Defending Victims of Bullying in Early Adolescence: A Multilevel Analysis

Adolescents’ defending behaviors in school bullying situations is likely determined by individual characteristics, social status variables, and classroom/school contextual factors operating simultaneously in the peer ecology. However, there is little research on defending behavior that utilizes this multilevel approach. This study investigated how students’ willingness to defend victims of bullying was affected by feelings of empathy, perceived popularity, and classroom-level perceived prosocial norms. Participants were 1373 adolescents (40% girls, Mage: 14?yrs) from 54 classrooms in six middle schools in South Korea. These youth reported on their feelings of empathy and how prosocial they perceived their classmates to be. Peer-ratings and peer nominations were used to estimate defending behaviors and which students were perceived as popular. Multilevel analyses showed that participants were more likely to defend victims when they had greater empathy and perceived popularity and when classroom-level prosocial norms were higher. The findings have implications for interventions to reduce school bullying and for studying defending behavior in multiple cultural contexts.     

Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Depressive Symptoms During Middle Adolescence: A Longitudinal Analysis

Previous research has shown a consistent positive association between non-suicidal self-injury and depressive symptoms. However, the direction of the effects has not been examined. To understand whether non-suicidal self-injury predicts depressive symptoms or vice versa, we examined the relations between non-suicidal self-injury and depressive symptoms across three waves of self-report data collected 1 year apart from 506 Swedish adolescents (47 % girls; M age = 13.21; SD = .57) who were attending 7th grade at the onset of the study. The results suggest that depressive symptoms predict increases in non-suicidal self-injury 1 year later between the first and second waves of the study. Between the second and third waves of the study depressive symptoms and non-suicidal self-injury were significantly correlated indicating co-occurrence with no direction of effect rather than depressive symptoms predicting non-suicidal self-injury or vice versa. Group comparisons revealed no differences for boys and girls. The findings help clarify the relationships between non-suicidal self-injury and depressive symptoms during middle adolescence.     

Worries and Health in Adolescence: A Latent Variable Approach

In this study, the most salient worries of Dutch adolescents are examined and the most often reported symptoms are ranked. The relationship between worrying and health is explored using structural modeling as are the frequently found gender differences in these areas. Worrying is postulated as an indicator of psychosocial well-being along with affectivity, ease of parental communications, tiredness, and loneliness. Health, or physiological status, is indicated by reported symptoms, frequency of doctors visits, aspirin consumption, and a global health measure. Four hundred and sixteen high-school students (211 girls and 205 boys) fitted in a questionnaire during school hours. The structure of the bet fitting model was the same for boys and girls, indicating that gender differences are a question of degree, and not of different structural relationships. Psychosocial well-being explained 77% of the variance in physiological status. The implications of the findings for health education are discussed.     

Dual-Factor Mental Health from Childhood to Early Adolescence and Associated Factors: A Latent Transition Analysis

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - The dual-factor model of mental health indicates the importance of simultaneously assessing symptoms and subjective wellbeing, but there is limited understanding...     

Patterns of Aggressive Behavior and Peer Victimization from Childhood to Early Adolescence: A Latent Class Analysis

The developmental period characterized by the transition from childhood and elementary school to early adolescence and middle school has been associated with increases in aggressive behavior and peer victimization. Few longitudinal studies, however, have examined the stability of aggression and victimization during this critical transition. This study uses latent class analysis (LCA) to examine patterns of aggressive behavior and victimization during the transition to middle school among urban, public school students (N = 458; Girls = 53%; Latino/a = 53%; M age at t1 = 10.2 years). Independent LCA models were conducted using self-reported data assessing subjects’ involvement in aggressive conduct and victimization during the spring semesters of grades four, five, and six. Elementary school students in the fourth grade initially belonged to one of four groups identified as aggressor, victim, aggressor-victim, and uninvolved latent classes. Contrary to prior research, membership in these classes changed significantly by the time students completed their first year of middle school with most youth participating in episodes of aggression and victimization during the transition. Six common paths that describe patterns of aggressive behavior and victimization from the last two years of elementary school to the first year of middle school were found. Findings are discussed in the context of social dominance theory and prior research that has found greater stability in aggression and victimization among early adolescents.     

