Research has established the significance of social achievement goals in shaping adolescents' academic engagement. However, the precise mechanisms underpinning this connection remain incomplete. In two studies involving U.S. middle school students (Study 1 N = 212, Study 2 N = 318), we explored the relationship between social achievement goals,…

Connections between prosociality and antisocial behaviors have been recognized; however, little research has studied their developmental links longitudinally. This is important to illuminate during early adolescence as a sensitive period for social development in which prosociality could protect against the development of later antisocial…

The current study examines intrapersonal characteristics or factors (i.e., resilience), peer (i.e., quality of peer relationships), and family processes (i.e., parental involvement, critical comparison) as potential risk and protective factors for mental health of Chinese adolescents during COVID- 19 pandemic. A total of 504 seventh-grade students…

In the present study, we sought to examine the relationship between perceived economic stress and adolescents' bullying victimization and extended previous literature by examining the mediating effect of self-esteem as well as the moderating effects of student-student relationships and gender in this association. The research hypotheses were…

The present study sought to investigate the friendship formation of ethnic in-and out-group friendships, as well as differences in stability and quality, while accounting for the network structure (such as the tendency to befriend friends of friends). We analyzed longitudinal data from 770 students from 42 Austrian primary school classes collected…

Although women's representation in STEM fields and occupations has increased, science and math continue to be stereotyped as male domains. This paper links psychological and sociological explanations for gendered disparities in STEM by examining the relationship between the local "micro-situational" female learning environment and the…

This study's goal was to identify patterns of risk and promotive factors across multiple social-ecological domains and their associations with adolescents' problem behaviors (aggression, substance use, and other delinquent behaviors), victimization, and distress symptoms. Participants were a mostly African American (79%) sample of 2711 middle…

There have been few studies on the bidirectional interaction between the parental and the offspring's psychological symptoms. It is important to fill in this lacuna to understand the development and vicious cycles of psychological symptoms in the familial context. The objective was to study the bidirectional relationships between parental anxiety,…

The increasing cultural diversity in host society schools highlights the need to better understand the conditions supporting the integration of students with an immigrant background. This study examines whether peer acceptance enhances the association between student-teacher relationship closeness and classroom emotional engagement, and whether…

Gender-typical characteristics are associated with popularity and acceptance, suggesting that gender typicality is an important component of how adolescents are perceived by peers. The current study addressed the contributions of self- and peer-perceived gender typicality in predicting popularity and liking among same- and other-sex peers.…

The main aim of this study was to examine one potential mediator of the prospective association between depressive symptoms and peer victimization: sadness rumination. Data were collected from 302 early adolescents (M[subscript age] = 10.53, SD =0.16; 55.3% girls), at two waves, 1-year spaced, using self-reports. Depressive symptoms preceded…

Little is known regarding the processes that occur when parents support their child who is being victimized by peers. The current study utilized in-depth interviews with 11 fourth- through sixth-grade early adolescents and their mothers as to the processes that occurred when the mothers attempted to help their child cope with peer victimization.…

This study examined associations of best friend and peer group aggressive characteristics with students' overt and relational aggression, and whether coolness moderated these associations across the fall and spring of the first year in middle school. Students (N = 174; 57% females) self-reported best friendship and peer group members, as well as…

The current study used thematic analysis to examine school staff perspectives on the impact of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) on school climate in terms of the quality of student-student and student-teacher relationships in two low-income, urban middle schools in the United States. Data were collected using focus groups and…

Effectively coping with peer victimization may be facilitated by deploying attention away from threat (i.e., bullies, reinforcers) and toward available support (e.g., defenders). To test this premise, 72 early adolescents (38 girls; M[subscript age] = 11.67, SD = 8.14 months) watched video clips of youth actors portraying a bully aggressing…