptoms

Exposure to family conflict during childhood increases risk for the development of anxiety and mood problems, though the potential for bidirectionality in this association remains unknown. It is also unclear whether nonviolent family conflict is related to children's anxious- and withdrawn-depressive symptoms within high-risk family contexts, independent of more severe events such as children's exposure to violent victimization. Participants included 1,281 children and their caregivers identified as being at high risk for family violence, interviewed prospectively at ages 6, 8, and 10 about family conflict, children's anxious- and withdrawn-depressive behaviors, and children's victimization experiences. After controlling for cumulative victimization prior to and between each time point, significant cross-lagged, bidirectional associations were identified between family conflict and children's anxious- and withdrawn-depressive symptoms across ages 6 and 8, but not across ages 8 and 10. Invariance testing revealed no differences in model fit between boys and girls and minimal differences depending on whether families were reported for maltreatment prior to recruitment. Findings are partially supportive of a conceptualization of the family-child relationship that is reciprocal, while highlighting the role of daily negative familial interactions, over and above experiences of victimization, in predicting anxious- and withdrawn-depressed symptoms in early and middle childhood.

Genetic risk of AUDs and childhood impulsivity: Examining the role of parenting and family environment

This study examined the independent and interactive effects of genetic risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD), parenting behaviors, and family environment on childhood impulsivity. Data were drawn from White (n = 5,991), Black/African American (n = 1,693), and Hispanic/Latino (n = 2,118) youth who completed the baseline assessment (age 9-10) and had genotypic data available from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. Participants completed questionnaires and provided saliva or blood samples for genotyping. Results indicated no significant main effects of AUD genome-wide polygenic scores (AUD-PRS) on childhood impulsivity as measured by the UPPS-P scale across racial/ethnic groups. In general, parental monitoring and parental acceptance were associated with lower impulsivity; family conflict was associated with higher impulsivity. There was an interaction effect between AUD-PRS and family conflict, such that family conflict exacerbated the association between AUD-PRS and positive urgency, only among Black/African American youth. This was the only significant interaction effect detected from a total of 45 tests (five impulsivity dimensions, three subsamples, and three family factors), and thus may be a false positive and needs to be replicated. These findings highlight the important role of parenting behaviors and family conflict in relation to impulsivity among children.

Bidirectional associations between family conflict and child behavior problems in families at risk for maltreatment

BACKGROUND

Children's exposure to family conflict is associated with the development of behavior problems. However, it remains unclear whether this association (1) functions bidirectionally and (2) exists independent of more severe forms of violent victimization.

OBJECTIVE

The present study aimed to examine bidirectional and transactional associations between family conflict and children's behavioral problems, controlling for time-varying violent victimization experiences. Invariance testing examined whether these models differed by gender and by maltreatment status prior to initial recruitment.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Participants were caregiver-child dyads identified prospectively as being at risk for maltreatment and family violence exposure prior to age four (N = 1281; 51.4 % female; 74.6 % persons of color).

METHODS

Caregivers were interviewed prospectively about family conflict, children's aggressive and delinquent behavior, and children's victimization experiences at child ages 6, 8, and 10.

RESULTS

After controlling for prior victimization, significant cross-lagged bidirectional associations were identified between family conflict and child behavior problems. Indirect effects from age 6 to age 10 externalizing problems through age 8 family conflict were not supported. Several bidirectional paths were stronger among boys than girls. Results revealed little evidence for moderation by prerecruitment maltreatment status.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings support a conceptualization of the family-child relationship that is reciprocal in nature and highlight the importance of non-violent, everyday negative family processes. Interventions aiming to improve child behavior problems by targeting severely dysfunctional family processes should also address non-violent, lower-level patterns of negative family interactions, such as everyday instances of blame, criticism, nonacceptance, and favoritism.

