Adolescent risky behaviors are often interpreted as products of self-control failures stemming from a developmental mismatch between reward processing and cognitive control systems. However, adolescents -- much like adults -- may also engage in risky behaviors because of conscious and deliberate (even if objectively poor) decisions. It is not easy…

This study examined the extent to which residential mobility in the first 15 years of life was cumulatively associated with high school truancy at age 15 and whether there were specific developmental periods during which residential mobility was more consequential. To address these aims, we used data drawn from 4,848 children and families who…

Longitudinal study of associations between family-level emotion socialization and adolescent adjustment is limited. When American children (53.5% girls) were in second grade (N = 213; M[subscript age] = 7.98; data collected 2002-2003), mothers and fathers (79.8% of mothers and 74.2% of fathers were White) reported on their reactions to children's…

The present study investigated the longitudinal associations of self-control and parental involvement with prosociality and internalizing problems from early to mid-to-late adolescence, within a risk and resilience and a developmental cascade framework. We used a panel design (i.e., four measurement times at 2-year intervals from 2008 onwards) to…

Temperament and externalizing problems are closely linked, but research on how they codevelop across adolescence remains sparse and equivocal. Reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) provides a useful framework for understanding temperament and externalizing problems associations. During adolescence, oppositional problems are posited to be linked…

Behavioral correlates to happiness (i.e., indices of happiness) have been used as means of measuring happiness in individuals with developmental disabilities. However, research has not yet evaluated the possibility that indices of happiness/unhappiness (IHUs) may signal the presence of a setting event that could affect other behaviors. The purpose…

Integrative data analysis (IDA) was used to derive developmental models of depression, externalizing problems, and self-regulatory processes in three prevention trials of the Family Check-Up and one longitudinal, community-based study of girls over a 10-year span covering early to late adolescence (N = 4,773; 74.9% female, 41.7% white). We used…

This study examines the association between psychosocial adjustment and future expectations in early adolescence. This research tries to fill some gaps in the literature on how current adjustment might be an antecedent of early adolescents' future expectations. Participants were 781 students (mean age = 12.37 years). Data were collected in 11…

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits predict behavioral problems in adolescence. But little is known about early modulatory factors. Behavioral Inhibition (BI) in particular has been suggested to protect against the development of CU-traits. This temperamental predisposition is characterized by heightened environmental sensitivity. The current…

The increasing usage of social media has sparked interest in identifying characteristics that contribute to problematic social media use (PSMU). Using the Interaction Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model, the current study analyzes whether fear of missing out (FoMO) and dissociative experiences affect the link between trait emotional…

The mental health and well-being of children and adolescents are critical public health concerns globally. This cross-sectional study analysed nationally representative data from the combined 2016-2022 National Survey of Children's Health (n = 239,534) to produce estimates of parent-reported diagnoses of children's anxiety, depression and…

This study used latent transition analysis to examine the stability and change in perceived threats in youth's primary social contexts--neighborhoods, schools, and families--and associations with emotional and behavioral problems when youth transitioned from childhood to adolescence. The sample included 8208 racially and ethnically diverse youth…

Previous research has indicated that student mental health is linked to their engagement at school. However, there is a lack of empirical studies examining students' school engagement from the more comprehensive dual-factor model, which assesses both psychopathology and subjective well-being [SWB]. The current study examined this relationship via…

Recent work indicates clinically meaningful differences in domains of psychopathic personality -- such as grandiose-manipulative (GM), callous-unemotional (CU), and daring-impulsive (DI) traits -- and parenting factors. Yet, different domains of parenting and reports from multiple informants may vary in their associations to psychopathic traits.…

Purpose: The study objective was to determine if the validated Behavioral Inflexibility Scale (BIS) is sensitive to the detection of developmental changes in inflexibility in a sample of autistic children. Methods: Parents of autistic children (n = 146, 3-17 years) completed the BIS at two time points, one year apart, to examine change. Results:…