Identity-affirming teacher practices, such as using correct pronouns, may act as Identity Safety Cues for individual students and the wider school climate. Participants were 42,088 Canadian adolescents in grades 7–12 (age M = 14.6, SD = 1.8; 49.3
Problematic Internet use during adolescence may be shaped not only by adolescents’ emotional and behavioral difficulties but also by how these difficulties are perceived within the family. Little is known about whether parent-adolescent congruence and incongruence in perceived adolescent emotional and behavioral problems are associated with later problematic Internet use symptoms. Using three waves of data from the School-based Evaluation Advancing Response for Child Health cohort in Jiangsu, China, this longitudinal study included 4,678 parent-adolescent dyads (1,231 father-adolescent and 3,447 mother-adolescent dyads, with a mean adolescent age of 12.54 years [SD = 2.14]). Baseline adolescent- and parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire scores were linked to continuous Chinese Internet Addiction Scale scores at two follow-up waves. Multilevel polynomial regression with response surface analysis was conducted separately by dyad type, adjusting for baseline problematic Internet use and demographic, family, socioeconomic, and health-related covariates. Parent-adolescent correspondence in emotional and behavioral problem domains was significant but modest. Higher congruent total difficulties were associated with higher subsequent problematic Internet use in both dyad types. Hyperactivity/inattention showed the most consistent pattern: higher congruent hyperactivity/inattention and adolescent-higher-than-parent discrepancies were associated with higher later problematic Internet use. Dyad-specific patterns also emerged, with mother-adolescent congruence significant for emotional symptoms, peer problems, and prosocial behavior, and father-adolescent congruence significant for conduct problems. Findings suggest that adolescent problematic Internet use is linked not only to the level of emotional and behavioral difficulties but also to whether these difficulties are jointly recognized or differentially perceived by adolescents and parents. Integrating adolescent, father, and mother perspectives may improve identification of youth at risk for problematic Internet use.
Gender differences in school grades remain poorly understood, especially the extent to which behavioral factors and classroom contexts contribute to these gaps. School resistance behavior, i.e. non-adherence to school norms and rules, rejection of authority, and defiance of educational goals through lack of effort, is more frequently observed among boys. This study examines whether such behavior could help to account for gender differences in school grades and that class-level gender composition may also factor in. Data are drawn from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU), comprising 18,234 students (Mage = 14.4, SD = 0.5; 50
Family economic hardship has been identified as a risk factor for adolescents’ cybervictimization. Nevertheless, existing studies have primarily focused on objective economic conditions, and little is known about the within-person association between perceived economic stress and adolescents’ cybervictimization and the mediating mechanisms underlying this association. To fill these gaps, the random intercept cross-lagged model was employed to examine the dynamic relations among perceived economic stress, teacher-student relationships, and cybervictimization. The data were obtained from a sample of 2407 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 12.75, SD = 0.58, 50.23
Although family and school are the two primary developmental contexts during adolescence, little is known about how cumulative risk across these domains jointly shape adolescents’ psychological maladjustment over time. To address this gap, this study examined how family cumulative risk and school cumulative risk were associated with the developmental trajectories of depressive symptoms and loneliness through the trajectory of self-worth among Chinese adolescents. Drawing on a three-wave longitudinal design, 2,096 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 15.14 years; 50.9
Intolerance of uncertainty is consistently associated with adolescent internalizing symptoms, yet it remains unclear whether it functions primarily as a developmental precursor, a consequence, or part of a reciprocal process. A total of 3562 adolescents (Mage at T1 = 14.27 years, SD = 1.93; 55.4
Problematic internet use and depressive symptoms often co-occur during adolescence. Although dual-systems theory suggests that motivational and control systems play important roles in problematic internet use and depressive symptoms, less is known about how these systems are related to their co-occurrence and transitions. This study examined profile transitions in co-occurring problematic internet use and depressive symptoms among adolescents, as well as the predictive roles of dual-system factors in these transitions. The baseline sample included 4,181 Chinese adolescents (57.5
Age-verification policies for online pornography aim to protect minors, yet their implications for legal-age young adults remain underexamined. This mixed-methods study examined UK young adults aged 18–25 who reported pornography use in the past year (N = 623, Mage = 21.40, SD = 2.31; 67.3
Associations between depressive symptoms and bullying victimization have been widely studied during adolescence. However, little is known about how specific depressive symptoms relate to different forms of bullying victimization across developmental stages. The study therefore used cross-lagged panel network analyses to examine these dimension-level associations. A total of 1,288 participants (48.4
Conversations surrounding ethnic identification are common for many minoritized individuals, and the seemingly simple act of endorsing a particular ethnic label has important implications for ethnic-racial identity, psychosocial adjustment, and wellbeing across the lifespan. While ethnic labeling is a key aspect of ethnic identity, as it can affirm and reflect one’s self-identification, heritage and cultural values, little is known about how ethnic labeling choices change across time and developmental periods. Using data from the California Families Project, the current study examined the trajectory of Mexican-origin youth’s propensity for identifying as Mexican or Mexican American across a 17-year timespan. The present study followed 674 youth from 5th grade (Mage = 10.86, SD = 0.50; 50
Social anxiety and depressive symptoms frequently co-occur during adolescence, yet the mechanisms underlying their longitudinal associations remain insufficiently understood. Distress intolerance has been proposed as a transdiagnostic risk factor implicated across internalizing symptoms. However, it remains unclear whether distress intolerance is predicted by social anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as the underlying mechanisms among these three constructs. The specific symptoms most centrally involved in these cross-domain associations remain poorly understood. The present study investigated the longitudinal associations among distress intolerance, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms using a dual-method framework combining random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM) and cross-lagged panel network (CLPN) analyses. A total of 1,378 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 12.57, SDage = 0.63; 50.4
Although prior research suggests that executive functioning may either mediate or moderate the association between family socioeconomic status (SES) and children’s problem behaviors, examining these roles separately provides an incomplete account: mediation models may understate individual differences that are not attributable to the environment, whereas moderation models may understate the role of the environment in shaping personal characteristics. To integrate these perspectives, the present longitudinal study examined whether executive functioning simultaneously mediates and moderates the association between family SES and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. A total of 308 children in the early years of elementary school (MageT1 = 7.34 years; 138 girls) were assessed and followed up 39 months later. After controlling for children’s gender, age, and grade, lower family SES at T1 significantly predicted higher levels of both internalizing and externalizing problems at T2. Executive functioning at T1 partially mediated these associations, indicating that differences in children’s executive functioning partly accounted for socioeconomic disparities in problem behaviors. Executive functioning also moderated both associations: SES was negatively associated with problem behaviors among children with lower executive functioning but not among those with higher executive functioning. These findings highlight the dual role of executive functioning in the longitudinal association between SES and children’s problem behaviors and suggest that executive functioning may be a promising target for efforts to reduce mental health disparities associated with socioeconomic disadvantage.
