Prosocial risk-taking behavior, defined as taking risks to help others, may play an important role in shaping adolescents' peer status. However, prior research has failed to distinguish between different forms of risk-taking, resulting in inconsistent findings regarding their associations with adolescent peer status. This the relation between prosocial risk-taking behavior and peer acceptance and popularity separately and to examine the potential moderating role of leadership in these associations. Results indicate that prosocial risk-taking behavior significantly predicted peer acceptance over and above the effects of negative risk-taking and prosocial behavior, but its main effect on popularity was nonsignificant. Moderation analyses revealed that leadership significantly moderated the relation between prosocial risk-taking behavior and popularity. Specifically, prosocial risk-taking behavior predicted higher popularity only among adolescents with higher leadership status among peers, and the association was nonsignificant among those with lower leadership. In contrast, prosocial risk-taking behavior predicted peer acceptance regardless of leadership level. The current results highlight the importance of prosocial risk-taking behavior for adolescent peer relationships and suggest that fostering such behaviors may increase peer acceptance, particularly among those with higher leadership levels.
Friends are assumed to be particularly influential at the onset of adolescence, as adult oversight declines and the salience of peers increases. The present longitudinal study tested this claim, comparing the strength of friend influence over academic achievement during late childhood (grades 4-5, ages 8 to 11) to that in early adolescence (grades 6-7, ages 11 to 14) in youths from the United States (Florida) and Lithuania. Participants included 278 children (151 girls, 127 boys) in 139 stable reciprocated best friend dyads and 266 young adolescents (133 girls, 133 boys) in 133 stable reciprocated best friend dyads. Three measures of academic achievement were collected at the beginning and end of a single school year: peer nominations and self-reports of school performance and academic grades from school records. Results from longitudinal dyadic analyses revealed age group differences in all three indices of academic achievement. In both groups, friends influenced one another, becoming more similar on peer, self-, and school reports of academic achievement over time. In each case, however, the magnitude of friend influence was greater in the early adolescent sample than in the late childhood sample. Replication is a strength of the study: Similar results emerged across locations, suggesting that the findings are robust and generalize across different contemporary Western contexts.
The transition to college presents challenges for students as they form new peer relationships while experiencing varying degrees of belonging within the college community. This study investigated with cross-sectional social network analysis how self-reports of residential program and classroom belonging associated with social and academic networks among a sample of first-year college students that, controlling for each other, residential program belonging but not classroom belonging was significantly associated with students' social and academic networks. Additionally, after accounting for other factors, underrepresented minority students, particularly Black and multiracial students with low residential program belonging, were more likely than White students to hang out with peers across the broader residential college community. Findings highlight the importance of students' sense of belonging for relationships with peers in the transition to
This study examines whether selection, deselection, and influence processes contribute to political homogeneity in young adults. Political similarity in newly formed friendships and enduring friendships is distinguished. Using two cohorts from Swiss StudentLife Study (N=921; M age at baseline = 20.1 (SD = 3.6); 18.4% female; 29.0% Non-Swiss) and applying stochastic actor-oriented models, the co-evolution of friendships, defined as an outgoing friendship nomination, and political attitudes was examined. The results provided no evidence that political attitudes significantly affect the formation or maintenance of friendships, nor do influence mechanisms shape political homogeneity. No evidence was found that relationship duration strengthened the influence process. These findings suggest that in contexts of relatively low political engagement and polarization, such as among Swiss students, political attitudes are not a significant factor in the formation or maintenance of social relationships, and peers do not affect each other’s political attitudes.