Adolescent Mental Health and Family Economic Hardships: The Roles of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Family Conflict

Rising and economically disproportionate rates of adverse mental health outcomes among children and youth warrant research investigating the complex pathways stemming from socioeconomic status. While adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been considered a possible mechanism linking socioeconomic status (SES) and child and youth psychopathology in previous studies, less is understood about how family environments might condition these pathways. Using data from a longitudinal, multiple-wave study, the present study addresses this gap by examining the direct relationships between family economic status and youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms, if ACEs mediate these relationships, and if conflictual family environments moderate these direct and indirect relationships. The data were obtained from 5510 youth participants [mean age at baseline = 9.52 (SD = 0.50), 47.7% female, 2.1% Asian, 10.3% Black, 17.6% Hispanic, 9.8% Multiracial/Multiethnic, 60.2% White] and their caretakers from the baseline, 1-year, and 2-year follow up waves. Conditional process analysis assessed the direct, indirect, and moderated relationships in separate, equivalent models based on youth- versus caregiver-raters of ACEs and youth psychopathology to capture potential differences based on the rater. The results of both the youth- and caregiver-rated models indicated that lower family economic status directly predicted higher levels of externalizing symptoms, and ACEs indirectly accounted for higher levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Additionally, family conflict moderated some, but not all, of these relationships. The study's findings highlight that lower family economic status and ACEs, directly and indirectly, contribute to early adolescent psychopathology, and conflictual family environments can further intensify these relationships. Implementing empirically supported policies and interventions that target ACEs and family environments may disrupt deleterious pathways between SES and youth psychopathology.

Mental Health Service Urgency in Children's Mental Health: Factors Impacting the Need for Expedited Services

Delayed access to mental health services for children and adolescents has been linked to an increased risk of harm and nonattendance to scheduled appointments. While studies suggest that the lack of standardized assessments for prioritizing individuals has contributed to long wait times, the inconsistent use of assessments across service sectors in Ontario continues to persist. This has contributed to a paucity of information surrounding which children and adolescents may require urgent mental health services. Using a large secondary data set, this study examined whether service sector (e.g., school), and other individual client characteristics (e.g., age, sex, legal guardianship, interpersonal and school conflict) predicted greater mental health service urgency in 61,448 children and adolescents assessed using the interRAI Child and Youth Mental Health Screener. Binary logistic regression revealed that all predictors, except for sector, showed a significant effect on service urgency. Findings are instrumental in prioritization, reducing the likelihood that children with acute needs remain on waitlists.

Parental support, marital conflict, and stress as predictors of depressive symptoms among African American adolescents

Given the increase of depressive symptoms among adolescents, it is essential to investigate familial and temperamental correlates of depressive symptoms such as parental support, marital conflict, and stress. Thus, using a cross-sectional design, the current study examined whether parental support, marital conflict, and stress predicted depressive symptoms. Then, using structural equation modeling, this study tested whether stress mediated the relationships among parental support, marital conflict, and depressive symptoms among African American adolescents while controlling for sex (N = 883). Results suggest that maternal support negatively related to depressive symptoms in contrast to stress and marital conflict. However, paternal support and sex were not statistically associated with depressive symptoms. Mediation results suggest that stress explained the relationships among parental support, marital conflict, and depressive symptoms. Family therapy and depression reduction implications are discussed.

Prosocial Behavior and Aggression in the Daily School Lives of Early Adolescents

Research has not adequately addressed a possible mutual co-regulatory influence of prosocial and aggressive behaviors in adolescents' daily lives. This study explored bidirectional within-person associations between prosocial and aggressive behaviors in the daily school lives of early adolescents. The sample included 242 sixth-graders [M_age = 11.96 (SD = 0.18), 50% girls] and their teachers. Adolescents reported on daily prosocial behavior and reactive and proactive aggression for ten consecutive days. Teachers and adolescents reported on adolescents' overall prosocial behaviors. Across-day prosocial behaviors increased after days when adolescents exhibited more reactive aggression but not among self-reported low-prosocial adolescents. Increased prosocial behaviors did not mitigate aggression the next day. The findings suggest prosocial behaviors are a plausible compensatory strategy after daily aggressive reactions.

