Self-control and planful decision-making can play a critical role in promoting academic outcomes. Nonetheless, little is known about how parental influences impact these noncognitive skills in promoting college enrollment. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we examined adolescent self-control and decision-making skills (at wave 1) as predictors of college enrollment (at wave 3). Further, we assessed if the effect of parental influences (i.e., maternal academic involvement, maternal academic expectations, parental control/limit-setting, and parental education) on college enrollment was indirect and operated through the associations of parenting variables with adolescent self-control and planful decision making. Both self-control and decision-making skills significantly predicted college enrollment, controlling for age, gender, family income, and cognitive ability. Parental control/limit-setting and educational level had significant direct effects on college enrollment and were not significantly related to adolescent self-control or planful decision making skills. The effect of maternal academic involvement on college enrollment was indirect and operated through its associations with adolescent self-control and decision-making skills. The effect of maternal academic expectations on college enrollment was both direct and indirect, through its association with adolescent decision-making skills. Our findings suggest that individual and family-based interventions that target critical noncognitive skills, such as self-control and planful decision making, hold promise in promoting college enrollment.

Background/Objectives: Early parenting can influence child self-regulatory skills, which are in turn linked to allostatic load (AL)—a predictor of future morbidity and mortality. However, this mechanistic pathway from early parenting to later AL has not been tested using longitudinal data. Methods: We analyzed longitudinal data (N = 1364) from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to examine relationships between early childhood (ages 2–3) observed parenting behaviors (i.e., autonomy support, supportive presence and hostility) and a comprehensive index of adolescent (age 15) AL, and assessed delay of gratification (at 54 months) as a mediator and moderator of these associations. Results: Maternal supportive presence and hostility in early childhood were directly associated with adolescent AL. All three early childhood parenting behaviors were associated with delay of gratification at 54 months. There was no evidence of mediation or moderation. Conclusions: The findings suggest the important role of early parenting behaviors in predicting long-term AL outcomes.

Research on the development of executive functions (EFs) and self-regulation (SR) has focused heavily on the early childhood years, when these abilities first emerge. Less is known in comparison about how these abilities develop through adolescence, and how contextual factors, such as parenting, influence their development in later years. Using longitudinal data from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD), we used random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling (RI-CLPM) to examine the bidirectional linkages between three parenting behaviors (i.e., autonomy support, supportive presence, hostility), child EFs (i.e., working memory, inhibitory control) and child SR outcomes, from early childhood to adolescence. Parenting in early childhood was significantly associated with change in child EFs from early to middle childhood, but not from middle childhood to adolescence. Specifically, greater autonomy support in early childhood was associated with stronger child working memory and inhibitory control in middle childhood; greater supportive presence in early childhood was associated with stronger child working memory in middle childhood; and higher rates of hostility in early childhood were associated with weaker child inhibitory skills in middle childhood. Reciprocal effects of child EF and SR on parenting were also observed. Specifically, stronger child inhibitory control in early childhood was associated with less hostility in middle childhood, and stronger child self-regulation in middle childhood was associated with greater supportive presence in adolescence. Accounting for lagged and stability effects, there was significant residual covariance between parenting behaviors and child SR in adolescence, suggesting that parenting continues to be associated with the development of SR skills through adolescence. Understanding reciprocal linkages between parenting and child EF/SR through adolescence is critical in developing targeted parenting interventions beyond early childhood to improve children’s outcomes.

