Parent-Adolescent Reminiscing and Youth Psychopathology: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Investigation

<p>Parent-child conversations about past experiences—reminiscing—are key in children’s growing emotional competency and their psychological well-being (Salmon & Reese, 2016). Very little research, however, has investigated the relationship between parent-adolescent reminiscing conversations and adolescent psychological adjustment, which is particularly important because adolescence is a period of heightened risk for the development of rumination and internalising disorders, especially anxiety and depression (Miller-Slough & Dunsmore, 2016). This thesis extended the literature on reminiscing in three ways. First, we examined different qualities of mother-adolescent reminiscing and their relationships to psychological outcomes during the period of middle adolescence. Second, we investigated the associations between mother-adolescent reminiscing qualities and youth rumination and internalising symptoms (anxiety and depression), cross-sectionally and longitudinally to help disentangle the direction of the associations. Finally, we applied dyadic methods of coding and statistical analyses in a novel approach that modelled the transactional nature of reminiscing conversations and their associations with youth psychological outcomes. In Study 1 we tested the discriminant and convergent validity of a dyadic coding scheme, for use on parent-adolescent conversations about past events. The aim of Study 1 was to establish the methodological foundations for examining parent-adolescent reminiscing conversations in a way that lends itself to dyadic analysis. To do this, two coding schemes (a traditional reminiscing scheme and a dyadic scheme) were applied to a community sample of 67 mother-adolescent dyad and their conversations about a past shared conflict event. Consistent with our predictions, parent-adolescent reminiscing qualities that extended the conversation and promoted highly detailed narratives were correlated with supportive interpersonal processes that endorsed co-construction and collaboration during the discussion. In contrast, qualities that discontinued the conversation were correlated with unsupportive interpersonal processes that promoted avoidance/disengagement and repetitive problem engagement. Next, we applied the dyadic coding scheme to assess the transactional relationships between parent-adolescent reminiscing qualities and youth rumination and internalising symptoms. In Study 2 we tested the cross-sectional (Study 2a) and longitudinal (Study 2b) relationships between parent-adolescent reminiscing qualities and youth rumination, anxiety, and depression. Using the same sample of 67 mother-adolescent dyads in Study 1, transcripts of the past conflict discussions were coded dyadically for unsupportive and supportive mother and adolescent reminiscing qualities. Self-report measures of rumination, anxiety, and depression were also collected from mothers and adolescents, respectively. The adolescents then completed the same self-report measures at a follow-up time-point one year later. Overall, dyadic analyses found no significant associations between mother-adolescent reminiscing qualities and youth rumination or depression, cross-sectionally or longitudinally. We did, however, find a bi-directional relationship between unsupportive mother-adolescent reminiscing qualities and heightened anxiety symptoms cross-sectionally. The concurrent findings suggest that mothers and adolescents are mutually reinforcing youth anxiety symptoms, in part, through the promotion of emotional avoidance. Furthermore, exploratory moderation findings, indicated a significant buffering effect of youth engagement in supportive conversational qualities during reminiscing about past negative events with their mothers, and lower levels of youth anxiety over time. These findings have implications for practice and theory. First, in terms of clinical intervention, the research refines our understanding of interpersonal factors related to youth anxiety during middle adolescence, in particular the role of the parent-adolescent reminiscing conversations. Second, the current research highlights the importance of adopting interpersonal methods when studying parent-adolescent interactions as a way to accurately model and test the inherently interpersonal nature of reminiscing.</p>

Parent-Adolescent Reminiscing and Youth Psychopathology: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Investigation

