The parental involvement process regarding childhood cancer survivors becoming independent: Focus on balancing health management and social lives from adolescence to adulthood

AIM

This study aimed to elucidate the parental involvement process regarding childhood cancer survivors' (CCSs') independence while balancing their health management and social lives from adolescence to adulthood to obtain suggestions for long-term support for CCSs and their parents.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 parents of Japanese CCSs aged 16-25 years. The data were then qualitatively analyzed using the modified grounded theory approach.

RESULTS

Three "categories" and 20 "concepts" were generated. The connections among these categories and concepts revealed the parental involvement process regarding CCSs' independence while balancing their health management and social lives. The first phase in this process is to "support careful behaviors," mainly during CCSs' treatment in the outpatient clinic or shortly after discharge. As CCSs recover after cancer treatment, parents "watch over, but feel conflicted," with "conflicts between protecting their sons/daughters and giving them independence." Then, parents reach a phase in which they "acknowledge and entrust," which includes "acknowledgment of development and efforts" of their sons/daughters, and develop an "attitude to entrust medical checkups to their sons/daughters, along with their preparation." The influencing factors of the three phases include "ongoing anxieties about the late effects of therapy and recurrence" and an "expectation for their sons/daughters to acquire abilities for living independently."

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that nurses need to accept parents' feelings and thoughts regarding conflicts with CCSs, recognition of CCSs' development, and values. These processes may help nurses and health-care professionals support parents from a comprehensive perspective.

Lessons Learned from Cross-Systems Approach to COVID-19 Pandemic Response in Juvenile Justice System, Colorado, USA

The global COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the importance of a close partnership between public health and juvenile justice systems when responding to communicable diseases. Many setting-specific obstacles must be navigated to respond effectively to limit disease transmission and negative health outcomes while maintaining necessary services for youth in confinement facilities. The response requires multidisciplinary expertise and collaboration to address unique considerations. Public health mitigation strategies must balance the risk for disease against the negative effects of restrictions. Key aspects of the COVID-19 response in the juvenile justice system of Colorado, USA, involved establishing robust communication and data reporting infrastructures, building a multidisciplinary response team, adapting existing infection prevention guidelines, and focusing on a whole-person health approach to infection prevention. We examine lessons learned and offer recommendations on pandemic emergency response planning and managing a statewide public health emergency in youth confinement settings that ensure ongoing readiness.

Sex-Specific Depressive Symptom Trajectories Among Adolescents in Los Angeles County, 2013 to 2017

Objective

After remaining stable for many years, the prevalence of depression among adolescents increased over the past decade, particularly among girls. In this study, we used longitudinal data from a cohort of high school students to characterize sex-specific trajectories of depressive symptoms during this period of increasing prevalence and widening gender gap in adolescent depression.

Method

Using data from the Health and Happiness Cohort, a longitudinal 8-wave study of high school students residing in Los Angeles County from 2013 to 2017 (N = 3,393), we conducted a multiple-group, latent class growth analysis by sex to differentiate developmental trajectories in depressive symptoms scores measured by the Center for Epidemiological Studies- Depression (CES-D) scale (range, 0-60).

Results

A 4-class solution provided the best model fit for both girls and boys. Trajectories among girls included low stable (35.1%), mild stable (42.8%), moderate decreasing (16.2%), and high arching (5.9%). Trajectories among boys included low stable (49.2%), mild increasing (34.7%), moderate decreasing (12.2%), and high increasing (3.9%). Average scores consistently exceeded or crossed the threshold for probable depression (≥16). Across comparable sex-specific trajectory groups, the average CES-D scores of girls were higher than those of boys, whose average scores increased over time.

Conclusion

In a diverse cohort of students in Los Angeles County, depressive symptom trajectories were comparable to prior time periods but with a higher proportion of students in trajectories characterized by probable depression. Trajectories differed by sex, suggesting that future research should consider differential severity and onset of depression between boys and girls.

Factors related to health literacy among Brazilian adolescents: cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the relationship between sociodemographic and clinical factors with health literacy in Brazilian adolescents.

METHOD

This is a cross-sectional study with 526 adolescents aged 14 to 19. Data were collected virtually between July and September 2021 using a sociodemographic characterization questionnaire, clinical profile and the Health Literacy Assessment Tool - Portuguese version. The variables were evaluated by multiple linear regression with normal response, with significance p < 0.05.

RESULTS

The average age was 16.9 years (±1.6), the average health literacy score was 25.3 (±5.4). Female gender (p = 0.014), university educational level (p = 0.002) and use of medication (p = 0.020) were related to higher levels of health literacy. Adolescents with chronic illnesses had a higher total literacy score, on average 1.51 points, compared to those without chronic illnesses.

CONCLUSION

Male adolescents and those with less education performed worse in health literacy and, therefore, deserve special attention in health promotion actions.

Adolescents and sexual assault: A critical integrative review

Adolescents are sexually assaulted at remarkably high rates. Adolescents are also unique given the specific dynamics of adolescent sexual assault, their current stage in human development, their limited legal standing and rights, and their experiences navigating postassault services and resources. While literature exists within each of these domains, it is somewhat disconnected and overlooks how adolescents are often relegated to the margins in research and practice. The purpose of this integrative review is to (1) provide a more complete understanding of adolescent sexual assault and survivors' nuanced needs; (2) frame adolescent survivors as a too-often-overlooked oppressed group that researchers and responders must consider and center in their work, lest contribute to their further marginalization; and (3) inspire and orient social justice-minded scholar activists to various action steps to take to center and prioritize adolescents in research and practice. Through our intersectional feminist approach, we offer specific action steps for social justice-minded scholar activists to recenter adolescents in their research and practice.

Private screen access in early adolescence predicts subsequent academic and social impairment at the end of high school for boys and girls

INTRODUCTION

Youth media guidelines in Canada and the United States recommend that bedrooms should remain screen-free zones. This study aims to verify whether bedroom screens at age 12 years prospectively predict academic and social impairment by age 17 years.

METHODS

Participants were from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development birth cohort (661 girls and 686 boys). Linear regression analyses estimated associations between having a bedroom screen (television or computer) at age 12 years and selfreported overall grades, dropout risk, prosocial behaviour and likelihood of having experienced a dating relationship in the past 12 months at age 17 years, while adjusting for potential individual and family confounding factors.

RESULTS

For both girls and boys, bedroom screens at age 12 years predicted lower overall grades (B = -2.41, p ≤ 0.001 for boys; -1.61, p ≤ 0.05 for girls), higher dropout risk (B = 0.16, p ≤ 0.001 for boys; 0.17, p ≤ 0.001 for girls) and lower likelihood of having experienced a dating relationship (B = -0.13, p ≤ 0.001 for boys; -0.18, p ≤ 0.001 for girls) at age 17. Bedroom screens also predicted lower levels of prosocial behaviour (B = -0.52, p ≤ 0.001) at age 17 years for boys.

CONCLUSION

The bedroom as an early adolescent screen-based zone does not predict long-term positive health and well-being. Pediatric recommendations to parents and youth should be more resolute about bedrooms being screen-free zones and about unlimited access in private exposures in childhood.