This study examined the bidirectional, longitudinal relationship between loneliness and affective peer status (positive and negative) during the transition from late childhood to early adolescence, also focusing on potential sex differences in these dynamics. Using data from a representative sample of 4,462 Polish students (Mage = 9.9, SD = 0.33; 51.0% girls at Wave 1), a two-wave cross-lagged panel model was applied to assess these associations over 1.5 years. The results confirmed the hypothesis of a reciprocal relationship between loneliness and peer status over time: a higher level of loneliness predicted lower positive peer status and higher negative peer status and vice versa. In turn, the findings challenged the asymmetry hypothesis, which posited that negative peer status was more strongly associated with loneliness than positive peer status, indicating instead that both types of peer status predict loneliness to a similar extent. However, sex differences emerged: loneliness in girls was more strongly linked to positive peer status, while boys’ loneliness was more affected by negative peer status. Moreover, negative peer status demonstrated greater stability over time compared to positive peer status. This study supported the reciprocal nature of loneliness and peer status, highlighting their dynamic interplay rather than a unidirectional effect. Additionally, while the asymmetry hypothesis was not supported, it was observed that the effects may differ between sexes. Therefore, future research should refine theoretical models by considering sex-specific patterns and their implications for interventions aimed at improving peer relationships and reducing loneliness during the transition into early adolescence.
This study examined parental attitudes about gender nonconformity in children's books in a sample of parents with children ages 4 to 11. This research sought to understand parental demographic identities associated with attitudes regarding children's books about gender nonconformity, as well as conversations with children about gender nonconformity more broadly. Participants were asked to assess their attitudes toward each of a series of books that either did or did not discuss gender-nonconforming children. Specifically, they were asked about their child reading each book, children in general reading each book, having each book in their child's library, and having their child's teacher teach the book in the classroom. Overall, parents had more negative attitudes toward books about gender nonconformity than about control books that were not about gender. Parents also had the most negative attitudes about teaching books about gender in the classroom. Associations were found between parental attitudes toward gender nonconformity and political affiliation and ideology, religiosity, and age of parent. Republican-identifying parents and those who had more conservative political ideologies reported more negative attitudes toward gender nonconformity books, as well as more negative attitudes about exposing children to gender nonconformity overall. Parents who rated themselves as committed to religious teachings and those who noted that they were more religious also had more negative gender nonconformity book attitudes and overall gender attitudes, although these effects did not hold when controlling for political ideology. Older parents also had more negative gender nonconformity book attitudes and overall gender attitudes. The findings of this study may have implications for educating parents about the impact of gender nonconformity books.
The way people connect their life stories and sense of self is important for identity and functioning. U.S. emerging adults' expressions of self-event connections within a story may reflect societal narrative conventions and indicate the narrative work required to integrate redemption into one's identity. We recruited 336 college and community adults (M-age = 20.53 years; 57.7% women), who provided a challenging event narrative and reported well-being. Instances of self-event connections were coded for valence (i.e., negative, neutral, positive) and category (i.e., disposition, value, growth). We expected individuals' expressions of connections to follow a redemptive arc and transition from dispositional/value to growth connections as narratives resolved. We expected individuals who expressed more (a) positive and (b) growth-focused connections to report greater well-being. Findings supported most expectations. Connections shifted toward positive valence but moved through growth toward dispositions and values. Greater uses of positive and growth-focused connections were robustly associated with greater well-being endorsements.
Sleep is vital for well-being. During the COVID-19 pandemic, significant disturbances in family life impacted both stress and sleep, particularly in parents of young children. In the context of parent-child relations, both maternal sleep and child sleep are likely to have inordinate impacts on maternal physiological functioning. This study examines the longitudinal relationship between maternal and child sleep and maternal chronic stress, indexed by hair cortisol, during the early stages of the pandemic. Participants included 113 mothers (Mage = 37.20 years, SD = 5.23) and their children (females = 49%; Mage = 72.88 months, SD = 10.94). Mothers completed surveys on sleep and provided hair samples for the analysis of cortisol. Regression analyses demonstrated that after controlling for initial levels of cortisol, child sleep disturbance, but not maternal sleep problems, at Time 1 predicted maternal hair cortisol at Time 2 (about 6 months later; b = .283, SE = .107, p = .008). Child's sleep and its implications for maternal physiological health are discussed.
