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High-achieving schools connote risks for adolescents: Problems documented, processes implicated, and directions for interventions
Abstract
Excessive pressures to excel, generally in affluent contexts, are now listed among the top 4 "high risk" factors for adolescents' mental health, along with exposure to poverty, trauma, and discrimination. Multiple studies of high-achieving school (HAS) cohorts have shown elevated rates of serious symptoms relative to norms, with corroborating evidence from other research using diverse designs. Grounded in theories on resilience and ecological influences in development, a conceptual model is presented here on major risk and protective processes implicated in unrelenting achievement pressures facing HAS youth. These include forces at the macrolevel, including economic and technological changes that have led to the "middle class squeeze," and proximal influences involving the family, peers, schools, and communities. Also considered are potential directions for future interventions, with precautions about some practices that are currently widespread in HAS contexts. In the years ahead, any meaningful reductions in the high distress of HAS youth will require collaborations among all stakeholders, with parents and educators targeting the specific areas that must be prioritized in their own communities. Leaders in higher education and social policy could also help in beginning to curtail this problem, which is truly becoming an epidemic among today's youth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
... In Australia, selective and partially selective schools use an entrance examination to admit students or place them in specialist streams (as is the case in partially selective schools) based on academic merit. The intervention was trialed in selective schools because, along with other known risk factors for mental health problems among young people (e.g., exposure to poverty or discrimination [24]), students attending high-achieving schools are increasingly recognized as a group at elevated risk for mental health problems [25]. ...
... Risk factors implicated in the development of mental health difficulties among this group include pressure to succeed from parents, schools, and peers, as well high levels of perfectionism and the competitive academic nature of the school environment [25], [26]. The intervention was trialed with students in their final year, as final course examinations represent a significant school-related stressor that may exacerbate these challenges and precipitate mental health problems [27]. ...
... Our focus on high-achieving students enrolled in selective classes is also a limitation. Although this group of students may experience unique stressors that make them vulnerable to developing mental health difficulties [25], they may also be more self-motivated and proactive in their approach to engagement than students enrolled in non-selective programs. For example, some established predictors of academic success, such as individual differences in motivation, conscientiousness, and openness to experience [63], have also been shown to predict interest in and engagement with digital interventions [23]. ...
... In related research, Luthar et al. (2020) argued that students in high-achieving schools are an "at-risk group" based on converging evidence on social comparison processes and two major national policy reports. Complementing the focus of BFLPE research on academic outcomes, Luthar et al. emphasized the negative effects of high-achieving schools on nonacademic outcomes (e.g., mental health, psychological problems, and psychological well-being). ...
... The research program by Luthar and colleagues demonstrates the adverse effects of attending high-achieving schools on student mental health (anxiety, depression, distress, delinquency, substance abuse, high-risk behaviors, and adverse childhood experiences e.g., Ebbert et al., 2019;Luthar et al., 2020). Luthar (2003), Luthar and Ansary (2005), and Luthar and Latendresse (2005) initially identified seemingly paradoxical increased risks of psychological problems for students from affluent families ("affluenza"). ...
... However, subsequent large-scale multilevel studies by Coley et al. (2018;also see Lund & Dearing, 2012;Lund et al., 2017) showed that these effects on mental health problems were due to school compositional effects rather than effects of L1 family SES. This led Luthar and colleagues to shift from individual-student characteristics to an emphasis on high-achieving schools (;e.g., Ebbert et al., 2019;Luthar & Kuman, 2018;Luthar et al., 2020). They also emphasized the importance of a robust self-concept to children's mental health, which can be compromised in high-achieving schools where self-worth is based on relative accomplishments and social comparison. ...