Addressing challenges to carrying out intervention programs with youth populations: Successes and strategies

We identify five challenges notoriously faced by researchers conducting youth intervention studies: access to the target population, successful recruitment, ensuring continued attendance, promoting engaged, enthused, and task-focused participation, and efficient data collection. To ensure research quality, we have devised strategies to address these obstacles. Successes and lessons are included from The Compass Project (TCP), a 9-week morality strengthening program designed to facilitate positive attitudinal and behavioral outcomes in young people. Despite four of the five identified challenges being overcome in TCP, the fifth challenge of data collection was insurmountable as many participants failed to complete questionnaire scales. We propose that researchers build on our success by building rapport and trust with participants and youth organizations and building a participant sense of community, and improve upon our design by scrutinizing the format, accessibility, and length of data measures. Ultimately, tests of whether intervention programs can result in positive outcomes in the lives of young people hinge on adequately overcoming the identified challenges. Implementation of the proposed strategies will be instrumental to allow for meaningful and powerful statistical analyses to more accurately gauge the positive impact of intervention programs on young people's lives.

Adolescent Contact, Lasting Impact? Lessons Learned From Two Longitudinal Studies Spanning 20 Years of Developmental Science Research With Justice-System-Involved Youths

In this article, we summarize key findings from 20 years of research conducted at the intersection of developmental psychology and juvenile justice in the United States. We predominantly examine data from two large-scale, multisite longitudinal studies involving justice-system-involved adolescents-the Pathways to Desistance study and the Crossroads study. Topics of discussion include predictors of offending and desistance from crime; youth outcomes and psychosocial needs; and emerging research, programs, and policy initiatives. First, individual-level (e.g., age, psychosocial maturity) and contextual-level (e.g., antisocial peers, exposure to violence) risk factors associated with offending are explored. Second, we discuss short-term and long-term outcomes of justice-system contact for youths engaging in moderate offenses. We highlight main findings from the Crossroads study indicating that youths who are sanctioned by the justice system at their first arrest have worse outcomes than youths who are diverted from formal processing. Additionally, we discuss the high prevalence of youths' exposure to violence and mental health disorders as well as the differential treatment of youths of color in the justice system. Third, we extend the conversation to justice-system-involved young adults and discuss emerging, innovative legal solutions, including young adult courts. Last, we discuss real-world implications of these findings.

The Future Proofing Study: Design, methods and baseline characteristics of a prospective cohort study of the mental health of Australian adolescents

OBJECTIVES

The Future Proofing Study (FPS) was established to examine factors associated with the onset and course of mental health conditions during adolescence. This paper describes the design, methods, and baseline characteristics of the FPS cohort.

METHODS

The FPS is an Australian school-based prospective cohort study with an embedded cluster-randomized controlled trial examining the effects of digital prevention programs on mental health. Data sources include self-report questionnaires, cognitive functioning, linkage to health and education records, and smartphone sensor data. Participants are assessed annually for 5 years.

RESULTS

The baseline cohort (N = 6388, M = 13.9 years) is broadly representative of the Australian adolescent population. The clinical profile of participants is comparable to other population estimates. Overall, 15.1% of the cohort met the clinical threshold for depression, 18.6% for anxiety, 31.6% for psychological distress, and 4.9% for suicidal ideation. These rates were significantly higher in adolescents who identified as female, gender diverse, sexuality diverse, or Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (all ps < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

This paper provides current and comprehensive data about the status of adolescent mental health in Australia. The FPS cohort is expected to provide significant insights into the risk, protective, and mediating factors associated with development of mental health conditions during adolescence.

Priority strategic directions in adolescent health in Iran based on the WHO's Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents

OBJECTIVES

In line with the World Health Organization's Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents (AA-HA!) guidance, the goal of the current research was to identify critical strategies for adolescents' health and to determine the role and distribution of responsibilities among the leading players in the field of adolescent health in Iran.

METHODS

The current qualitative and applied study is part of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education's "Adolescent, Youth and School Health" plan to develop the "National Adolescent Health Plan Document" in 2020. First, stakeholder analysis was done, then a pool of nationally appropriate strategies was selected from the list of priority strategies recommended by the WHO in the AA-HA! through several group sessions. After that, the experts selected priority strategies based on the criteria of feasibility, acceptability, effectiveness, guaranteed resources, coordination with other plans and temporal priority, scoring, and executive priorities. Eventually, the priority strategies were assigned to different players/stakeholders in the field over several sessions bearing in mind the methods of implementation and the target groups.

RESULTS

The experts identified 58 priority strategies/actions for adolescent health under the seven priority areas of positive development, sexual protection, reproductive health, mental health, substance abuse, self-harm, violence, unintentional injury, communicable and non-communicable diseases, nutrition, and physical activity.

CONCLUSIONS

The highest identified priority areas were in the areas of vaccination; special health care package for service providers; training and education to promote health literacy and self-care, life skills, sexual awareness, and prevention/protection against violence; community-based mental health services, planning for adolescents' spare time, substance use prevention.

Integrity over fidelity: transformational lessons from youth participatory action research to nurture SEL with adolescents

Much has been written about social and emotional learning (SEL) and its positive impact on young people's academic and life outcomes, yet most of this research is based in early childhood and elementary settings. SEL programming for adolescents has shown mixed results, with many programs proving to be largely ineffective or even showing slightly negative impacts for some youth. Adherence to scripted SEL curricula, or "fidelity" to the program components, is often seen by young people to be "lame", inauthentic, and condescending, failing to connect to the topics and issues that feel most critical to them in this stage of their development. For all students, and especially for those whose identities have been systematically marginalized or oppressed by the dominant culture, SEL programming that fails to explicitly address these experiences of injustice often feels inauthentic and out of touch for youth. Therefore, effective implementation of SEL for adolescents is likely to require skillful adaptation and responsiveness to the identities, interests, and motivations of students by educators. In this case, effective SEL may look less like fidelity to a specific set of scripts, sessions, or activities, but rather a commitment to the wholeness of a set of core principles, relationships, and opportunities for adolescent exploration and leadership/empowerment, or what we will call integrity of implementation. In this paper, we present one promising approach to adolescent social and emotional development - youth participatory action research (YPAR) - and the ways in which studying the YPAR process (in addition to the research topics selected by youth) can provide key insights into the social and emotional learning and development of youth.

Epigenetic associations with adolescent grey matter maturation and cognitive development

Introduction: Adolescence, a critical phase of human neurodevelopment, is marked by a tremendous reorganization of the brain and accompanied by improved cognitive performance. This development is driven in part by gene expression, which in turn is partly regulated by DNA methylation (DNAm). Methods: We collected brain imaging, cognitive assessments, and DNAm in a longitudinal cohort of approximately 200 typically developing participants, aged 9-14. This data, from three time points roughly 1 year apart, was used to explore the relationships between seven cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites in genes highly expressed in brain tissues (GRIN2D, GABRB3, KCNC1, SLC12A9, CHD5, STXBP5, and NFASC), seven networks of grey matter (GM) volume change, and scores from seven cognitive tests. Results: The demethylation of the CpGs as well as the rates of change in DNAm were significantly related to improvements in total, crystalized, and fluid cognition scores, executive function, episodic memory, and processing speed, as well as several networks of GM volume increases and decreases that highlight typical patterns of brain maturation. Discussion: Our study provides a first look at the DNAm of genes involved in myelination, excitatory and inhibitory receptors, and connectivity, how they are related to the large-scale changes occurring in the brain structure as well as cognition during adolescence.