The ENRICH Marital Satisfaction (EMS) Scale: A Psychometric Study in a Sample of Portuguese Parents

Marital satisfaction is a key construct in the assessment of a couple’s relationship, and it encompasses aspects such as the feelings of affection, trust, and companionship that arise from the exchanges between spouses. The ENRICH Marital Satisfaction (EMS) Scale has been widely used as a reliable measure to assess marital satisfaction. In the present study, we aimed to analyze the psychometric properties and the factor structure of the EMS Scale in a sample of Portuguese parents. A total of 205 mothers and fathers participated; 107 were women (52%), and 98 were men (48%), and the mean age was 38.39 years (SD = 5.85). The majority were two-parent families (89.3%), with children between the ages of 1 and 13 years (M = 6.90), 53% of whom were boys. The participants completed the EMS Scale together with the Parenting Stress Index Short Form and the Parenting Alliance Inventory. The results from a confirmatory factor analysis corroborate the two-dimensional structure of the instrument, with internal validity and reliability values that were suitable for application in the Portuguese population. The EMS Scale can be an important resource, with good psychometric quality, for professionals and researchers, which can be used in assessment and intervention programs, both at the individual and couple levels.

Parent-adolescent interaction quality and adolescent affect-An experience sampling study on effect heterogeneity

Person–environment interactions might ultimately drive longer term development. This experience sampling study (Data collection: 2019/20 the Netherlands) assessed short‐term linkages between parent–adolescent interaction quality and affect during 2281 interactions of 124 adolescents (M_age = 15.80, SD_age = 1.69, 59% girls, 92% Dutch, Education: 25% low, 31% middle, 35% high, 9% other). Adolescents reported on parent–adolescent interaction quality (i.e., warmth and conflict) and momentary positive and negative affect five to six times a day, for 14 days. Preregistered dynamic structural equation models (DSEM) revealed within‐family associations between parent–adolescent interaction quality and adolescent affect (concurrently: r = −.22 to .39; lagged effects: ß = −.17 to .15). These effects varied significantly between families. These findings stress the need for more person‐specific research on parenting processes.

Perceived academic stress and depressive symptoms among Chinese adolescents: A moderated mediation analysis of overweight status

BACKGROUND

Previous research has indicated the association of perceived stress with mental health problems. In China, Confucian collectivism and an exam-centered culture encourage parents to have high educational expectations that impose great pressure on their children's learning. However, limited research has focused on adolescents' perceptions of the negative consequences of academic stress stemming from their parents' educational expectations. This study addressed this research gap by examining the direct effect of adolescents' perceptions of academic stress on their depressive symptoms and the indirect effects of both parent-child communication and interaction. We further explored the pathway differences between overweight and non-overweight adolescents.

METHODS

By using a sample (n = 6,566) from the first two waves of the China Education Panel Survey, moderated mediation analysis was performed to simultaneously analyze the mediating roles of parent-children communication and parent-children interaction and the moderating role of adolescent overweight status.

RESULTS

Adolescents' perceived academic stress (W1) was positively associated with their depressive symptoms (W2). This association was partially mediated by both parent-child communication (W1) and parent-child interaction (W1). Moreover, adolescent overweight status significantly moderated the paths between the adolescents' perceived academic stress and their depressive symptoms, between their perceived academic stress and parent-child interaction, and the indirect relationship via parent-child interaction.

LIMITATIONS

Some measurement biases including self-reported, unverified, and single-item measures, alongside not considering all variations in controlled variables should be noted.

CONCLUSION

The study's findings identify the significant roles of parent-child communication and parent-children interaction in contemporary China and indicate overweight adolescents' susceptibility to stress.

Attention-deficit Disorder, Family Factors, and Oral Health Literacy

Introduction

Relationships amongst attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), family factors, and oral health literacy (OHL) in adolescents are unclear. The objective of this research was to investigate whether family environment and signs of ADHD are associated with OHL at the onset of adolescence.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was performed with 448 twelve-year-old adolescents enrolled in schools in Cajazeiras, Brazil. Adolescents responded to an instrument measuring OHL (Brazilian version of the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Dentistry [BREALD-30]) and a validated questionnaire addressing family cohesion and adaptability (Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scales [FACES III]). Parents and teachers answered subscales of the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham Questionnaire (SNAP-IV) and a socioeconomic questionnaire. Adjusted Poisson regression analysis was employed for the data analysis (P < .05).