We juxtapose (positive and negative) compositional effects of school-average achievement and school-average socioeconomic status (SES) on students’ academic self-concept (ASC), final high-school grade-point-average (GPA), and long-term outcomes at age 26 (educational attainment and educational and occupational expectations). We used doubly-latent multilevel compositional models with a large, nationally representative longitudinal sample (16,197 Year-10 students from 751 US high schools), controlling background variables (gender, age, ethnicity, academic track, and a composite risk factor). At the individual-student level, the effects of achievement, SES, ASC, and GPA on long-term outcomes were consistently positive. However, mostly consistent with a priori theoretical predictions, (1) the compositional effects of school-average achievement on ASC, GPA, and educational and occupational expectations were significantly negative (although non-significant for final attainment); (2) the compositional effects of school-average SES on ASC, educational attainment, and educational and occupational expectations were significantly positive (but nonsignificant for GPA); and (3) the compositional effects on long-term outcomes were partly mediated by ASC and particularly by GPA. These findings demonstrate that the positive effects of school-average SES are distinguishable from the adverse effects of school-average achievement. We discuss how these findings extend Göllner et al.'s (Psychological Science 29:1785–1796, 2018) highly controversial conclusion regarding the benefits of schools with high school-average SES but low school-average achievement. We also relate our research to Luthar et al.’s (American Psychologist 75:983–995, 2020) findings of adverse mental health problems associated with attending high-achieving schools. Our results have important implications not only for theory and methodology but also for parents’ selection of schools for their children and policy regarding the structure of schools (a substantive-methodological synergy).
... However, most prior research has focused on examining linear associations, as a statistical approach, between SES and outcomes like depression, which we conceptually define in this article as the "more is better model" of SES. Granted that those from lower SES backgrounds tend to exhibit anxiety and depressive symptoms more often than those from higher SES backgrounds, programmatic research on individuals in high-achieving settings-most of who are relatively affluent-suggests that a simple "more is better" model may not capture the complex manner in which SES is implicated in internalizing mental health problems (for a review, see Luthar et al., 2020). A more nuanced model that recognizes the complex association between access to resources and human motivational dispositions may be better suited to unpack complex mental health problems such as depression or anxiety National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019;Strakowski, 2012;Twenge et al., 2019). ...
... This canon of research are exemplars of the "more is better" model, since having more human, social, and financial resources often lessens the conditions that lead to stress for some people, as systemic racism can limit the returns of these resources (Assari, 2018a). When resources are more plentiful (typical among higher SES), a person could become anxious due to pressures to meet expectations for accomplishments or connections that often accompany having higher status, leading to stress and depression (Luthar et al., 2020). Studies show clinical levels of depression and suicide ideation have increased among individuals from higher income backgrounds (greater than $75,000) over recent history, especially among adolescents (Twenge et al., 2019). ...
... The small quadratic associations suggest there may be elevated risk for depressive symptoms at lower and higher levels of SES, particularly related to income, albeit greater risk at lower SES. This finding is consistent with programmatic research spanning 20 years in high-achieving schools, most of who are from high-income families (Luthar et al., 2020). Therefore, the risk factors associated with SES are not directly attributed to the level of SES, but to the broader bioecological contexts connected with each component of SES. ...
Socioeconomic status (SES) is a widely researched construct in developmental science, yet less is known concerning relations between SES and adaptive behavior. Specifically, is the relation linear, with higher SES associated with better outcomes, or does the direction of association change at different levels of SES? Our aim was to examine linear ("more is better") and quadratic ("better near the middle") associations between components of SES (i.e., income, years of education, occupational status/prestige) and depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale), and to explore moderation by developmental period (adolescence, young, middle, and older adulthood), gender/sex (female, male), and race/ethnicity (Asian American, Black, Latinx, multiracial, Native American, White). We hypothesized that there would be more support for a model containing quadratic associations. We conducted a two-stage meta-analytic structural equation model of 60 data sets (27,242 correlations, 498,179 participants) within the United States, accounting for dependencies between correlations, which were identified via the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research and handled using a two-step approach. Income was quadratically associated with depressive symptoms, but the quadratic model did not explain more variance in depressive symptoms than the linear model. Developmental period and race/ethnicity moderated the associations: Income was quadratically associated with depressive symptoms among middle-aged adults, and years of education were quadratically associated with depressive symptoms among White samples. Our findings suggest that researchers and clinical practitioners should consider the elevated risk of depressive symptoms for individuals from low and high-income backgrounds in the United States. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
... Methodological characteristics such as measurement error likely contribute to the magnitude of the observed association (Brakenhoff et al., 2018). Given emerging research on the elevated risk of depressive symptoms at higher SES levels compared with national norms (Luthar et al., 2020) and variation in the indicators used to capture depression across different measurement instruments (Fried, 2017), the current study focused on two methodological factors: range restriction of SES and measurement of depressive symptoms (i.e., instrument type, measurement reliability). ...