Early and prolonged exposure to poverty disrupts biological processes associated with the body's stress response system, leading to long-term negative health outcomes, including obesity, autoimmune disorders, and cardiovascular disease. Allostatic load (AL), a composite measure of chronic stress on the body, is a robust predictor of subsequent health outcomes. However, developmental research examining the associations of early poverty exposure with AL in adolescence, as well as the underlying mechanisms of influence is limited. Early poverty exposure also impedes healthy development of child self-regulation, which may increase risk for high AL in adolescence, but this mechanistic pathway has not yet been tested. We used data from the national Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) to examine the longitudinal associations between prolonged poverty exposure in early childhood (0-3 years) and AL in adolescence (age 15). We also tested the mediating role of child delay of gratification, a behavioral measure of self-regulation (at age 54 months), in the potential association between early poverty exposure and adolescent AL. Accounting for model covariates (i.e., child biological sex and race-ethnicity) and individual differences in child delay of gratification, early and prolonged poverty exposure was significantly associated with higher AL at age 15. The indirect effect through child delay of gratification was not significant, but the individual pathways of the indirect effect were significant, and the overall direct association of early poverty exposure with adolescent AL was significant. Our findings show that prolonged exposure to poverty in early childhood (0-3 years) can have significant negative associations with both child delay of gratification (at 54 months) and AL (at age 15). Given that the detrimental impacts of poverty exposure can be detected at an early age, targeted prevention efforts (e.g., anti-poverty programs such as cash assistance programs) may be able to offset some of the risks of early poverty exposure on self-regulation and AL.

Students with disabilities have higher rates of attention problems than those without disabilities. This can impede their academic success and postsecondary transition, but these effects have not been well-studied. Understanding these effects is especially critical among high school girls with disabilities who additionally experience significant other barriers to college enrolment. Using longitudinal data from 366 high school girls with disabilities, we examined whether attention problems predicted a lower likelihood of applying to college, and whether this effect was mediated by academic difficulties. We also tested whether attention problems moderated the effect of students' future aspirations on the likelihood of applying to college. Consistent with our predictions, attention problems were associated with a lower likelihood of applying to college. The individual paths through academic difficulties were significant, but the bootstrap estimation of the indirect effect was not significant. Attention problems did not moderate the effect of future aspirations. Attention training interventions have the potential to improve postsecondary educational outcomes.

Adolescent decisions, especially in novel contexts, are often guided by affective evaluations (i.e., feelings associated with a stimulus) rather than knowledge of the risks and probabilities of different outcomes. In this study, we used the affect-driven exploration (ADE) model to illustrate how affective evaluations can play a critical role in driving early use of cigarettes, as well as the adaptive function of the resulting experiential learning in informing future affect and cigarette use. We analyzed five waves of data collected from a large, diverse community sample of adolescents who were followed from early to late adolescence (N = 386; 50.9% female; Baseline age = 11.41 ± 0.88 years) during years 2004–2010 to model trajectories of positive affect and risk perceptions (associated with cigarette use) and examined the associations of these trajectories with their self-reported cigarette use and dependence symptoms. Consistent with the ADE model, early initiators reported higher levels of positive affect at baseline, which we argue may have led them to try cigarettes. Notably, most early initiators reported a decline in positive affect over time, suggesting an experience-based shift in affective evaluations associated with cigarette use. Risk perceptions associated with cigarette use did not emerge as a significant predictor of cigarette use or subsequent dependence. Therefore, for deterring adolescent cigarette use, efforts to influence affect (through graphic warning labels and other media) may be more effective than directly influencing risk perceptions. Despite the affective basis for initiating cigarette use, few adolescents engaged in early use (N = 20) or developed symptoms of dependence (N = 25). Majority of those who engaged in early cigarette use showed a decline in positive affect, with corresponding increase in risk perceptions over time. Some early users may indeed continue to engage in cigarette use, but this is likely driven by the addictive properties of the drug. Overall these findings challenge the popular stereotype of impulsive and emotionally reactive behaviors during adolescence, and suggest a more nuanced interpretation of adolescent risk behavior.

This study examined the protective effect of perceived peer support on involvement in work experiences in a sample of 366 young women receiving special education services in 26 high schools. Career self-efficacy and career outcome expectations are well-established predictors of behaviors aimed at achieving career goals, such as obtaining work experiences. Hence, we also evaluated their role as mediators of the hypothesized effect of perceived peer support on work experiences. Regression analyses (accounting for clustering within schools) revealed that perceived peer support had an indirect effect on work experiences, with the effect being channeled through career self-efficacy, but not through career outcome expectations. Although perceived peer support was significantly associated with career self-efficacy and career outcome expectations, only career self-efficacy predicted work experiences at follow-up. Our findings suggest that perceived peer support, a relatively malleable factor, can promote career self-efficacy and career outcomes for this population.