Environmental Harshness, Life History, and Crystallized Intelligence of Chinese Adolescents

The present study examined longitudinal relations between adverse environment (at the community and family level), life history (LH) profile (conceptualized as a suite of behavioral and physical traits with converging adaptive functions), and crystalized intelligence (mathematics and vocabulary test scores) using data on 1,185 Chinese adolescents obtained from the China Family Panel Studies survey. Multilevel structural equation modeling indicates that early familial environmental harshness was negatively associated with slow LH profiles and crystalized intelligence, slow LH profiles were positively associated with crystallized intelligence, and early community-level environmental harshness strengthened the positive association between slow LH and crystalized cognitive abilities. The results underscore the importance of the childhood environment in fostering individual LH and cognitive development.

The same but different. Multidimensional assessment of depression in students of natural science and music

Depression is one of the most common and debilitating health problems, however, its heterogeneity makes a diagnosis challenging. Thus far the restriction of depression variables explored within groups, the lack of comparability between groups, and the heterogeneity of depression as a concept limit a meaningful interpretation, especially in terms of predictability. Research established students in late adolescence to be particularly vulnerable, especially those with a natural science or musical study main subject. This study used a predictive design, observing the change in variables between groups as well as predicting which combinations of variables would likely determine depression prevalence. 102 under- and postgraduate students from various higher education institutions participated in an online survey. Students were allocated into three groups according to their main study subject and type of institution: natural science students, music college students and a mix of music and natural science students at university with comparable levels of musical training and professional musical identity. Natural science students showed significantly higher levels of anxiety prevalence and pain catastrophizing prevalence, while music college students showed significantly higher depression prevalence compared to the other groups. A hierarchical regression and a tree analysis found that depression for all groups was best predicted with a combination of variables: high anxiety prevalence and low burnout of students with academic staff. The use of a larger pool of depression variables and the comparison of at-risk groups provide insight into how these groups experience depression and thus allow initial steps towards personalized support structures.

Characterizing trajectories of anxiety, depression, and criminal offending in male adolescents over the 5 years following their first arrest

Youth in the juvenile justice system evince high rates of mental health symptoms, including anxiety and depression. How these symptom profiles change after first contact with the justice system and - importantly - how they are related to re-offending remains unclear. Here, we use latent growth curve modeling to characterize univariate and multivariate growth of anxiety, depression, and re-offending in 1216 male adolescents over 5 years following their first arrest. Overall, the group showed significant linear and quadratic growth in internalizing symptoms and offending behaviors over time such that levels decreased initially after first arrest followed by a small but significant upturn occurring a few years later. Crucially, multivariate growth models revealed strong positive relationships between the rates of growth in internalizing symptoms and offending behaviors such that improvements in mental health related to greater decreases in offending, and vice versa. These results highlight the reciprocal nature of internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescence, underscoring the importance of considering mental health alongside offending in the juvenile justice system.

Development and Validation of the Dutch Social Attunement Questionnaire (SAQ)

The social plasticity hypothesis proposes that social attunement, i.e., the adaptation to and harmonization with one's environment, plays a crucial role in the risk for developing alcohol use disorders (AUDs) during adolescence, whereas in adulthood it paradoxically may make individuals more sensitive to the social pull to reduce drinking. This study aimed to develop a valid measure of social attunement: the social attunement questionnaire (SAQ). A total of 26-items were developed and the questionnaire was completed by 576 Dutch mid to late adolescents and adults over three rounds of online data collection. Using exploratory factor analysis in part of the sample (N = 373), the final questionnaire was reduced to two subscales with a total of 11 items. This structure was confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis in the second part of the sample (N = 203). Results showed that the SAQ has acceptable internal consistency, good measurement invariance to gender, and subscales assessing both cognitive as well as behavioural components of social attunement. In line with expectations on alcohol use settings, SAQ scores were not associated directly with alcohol use, but they were predictive of alcohol use when taking into account the interaction between perceived peer drinking and age. The SAQ appears suitable for the assessment of social attunement in (young) adult men and women, particularly assessing the role of social attunement in alcohol use settings. Further research is needed to confirm the utility of the SAQ in older adults and a broader variety of social settings.

The settler colonial roots and neoliberal afterlife of Problem Behavior Theory

Problem Behavior Theory (PBT) is an influential psychosocial theory that has shaped-and continues to shape-much research on adolescent development in the United States and abroad. It is the product of over a half-century of research conducted by psychologists-cum-behavioral scientists Lee and Richard Jessor. This article engages two striking features of the history of PBT. First, it tracks how, and to what effect, a theory elaborated to explain the so-called "deviant behavior" of a group of Native Americans was extended to explain the "problem behavior" of white, middle-class, settler youth, before coming to circulate as a universal theory of adolescent behavior. Second, it explores how a theory that was meant to explain individual behaviors by connecting them to their larger social contexts came to be embraced by researchers who have been criticized for doing precisely the opposite. To do so, this article draws from Indigenous and Settler Colonial Studies scholarship and sheds light on how the logics of settler colonialism and neoliberalism have participated in the coproduction of PBT and its reception.

Self-control in adolescence predicts forgivingness in middle adulthood

INTRODUCTION

This 33-year study examined associations between self-control development in adolescence and forgivingness, i.e., the dispositional tendency to forgive others, in middle adulthood.

METHODS

Participants were 1350 adults aged 45 years (50.6% female). Self-control was measured yearly from age 12 to 16, while forgivingness was measured at age 45.

RESULTS

Results indicated significant individual differences in level and change of self-control across the adolescent years and an average mean-level increase. Individual differences in level and change in self-control were independently associated with forgivingness in middle adulthood. Individuals who either entered adolescence with higher self-control, and/or increased in self-control during the adolescent years, reported higher scores in forgivingness at age 45 compared to peers. This pattern held even after controlling for gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and conduct problems in adolescence.

CONCLUSION

The current findings demonstrate that developmental processes in adolescence are important for individual differences in the dispositional tendency to forgive others in adulthood.

The Impact of Household Migration on the Intergenerational Educational Mobility: Based on the Perspective of Adolescent Development

Improving intergenerational mobility is crucial for enhancing the efficacy of human capital, ensuring social vitality, and supporting sustainable long-term economic growth. Based on the China Labor-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS) of 2014, this paper empirically examines the effect of adolescent household migration on intergenerational educational mobility by using a fixed-effect model. The study found that: (1) Household migration in the adolescent period significantly improves intergenerational educational mobility. (2) The quality and quantity of education of offspring are the channels through which household migration improves the intergenerational educational mobility of the household. (3) There are significant differences between urban and rural areas, gender, and household resource allocation in the effect of adolescent household migration on intergenerational educational mobility. As the majority of poor households are unable to improve intergenerational mobility through migration due to its costs and institutional barriers, this paper suggests that the government should concentrate on reducing regional disparities in educational resources, advancing rural education reform, and enhancing social security.