Life storytelling is a key method for developing the self, and family storytelling is an important setting for parents and adolescents to jointly make sense of adolescent experiences. Early adolescence is a key time for building a clearer sense of self. We studied mother scaffolding and adolescent meaning-making as adolescents recounted turning points in their lives. We recruited 30 mother-adolescent dyads (adolescent Mage = 12.8 years; 53.3% boys; 76.7% White). Adolescents were video-recorded sharing a life story about an important turning point in life with mothers. Adolescents also completed self-reports about family knowledge, attachment security, identity development, and well-being. Forms of mother scaffolding and adolescent meaning-making were correlated, and both scaffolding and meaning-making were correlated with adolescents' reports about their development. Findings reinforce the continued importance of parental support and growing importance of deep reasoning in early adolescence, as youth are finding their place in the world.
Research suggests that improving executive function (EF) skills using mindfulness-based interventions is promising, though few studies investigate mindfulness-based interventions for young children. The current study evaluated preliminary data examining EF over the course of a 12-week mindfulness-based curriculum implemented within preschool classrooms. Study 1 suggested that 4-year-olds' performance on the Head-to-Toes EF task improved over the curriculum. However, behavior in the Gift Delay EF task appeared to decline from early intervention to post-intervention. In Study 2, the teachers' retrospective reflections on performance suggested that they anticipated children would improve on EF across the intervention, potentially more on the Head-to-Toes task. The teachers suggested that children peeked earlier on the Gift Delay because of testing conditions (e.g., time of year, differences between measures) and learning experience (e.g., earlier peeking without consequence). This study demonstrated mixed results for mindfulness-based interventions related to EF performance in preschoolers and the need for future research incorporating several practical considerations for understanding how behavioral testing may inform classroom interventions.
Literature on the relationship between childhood cancer and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) is mixed. Research has shown that other factors (i.e., family problems, treatment intensity, stressful life events) impact this relationship. Researchers have examined the relationship between post-traumatic growth and experiencing cancer. We examined the psychological impact of childhood cancer on survivors. Participants (N = 105; M = 41.88 years, SD = 19.05) were typically female (58.4% women), White (69.8% White) adults. Using quota sampling, 42 participants experienced and completed cancer treatment before the age of 18, whereas 54 participants did not. Childhood cancer survivors were significantly more likely to have higher PTSS and post-traumatic growth than people who were not diagnosed with childhood cancer. Moreover, treatment intensity mediated this relationship. However, family problems and stressful life events did not moderate the relationship between experiencing cancer and PTSS. The findings could be used in interventions for reducing and treating PTSS in childhood cancer survivors.
The purpose of this issue is to encourage and support the next generation of developmental scientists. The following pages contain original reports of empirical research by aspiring young undergraduate students working closely with their faculty mentors. Most of the studies reported here were conducted as undergraduate thesis projects. All articles in this issue underwent the same submission and review procedures (e.g., revision and resubmission following blind peer review) as the journal's regular submissions.
Children's responses to new, unfamiliar social interactions should be influenced by their cognitive appraisals and physiology, though little is known about how these constructs interrelate. To investigate these links, we examined whether children's appraisals of recalled events and resting parasympathetic physiology predicted social problem-solving behavior during a novel social interaction structured lab task. A diverse sample of 184 children 4 to 11 years old (Mage = 7.70 years, SD = 2.30; 50.5% girls) encountered an unfamiliar researcher who behaved oddly and wore a scary mask. Contrary to expectations, overall appraisals did not predict social problem-solving behavior. However, an exploratory analysis revealed that previously having made a prior challenge appraisal of an "angry" autobiographical experience predicted greater social problem-solving behavior. As anticipated, higher resting physiology was associated with more social problem-solving. This study provides initial insight into how appraisals and physiology shape children's behavior and influence their ability to tackle real-world social problems.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous stress in multiple ways for undergraduate college students in emergent adulthood, a period that is already challenging. This study examined the self-reported strategies undergraduate students used to cope with COVID-19-related stress across gender, ethnicity, and academic level using a mixed-method approach. Content analyses revealed four stress-coping strategies as reported by college students: behavioral control coping strategies and three nonbehavioral control coping strategies (including cognitive, informational , and emotional control strategies). Further quantitative analyses suggested that students utilized behavioral control coping strategies much more frequently than nonbehavioral control coping strategies. Additionally, we found that Hispanic/Latino students reported significantly more use of non-behavioral control coping strategies than non-Hispanic/Latino students did when controlling for gender and academic level. We also found a moderate positive relationship between academic level and nonbehavioral control coping strategy use, controlling for gender and ethnicity. The implications of these findings are further discussed.