Female adolescents with disabilities are at an increased risk for mental health concerns, which can negatively impact their self-determination, making transition to postschool opportunities difficult. We analyzed two waves of survey data from 366 female adolescents with disabilities, recruited from 26 U.S. public high schools, as part of a randomized controlled trial of a career development intervention. Participants with mental health concerns evidenced a slower increase in self-determination over the follow-up period than those without such concerns. Individuals assigned to the intervention condition experienced significant gains in self-determination compared with the control. Findings suggest that mental health concerns can operate as a barrier to growth in self-determination skills among this population, though targeted interventions can help in boosting these skills.

Inadequate sleep in adolescents has been linked to an increase in screen-based media use, especially at bedtime. Parents can play a critical role in regulating adolescent media use and promoting healthy sleep, yet few studies have evaluated parental effects on these outcomes. This study examined the effects of general and media-specific parenting behaviors and family conflict on adolescent sleep outcomes, both directly and indirectly through bedtime media use. Data were collected from 345 middle-schoolers (Mage = 12.65 ± 0.67 years; 47% female; 59% White) at two time points, six months apart. The findings revealed that parental involvement had a significant positive effect on sleep duration that was mediated by bedtime media use. Family conflict had a direct positive effect on daytime sleepiness. Adolescent sleep interventions could benefit from a parenting component focused on positive involvement and fostering a family climate conducive to sleep.

This study used a convergent mixed methods design to examine environmental and curricular influences on peer relationships and support for young women with disabilities within a clustered, randomized controlled trial of a gender-specific, disability-focused intervention, Paths 2 the Future (P2F). Pre- and post-intervention surveys of perceptions of peer support were collected from 366 young women with disabilities in 26 high schools in the Northwest region of the U.S. Focus groups were conducted with 112 participants from the intervention group to examine participant perceptions regarding how P2F influenced their relationships. Survey data were analyzed using an intent to treat analysis approach using hierarchical linear modeling. Focus group data were analyzed using deductive and inductive strategies. The effect of the P2F on peer support was non-significant in our quantitative model, whereas qualitative themes suggested participants developed new relationships, closeness, and skills that support peer relationships as a result of the transformation of space, transformation of peer relationships, and transformation of self. The integration of qualitative and quantitative data indicated discordance, which was reconciled through additional quantitative analyses that suggested focus group participants, but not the overall intervention group, experienced significant increases in peer support from pre- to post-intervention.

Purpose: The behavioral disinhibition model (BDM) posits that a liability toward impulsivity evident by early adolescence underlies the coemergence of antisocial behavior and alcohol use (i.e., problem behaviors) in early-adolescence to mid-adolescence, but that the subsequent development of these problem behaviors (rather than impulsivity itself) predicts the emergence of antisocial personality disorder (APD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) in late adolescence. The present study was designed to test these predictions of the BDM from early to late adolescence. Methods: We used five-year longitudinal self-report data from the Philadelphia Trajectory Study that was collected from 2006-2012. Mediational analyses were performed using the Random Intercept Cross-lagged Panel Model, which enables the detection of within-person predictions of changes in problem behaviors during adolescence. The sample was ethnically and socioeconomically diverse, including 364 urban US community youth (at baseline: M-age = 13.51(.95); 49.1% female). Results: Consistent with the BDM, mediational analyses revealed that changes in early adolescent impulsivity predicted late adolescent APD and AUD criteria, mediated by changes in midadolescent alcohol use and conduct problems. Discussion: Interventions targeting impulsivity in early adolescence could potentially halt the cascading chain of events leading to both late adolescent APD and AUD by decelerating growth in antisocial behavior and alcohol use during early-adolescence to mid-adolescence. From midadolescence to late-adolescence, the consequences of early impulsivity, especially involvement in antisocial behaviors, become a more relevant predictor of both APD and AUD rather than impulsivity itself. (c) 2022 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a robust predictor of health disparities in adolescence and early adulthood, yet obtaining accurate and reliable measurements of family SES from younger participants remains a challenge. We evaluated the reliability and validity of a subjective SES measure, i.e., perceived family financial security (PFS), which assesses adolescents’ perceptions of whether their family has enough money to meet their needs. We also examined the predictive associations of PFS and parental education (adolescent reports) with alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco use during adolescence and young adulthood. Longitudinal data were obtained from 593 parent–child dyads in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, who were assessed eight times between 2005 and 2014. Present analyses included data from four annual assessments conducted when the participating children were adolescents (age range = 10.25–16.33 years) and a final follow-up in young adulthood (age range = 20–23.42 years). PFS had good test–retest reliability and convergent validity with other parent and adolescent reported SES measures. Adolescent-reported PFS significantly predicted tobacco use frequency in young adulthood, whereas adolescent-reported parental education predicted alcohol use frequency. PFS was not a significant predictor of alcohol or marijuana use. Findings suggest that PFS can be a psychometrically sound measure to assess a unique dimension of SES in adolescent samples, with differential predictive associations among substance use outcomes in young adulthood compared to more traditional measures like parental education. Future research should evaluate the psychometric properties and utility of PFS as a complementary SES measure.