Stability and Changes in Problem Behavior During Adolescence: Latent Growth Analysis

The aim of this study was to examine growth trajectories of externalizing and internalizing problems during adolescence. In addition, we also examined factors that might account for individual differences in the level of problem behavior and in the rate of change: Adolescent gender and the quality of the relationships with parents and peers. The sample consisted of 212 adolescents (mean age 13.4 years at the initial assessment) who were assessed at 3 measurement waves with approximately 1-year intervals. The results showed substantial absolute and relative stability in both types of problem behavior, but also significant individual differences in both initial levels of problem behavior and in the rate of change across the 3 measurement occasions. Adolescent gender and the quality of the parent–adolescent relationship predicted the initial level of both externalizing and internalizing problems. The protective effect of the positive quality of the relationship with peers was found for internalizing but not for externalizing problems. No differences appeared between boys and girls in the effect of the quality of interpersonal relations on the level and on the rate of change in problem behavior, suggesting that the etiology of problem behavior might be similar for boys and girls in spite of gender differences in the prevalence of problem behaviors.     

Applying Social Cognitive Theory to Explore Relational Aggression across Early Adolescence: A Within- and Between-Person Analysis

In the past two decades, there has been a significant amount of research on children’s relational aggression, which has been found to be associated with psychosocial problems. Longitudinal studies have examined changes in relational aggression during early adolescence in relation to individual characteristics; however, most studies compare individual differences between people with regard to rates of relational aggression. A shortcoming to the current literature is the lack of studies that use a multilevel approach to examine individual differences (between-person) as well as the extent to which individuals deviate from their own typical levels (within-person) over time. In this study, within- and between-person psychological and peer-related predictors of rates of relational aggression over time were examined. Participants included 1,655 students in 5th–8th grade (mean age: 13.01) from four public middle schools in the Midwest, which consisted 828 females and 827 males. In terms of race and ethnicity, 819 (49.5%) were African Americans, followed by 571 (34.5%) Whites, and 265 (16%) Others. Longitudinal data were collected over four waves across two years of middle school. The findings indicated that contrary to the hypothesis that relational aggression would increase over time, there was no significant growth across time. Age, gender, and race were not associated with relational aggression over time; however, consistent with the Social Cognitive Theory, changes in within-person impulsivity, anger, and peer delinquency were all positively related to increases in relational aggression. At the between-person level of analysis, depressive symptoms and peer delinquency were related to relational aggression. Findings suggest that school-based programs that address anger management, impulsivity, empathy, and victimization could help prevent relational aggression.     

A Story of Adolescence: The Emergence of Other-Sex Relationships

Journal of Youth and Adolescence -     

Procedural Justice in Resolving Family Disputes: A Psychosocial Analysis of Individual and Family Functioning in Late Adolescence

The present study examined the extent to which procedural justice in resolving specific family disputes is associated with ongoing levels of family conflict and cohesion as well as individual psychosocial adaptation in older adolescents. Two hundred and forty study participants (ages 18–22) were asked to recall an important family dispute that they experienced over the past year and to rate how their parents handled the situation along dimensions of procedural justice, control, and outcome satisfaction. The results indicated that overall judgments of procedural fairness and specific relational criteria for evaluating procedural justice (neutrality, trust, standing) were positively associated with family cohesion and psychological well-being and negatively related to family conflict, psychological distress, and deviant behavior. As predicated, low standing or disrespectful treatment was the best predictor of deviant behavior. While individual functioning was tied primarily to relational procedural justice concerns, family functioning was associated with both relational and instrumental factors. Overall, the study lends support to the growing body of research challenging exclusively self-interested models of human conduct.     

Differences in Physical Fitness and Body Composition Between Active and Sedentary Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Previous research analyzing the differences in physical fitness and body composition between active and sedentary adolescents aged 12–16 has not provided...