[Risk/resilience factors in families with children with autism. Association with evolution in adolescence]

The influence of parental stress and the moderating effect of coping strategies and social support in children with autism is well documented. The number of works with a cross-sectional design contrasts with the scarcity of studies with a longitudinal design that would allow to deepen in the relationships between characteristics of the family context and the evolution of the disorder. The present follow-up study is devoted to the analysis of these relationships over time from childhood (T1) to adolescence (T2), also assessing the results in different developmental domains. Forty-five adolescents with ASD participated, divided into two groups according to family environment, high risk (HR; N=18) and low risk (LR; N=27). The results confirm and extend those obtained in cross-sectional work, showing the negative influence of a risky family environment on the severity of ASD and the development of socio-adaptive skills. Psychoeducation, cognitive-behavioural therapy and mindfulness have been shown to decrease parental stress and increase feelings of self-efficacy.

Cultivating Compassion for Self and Others: A School-Based Pilot Study for Peer-Nominated Caring Adolescents

Many have called for school-based student programs that teach skills related to self-care and caring for others. Here, such a program for peer-nominated adolescents was developed and piloted virtually at one high school during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results of a longitudinal, quasi-experimental evaluation of the program showed high-quality program implementation and promising program impacts. Effect sizes indicated moderate to large program impacts on improvements in adolescents' self-compassion, sense of interdependence, and perspective-taking, and female adolescents' interoceptive awareness, compared to controls. No group differences in compassion for others were found. The need for more research on programs that help adolescents balance compassion for the self and for others is discussed.

Interpersonal attribution bias and social evaluation in adolescent eating disorders

OBJECTIVE

Improved understanding of adolescent eating disorders (EDs), including identification and refinement of treatment and recovery targets, may help improve clinical outcomes. Interpersonal function is a proposed risk and maintenance factor that may be particularly relevant given the significance of adolescence for both psychosocial development and ED onset. This study examined self-referential thinking in adolescents with EDs compared to healthy adolescents.

METHOD

Twenty-nine adolescents with EDs and 31 healthy controls completed a self-report measure of interpersonal attributions as well as a verbal appraisal task that required conducting direct and indirect evaluations about oneself and direct evaluations about others.

RESULTS

The ED group had a more negative self-attribution bias than the control group (p = 0.006) even when controlling for depression severity. Additionally, the ED group exhibited less positive direct self (p < 0.001), direct social (p = 0.015), and social reflected self-appraisals (p = 0.011) than the healthy cohort. After including depression as a covariate in the verbal appraisal model, the model was no longer significant, suggesting group differences related to social appraisals may be mediated by depression.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents with EDs have more negative interpersonal beliefs than comparison adolescents. Future studies are needed to determine how the constructs identified here relate to clinical course.

Longitudinal stability and change in time-frequency measures from an oddball task during adolescence and early adulthood

Time-frequency representations of electroencephalographic signals lend themselves to a granular analysis of cognitive and psychological processes. Characterizing developmental trajectories of time-frequency measures can thus inform us about the development of the processes involved as well as correlated traits and behaviors. We decomposed electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in a large sample of individuals (N = 1692; 917 females), assessed at approximately 3-year intervals from the age of 11 to their mid-20s. Participants completed an oddball task that elicits a robust P3 response. Principal component analysis served to identify the primary dimensions of time-frequency energy. Component loadings were virtually identical across assessment waves. A common and stable set of time-frequency dynamics thus characterized EEG activity throughout this age range. Trajectories of changes in component scores suggest that aspects of brain development reflected in these components comprise two distinct phases, with marked decreases in component amplitude throughout much of adolescence followed by smaller yet significant rates of decreases into early adulthood. Although the structure of time-frequency activity was stable throughout adolescence and early adulthood, we observed subtle change in component loadings as well. Our findings suggest that striking developmental change in event-related potentials emerges through a gradual change in the magnitude and timing of a stable set of dimensions of time-frequency activity, illustrating the usefulness of time-frequency representations of EEG signals and longitudinal designs for understanding brain development. In addition, we provide proof of concept that trajectories of time-frequency activity can serve as potential endophenotypes for childhood externalizing psychopathology and alcohol use in adolescence and early adulthood.

Longitudinal Effects of Screen Time on Depressive Symptoms among Swedish Adolescents: The Moderating and Mediating Role of Coping Engagement Behavior

Studies suggest that hourly digital screen time increases adolescents' depressive symptoms and emotional regulation difficulties. However, causal mechanisms behind such associations remain unclear. We hypothesized that problem-focused and/or emotion-focused engagement coping moderates and possibly mediates this association over time. Questionnaire data were collected in three waves from a representative sample of Swedish adolescents (0, 3 and 12 months; n = 4793; 51% boys; 99% aged 13-15). Generalized Estimating Equations estimated the main effects and moderation effects, and structural regression estimated the mediation pathways. The results showed that problem-focused coping had a main effect on future depression (b = 0.030; p < 0.001) and moderated the effect of screen time (b = 0.009; p < 0.01). The effect size of this moderation was maximum 3.4 BDI-II scores. The mediation results corroborated the finding that future depression was only indirectly correlated with baseline screen time, conditional upon intermittent problem-coping interference (C'-path: Std. beta = 0.001; p = 0.018). The data did not support direct effects, emotion-focused coping effects, or reversed causality. We conclude that hourly screen time can increase depressive symptoms in adolescent populations through interferences with problem-focused coping and other emotional regulation behaviors. Preventive programs could target coping interferences to improve public health. We discuss psychological models of why screen time may interfere with coping, including displacement effects and echo chamber phenomena.

The process of becoming independent while balancing health management and social life in adolescent and young adult childhood cancer survivors

AIM

This study aimed to elucidate the process of how adolescent and young adult childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) become independent while balancing health management and social life with a view to providing long-term support.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 Japanese CCSs aged 16-25 years. The data were then qualitatively analysed using the modified grounded theory approach.

RESULTS

Seven "categories" and 35 "concepts" were generated. The connections among these categories and concepts revealed the process of becoming independent while balancing health management and social life. The first phase in the process is "coordination within constraints," which includes "consciousness and worries about deteriorating health" and "adjustments to balance schoolwork and treatment." This phase changes into "challenges to being free and normal" and "release from constraints." Psychological development then occurs as "gratitude toward surrounding people" and "sustenance from experiencing a rare illness." However, CCSs also "face worries about the persistent effects of cancer," including "awareness of the necessity to continue hospital visits even into adulthood." Through these experiences, CCSs reach the phase of "finding a way to live with oneself," which integrates health management with social life.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings may help parents and health, education, and social-care professionals anticipate and share changes in CCSs physical condition, daily life, and psychosocial development. CCSs need support in terms of coordinating cancer therapy and school life, trying what they want to do, self-managing their own health condition, and forming their identity, including making sense of their illness experience.

Comparing sexual orientation identity development in plurisexual versus monosexual latinx sexual minority youth

INTRODUCTION

Plurisexual individuals represent 50% of sexual minority adolescent communities. However, most studies of sexual minority adolescents analyze this population as a homogeneous group rather than attending to plausible differences between plurisexual and monosexual sexual minority youth. This study examined whether plurisexual Latinx youth differed from monosexual youth on three facets of sexual orientation identity (SOI) development (exploration, resolution, and affirmation). Further, we examined whether plurisexual (vs. monosexual) identity moderated the relationship between SOI development and depressive symptoms and self-esteem.