Results

Greater OHL was found in adolescents with higher family cohesion scores (rate ratio [RR], 1.02; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01–1.03), those whose mothers had more than 8 years of schooling (RR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.03–1.12), and those whose families earned more than the Brazilian minimum salary (RR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.03–1.12). Higher family adaptability scores (RR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98–0.99) and more signs of ADHD (teachers’ reports) (RR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.91–0.99) were associated with lower OHL.

Conclusions

OHL in adolescents was influenced by family adaptability and cohesion, signs of ADHD, maternal schooling, and family income.

Family Assistance Spills Over Into Prosocial Behaviors Toward Friends and Positive Academic Behaviors

We investigate how daily family assistance predicts prosocial behaviors toward friends and positive academic behavior. Adolescents (N = 375, 57% girls, M_age  = 14.57) completed diary checklists for 14 days, reporting whether they provided instrumental assistance or emotional support to family and friends, and their positive academic behaviors (e.g., studied). When adolescents provided emotional support to family, they were more likely to provide instrumental support to friends the next day. When adolescents provided emotional support to family, they were more likely to also provide emotional support to friends the next day, and vice versa (a bidirectional association). When adolescents provided instrumental support to the family, they were more likely to have at least one positive academic experience the next day.

"More control, more conflicts?" Clarifying the longitudinal relations between parental psychological Control and parent-adolescent Conflict by disentangling between-family effects from within-family effects

INTRODUCTION

Adolescence is a period when adolescents seek autonomy and parent-adolescent conflict appears inevitable. Even though some research found that parental psychological control triggered parent-adolescent conflict, studies clarifying the directionality of effects at the within-family level are scarce. This study investigated the longitudinal relations between parental psychological control and parent-adolescent conflict using a traditional cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) and the random-intercept CLPM (RI-CLPM) framework.

METHODS

Data from 2473 Chinese adolescents (M_age Time1 = 13.20 years, standard deviation = 0.52 years; 51.4% male) were collected via a cross-sectional survey across three time points. Adolescents reported on parental psychological control, parent-adolescent conflict, and demographic characteristics at each time point. CLPM and RI-CLPM were utilized.

RESULTS

The results from the CLPM analyses suggested a reciprocal effects model. However, the results from the RI-CLPM framework supported a conflict-driven model at the within-family level, wherein if parent-adolescent conflict increased, subsequent parental psychological control would increase as a result. The reverse pattern was not observed.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings indicate the maladaptive processes of parent-adolescent conflict that shape parental psychologically controlling behaviors in Chinese families at the within-family level. Practical implications, including how to assist Chinese parents to address parent-adolescent conflict and to reduce psychological control, are discussed.

Psychological resources as predictors of emotional and behavioral issues in young University students

Introduction: Preventing problem behaviors in university students requires the identification of its causes and possible protective factors. Objective: To identify the psychological resources that can predict emotional and behavioral issues in young people. Method: Four different scales were used to evaluate a non-probabilistic sample of 320 university students: the emotional and behavioral issues scales, the intra-family relationships scale, and the social resources scale and affective resources scale. The sample included 146 men and 173 women between the ages of 18 to 24 (mean: 20.04, standard deviation: 1.62). Results: The main findings show significant statistical negative correlations between the problem behaviors and the affective, social, and family resources. Regarding the differences between participants, women showed higher mean scores of depressions and somatic problems, while men showed higher scores of alcohols and tobacco consumption. The step-by-step regression results revealed depression to be the problem behavior with the highest explained variance (47%), predicted by difficulties in managing sadness, lack of self-control regarding anger, the expression of emotions, and problems with anger management. Conclusion: Strengthening psychological resources and incorporating them in the design of universal and selective intervention programs is fundamental to prevent emotional and behavioral problems in university students to promote their positive development.