<p>Parent-child conversations about past experiences—reminiscing—are key in children’s growing emotional competency and their psychological well-being (Salmon & Reese, 2016). Very little research, however, has investigated the relationship between parent-adolescent reminiscing conversations and adolescent psychological adjustment, which is particularly important because adolescence is a period of heightened risk for the development of rumination and internalising disorders, especially anxiety and depression (Miller-Slough & Dunsmore, 2016). This thesis extended the literature on reminiscing in three ways. First, we examined different qualities of mother-adolescent reminiscing and their relationships to psychological outcomes during the period of middle adolescence. Second, we investigated the associations between mother-adolescent reminiscing qualities and youth rumination and internalising symptoms (anxiety and depression), cross-sectionally and longitudinally to help disentangle the direction of the associations. Finally, we applied dyadic methods of coding and statistical analyses in a novel approach that modelled the transactional nature of reminiscing conversations and their associations with youth psychological outcomes. In Study 1 we tested the discriminant and convergent validity of a dyadic coding scheme, for use on parent-adolescent conversations about past events. The aim of Study 1 was to establish the methodological foundations for examining parent-adolescent reminiscing conversations in a way that lends itself to dyadic analysis. To do this, two coding schemes (a traditional reminiscing scheme and a dyadic scheme) were applied to a community sample of 67 mother-adolescent dyad and their conversations about a past shared conflict event. Consistent with our predictions, parent-adolescent reminiscing qualities that extended the conversation and promoted highly detailed narratives were correlated with supportive interpersonal processes that endorsed co-construction and collaboration during the discussion. In contrast, qualities that discontinued the conversation were correlated with unsupportive interpersonal processes that promoted avoidance/disengagement and repetitive problem engagement. Next, we applied the dyadic coding scheme to assess the transactional relationships between parent-adolescent reminiscing qualities and youth rumination and internalising symptoms. In Study 2 we tested the cross-sectional (Study 2a) and longitudinal (Study 2b) relationships between parent-adolescent reminiscing qualities and youth rumination, anxiety, and depression. Using the same sample of 67 mother-adolescent dyads in Study 1, transcripts of the past conflict discussions were coded dyadically for unsupportive and supportive mother and adolescent reminiscing qualities. Self-report measures of rumination, anxiety, and depression were also collected from mothers and adolescents, respectively. The adolescents then completed the same self-report measures at a follow-up time-point one year later. Overall, dyadic analyses found no significant associations between mother-adolescent reminiscing qualities and youth rumination or depression, cross-sectionally or longitudinally. We did, however, find a bi-directional relationship between unsupportive mother-adolescent reminiscing qualities and heightened anxiety symptoms cross-sectionally. The concurrent findings suggest that mothers and adolescents are mutually reinforcing youth anxiety symptoms, in part, through the promotion of emotional avoidance. Furthermore, exploratory moderation findings, indicated a significant buffering effect of youth engagement in supportive conversational qualities during reminiscing about past negative events with their mothers, and lower levels of youth anxiety over time. These findings have implications for practice and theory. First, in terms of clinical intervention, the research refines our understanding of interpersonal factors related to youth anxiety during middle adolescence, in particular the role of the parent-adolescent reminiscing conversations. Second, the current research highlights the importance of adopting interpersonal methods when studying parent-adolescent interactions as a way to accurately model and test the inherently interpersonal nature of reminiscing.</p>

Pornography Use Profiles and the Emergence of Sexual Behaviors in Adolescence

This research longitudinally explored adolescent pornography (porn) consumption and its association with sexual development in early and middle adolescence. A four-wave design with half-year intervals investigated pornography consumption and different (sexual) activities, such as masturbation, French kissing, petting, giving/receiving manual and oral sex, and intercourse, among 630 respondents (47.9% female, mean age 13.7 years; SD = 0.48) years at T1). A latent growth mixture analysis of pornography consumption revealed two groups with relatively low pornography (LP; 51.8% of the boys, 91.4% of the girls) versus high pornography (HP; 48.2% of the boys; 8.6% of the girls) consumption across time. At T1, HP boys on average watched pornography less than once a month, but more than once a year at T1. At T4, their average pornography use had increased to almost one to two times a week. LP boys never watched pornography at T1. At T4, their average pornography use was still less than once a year. At T1, HP girls never watched pornography, but consumption increased to almost one to three times a month at T4. Across waves of the study, LP girls (almost) never watched pornography. A discrete-time survival mixture analysis of sexual developmental patterning indicated that, compared to their LP peers, both girls and boys in the HP groups showed accelerated development of masturbation, petting, and receiving manual sex. Girls in the HP group were also more inclined to receive oral sex, whereas boys in the HP group also showed earlier and more frequent manual sex and intercourse. Thus, whereas the HP group of boys was substantially larger compared to that of girls, pornography consumption was related to accelerated development of sexual activities for both genders across early and middle adolescence. The discussion deliberates on pornography as a driving force in adolescent sexual development versus pornography as a medium of choice for sexually advanced adolescents.

Actual and Perceived Parental Knowledge and Child Delinquency: Does the Sex of the Parent, the Sex of the Child, and the Child’s Age Make a Difference?