... Range restriction can occur due to sampling methods (indirect; e.g., failure to recruit participants from both ends of the distribution) or due to measuring SES (direct; e.g., developing interval items with a bottomor top-coded value that groups together participants with meaningful SES differences). Emerging research reveals that depression among individuals from the highest-income households is more common than previously understood (Luthar et al., 2020). Therefore, in some populations, the association between SES and depressive symptoms may be nonlinear. ...
... The opposite effects of range restriction for income and years of education are likely due to nonlinearity. The increased risk of depressive symptoms among individuals from higher-SES backgrounds has focused on risk factors associated with excessive income rather than educational background (Luthar et al., 2020). For income, nonlinearity in non-range-restricted samples can reduce the linear correlation relative to range-restricted samples because a truncated range does not fully represent the plausible nonlinear pattern. ...
Introduction
The association between socioeconomic status (SES) and depressive symptoms is well documented, yet less attention has been paid to the methodological factors contributing to between-study variability. We examined the moderating role of range restriction and the depressive-symptom measurement instrument used in estimating the correlation between components of SES and depressive symptoms.
Methods
We conducted an individual participant data meta-analysis of nationally-representative, public-access datasets in the United States. We identified 123 individual datasets with a total of 1,655,991 participants (56.8 % female, mean age = 40.33).
Results
The presence of range restriction was associated with larger correlations between income and depressive symptoms and with smaller correlations between years of education and depressive symptoms. The measurement instrument of depressive symptoms moderated the association for income, years of education, and occupational status/prestige. The Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression scale consistently produced larger correlations. Higher measurement reliability was also associated with larger correlations.
Limitations
This study was not a comprehensive review of all measurement instruments of depressive symptoms, focused on datasets from the United States, and did not examine the moderating role of sample characteristics.
Discussion
Methodological characteristics, including range restriction of SES and instrument of depressive symptoms, meaningfully influence the observed magnitude of association between SES and depressive symptoms. Clinicians and researchers designing future studies should consider which instrument of depressive symptoms is suitable for their purpose and population.
... There is replicated evidence that students in high-achieving school (HAS) environments (e.g., high standardized test scores, enriched extracurricular/academic offerings) concurrently and prospectively exhibit more mental health problems relative to national norms, including substance use, depression, and anxiety (Ebbert et al., 2019;Luthar & Barkin, 2012;Luthar et al., 2020aLuthar et al., , 2020bLuthar et al., , 2020. In fact, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (2019) identified HAS students as an at-risk group, along with historically vulnerable groups (e.g., youth living in poverty, foster care). ...
... Several possible risk factors for poor socio-emotional outcomes in youth in HAS have emerged in research on this population, including academic pressures, perceived isolation from parents, and unique personality correlates (e.g., high rates of perfectionism, envy; Ebbert et al., 2019). Achievement pressures among HAS adolescents may potentiate heightened competition and comparisons among peers (Luthar, 2020a). For example, the "Big Fish Little Pond Effect" of being educated amongst high performers may negatively affect academic self-concept (Becker & Neumann, 2018); this may also reflect comparisons with talented peers and increase anxiety and distress related to achievement. ...
... Adolescence is a period of elevated valuation of social status and acceptance influences (e.g., de Bruyn & van den Boom, 2005); these factors may be particularly salient for HAS youth with respect to predictions of mental health problems. Lastly, digital status seeking, which may reflect some of these offline phenomena, prospectively predicted adolescent substance use and sexual risk behaviors (Nesi & Prinstein, 2019); this may be particularly relevant to mental health problems in HAS youth given their vulnerability to these problems (e.g., Luthar et al., 2020a). Overall, there is an urgent need to intensively characterize risk factors across theoretically-relevant family, social, and academic domains in HAS youth. ...