Connections during crisis: Adolescents' social dynamics and mental health during COVID-19

Adolescence is a critical period for social development, which COVID-19 has dramatically altered. Quarantined youths had limited in-person interactions with peers. The present study used an intensive longitudinal design to investigate changes in interpersonal dynamics and mental health during COVID-19. Specifically, we investigated whether the associations between different social contexts-that is, "spillover"-changed during COVID-19 and whether changes in social interactions during COVID-19 was associated with changes in depressive symptoms. Approximately 1 year prior to the onset of COVID-19, 139 youths reported depressive symptoms and daily interactions with parents, siblings, and friends, every day for 21 days via online questionnaires. Shortly after schools closed due to COVID-19, 115 of these youths completed a similar 28-day diary. Analyses included 112 youths (62 girls; 73% Caucasian; Mage = 11.77, range = 8 to 15 in Wave 1) who completed at least 13 diary days in each data wave. Our results show that younger adolescents experienced significant decreases in negative and positive interactions with friends, whereas older adolescents showed significant decreases in negative interactions with friends and significant increases in positive interactions with siblings. As predicted, within-day spillover of positive interactions and person-level association of negative interactions increased within the family during COVID-19, whereas within-day spillover of positive interactions between family and friends decreased. We also found a dramatic increase in depressive symptoms. More negative interactions and fewer positive interactions with family members were associated with changes in depressive symptoms. Our study sheds light on how youths' social development may be impacted by COVID-19. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Parental Support and Positive Mood Buffer Adolescents' Academic Motivation During the COVID-19 Pandemic

School closures during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 severely disrupted adolescents' lives. We used a daily diary method for 20 days, including online and physical school days, assessing daily mood, social support and conflict, and academic motivation in 102 adolescents aged 12-16 years. We found that adolescents' academic motivation was lower on online compared with physical school days. In general, positive mood was positively associated with academic motivation, and friend conflict related negatively to academic motivation. Moreover, lower levels of parental support were related to lower academic motivation on online versus physical school days. Overall, these findings identified some critical changes in adolescents' daily experiences during the COVID-19 school closure and social-emotional factors that may buffer decreases in adolescents' academic motivation.

Mood Variability Among Early Adolescents in Times of Social Constraints: A Daily Diary Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated governmental regulations have drastically changed the daily social lives of children, adolescents, and adults. Changes in the social context may particularly affect children who are in the transition to adolescents (henceforth referred to as early adolescents) as adolescence is a crucial period for peer interactions and development of independence and autonomy. Yet, the impact of the pandemic and associated governmental regulations on early adolescents' emotional well-being has yet to be clarified. In the current study, we explored daily fluctuations in mood in 54 early adolescents (M age = 11.07) during the first few months (April 2020-June 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the role of parents and peers on adolescents' mood variability was investigated. Adolescents rated their mood (i.e., happiness, anger, sadness, anxiety) and peer interactions once a day during four separate weeks across different weeks of containment measures in the Netherlands. Moreover, adolescents reported on their experienced attachment to parents and peers and internalizing problems during baseline and the final measurement, respectively. Results showed relatively stable levels of mood during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, individual differences in mood variability during the first assessment week were negatively associated with the experienced level of attachment to both parents and peers. Moreover, heightened levels of mood variability did not mediate the link between attachment and internalizing problems. Lastly, the quality of offline contact, but not online contact, was negatively related to adolescents' mood variability. Overall, this study suggests that mood of early adolescents did not heavily fluctuated across the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings add to the growing body of literature aiming to understand how adolescent's life are affected by the COVID-19 crisis and illustrates that social connectedness to parents or peers may facilitate resilience to distress and daily mood fluctuation in early adolescents.

Assessment of Family, Peers, and Externalising Behaviour Dimensions in Adolescence: The Proposal of a Comprehensive Instrument (FPEB)