Parental knowledge was tested as a possible deterrent to future delinquency in 3914 (51% male) early to mid-adolescent school children from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Using three waves of data, parent-rated mother and father knowledge were tested as correlates of future delinquency, controlling for age, perceived parental knowledge, and the willingness of children to share their thoughts and feelings with parents. Variables from Wave 5 (age 12/13) were used to predict delinquency at Wave 6 (age 14/15), and variables from Wave 6 were used to predict delinquency at Wave 7 (age 16/17). Results showed that mother- but not father-reported knowledge effectively deterred future child delinquency. A significant sex x mother knowledge interaction was found in both analyses, indicating that boys experienced a stronger deterrent effect than girls. It was further demonstrated that the deterrent effect of parental knowledge on child delinquency was stronger in early adolescence than in middle adolescence.

DNA methylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene predicts substance use in adolescence: longitudinal data from over 1000 young individuals

Early life stress has been linked to increased methylation of the Nuclear Receptor Subfamily 3 Group C Member 1 (NR3C1) gene, which codes for the glucocorticoid receptor. Moreover, early life stress has been associated with substance use initiation at a younger age, a risk factor for developing substance use disorders. However, no studies to date have investigated whether NR3C1 methylation can predict substance use in young individuals. This study included adolescents 13–14 years of age that reported no history of substance use at baseline, (N = 1041; males = 46%). Participants contributed saliva DNA samples and were followed in middle adolescence as part of KUPOL, a prospective cohort study of 7th-grade students in Sweden. Outcome variables were self-reports of (i) recent use, (ii) lifetime use, and (iii) use duration of (a) alcohol, (b) tobacco products, (c) cannabis, or (d) any substance. Outcomes were measured annually for three consecutive years. The predictor variable was DNA methylation at the exon 1 F locus of NR3C1. Risk and rate ratios were calculated as measures of association, with or without adjustment for internalizing symptoms and parental psychiatric disorders. For a subset of individuals (N = 320), there were also morning and afternoon salivary cortisol measurements available that were analyzed in relation to NR3C1 methylation levels. Baseline NR3C1 hypermethylation associated with future self-reports of recent use and use duration of any substance, before and after adjustment for potential confounders. The overall estimates were attenuated when considering lifetime use. Sex-stratified analyses revealed the strongest association for cigarette use in males. Cortisol analyses revealed associations between NR3C1 methylation and morning cortisol levels. Findings from this study suggest that saliva NR3C1 hypermethylation can predict substance use in middle adolescence. Additional longitudinal studies are warranted to confirm these findings.

The Relationship of Self Assertiveness in Psychological Security and Emotional Intelligence among a Sample of Middle Adolescence Students in North Jordan: علاقة توكيد الذات بالأمن النفسي والذكاء الانفعالي لدى عينة من طلبة مرحلة المراهقة المتوسطة في شمال الأردن

The present study aimed at revealing the relationship of self-assertiveness in psychological security and emotional intelligence among a sample of middle adolescence students in north Jordan. The study sample consisted of (1672) male and female students, to achieve the objectives of the study. The results of the study showed that the members of the study sample obtained a medium degree of self-assertiveness and psychological security, and emotional intelligence. The results showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between self-assertiveness and psychological security, and emotional intelligence.

Childhood Trajectories of Hyperactivity/Inattention Symptoms and Diurnal Cortisol in Middle Adolescence: Results from a UK Birth Cohort

Objective Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show hypoactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Whether the association between hyperactivity/inattention symptoms with HPA axis dysfunction holds in the general child population too is not clear. Method We assessed associations between longitudinal trajectories of hyperactivity/inattention symptoms during ages 4 to 13 years and basal cortisol profiles at age 15 in a British general population cohort. Results Adolescents with persistently high levels of hyperactivity/inattention symptoms since childhood showed lower total morning cortisol and a smaller diurnal decline, even after adjusting for confounders. No associations were found between any of the symptom trajectories and cortisol awakening response, diurnal slope or daily output of cortisol. Conclusion This study provides evidence for hypocortisolism among adolescents with chronic hyperactivity/inattention symptoms in the general population.

Pendidikan Agama Kristen Bagi Remaja Madya Di Masa Pandemic Covid 19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Madya teenagers experienced the challenges of Christian religious education in schools and churches. Social distancing has the potential to take away social interaction with teachers, mentors and peers. Meanwhile, the transitional period of middle adolescence is a period of self-discovery. Christian religious education is being challenged again. During the pandemic, whether parents are ready or not, it is inevitable to accompany teenagers in the distance learning process. The purpose of this study is to ensure that the implementation of Christian religious education remains optimal, especially in the context of a pandemic. This research uses descriptive qualitative method. Parents must double function as caregivers as well as direct companions in the implementation of Christian religious education for teenagers in the midst of neglecting the offline learning process at school.