METHODS

The sample included 365 Latinx sexual minority youth (14-24 years) living in the United States or US Territory. The majority of participants identified as monosexual (84.1%); 15.9% were plurisexual. The sample was 75.6% male, 19.5% female, and 2.0% transgender. Participants were asked to complete an online, cross-sectional survey that asked questions pertaining to ethnicity and sexual orientation. This data was collected in the fall of 2014.

RESULTS

Latinx plurisexual youth had higher levels of SOI affirmation, exploration, and resolution than monosexual youth. SOI affirmation and exploration and were positively associated with self-esteem for all youth. SOI affirmation was significantly negatively associated with depressive symptoms for monosexual youth but not for plurisexual youth. SOI exploration and resolution were not significantly associated with depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates that there are significant differences between plurisexual and monosexual Latinx adolescent populations in reference to identity affirmation, exploration, and resolution, and that these sexual orientations should be treated distinctly in future research. In addition, all three aspects of identity development were significantly related to higher self-esteem for all youth regardless of identity, providing evidence for the importance of developing these three factors.

Exploring the Complexity of Telehealth Privacy Through a Lens of Adolescent Development

Many challenges exist related to ensuring adolescent privacy with health care providers (HCPs), and the rapid integration of telehealth visits has created additional complexities in organizing privacy for adolescents. Through interviews with adolescent patients and their parents (n = 34), this qualitative analysis aimed to explore the complicated relationship and balance of adolescent alone time with HCPs, parental presence and support, and organization of privacy in order to consider how privacy during telehealth visits may contribute to adolescents' healthy development. A framework by Blum et al. (2014) proposed four central goals of adolescent development: emotional security, engagement with learning, self-efficacy, and decision-making skills. This conceptual framework was used to outline the ways in which adolescent privacy during telehealth impacts adolescent development. Some adolescents reported that having their parents present during their telehealth visit afforded reassurance and comfort, and many parents explained that they served as a role-model during their adolescent's telehealth visit. However, other adolescents felt higher emotional security when they could establish an independent relationship with their HCP, with many describing how privacy during their telehealth visit enabled them to have more sensitive discussions with their HCP. Adolescents and parents also reported that telehealth allowed increased experiential learning for adolescents, given their proficiency with technology and ability to access their health care visits autonomously. Furthermore, the organization of privacy was complicated by a lack of understanding whose responsibility it was to facilitate alone time between the adolescent and HCP, as well as external factors such as location and quality of technology and the proximity of family members in the home. By ensuring opportunities for private healthcare encounters, both in telehealth and in-person visits, HCPs and parents can help support adolescents in achieving successful and healthy development.

REDESIGNING JUVENILE PROBATION TO ALIGN WITH BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLEs: A Quasi-Experimental study

Science advisory boards and policy organizations have called for adolescent brain science to be incorporated into juvenile probation operations. To achieve this, Opportunity-Based Probation (OBP), a probation model that integrates knowledge of adolescent development and behavior change principles, was developed in collaboration with a local juvenile probation department. The current study compares outcomes (recidivism and probation violations) for youth in the OBP condition versus probation as usual. Inverse probability weighting (IPW) and coarsened exact matching (CEM) were used to estimate causal effects of OBP's average treatment effect (ATE). Results indicated clear effects of OBP on reducing criminal legal referrals, but no significant effects were observed for probation violations. Overall, results provide promising recidivism-reduction effects in support of developmentally grounded redesigns of juvenile probation.

Sexually dimorphic development of the mesolimbic dopamine system is associated with nuanced sensitivity to adolescent alcohol use

Alcohol use remains a major public health concern and is especially prevalent during adolescence. Adolescent alcohol use has been linked to several behavioral abnormalities in later life, including increased risk taking and impulsivity. Accordingly, when modeled in animals, male rats that had moderate alcohol consumption during adolescence exhibit multiple effects in adulthood, including increased risk taking, altered incentive learning, and greater release of dopamine in the mesolimbic pathway. It has been proposed that alcohol arrests neural development, "locking in" adolescent physiological, and consequent behavioral, phenotypes. Here we examined the feasibility that the elevated dopamine levels following adolescent alcohol exposure are a "locked in" phenotype by testing mesolimbic dopamine release across adolescent development. We found that in male rats, dopamine release peaks in late adolescence, returning to lower levels in adulthood, consistent with the notion that high dopamine levels in adolescence-alcohol-exposed adults were due to arrested development. Surprisingly, dopamine release in females was stable across the tested developmental window. This result raised a quandary that arrested dopamine levels would not differ from normal development in females and, therefore, may not contribute to pathological behavior. However, the aforementioned findings related to risk-based decision-making have only been performed in male subjects. When we tested females that had undergone adolescent alcohol use, we found that neither risk attitude during probabilistic decision-making nor mesolimbic dopamine release was altered. These findings suggest that different developmental profiles of the mesolimbic dopamine system across sexes result in dimorphic susceptibility to alcohol-induced cognitive and motivational anomalies exposure.

Warm-up stretching exercises and physical performance of youth soccer players

This study aims to compare the effects of standard warm-up versus warm-up using stretching exercises on the physical performance of male youth soccer players. Eighty-five male soccer players (age: 10.3 ± 4.3 years; body mass index: 19.8 ± 4.3 kg/m²) were assessed for countermovement jump height (CMJ, cm), 10 m, 20 m and 30 m running sprint speed (s) and ball kicking speed (km/h) for the dominant and non-dominant leg under five (randomized) warm-up conditions. Using 72 h of recovery between conditions, the participants completed a control condition (CC) and four experimental conditions, including static stretching (SSC), dynamic stretching (DSC), ballistic stretching (BSC), and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNFC) exercises. All warm-up conditions had a duration of 10 minutes. The main results indicate that no significant differences (p > 0.05) were found between warm-up conditions compared to CC in CMJ (CC = 28.1 ± 4.9; SSC = 28.4 ± 4.9; DSC = 30.9 ± 4.8; BSC = 30.9 ± 5.2; PNFC = 28.4 ± 5.0), 10 m sprint (CC = 2.42 ± 0.4; SSC = 2.50 ± 0.4; DSC = 2.30 ± 0.3; BSC = 2.27 ± 0.3; PNFC = 2.53 ± 0.4), 20 m sprint (CC = 5.42 ± 0.9; SSC = 5.59 ± 0.9; DSC = 5.37 ± 0.9; BSC = 5.40 ± 0.9; PNFC = 5.44 ± 0.9), 30 m sprint (CC = 8.05 ± 1.3; SSC = 8.27 ± 1.3; DSC = 8.01 ± 1.3; BSC = 8.00 ± 1.3; PNFC = 8.12 ± 1.3), ball kicking speed for dominant (CC = 56.2 ± 4.9; SSC = 55.3 ± 5.2; DSC = 56.9 ± 5.8; BSC = 57.3 ± 5.8; PNFC = 55.7 ± 5.2) and non-dominant leg (CC = 52.8 ± 3.4; SSC = 51.8 ± 4.6; DSC = 53.5 ± 5.4; BSC = 53.6 ± 4.9; PNFC = 52.5 ± 4.0). In conclusion, compared to standard warm-up, stretching-based warm-up exerts no effect on male youth soccer players jump height, sprint speed and ball kicking speed.