In the context of externalising behaviour problems, risk factor research (RFR) focuses on risk and protective factors of juvenile delinquency, which can pertain to individual, system, and societal levels. Several instruments aiming at measuring these factors have been developed, but a comprehensive research tool is missing. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a questionnaire, the "Family, Peers, and Externalising Behaviour in adolescence" (FPEB) as a tool for assessing adolescents' tendency of externalising behaviour, the quality of relation with their parents, and peer-relations. FPEB was administered to 835 Italian students (36.8% males, age M = 13.81, SD = 1.54) together with the Moral Disengagement questionnaire to test concurrent validity. Data about socio-demographics and school performance were also collected. An EFA (Promax rotation, subsample A, n = 444) resulted in a four-factor structure that was corroborated by a CFA (subsample B, n = 388). The factors were "externalising behaviour" (var 13.16%), "peer relations difficulties" (var 11.10%), "Family conflict" (var 8.32%), and "lack of family negotiation" (var 7.11%) and showed good internal consistency (all α ≥ 0.65). There were differences between males and females in the correlational patterns of the four factors. The FPEB factors also showed good concurrent validity: two of the four factors ("lack of family negotiation" and "externalising behaviour") and the total score of the scale correlated with the "Moral disengagement scale", whereas peer relation difficulties did not. Further analyses also showed gender differences (except for "peer relations difficulties") and an association between students' school performance and "externalising behaviour", "family conflict", and the total FPEB scores. We concluded that the FPEB is a tool that is potentially useful to assess risk and protective factors and to plan targeted interventions (focusing on the specific area). Limitations and suggestions for further improvements are also discussed.

Family Processes and Child Psychopathology: A Between- and Within-Family/Child Analysis

A vast array of family processes is linked to child mental development, among which (1) low parental acceptance and (2) high family conflict are known as transdiagnostic risk factors for child internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. In contrast to most prior research adopting cross-sectional or lagged designs, the current study applied fine-grained multilevel modeling to elucidate the complex relationships among parental acceptance, family conflict, and child psychopathology, considering the nesting structure of children within families and longitudinal changes within children. We focused on preadolescents from the two-wave Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (N = 4,953; aged 9-12) and accounted for parental psychopathology and sex differences. Our findings suggest that consistent between-family and between-child differences in parental acceptance play a transdiagnostic role for both child internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, whereas family conflict is only significantly associated with externalizing psychopathology. Additionally, short-term within-family and within-child improvements in parental acceptance and family conflict across one year were associated with decreased externalizing, but not internalizing, psychopathology. These findings support the potential importance and feasibility of targeting these family process factors for child externalizing problems outside of an intensive treatment setting. We further discussed how such findings serve as a foundation for future research on family processes and child internalizing problems. The varying results across different grouping levels highlight the importance of decomposing within- from between-family/child effects in future studies on family processes and child psychopathology.

Mood Variability Among Early Adolescents in Times of Social Constraints: A Daily Diary Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated governmental regulations have drastically changed the daily social lives of children, adolescents, and adults. Changes in the social context may particularly affect children who are in the transition to adolescents (henceforth referred to as early adolescents) as adolescence is a crucial period for peer interactions and development of independence and autonomy. Yet, the impact of the pandemic and associated governmental regulations on early adolescents' emotional well-being has yet to be clarified. In the current study, we explored daily fluctuations in mood in 54 early adolescents (M _age = 11.07) during the first few months (April 2020-June 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the role of parents and peers on adolescents' mood variability was investigated. Adolescents rated their mood (i.e., happiness, anger, sadness, anxiety) and peer interactions once a day during four separate weeks across different weeks of containment measures in the Netherlands. Moreover, adolescents reported on their experienced attachment to parents and peers and internalizing problems during baseline and the final measurement, respectively. Results showed relatively stable levels of mood during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, individual differences in mood variability during the first assessment week were negatively associated with the experienced level of attachment to both parents and peers. Moreover, heightened levels of mood variability did not mediate the link between attachment and internalizing problems. Lastly, the quality of offline contact, but not online contact, was negatively related to adolescents' mood variability. Overall, this study suggests that mood of early adolescents did not heavily fluctuated across the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings add to the growing body of literature aiming to understand how adolescent's life are affected by the COVID-19 crisis and illustrates that social connectedness to parents or peers may facilitate resilience to distress and daily mood fluctuation in early adolescents.

