Interparental Hostility and Early Adolescent Problem Behavior: The Mediating Role of Specific Aspects of Parenting

This study examined the mediating effect of friends’ characteristics (problem behavior and academic achievement) in the association between students’ background (family and individual factors) and later academic adjustment, as operationalized by problem behavior and academic achievement. We recruited 998 participants in three public middle schools and used three annual waves of data collection (Grades 6, 7, and 8). We found that students’ own academic achievement and problem bahvior are predictors of later adjustment. Friendship choices are identified as a mediation mechanism that contributes to consistent adjustment from the beginning to the end of middle school. Specifically, high-achieving students in Grade 6 tend to associate with high-achieving friends and are unlikely to associate with friends who exhibit problem behavior in Grade 7, which results in continued achievement in Grade 8. Associating with high-achieving friends in Grade 7 also mediated the link between adolescent problem behavior in Grade 6 and academic achievement by Grade 8. Friends’ characteristics in Grade 7 did not mediate the effect of any family factor measured in Grade 6. In general, our results suggest friendship selection is central to sustained success throughout the middle school years.

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Early adolescent sexual debut: The mediating role of working memory ability, sensation seeking, and impulsivity.

Developmental Psychology ◽

10.1037/a0027491 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 48 (5) ◽

pp. 1416-1428 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

Atika Khurana ◽

Daniel Romer ◽

Laura M. Betancourt ◽

Nancy L. Brodsky ◽

Joan M. Giannetta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Sensation Seeking ◽

Sexual Debut ◽

Early Adolescent ◽

Memory Ability ◽

Mediating Role

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Early Onset Problem Behavior, Young Adult Psychopathology, and Contextual Risk

Twin Research and Human Genetics ◽

10.1375/twin.10.1.45 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 45-53 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Margaret A. Keyes ◽

William G. Iacono ◽

Matt McGue

Keyword(s):

Problem Behavior ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Prognostic Significance ◽

Early Adolescent ◽

Strongly Correlated ◽

Adolescent Problem Behavior ◽

Contextual Risk ◽

Police Contact ◽

A Prospective Study ◽

Adult Psychopathology

AbstractA prospective study of 692 male twins was undertaken to investigate the relationships among early adolescent problem behavior, contextual risk, and disinhibitory psychopathology. Early adolescent problem behavior was assessed by the number of the following behaviors engaged in by the time of the age-14 assessment: (1) tobacco use, (2) alcohol use, (3) marijuana use, (4) other illicit drug use, (5) sexual intercourse, and (6) police contact. Contextual risk was assessed as a composite of measures of peer models, parent-offspring conflict, and academic engagement from the age-14 assessment. Disinhibitory psychopathology was assessed by symptoms of nicotine dependence, alcohol dependence, drug dependence, and adult antisocial behavior at the age-18 assessment. Early adolescent problem behavior and contextual risk were strongly correlated (r = .53) and both were strongly and independently associated with symptoms of disinhibitory psychopathology (r from .35 to .60). The association of early adolescent problem behavior with both contextual risk and disinhibitory psychopathology was mediated entirely by genetic factors while the association between contextual risk and disinhibitory psychopathology was mediated by both genetic and nonshared environmental factors. The results are discussed in the context of emerging research on the prognostic significance of early adolescent problem behavior for risk of adult psychopathology.

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