Adolescent Development and the Parent-Adolescent Relationship in Diverse Family Forms Created by Assisted Reproduction

Assisted reproduction techniques (ARTs) are employed by single individuals and couples who are not otherwise able to conceive spontaneously. While the use of ARTs is increasing, research is lacking on the attempts made by adolescent offspring conceived via ARTs to integrate their ART conception into their identity and negotiate a connection with, and autonomy from, their parents. The present article reviews studies investigating adolescent development and the parent-adolescent relationship in diverse family forms created by ARTs (mainly heterosexual and lesbian parent families), and discusses the results in light of attachment, identity development, and emotional distance regulation theories. Overall, the results indicate that the psychological adjustment of adolescents conceived via ARTs is not undermined by the manner of their conception, and that they enjoy positive relationships with their parents with no difference from those enjoyed by spontaneously conceived adolescents. However, it remains unknown whether the development of a reproductive identity in adolescence is likely to influence adolescents' interest in searching for or contacting their donors, surrogates, and/or donor siblings. The results suggest the relevance of considering the parent-adolescent relationship, disclosure, and identity formation issues when planning psychological counseling and support interventions with ART parents and their adolescent offspring, and emphasize the need to further investigate these aspects in diverse ART families, including single-, gay-, bisexual-, and trans*-parent families.

What Is Digital Parenting? A Systematic Review of Past Measurement and Blueprint for the Future

Concerns about parenting adolescents are not new, but the rapid diffusion of digital technologies has heightened anxieties over digital parenting. Findings are decidedly mixed regarding the impact of digital technologies on adolescent well-being, and parents are left to navigate their concerns without an empirically based road map. A missing link for understanding the state of the science is a clear characterization of how digital parenting is measured, including an evaluation of which areas demand an outsized share of scientific attention and which have been overlooked. To address this gap, we undertook two interdisciplinary systematic reviews of the digital-parenting literature and characterized measurement across (a) quantitative surveys (n = 145 studies) and (b) qualitative focus groups, interviews, codesign studies, and user studies (n = 49). We describe previously popular areas of survey measurement that are of decreasing relevance to parenting of digital spaces (e.g., co-use, hovering). We likewise highlight areas that have been overlooked, including consideration of positive uses of digital technologies, acknowledgment of bidirectional influence, and attention to heterogeneity among families and to extraparental social ecologies of support and monitoring. We provide recommendations for the future of digital-parenting research and propose a more comprehensive approach to measuring how modern adolescents are parented.

Empathy development from adolescence to adulthood and its consistency across targets

This research was conducted with two main goals-to contribute to knowledge on the development of empathy from early adolescence to adulthood, including its contribution to decoding emotion expression, and to improve the understanding of the nature of empathy by simultaneously assessing empathy toward two different targets-humans and animals. It unfolded into two cross-sectional studies: One (S1) obtaining measures of empathy toward humans and animals as targets across five age groups (from pre-adolescents to adults); and another (S2) where a subset of the adolescents who participated in S1 were assessed in emotion expression decoding and subjective and physiological responses to emotional video clips. The results of S1 showed that empathy toward animals and most dimensions of empathy toward humans increase toward adulthood, with important gender differences in empathy to animals and humans, and empathy levels in girls starting off in the age trajectory at higher levels, A moderate correlation between empathy toward human and toward animal targets was also found. S2 showed that the expression of positive emotion is better recognized than that of negative emotion, surprise, or neutral expression, and that the measure of human-directed empathy predicts successful decoding of negative emotion, whereas skin conductance responses (SCRs) and subjective valence ratings predicted successful identification of positive emotion. Gender differences emerged but not across all age groups nor all subscales. Results yield keys to the developmental "pace" and trajectory of the various dimensions of empathy and to how empathy relates to emotion decoding.

Healthy sleep for healthy schools: A pilot study of a sleep education resource to improve adolescent sleep

ISSUE ADDRESSED

Insufficient sleep and unhealthy sleep practices in adolescents are associated with significant health risks. Sleep education programs in schools aim to improve sleep behaviour. A new eLearning sleep education program, Healthy Sleep for Healthy Schools (HS4HS), was developed focused on these goals and is distinguishable from other sleep education programs because it is delivered by teachers, making it more sustainable and adaptable for schools. We aimed to evaluate if HS4HS would improve student sleep knowledge, healthy sleep practices, sleep duration and reduce sleepiness. We also aimed to understand if this intervention could be successfully implemented by trained teachers.

METHODS

Teachers trained in sleep delivered HS4HS to 64 South Australian students in year 9 (aged 13-14 years) over 6 weeks during regular school curriculum. A sleep education survey assessing sleep patterns (such as healthy sleep practices, time in bed and sleepiness), and a sleep knowledge questionnaire was completed pre- and post-HS4HS delivery. Evaluations were also completed by teachers.

RESULTS

Sleep knowledge and healthy sleep practices significantly improved post intervention. Time in bed on both school days and weekends increased slightly and sleepiness decreased slightly, but these changes were not statistically significant. Teachers found the program useful, comprehensive and easy to incorporate into their curricula.

CONCLUSIONS

After short training, teachers can deliver sleep education during class and improve sleep practices in their students. This suggests that this program may offer potential as an effective and useful resource for teachers wanting to include sleep health in their curriculum. SO WHAT?: Sleep is the foundation of good health and teachers can promote and integrate sleep education into their curricula for the first time with this online teacher focussed program, which has the potential to be a sustainable sleep health promotion resource.

"When I Think of Black Girls, I Think of Opportunities": Black Girls' Identity Development and the Protective Role of Parental Socialization in Educational Settings

While educational settings may be envisioned as safe spaces that facilitate learning, foster creativity, and promote healthy development for youth, research has found that this is not always true for Black girls. Their negative experiences within educational settings are both gendered and racialized, often communicating broader societal perceptions of Black girls that ultimately shape their identity development. Utilizing semi-structured interviews with adolescent Black girls (n = 12), the current investigation explored Black girls' educational experiences, their meaning making of Black girlhood, and the role of parents in their positive development. By centering Black girls' voices, this study illuminated how Black girls negotiate their multiple marginalized identities and how their identities are shaped by their home and school environments. Findings revealed that Black girls are aware of the difficulties in navigating educational settings for Black girls, but this awareness was coupled with parental support that promoted positive gendered racial identities for Black girls in middle school and high school. This investigation advanced current knowledge of Black girls' identity development and highlighted the protective role of parental socialization. Future research directions and implications are also discussed.