Sexual risk behavior in adolescence can lead to adverse health consequences, particularly for female youth. Most interventions focus on imparting knowledge about the consequences of such behaviors, even though little research has examined whether increasing such knowledge results in desired behavioral changes. Further, individual factors such as impulsivity and childhood adversity might moderate this relationship. We examined associations between HIV knowledge and sexual risk behavior and condom use efficacy in a sample of 122 at-risk females, aged 13-18. HIV knowledge was unrelated to sexual risk behavior, but positively related to condom use efficacy. Impulsivity and childhood adversity had direct effects, with no interaction effects. Increasing HIV knowledge may play an important role in promoting proximal predictors of safer sex practices.

Adolescent smokers tend to have friends who also smoke. This association has been attributed to peer socialization and peer selection effects. However, evidence regarding timing and relative magnitude of these effects is mixed. Using a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model, we examined the reciprocal relations between adolescent cigarette use and perceptions of friends’ cigarette use in a sample of 387 adolescents, assessed annually for 4 years. Adolescent cigarette use predicted increases in perceived friend use before the reverse effect emerged. Further, some of the effect of early adolescent cigarette use on subsequent use was mediated by changes in perceived friend use. The results support a greater role for friend selection than socialization in predicting early adolescent cigarette use.

OBJECTIVE/DESIGN:Bedtime media use has been associated with poor sleep and attention difficulties among adolescents, but much of this research has been cross-sectional, limiting current understanding of directionality of effects. This 2-wave prospective study tested bidirectional effects between bedtime media use and sleep measures, including time in bed, sleep onset latency, and daytime sleepiness, and further examined whether bedtime media use and sleep variables were related to attention control difficulties. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS:Data were collected from 345 middle-schoolers (ages 12-14, 47% female) at baseline (T1) and at 6-month follow-up (T2). MEASUREMENTS:Students self-reported their access to media devices and internet in their bedroom, bedtime media use, sleep, and attention control. Data were analyzed using cross-lagged panel modeling. RESULTS:Greater bedtime media use (at T1) was associated with less time in bed and longer sleep onset latency at T2, controlling for T1 levels of these variables. In the case of sleep effects on bedtime media use, greater daytime sleepiness and less time in bed (at T1) were associated with greater bedtime media use at T2, controlling for T1 levels. Further, greater daytime sleepiness (at T2, controlling for T1 levels) was associated with greater attention control difficulties at T2. CONCLUSIONS:Findings provide evidence for some reciprocal relations between bedtime media use and poor sleep in adolescents. Furthermore, higher daytime sleepiness was linked to greater attention control difficulties.

Young women with disabilities face unique barriers in the transition from school to adulthood, yet very few studies have examined the effectiveness of gender-specific career interventions. Using an intent-to-treat analysis, this study tested the efficacy of the Paths 2 the Future (P2F) career development curriculum to produce beneficial impacts as compared to business-as-usual career and transition services within a clustered, school-randomized trial. The sample included 366 young women with disabilities enrolled in 26 high schools. Controlling for student and school characteristics, multilevel growth models showed that young women in the P2F intervention schools grew in career development skills at a greater rate relative to those in the control schools. Findings suggest that P2F was effective in promoting individual student differences in career development skills for young women with disabilities and support the need for further research examining effectiveness of gender-specific career interventions in special education.