The present study explores the sources of validity evidence of the mathematics self-concept construct in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 with a focus on concurrent, discriminant, and predictive evidence. Mathematics self-concept was provided with a single index variable in PISA 2022. Using only the U.S. students who…

Background: Modelling academic self-concept through second-order factors or bifactor structures is an important issue with substantive and practical implications; besides, the bifactor model has not been analysed with a Chinese sample and cross-cultural studies in the academic self-concept are scarce. Likewise, latent structure validity evidence…

This study examined the longitudinal relationships among self-concept clarity (SCC), hope, and subjective well-being (i.e., emotional well-being and cognitive well-being). Specifically, we tested both the between-person and within-person associations of SCC with subjective well-being among 2,001 Chinese adolescents (age range 11-24 years, 42.9%…

Peers become especially influential in adolescence, a developmental period marked by a nadir in school motivation. In the classroom, adolescents often engage in social comparison with their peers to ascertain their own academic competence, which can have substantial effects on their motivation and learning. The present experimental study examined…

While the role of empathy in socio-emotional functioning has received extensive support in the literature, affective empathy has been identified as a risk factor for internalising disorders. However, little literature has explored the mechanisms through which affective empathy exerts its counter-effect and what aspects could regulate this…

Background: There has been a shift in recent decades towards studying the strengths of people with intellectual disability to promote wellbeing. This study developed a conceptualisation of "thriving" specific to adolescents with intellectual disability. Method: A photo-elicitation qualitative design was used. Participants were 12…

Negative self-esteem is an important transdiagnostic factor underlying various youth psychological problems. Most studies so far have examined the role of more conscious, explicit self-esteem, assessed with self-report questionnaires. Our study investigated the role of explicit as well as implicit self-esteem (with Rosenberg's self-esteem scale…

Adolescence is a critical developmental period that is marked by drastic changes in face recognition, which are reflected in patterns of bias (i.e., superior recognition for some individuals compared to others). Here, we evaluate how race is perceived during face recognition and whether adolescents exhibit an own-race bias (ORB). We conducted a…

Bias-based (also called identity-based) harassment refers specifically to a subset of peer victimization that targets a person's identity, such as their gender identity, religion, immigration status, sexual orientation, race, or ethnicity. Research indicates that bias-based harassment is a particularly devastating form of victimization that has an…

Depression is the second most common mental disorder among adolescents worldwide. From the perspectives of emotional security theory and interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory, parental rearing behaviors impact adolescents' depressive symptoms. The current study aims to uncover the underlying relationship mechanisms between different parental…

Autistic youth demonstrate an overestimation of competencies when compared with neurotypical (NT) peers. Research has also shown NT males/boys tend to overestimate their competencies more than NT females/girls. This study assessed sex differences in autistic youths' overestimations on academic self-perception variables. Notably, 127 (70 male)…

A diagnosis of gender dysphoria remains the primary requirement for transgender people to receive medical and legal gender affirmation services. Three focus groups conducted in 2018 with transgender and gender diverse (TGD) adolescents were assessed to understand how they define and use the term dysphoria and how the clinical discourse of gender…

Purpose: Past research shows the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect (BFLPE; negative effect of school-average achievement on student-level academic self-concept) to generalize across countries. However, such evidence is largely limited to math and science. Given that reading self-concept is highly differentiated from math and science self-concepts and…

Most autistic adolescents experience anxiety. Interoception, defined as one's ability to detect and interpret bodily signals, might contribute to this. The aim of this exploratory, qualitative study was to gain a better understanding of interoceptive experiences in autistic adolescents and how this relates to anxiety. Semi-structured 1:1…

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a significant public health concern, with severely impacts for adolescent mental health. As awareness of the harmful effects of NSSI grows, there is an increasing emphasis on understanding the underlying mechanisms in this age group. This study explores how internalizing and externalizing issues related to…