Growth-Mindset Intervention Delivered by Teachers Boosts Achievement in Early Adolescence

School underachievement is a persistent problem in the United States. Direct-to-student, computer-delivered growth-mindset interventions have shown promise as a way to improve achievement for students at risk of failing in school; however, these interventions benefit only students who happen to be in classrooms that support growth-mindset beliefs. Here, we tested a teacher-delivered growth-mindset intervention for U.S. adolescents in Grades 6 and 7 that was designed to both impart growth-mindset beliefs and create a supportive classroom environment where those beliefs could flourish (N = 1,996 students, N = 50 teachers). The intervention improved the grades of struggling students in the target class by 0.27 standard deviations, or 2.81 grade percentage points. The effects were largest for students whose teachers endorsed fixed mindsets before the intervention. This large-scale, randomized controlled trial demonstrates that growth-mindset interventions can produce gains when delivered by teachers.

Adolescent sleep shapes social novelty preference in mice

Sleep disturbances frequently occur in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, but the developmental role of sleep is largely unexplored, and a causal relationship between developmental sleep defects and behavioral consequences in adulthood remains elusive. Here, we show that in mice, sleep disruption (SD) in adolescence, but not in adulthood, causes long-lasting impairment in social novelty preference. Furthermore, adolescent SD alters the activation and release patterns of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in response to social novelty. This developmental sleep function is mediated by balanced VTA activity during adolescence; chemogenetic excitation mimics, whereas silencing rescues, the social deficits of adolescent SD. Finally, we show that in Shank3-mutant mice, improving sleep or rectifying VTA activity during adolescence ameliorates adult social deficits. Together, our results identify a critical role of sleep and dopaminergic activity in the development of social interaction behavior.

Theory of Mind and Concealing vs. Forthcoming Communication in Adolescence

Concealing information requires that adolescents manage the information that they share, which requires cognitive skills, for example, theory of mind (ToM). This study explored motivations for concealment that early adolescents (N = 90, M = 12.81 years, SD = 5.10 months, range 12–14 years, and 58% female) endorsed concealing or disclosing to friends and parents, in relation to their theory of mind. We found that adolescents broadly endorsed disclosure to both parents and friends, even when it might mean they would face consequences, be impolite (by not protecting another’s feelings), or face negative identity-related emotions. We found that ToM ability was associated with a tendency to endorse being forthcoming and sharing information with both friends and parents. These findings provide new insight into how the relation between ToM and concealment may change with age, specifically how in early adolescence it may foster open communication rather than concealment as is the case in early and middle childhood.

The Usual, Racialized, Suspects: The Consequence of Police Contacts with Black and White Youth on Adult Arrest

Research on race and policing indicates that Black Americans experience a greater frequency of police contacts, discretionary stops, and police harassment when stops occur. Yet, studies examining the long-term consequences of police contact with young people have not examined whether criminal justice consequences of police contact differ by race. We address this issue by examining whether police encounters with children and adolescents predict arrest in young adulthood and if these effects are the same for Black and White individuals. The paper uses longitudinal survey data from 331 Black and White respondents enrolled in the Seattle Public School District as eighth graders in 2001 and 2002. Our findings indicate that police encounters in childhood increase the risk of arrest in young adulthood for Black but not White respondents. Black respondents who experience contact with the police by the eighth grade have eleven times greater odds of being arrested when they are 20 years old than their White counterparts.

Elevating the Role of the Outdoor Environment for Adolescent Wellbeing in Everyday Life

In light of concerns about adolescent mental health, there is a need to identify and examine potential pathways to wellbeing in their daily lives. Outdoor environments can offer multiple pathways to wellbeing through opportunities for restoration, physical activity and socialising. However, urbanisation and new lifestyles revolving around the home and the internet are changing young people's access, use and relationship to the outdoor environment. The authors point out how the research related to adolescents' outdoor environments is generally not treated with the same level of importance or as comprehensively as that for younger children. The aim of this paper is to pave the way for research and planning initiatives on everyday outdoor environments promoting the wellbeing of adolescents and the authors suggest ways in which perspectives from developmental psychology might inform the study of adolescents' outdoor environments. The paper concludes by calling for an elevated focus on the role of outdoor environments in adolescents' everyday lives as a source of wellbeing and more research that makes clear the specific attributes, activities and experiences related to places outdoors which make adolescents feel good.

A brief report on peer influence in group mentoring: A source of peer contagion or prosocial behavior change?

Group mentoring programs foster supportive relationships and constructive feedback between mentors and peers. Given the power of peer influence to promote adaptive or harmful outcomes, it is important to evaluate peer influence in group mentoring. This study examined whether a history of negative behavior among peers in mentoring groups exacerbated individual participants' behavior problems. Using a sample of 239 ninth grade participants in a group mentoring program, multilevel regression assessed group-level influence on suspensions and truancy using school administrative data records. The association between exposure to peers with a history of problem behaviors and outcomes did not reach statistical significance for either outcome. The results suggest that grouping youth with a history of poor attendance and suspensions did not inherently increase the risk for either outcome. Further evaluation of potential peer contagion effects and publication of nonsignificant results will help build literature to determine the likelihood of harmful outcomes for group mentoring.

Food Insecurity among Adolescent Students from 95 Countries Is Associated with Diet, Behavior, and Health, and Associations Differ by Student Age and Sex

Background

Adolescents' developmental tasks and challenges vary based on age, sex, and social context. Food insecurity affects adolescents, but existing research has been limited to a few country contexts and has treated adolescence as a singular developmental moment with limited consideration of potential differences in how food insecurity relates to developmental experiences based on adolescent age and sex.

Objectives

We aimed to describe relations between student-reported food insecurity and students' profiles of nutritional, physical activity, school absenteeism, health/mental health, and victimization experiences, and how these differ by student age and sex.

Methods

Using cross-sectional data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey, we examined adolescent reports of their food security among 337,738 students 11-18 y old from 95 countries. We identified their profiles of focal experiences, and used mixed-effects linear and logistic regression models to examine differences in these profiles by student food insecurity and how these differ by student age and sex.

Results

Of students, 25.5% aged 11-14 y compared with 30% aged 15-18 y reported food insecurity in the past 30 d. Food insecurity was associated with less frequent fruit and vegetable intake; more frequent soft drink intake; worse mental health; less physical activity; more missed school; higher odds of smoking, drinking, and using drugs; and more bullying victimization and sexual partners. Food insecurity was associated with reduced age- and sex-specific protection: greater substance use among younger adolescents, more sexual partners among older females, and greater worry among younger males. Food insecurity was also associated with increased age-specific risk: greater soft drink consumption among younger adolescents.

Conclusions

Across countries, adolescent food insecurity was associated with poorer nutritional, mental health, behavioral, and relationship profiles; these associations differed with student age and sex. Food insecurity interventions should attend to adolescent developmental stage and the gendered contexts through which adolescents navigate daily life.

Technologizing Bronfenbrenner: Neo-ecological Theory

We propose an adaptation of Urie Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory, neo-ecological theory. As bioecological theory was developed in the 20th century, it requires significant modifications to reflect some of the most ubiquitous contexts in which adolescents learn, play, and grow-the technological and virtual ones. Although several scholars have developed laudable theories related to youth development in virtual contexts, the field lacks an overarching theory to address the intersection of development and technology. In developing neo-ecological theory, we hold true to the tenets of bioecological theory, but suggest key modifications to reflect our technologized world. We delineate a key alteration to the microsystem, namely the existence of two types of microsystems-physical and virtual. In addition, we emphasize the importance of macrosystemic influences (i.e., the influences of culture and within-society subcultural variation) in understanding development in the digital age. The implications of these modifications cascade across the Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) model; proximal processes, person characteristics, context, and time are all reexamined. In the digital age, virtual microsystems are central contexts in which youth engage in proximal processes. As such, we believe that all scholars of development, regardless of their specific research interests, should consider the ways digital contexts influence their outcomes of interest. Without it, practitioners, policy makers, parents, and technologists will be in the dark about how best to support adolescents.