Implications of Family Cohesion and Conflict for Adolescent Mood and Well-Being: Examining Within- and Between-Family Processes on a Daily Timescale

Family-level conflict and cohesion are well-established predictors of adolescent mental health. However, traditional approaches focusing on between-family differences in cohesion and conflict may overlook daily intrafamily variability that might provide important new information. We used data from a 21-day daily diary protocol in a sample of 151 caregivers (95.3% female) and their adolescent child (61.5% female) in two-caregiver families to test whether daily changes in family functioning are associated with daily changes in adolescent well-being and whether adolescent well-being depends on average levels of family functioning. We examined family cohesion and conflict in relation to adolescent angry, depressed, and anxious mood, as well as happiness, life satisfaction, and meaning and purpose in life in multilevel models. Both cohesion and conflict exhibited meaningful daily variation. Adolescent-reported cohesion and conflict had unique within-family associations with all six adolescent outcomes. Models using parent reports of family functioning yielded fewer associations than models with adolescent reports; however, several findings remained. Cross-level interactions indicated that within-family variations in cohesion were only associated with adolescent depression in families with lower average levels of cohesion across days. In sum, this study provides compelling evidence that families exhibit meaningful variability from day to day and that daily variation has important implications for adolescent well-being.

The Role of Adolescents’ and Their Parents’ Temperament Types in Adolescents’ Academic Emotions: A Goodness-of-Fit Approach

Background

Academic emotions (e.g., enjoyment of learning or anxiety) play a significant role in academic performance and educational choices. An important factor explaining academic emotions can be students’ temperament and the goodness-of-fit between their temperament and their social environment, including parents.

Objective

This study investigated the unique and interactive effects of early adolescents’ and their parents’ temperament types on adolescents’ academic emotions in literacy and mathematics.

Method

The participants in the study consisted of 690 adolescent–parent dyads. Parents rated their own and their adolescents’ temperaments, and adolescents reported their positive and negative emotions in literacy and mathematics.

Results

The results showed that adolescents’ temperament type was significantly related to their negative emotions in both school subjects. Adolescents with an undercontrolled temperament reported more anger compared to adolescents with a resilient or overcontrolled temperament, and more anxiety, shame, and hopelessness compared to resilient adolescents. In addition, undercontrolled adolescents reported more boredom in mathematics than resilient or overcontrolled adolescents. The parents’ temperament type was related to positive emotions. Adolescents of resilient parents reported greater pride in mathematics than adolescents of undercontrolled or overcontrolled parents and higher hope in mathematics than adolescents of overcontrolled parents. Finally, overcontrolled adolescents with a resilient or overcontrolled parent reported higher enjoyment of mathematics and literacy in comparison to overcontrolled adolescents with an undercontrolled parent.

Conclusions

The findings of the study provide new knowledge about the role of temperament in the school context by showing that differences in temperamental reactivity and regulation relate to adolescents’ academic emotions.

Daily Mood Reactivity to Stress during Childhood Predicts Internalizing Problems Three Years Later

The mental health toll of common school problems that many children encounter every day is not well understood. This study examined individual differences in mood reactivity to naturally occurring school problems using daily diaries, and assessed their prospective associations with youth mental health, three years later. At baseline, 47 children ages 8 to 13 years described common problems at school and mood on a daily basis, for 8 weeks. Thirty-three youth returned for follow-up three years later at ages 11 to 17 years. Children and parents also completed one-time questionnaires about youth mental health at baseline and follow-up. There were individual differences in the within-person associations between school problems and same-day and next-day mood. A greater tendency to react to school problems with more negative mood or less positive mood on the same day predicted more parent-rated internalizing and externalizing problems and child ratings of depression symptoms three years later, relative to baseline levels of symptoms. Daily diaries can help to identify specific targets of psychosocial interventions in real world settings.

Does higher-than-usual stress predict nonsuicidal self-injury? Evidence from two prospective studies in adolescent and emerging adult females

BACKGROUND

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is highly prevalent among adolescent and emerging adult females. Most studies examining the relationship between stress and NSSI largely have relied on aggregate self-report measures of stress and between-person models. Using data from two prospective samples, this manuscript tests the hypothesis that within-person models of NSSI provide better clinical markers of risk for NSSI than between-person models of NSSI.

METHODS

Two samples (Sample 1: 220 high-risk girls, M age = 14.68, SD = 1.36, baseline assessment and 3-month follow-ups for 18 months; Sample 2: 40 emerging adult females with a history of NSSI, M age = 21.55, SD = 2.14, 14 days with daily retrospective reports) were followed prospectively and completed validated measures of stress and NSSI. Models were adjusted for age and depression.