Although body image satisfaction is increasingly recognized as a dynamic experience that fluctuates across daily contexts, little is known about how weight bias internalization shapes these fluctuations or the cognitive mechanisms and contextual factors involved. The present study examined whether perceived weight mediates the association between weight bias internalization and body image satisfaction, whether exercise duration moderates this association, and whether these effects differ by gender. Daily diary data were collected over 10 consecutive days from 305 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 12.59 years, SD = 0.63 years; 49.2
The age at which adolescents acquire their first smartphone has decreased markedly in recent years; however, evidence on its long-term effects on psychosocial adjustment remains limited. This study investigated whether age at first mobile phone acquisition is associated with psychosocial functioning in middle and late adolescence, including social integration and competence, emotion regulation difficulties, disordered eating behaviors and problematic social media use (PSMU). The sample comprised 1179 adolescents aged 15–17 years (53.8
Existing perspectives suggest that adolescents' experiences of autonomy and perceived relational distance within family contexts are closely intertwined with their information management toward parents. This daily diary study examined bidirectional, within-person associations between adolescents' disclosure and concealment, functional autonomy, and detachment from mothers. A total of 208 adolescents (M age = 15.00, 56.70% female) completed 21 daily assessments. Dynamic Structural Equation Models showed that youth disclosed more than usual following days when they reported higher functional autonomy. Conversely, they concealed more than normal following days when they experienced greater detachment from mothers. These unidirectional effects suggest that, at the daily level, disclosure might function as a proximal expression of adaptive self-directed functioning, whereas concealment might act as a warning sign of problematic detachment from mothers. This study highlights everyday information management behaviors as meaningful indicators of adolescents' fluctuating experiences of functional autonomy and perceived distance from parents.
Many university students experience mental health difficulties, yet a large proportion do not seek professional psychological support. Although prior research has linked mental health status to help-seeking behavior, it remains unclear whether all help-avoidant students require professional support and how their mental health profiles compare with those of help-seeking students. To address this gap, this study employed a dual-factor model, which integrates subjective well-being and psychopathology to map mental health profiles, and explored demographic predictors of profile membership. Additionally, profiles of help-avoidant students were also compared with those of students currently seeking help or who had sought help previously. The sample included 8,679 university students from seven Dutch universities (Mage = 21.76, SD = 3.31; 69.3
Loneliness and non-suicidal self-injury are significant mental health concerns during adolescence, yet less is known about how they develop together across middle school and whether changes in one are followed by changes in the other. The present study addressed this issue using six waves of longitudinal data collected over three years from 3,800 Chinese middle school students (Mage = 12.38, SD = 0.51; 49.4
Moral grandstanding is the use of moral talk driven by egotistical motives to promote oneself or display moral superiority. Although moral grandstanding has been extensively examined in political and public health contexts, its relevance to educational settings remains understudied, especially in teacher–student interactions where teachers serve as moral authorities for children. The present research adapted the Perceived Teachers’ Moral Grandstanding Scale and examined its longitudinal associations with students’ socioemotional processes. In the first step, the Moral Grandstanding Motivation Scale was adapted to assess adolescents’ perceptions of teachers’ moral grandstanding in the Chinese cultural context. The validation sample consisted of 1,686 Chinese primary school students (Mage = 10.78 years, SD = 1.09; 43.59
Early adolescence represents a developmental period marked by increased vulnerability to loneliness and meaninglessness. Although theoretical frameworks posit reciprocal associations between loneliness and life meaning, longitudinal research examining their developmental trends and reciprocal associations has been limited. A total of 3825 Chinese junior high school students (47.5
While emotions are socially shaped, research on academic emotions has neglected the potential influence of peer emotions. This study investigated whether students' boredom is influenced by their classroom friends' boredom and whether teacher-student relationship quality and cognitive ability moderate these influences. Participants were 3415 7th Grade students (Mage = 12.44(0.45); 49.69% females) from 27 Flemish schools. Longitudinal social network analyses demonstrated peer influence effects on academic boredom, controlling for selection and network effects. Teacher-student relationship quality and cognitive ability did not moderate this influence, but higher teacher-student relationship quality predicted less increases in boredom. Findings indicate that boredom can spread through classroom friendship networks, regardless of student ability, and that high-quality teacher-student relationships protect against increases in boredom.