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living in Pediatric Occupational Therapy Practice: A Survey of Current Practice Patterns and Perceived Importance

AIMS

We investigated how instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) are addressed and perceived, in comparison to activities of daily living (ADLs), across preschool (3-5 years), middle childhood (6-11 years), early adolescence (12-15 years), and older adolescence (16-21 years) age groups by pediatric occupational therapy (OT) practitioners.

METHOD

247 OT practitioners with at least 2 years of pediatric work experience in the U.S. completed an electronic survey assessing (a) type of IADLs most frequently addressed and (b) type of IADLs perceived as most important across the age groups.

RESULTS

With increasing age of children and adolescents with disabilities, frequency and perceived importance of addressing IADLs increased in comparison to ADLs; there was a statistically significant relationship between the frequency and the perceived importance of addressing IADLs for all 12 activities across the age groups.

CONCLUSION

The decision-making process in addressing IADLs in pediatric OT practice was significantly influenced by the practitioners' perceived importance of IADLs.

Revisiting the hypothesis that friends buffer against diminished self-esteem arising from poor quality parent-adolescent relationships: A replication study

This replication study revisited conclusions from 2 previous investigations (Gauze, Bukowski, Aquan-Assee, & Sippola, 1996; van Aken & Asendorpf, 1997), which suggested that support from friends buffers against diminished self-esteem arising from poor quality relationships with mothers during the transition into adolescence. The aim of this replication study was to conduct an independent test of these findings with both concurrent and longitudinal data. Concurrent data for replication analyses were drawn from 4 projects, involving a total of 959 boys and 1,119 girls (ages 10 to 14) from Canada and the United States. Three samples reported participant ethnic descent: Africa (12.1%), Asia (5.6%), Europe (65.3%), Latin America (12.1%), and Native North America (0.9%). Child and mother reports of mother-child relationship quality assayed (a) maternal social support (in 3 data sets), and (b) family cohesion and adaptability (in 2 data sets). Main effects were replicated but hypothesized buffering effects were not. Maternal social support and friend social support were independently associated with adolescent self-esteem, concurrently, but not longitudinally. Family cohesion (but not adaptability) was associated with adolescent self-esteem, concurrently and longitudinally. Friend social support did not moderate associations between mother-child relationship quality and adolescent self-esteem, concurrently or longitudinally. The findings are consistent with a cumulative effects model wherein friends uniquely contribute to adolescent self-worth, over and above the contribution of mothers. The findings do not support claims that friends moderate associations between mother-child relationship quality and adolescent self-esteem. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Digital Dating Abuse Among a National Sample of U.S. Youth

Digital dating abuse is a term used to describe physical, sexual, or psychological/emotional violence that occurs between romantic partners through the use of texting, social media, and related online mediums. Survey data were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 2,218 American middle and high school students (12-17 years old) who have been in a romantic relationship. About 28% of students in a relationship in the previous year had been the victim of digital dating abuse. Males were more likely to report having experienced it (32% compared to 24%), though no other demographic differences emerged. Several covariates did emerge as significantly related to experience with digital dating abuse, including depressive symptoms, sexual intercourse, sexting, and being the victim of cyberbullying. Experiencing offline dating abuse was by far the strongest correlate. Implications for prevention and policy within schools and the community are discussed, along with considerations for future research in this important area.

Air Pollution and Adolescent Development: Evidence from a 3-Year Longitudinal Study in China

This study aimed to investigate the impact of air pollution on the development of adolescents and the mediating role of students’ emotional disorders. Participants came from a longitudinal sample group of adolescents (n = 1301) in Southern China from the years 2016 to 2018. They were assessed for the Positive Youth Development and emotional disorders, and air pollution was measured by the Air Quality Index. The results show that students’ higher degree of exposure to air pollution was negatively associated with their positive development. Three out of four emotional disorders (i.e., anxiety, neuroticism, and withdrawal) mediate this association. The results suggest that the physical environment can have a paramount influence on the emotional status and overall development of adolescents, calling for intervention programs by policymakers.

Moral Reasoning Enables Developmental and Societal Change

Moral reasoning is an essential part of how humans develop and a fundamental aspect of how human societies change over time. On a developmental timescale, reasoning about interpersonal disagreements and dilemmas spurs age-related changes in moral judgments from childhood to adulthood. When asked to distribute resources among others, even young children strive to balance competing concerns with equality, merit, and need. Over the course of development, reasoning and judgments about resource distribution and other moral issues become increasingly sophisticated. From childhood to adulthood, individuals not only evaluate acts as right or wrong but also take the extra steps to rectify inequalities, protest unfair norms, and resist stereotypic expectations about others. The development of moral reasoning also enables change on a societal timescale. Across centuries and communities, ordinary individuals have called for societal change based on moral concerns with welfare, rights, fairness, and justice. Individuals have effectively employed reasoning to identify and challenge injustices. In this article, we synthesize recent insights from developmental science about the roles of moral reasoning in developmental and societal change. In the concluding section, we turn to questions for future research on moral reasoning and change.

The Negative Impact of Noise on Adolescents' Executive Function: An Online Study in the Context of Home-Learning During a Pandemic

UNICEF estimates that 1.6 billion children across the world have had their education impacted by COVID-19 and have attempted to continue their learning at home. With ample evidence showing a negative impact of noise on academic achievement within schools, the current pre-registered study set out to determine what aspects of the home environment might be affecting these students. Adolescents aged 11-18 took part online, with 129 adolescents included after passing a headphone screening task. They filled out a sociodemographic questionnaire, followed by a home environment and noise questionnaire. Participants then completed three executive function tasks (the Flanker, the Backward Digit Span, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test) while listening to a soundtrack of either white noise or home-like environmental noise. For purposes of analysis, based on the noise questionnaire, participants were separated into quieter and noisier homes. Results revealed that measures of the home environment significantly correlated with individual perceptions of noise and task performance. In particular, adolescents coming from noisier homes were more likely to report that they studied in a noisy room and that they were annoyed by noise when studying. In terms of noise and task performance, the Flanker task revealed that while older adolescents were more efficient overall than their younger peers, those older adolescents from noisier homes seemed to lose this advantage. Additionally, reaction times for younger adolescents from noisier homes were less impacted by accuracy compared to their peers from quieter homes, though there was no difference for the older adolescents. This evidence suggests that higher in-home noise levels lead to higher rates of annoyance and may be hindering home-learning, with both younger and older adolescents being impacted. Furthermore, the long-term effect of in-home noise on adolescent executive function task performance indicates that these findings transcend the pandemic and would influence in-school learning. Limitations and advantages of online adolescent research without researcher supervision are discussed, including sociodemographics and adapting tasks.