Given the benefits of critical consciousness (CC), it is important to consider what environmental levers may promote it. Higher-quality education experiences have served as key contextual supports for marginalized youth. Notably, investment in the quality of education for preschoolers has one of the highest rates of return for society compared with interventions that take place later in life, particularly for Black and Latino youth from under-resourced backgrounds. Classroom quality during preschool (ages 3-5) may promote prosocial behavior and cognitive self-regulation in middle childhood (ages 6-12); in turn, these competencies may help facilitate CC during adolescence (ages 13-17). This literature review found theoretical and empirical support to expand developmental models on CC with preschool classroom quality. The article concludes with a discussion on how preschool classrooms operating as democratic contexts could have long-term implications for CC in adolescence, as well as how assessments of preschool classroom quality could be extended to include measures relevant to CC. Future studies could build on this review to continue expanding the quickly growing literature on CC.
In this article, we pursue two points of discussion. First, a new illustration is presented of the person-oriented tenet according to which it can be hazardous to generalize to the individual results that are based on the analysis of aggregated data. Second, it is illustrated that taking into account serial dependence information can result in not only a more detailed and richer but also a different description of covariation in multivariate time series. To capture serial dependence, lagged variables can be created, that is, variables that contain the original information but shifted by one or more observation points. When these points are placed along units such as days, the relation between the original and the lagged variables can be interpreted as the relation of the original observations to those from one or several days before. Original and lagged variables can be used in P-technique factor analysis and in structural modeling. Using a data example from the development of alcoholism, it is shown that analysis at the level of the individual can lead to different results than analysis that is based on aggregated raw data. It is also shown that taking lagged variables into account can shed new light on time series.
Emotion mindsets play an important role in how emotional challenges are navigated. Although existing research demonstrates that emotion mindsets have important implications for emotion regulation self-efficacy (ERSE), little is known about the role of individual differences. The present study examined whether the association between trait emotion mindsets and ERSE varied as a function of negative emotionality, emotional clarity, and gender during late adolescence. Results demonstrated that for males, fixed trait emotion mindsets were associated with less ERSE except at very low levels of negative emotionality and very high levels of emotional clarity. For females, fixed trait emotion mindsets were associated with less ERSE except at very high levels of negative emotionality and very low levels of emotional clarity. These findings emphasize that emotional competence and gender are important considerations when examining the link between emotion mindsets and emotional functioning.
In this essay, we present highlights of the centennial celebration of the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development and relate them to the 70th anniversary of the Merrill-Palmer Quarterly. In 2020, an exhibit was organized to explore the history of the institute in text, images, and artifacts. The history of the Merrill-Palmer Quarterly is inextricably linked with this past but also diverges from it. We argue that both the institute and the journal have influenced one another in ways that are reflected in their modern versions. The article shows how a longer and broader historical perspective adds not only to the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute's story but also to that of the Merrill-Palmer Quarterly.
Understanding predictors and effects of teacher well-being, including job satisfaction, is crucial for both teachers' and children's development. Research on teacher job satisfaction (TJS) has indicated that many individual and contextual factors may make a difference for teachers' professional well-being. However, against the backdrop of this larger literature, relatively less attention has been paid to kindergarten teachers, despite the pivotal importance of this transition to grade school on children's long-term academic success. In this study, we first employed confirmatory factor analysis to validate the construct of TJS and then used structural equation modeling to investigate the specific predictors of kindergarten TJS (e.g., job resources, job demands, teacher job self-efficacy). Finally, we used structural equation modeling again to examine the relations between TJS and kindergarten children's academic and social development. We used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Studies-Kindergarten, a nationally representative dataset including American children who began kindergarten in 2011. Results shed light on the complex phenomenon of TJS in this critical school transition period.