RESULTS

In Sample 1, a within-person model demonstrated that higher-than-usual (but not average) stress levels predicted NSSI within the same 3-month wave. In Sample 2, results from a within-person model with daily diary assessment data showed that higher-than-usual stress (but not average daily stress) predicted same-day NSSI.

CONCLUSIONS

Together, our results suggest that higher-than-usual stress, relative to one's typical stress level, but not average stress levels, signals times of enhanced risk for NSSI. These results highlight the clinical utility of repeated assessments of stress.

The Practicalities and Perils of Ambulatory Assessment's Promise: Introduction to a Special Section

Ambulatory assessment (AA) offers one of the most exciting approaches for opening the dynamic "black box" of adolescents' daily lives. In this introduction, we spotlight AA's surprisingly restricted market share within adolescent scholarship. We describe thorny challenges these intense methods can pose when conducting adolescent research "in situ" and underscore that capturing quality AA data means placing adolescents' developmental stage at the forefront. The novel research reported in this special section speaks to these challenges and underscores the promise of AA for conducting developmentally salient science. The nine articles included in the section span multiple disciplines (Sociology, Psychology, Public Health) and reflect diverse viewpoints, approaches, and theories. All provide multiple novel best-practice strategies for conducting AA scholarship with adolescents.

Attachment behavior and hostility as explanatory factors linking parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent adjustment

This study examined whether adolescents' behavior in a support-seeking context helped to explain associations between increases in mother-adolescent conflict during early adolescence and changes in adolescents' internalizing and externalizing symptoms. A sample of 194 adolescents aged 12 to 14 (51% female) and their mothers were followed over 1 year. Mother-adolescent pairs participated in a speech task introducing an external social stressor into the parent-child relationship. Using a latent difference score model, adolescents' observed attachment behavior and hostility were compared as potential explanatory processes. Analyses suggest specificity in the spillover process from conflict to adolescent behavior in a nonconflictual parent-child interaction context, with hostility uniquely linking increasing mother-adolescent conflict and externalizing problems, and disruptions in adolescent attachment behavior uniquely explaining the link with internalizing problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The Interplay of Friends and Parents in Adolescents' Daily Lives: Towards A Dynamic View of Social Support

This daily diary study investigated the interplay of perceived friend and parent support in adolescents' everyday lives. Specifically, we tested the interactive effects of friend and parent support on adolescent well-being at both the intra- and inter-individual level. A diverse sample of 119 adolescents (M _age=15.36) completed diary reports for two weeks. Multivariate multilevel models demonstrated that on days adolescents felt more supported by their friends or parents, they experienced increases in their happiness and social connectedness. Additionally, parent support emerged as a protective factor for youth lacking friend support, although patterns differed at the intra- versus inter-individual level. The findings underscore the dynamic nature of social support in adolescents' daily lives and highlight the interactive roles of friends and parents in promoting youth well-being.

Prevalence and environmental impact factors of somatization tendencies in eastern Chinese adolescents: a multicenter observational study

The aim of this study is at examining the prevalence and impact factors of adolescent somatization tendencies (ST) across three eastern Chinese provinces. A multicenter school-based cross-sectional study was conducted in these provinces from 2015 to 2016. The sample included 11,153 middle-school students aged 13-18 years, who were randomly selected using a multi-phase stratified cluster sampling technique. We also designed a multicenter school-based case-control study to evaluate the potential environmental impact of ST factors on this population. The overall positive rate of ST among the eastern Chinese adolescents was 12.1%. Somatic symptoms score (SSS) and positive ST rate were higher in females than males. Additionally, the SSS and positive ST rate for the 18-year-old group were significantly higher than in other age groups. In comparison to those in urban areas, adolescents in rural areas had significantly higher SSS and positive ST rate. Multiple conditional regression analyses revealed that family medical history, anxiety and depression scores; superstitious beliefs; left-behind adolescents; teacher-student support; family conflict; and family independence and achievement orientation were significantly linked to ST in adolescents. The models also indicated family medical history was the strongest impact factor to adolescent ST, even though ST were prevalent in the three studied eastern Chinese provinces. Gender, age, and dwelling differences were very significant in the SSS and positive ST rate in adolescents. This study concludes that adolescent ST are influenced by multiple environments.