Adjustment (Psychology) in adolescence

This study of 91 dyads investigated concurrent and prospective bidirectional
associations between friendship quality and psychosocial adjustment in young
adolescents, using multiple-group structural equation modeling to detect gender
differences. Friend reports ofboth positive (social support) and negative features of
friendship, self-reports of two adjustment variables (internalizing problems and
externalizing problems), and self-reports of three dimensions of self-esteem (global selfworth,
behavioral conduct esteem, and close friendship esteem) were examined at two
time periods approximately one year apart. Principal findings were that grade 6
friendship negativity was inversely associated with grade 7 self-esteem, and positively
associated with grade 7 internalizing problems and externalizing problems, in the boys'
model but not girls' model. Chi-square difference testing confirmed a significant
difference between these paths in the girls' model and these paths in the boys' model.

Conflict during adolescence has shown to have the potential for both beneficent consequences and adverse consequences. The present study addresses this paradox and attempts to understand it by examining relationship qualities as potential moderating influences. To examine these moderated associations between conflict rates and outcome measures in mother-child, father-child, and friend relationships, 469 students completed the Interpersonal Conflict Questionnaire, Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale II, Intimate Friendship Scale, Network of Relationships Inventory, and Youth Self-Report. Regression analyses found that the level of negativity in the relationship moderated the associations between conflict rate and outcome measures such as grade point average, withdrawn behaviors, and delinquent behaviors.

This study examined early adolescent perceptions of daily disagreements and negative interactions in relationships with mothers and fathers and their association with adolescent reports of self-esteem, self- and mother reports of behavior problems, and school grades. An I-States as Objects Analysis (ISOA: Bergman, 1998) identified seven distinct conflict patterns in parent-adolescent relationships: amiable, squabbling, discordant, hostile, labile, tranquil, and avoidant. These groups exhibited structural and interindividual stability, with groups characterized by constructive conflict processes demonstrating more stability than adolescents in groups characterized by non-constructive conflict processes. ISOA procedures failed to identify coherent adolescent adjustment groups. Person-oriented analyses indicated adolescents in the amiable, labile, and tranquil groups tended to have the best adjustment outcomes, followed by adolescents in the discordant and avoidant groups, with the worst adjustment outcomes reserved for adolescents in the squabbling and hostile groups. Variable-oriented analyses indicated that conflict rate and relationship negativity predicted concurrent and subsequent adolescent adjustment; behavior problems predicted concurrent and subsequent characteristics of parent-adolescent conflict. Person-oriented failed to reveal statistically significant associations involving change in parent-adolescent conflict and adolescent adjustment aver time. Variable-oriented analyses indicated adolescent adjustment predicted changes in parent-adolescent conflict variables more consistently than parent-adolescent conflict predicted changes in adolescent adjustment variables.

The current study examined changes in mother-child and father-child relationships of 210 participants in a 3-year longitudinal study during the 6th through the 8th grade. In each relationship, latent growth curve models found that negativity had a gradual increase over the course of early adolescence, while the change in positivity during this period depended on the initial levels of positivity during the 6th grade. For those high in positivity during the 6th grade, positivity remained stable from 6th to 8th grade, while for those low in positivity during the 6th grade, positivity decreased substantially during this period. In addition, an examination of the links between the relationship features and adjustment measures, such as internalizing and externalizing problems, found that models with initial rates of the relationships predicting changes in adjustment were ideal in comparison to models with both initial rates of and changes in relationships linked to changes in adjustment.

This study examined associations between conflict affect, resolution, and relationship impact in adolescent conflicts with mothers and friends. Participants included 231 adolescents who were on average 14 years of age. Over three consecutive days, participants completed a diary study in which they reported and described conflicts with mothers and friends. Path analyses were used to examine direct and indirect associations from negative affect and resolution to relationship impact contrasting disagreements with mothers and disagreements with friends. Moderator analyses examined whether patterns of association differed by gender or conflict topic. Findings revealed that lower levels of negative affect and higher levels of compromise were associated with improved relations for both adolescent conflicts with mothers and friends. Mediation analyses indicated that negative affect largely accounted for the association between compromise and relationship impact. There was no difference between mother-adolescent and friend-adolescent relationships in the strength of these associations. Gender and conflict topic did not moderate these associations. These findings are consistent with a larger body of research on marital relationships, which suggests that negative affect plays a key role in predicting relationship outcomes. Specifically, it appears that regardless of the amount of compromise, it is the expression of anger that determines whether a conflict improves or worsens a relationship.

This study sought to measure the impact of an evidence-based school guidance counseling curriculum. Student Success Skills (Brigman & Webb, 2010),on : (a) wellness factors for early adolescences, (b) engagement in school success skills, and (c) grades in core subject areas of language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, reported at nine-week intervals. ... The results of this study provide a link between the collaboration between school counselors and teachers when delivering classroom guidance interventions on wellness behaviors in adolescents. More research in needed on the impact of school counseling curriculum programs on early adolescent wellness, engagement in school success strategies, and improved academic achievement.

The current study examined the process by which adolescents choose who to dislike in a sample of Finnish 10th graders. Information was available for the adolescents on their victimization, bullying behavior, problem behavior, school burnout, school grades, and their depressive symptoms. The initial analysis consisted of assessing which characteristics made individuals more likely to dislike someone, after taking into account the characteristics of the individual being nominated. This analysis found that individuals form antipathy for dissimilar others. This process is hypothesized to be a result of mechanisms of threat. The secondary analysis compared the characteristics of unilateral and mutual antipathies. This analysis found that mutual antipathies are characterized by elevated differences between individuals on victimization. These results identify and describe important aspects of the adolescent peer environment.