The Journal of Early Adolescence

Lawrence, Timothy I.; Ettekal, Idean; Pinales, Stephany; Watson, Stephen; Tolentino, Melissa; Flores, Alejandro

doi: 10.1177/02724316251410603pmid: N/A

Prior literature has suggested that following exposure to family violence, adolescents can develop internalizing and externalizing symptoms, including bullying perpetration and depressive symptoms. However, incongruities suggest that exposure to family violence is not a consistent precipitating event associated with bullying perpetration and depressive symptoms. Therefore, using latent growth models, the current study applied the intergenerational transmission of violence and emotional security theories to investigate the developmental co-occurrences of depressive symptoms and bullying perpetration and longitudinal effects of exposure to family violence on bullying perpetration and depressive symptoms across four time points in middle school (i.e., from grades 6 to 8; n = 1,585; Mage = 11.23 in grade 6; SD = .45). Consistent with expectations, results of the latent growth models indicated that exposure to family violence was positively associated with adolescents’ concurrent bullying perpetration and depressive symptoms. These effects were evident across the middle school years. Implications are discussed.

Zhou, Jiaxi; Chen, Xinyin; Li, Dan; Liu, Junsheng; Cui, Liying; Zhou, Tong

doi: 10.1177/02724316251391413pmid: N/A

This study examined the structure of social competence and the associations of its components with peer preference, academic achievement, and perceived self-worth in Chinese children and adolescents. The participants included 2,359 Chinese students (1,172 boys) in the fourth and eighth grades (Mage = 10 and 14 years). Social competence was measured using peer assessments. The results showed that leadership and the ability to form friendship were central nodes and that social attractiveness was more central in adolescence. Trustworthiness was the primary node positively associated with peer preference and social innovativeness was the primary node positively associated with academic achievement and perceived self-worth in both grades. The results help understand the meanings and functions of specific attributes of social competence in childhood and adolescence.

Glatley, Blake; Ryan, Allison

doi: 10.1177/02724316251408906pmid: N/A

The current study investigated the associations of students’ social status (likeability, popularity, & unlikability) and teacher student relationships with their academic engagement and achievement. Cross-sectional analyses were conducted using self-report and peer nomination data from 996 students (398 fifth graders in elementary school & 383 seventh graders in middle school). Likeability was positively associated with GPA and achievement scores, unlikability was negatively associated with students’ behavioral engagement, GPA, and reading achievement, and the relation of popularity with students’ engagement depended on their teacher-student relationships. Disliked seventh graders reported lower engagement and GPA than disliked fifth graders, with these effects mediated by their teacher-student relationships. The results demonstrate the importance of considering peer and teacher relationships jointly to understand early adolescent academic adjustment.

Long, Jinxiu; Li, Ruojia; Sun, Yuran; Zhong, Yanfang; Li, Xiaoqing

doi: 10.1177/02724316251408903pmid: N/A

Sleep problems are highly prevalent among early adolescents globally. This study aimed to identify heterogeneous subgroups of sleep problems, their transitions, and predictors of transition among Chinese early adolescents. A total of 653 adolescents (52.40% boys; baseline: Mage = 13.66) participated in this longitudinal study over six months. LCA identified three subgroups: good sleepers (i.e., exhibiting low probabilities across all sleep problem subdimensions), poor sleepers (i.e., exhibiting high probabilities across all subdimensions), and insufficient-inefficient sleepers (i.e., exhibiting elevated probabilities for short sleep duration and poor sleep efficiency). LTA revealed the insufficient-inefficient sleepers as the most stable subgroup, and both good sleepers and poor sleepers showed tendencies to transition toward the insufficient-inefficient sleepers. Adolescents with more nonsuicidal self-injury behaviors and higher depression were more likely to transition from good sleepers to insufficient-inefficient sleepers, whereas higher anxiety predicted persistence in poor sleepers. These findings support targeted adolescent sleep interventions.

Lawrence, Timothy I.; Yang, Xiaoyu; Kwok, Oi-Man; Ettekal, Idean

doi: 10.1177/02724316251391409pmid: N/A

Prior literature has supported the distinct factor structure of aggressive and rule-breaking adolescent antisocial behavior and has linked these differences to the age of onset hypothesis. However, the age of onset hypothesis is not consistent, and few studies have examined the stability of aggressive and rule-breaking antisocial behavior over time and the predictive effects of exposure to family violence. Thus, the current study (52% female; Mage = 11.23; SDage = 0.46; n = 1,579) examined the longitudinal trajectories of aggressive and rule-breaking antisocial behavior using the random-intercept first-order autoregressive (RI-AR1) model and tested how exposure to family violence predicted the two constructs. Results indicated that aggression and rule-breaking adolescent antisocial behavior persisted across four waves. However, exposure to family violence longitudinally predicted rule-breaking antisocial behavior but not aggressive behavior. Exposure to family violence serves as a long-term risk factor for rule-breaking but not aggression. This study highlights preventive interventions for adolescent externalizing behavior.

