The importance of emotional awareness (EA) and emotion regulation (ER) for children's and adolescents' development has been suggested in numerous studies, but longitudinal trajectories of these aspects of emotional competence have rarely been examined. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to investigate developmental trends of EA and ER in…

This study examined the longitudinal associations between perception of sibling relationship quality (i.e., sibling warmth and conflict) and sibling influence (i.e., sibling modeling and differentiation), as well as the potential moderating role of birth order among Chinese adolescents. Participants were 150 adolescents (M[subscript age] = 12.84…

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…

Research to date has shown longitudinal changes in conscientiousness during early and middle adolescence, but most studies have been conducted in Western countries. The present study aimed to examine the pattern of mean-level conscientiousness change at the transition into early adolescence among a Chinese sample using curve of factors (CUFFS)…

Identity formation is a fundamental developmental process that has significant consequences for youth adjustment during adolescence and beyond. This article presents evidence indicating that ethnic-racial identity, specifically, is an important developmental competency on which prevention science should focus in the interest of promoting positive…

Immigrants currently account for close to 14% of the United States' population with one in four children growing up in an immigrant household. Yet, little is known about how immigrant parents and their adolescents dialogue about race and ethnicity within the evolving sociopolitical environment. Traditionally, the adolescents' role in racial-ethnic…

Adolescents navigate the transition into young adulthood through their pursuit of developmental goals. While societal expectations and institutions provide normed paths to adulthood by shaping decisions on goal identification, individuals take various routes to attain adult-status through different goal prioritization. Using longitudinal data from…

Current theories of loneliness posit that biases in social information processing play a key role in the development and maintenance of loneliness. However, this assumption has rarely been tested in longitudinal research in adolescence. The current study concentrated on two constructs associated with such biases, that is, fear of negative…

Solitude occurs from childhood to old age. In this special issue introduction, we offer a lifespan perspective on matters of solitude with the aim to point to pertinent issues in the field. We propose that solitude serves important functions that may vary across different times in life and that solitude needs to be considered in the context in…

Early adverse experiences can hold lasting influence on later life outcomes, particularly during formative developmental periods such as adolescence. The current study evaluates the impact of different kinds of adolescent trauma on later sense of purpose in adulthood, using data from the Hawaii Longitudinal Study of Personality and Health.…

Despite abundant research on the benefits of dispositional mindfulness and mindfulness-based interventions, little is known about the naturally occurring developmental course of mindful awareness. Given dramatic strides during adolescence in competencies that may support mindfulness (e.g., emotion regulation), the high school years are a suitable…

Many subareas share a common interest in students' "motivational resilience," defined broadly as patterns of action that allow students to constructively deal with, overcome, recover, and learn from encounters with academic obstacles and failures. However, research in each of these areas often progresses in relative isolation, and…

Children's and adolescents' narratives of interpersonal experiences can inform our understanding of developmental shifts in the use of personhood concepts. We present results from two studies ("n"s = 90, 112) with children aged five to 16 years. In the first study, children were asked to describe one positive and another negative…

This article embeds the study of character development within the two-decades-long research program framed by the Lerner and Lerner model of positive youth development. Character development involves attaining the feelings, thoughts, and skills needed to act coherently across time and place to serve self and others in mutually beneficial, positive…

Achieving a clear view of one's personality is a challenging but crucial developmental task during adolescence, which has enduring influences. This task might be harder if significant others see individuals differently from how the adolescents see themselves. Supporting this, the looking-glass-self theory suggests that significant others…