Lee, Ji Hyeon

doi: 10.1177/02724316251408898pmid: N/A

Research on child-to-parent violence (CPV) has predominantly focused on adolescents aged 12 years and older, which limits understanding of CPV during early adolescence. To address this gap, this study analyzes data from 769 adolescents aged 9–11 years and their parents, collected through the 2018 Korean National Comprehensive Survey on Children. It examines associations between CPV and factors at the individual (sex and depressive/anxiety symptoms), family (family structure, household income, parental education level, child abuse, and marital violence), and school (peer victimization). Logistic regression analysis revealed that depressive and anxiety symptoms, household income, child abuse, and peer victimization significantly predicted CPV. Peer victimization in the school environment emerged as the strongest predictor, surpassing individual and family factors. These results underscore the need for a systematic approach that integrates interventions across school, family, and individual domains.

Lee, Hyun Ji; Anderman, Eric M.; Liu, Xingfeiyue; Allsop, Yvonne; Irwin, Mary Kay; Saxbe, Sarah

doi: 10.1177/02724316251391407pmid: N/A

Perceptions of classroom goal structures—whether learning (i.e., mastery goal structures) or performance (i.e., extrinsic goal structures) is emphasized—influence students’ motivation to learn in health classes. We investigated the relations of perceived goal structures in sexual health classrooms to adolescents’ learning behaviors and intentions during and after a sexual health education program (N = 2,044 8th graders), using path and logistic regression analyses. Perceived mastery goal structures positively predicted students’ intentions to use online search engines to acquire additional health-related information 4–6 months after the program. Students’ clinic use was not significantly predicted by these goal structures. Importantly, perceived extrinsic goal structures undermined the positive relation of perceived mastery goal structures to session attendance, which in turn was positively linked to condom negotiation efficacy and situational self-efficacy. This interactive pattern highlights the potential pitfall of emphasizing extrinsic reasons for studying in sexual health classrooms and informs health educators teaching adolescents.

Wang, Xiafei; Clear, Kirstin L.; Vasilenko, Sara A.

doi: 10.1177/02724316251384269pmid: 41104068

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked with risky sexual behaviors. However, we do not know how various ACE dimensions influence adolescent sexual behavior, especially behaviors that are precursors to early sexual intercourse. Using the data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study, we conducted LCA on 13 ACE measures assessed at ages 9–11 and analyzed how these latent classes relate to romantic relationships and early non-coital sexual behaviors (kissing and touching) at ages 11–12. We identified six distinct classes: Low ACEs (48.4%), Material Hardship and Community Violence (19.2%), Parental Dysfunction (18.6%), Parental Dysfunction and Criminal Justice Involvement (6.5%), Community and Peer Violence, Material Hardship, and Parental Dysfunction (6.4%), and Household Violence, Parental Dysfunction and Child Abuse (0.6%). The last three classes exhibited a higher likelihood of engaging in romantic and early non-coital sexual behaviors than adolescents in the Low ACEs class. The diverse impacts of ACE patterns suggest we should implement trauma-informed early sexuality education programs.

Lopez-Agudo, Luis Alejandro; Marcenaro-Gutierrez, Oscar David

doi: 10.1177/02724316251379765pmid: N/A

Students’ use of learning time both inside and outside of school has been at the core of education debates for many years, although evidence is still mixed. Particularly, in order to analyse the contribution of the time students use for learning to their competences, we use TIMSS 2019 data for a total of 276,512 fourth grade students in 58 countries. Taking advantage of the information by subject provided in this dataset, we go beyond correlation analysis by using student fixed-effects. Our results show that one additional hour of weekly instruction and homework times have a non-significant influence on students’ competences in most of the analysed countries, while they also present a low positive influence in some of them. This may suggest the need of re-orienting school instruction and homework times following the education curriculum model of those countries in which the influence is positive, so students can improve their skills.

Barth, Carmen; Grütter, Jeanine

doi: 10.1177/02724316251401254pmid: N/A

Classroom norms are important in shaping individual students’ prosocial behavior. Research documents that students often misperceive classroom norms by underestimating their classmates’ prosocial intentions – a phenomenon known as pluralistic ignorance. The current study investigated whether 5th- and 6th-grade students in Germany (N = 234, 10-13 years, 51% female) expressed varying degrees of pluralistic ignorance regarding same- and opposite-gender classmates. Participants listened to a gender-matched scenario about a classmate with learning difficulties seeking inclusion in a group task. They indicated their own inclusive intentions as well as their perception of same-gender and opposite-gender classroom norms. The results supported the main hypothesis that students perceived lower levels of pluralistic ignorance regarding same-gender than opposite-gender classmates. These findings have implications for interventions aimed at correcting students’ norm misperceptions to promote prosocial behavior in classrooms.