Replicated evidence shows that adolescents enrolled in high-achieving schools exhibit elevated mental health problems relative to national norms, reflecting risk factors such as achievement and social pressures. The frequency of digital media use is similarly a potential risk factor for poor youth mental health, although mediators of this association have not been identified. 2952 youth from three high-achieving U.S. high schools reported the frequency of their digital media use as well as internalizing and externalizing problems and substance use. Using a multiple mediation framework, the frequency of social comparison, receiving negative feedback, and risky self-presentation online each uniquely mediated the association of digital media use with internalizing and externalizing problems in boys and girls; for substance use, risky self-presentation mediated this association in both boys and girls and negative feedback mediated substance use in girls only. Measurable online behaviors in the form of social comparison, negative feedback, and self-presentation may crucially underlie the association of digital media use frequency with socio-emotional development in adolescents. Implications for intervention focused on impacting online behaviors for improving youth mental health are discussed.
... Adolescent girls from competitive, upwardly mobile communities appear to be particularly at risk for maladjustment, reporting greater levels of stress and clinical depression than their counterparts [20,26]. One study found that across all participating high achieving schools (HAS), students had clinically significant depressive and anxious symptoms that were six to seven times higher than the national average [28]. Partially underlying this depression and anxiety is that girls from HAS overly focus on extrinsic, self-oriented goals, such as physical appearance and peer admiration [29]. ...
... Specifically, in HAS communities, the general culture of achievement emphasis is associated with relatively poor student functioning, and parents can either perpetuate this culture or promote prosociality/kindness [28,41]. Among affluent youth from HAS communities, parenting that primarily focuses on self-oriented goals and extrinsic markers of success may have deleterious developmental consequences [41]. ...
... Our results are also consistent with Liang and Klein's [22] notion of performance mindset, and findings from Luthar and colleagues [26,28] that youth from affluent backgrounds are sometimes subject to disconnected parents who pressure them to conform to narrow definitions of success focused primarily on extrinsic goals (e.g., academic excellence), rather than supporting their intrinsic interests and purpose. Moreover, it stands to reason that parents who lack empathy in their relationships with their daughters fail to model and instill in their daughters the same empathy that is associated with prosociality and ultimately other-oriented purpose. ...
Youth purpose is defined as a life aim that is both personally meaningful and contributes to the world beyond the self. This study disaggregated other-oriented (OO) aims (i.e., purpose as defined as a life aim intended to contribute to the world) and self-oriented (SO) aims (i.e., a personally meaningful life aim without intention to contribute beyond the self) to examine the development of youth who evince various combinations of high and low OO and SO aims. In a sample of 207 adolescent girls, hierarchical cluster analysis revealed three clusters: High SO–High OO (“Self and Other-Oriented Aims”), High SO–Low OO (“Self-Oriented Aims”), and High OO–Low SO (“Other-Oriented Aims”). A MANOVA indicated that youth who reported higher levels of parental trust and communication were more likely to have OO purpose (i.e., “Self and Other-Oriented Aims” and “Other-Oriented Aims”) versus primarily SO aims (“Self-Oriented Aims”). The “Self and Other-Oriented Aims” cluster was associated with better psychosocial functioning.
... In this respect, research in evolutionary psychology and evolutionary anthropology supports the hypothesis that status-seeking motives are central to market-based AC (Buss et al., 2001;Miller, 2009;Ferguson et al., 2011a;Abed et al., 2012;Griskevicius and Kendrick, 2013;Barkow, 2014). Evolutionary research is complemented by studies in the critical domain of education, and more specifically research over the past few decades centered on the health and well-being of adolescents who attend high achieving schools (Luthar et al., 2013(Luthar et al., , 2020Luthar and Kumar, 2018;Spencer et al., 2018;Ebbert et al., 2019). ...
... More recently, these researchers emphasize the middle-class financial "squeeze" and consequent parental anxieties. Under these socio-economic conditions, parents become anxious that less than optimum performance by their children will increase the chances of their children being left behind, thus failing to attain the level of status that they themselves have achieved (Luthar et al., 2020). Young people in these environments feel significant pressures to succeed at the highest levels in all of their pursuits, not just academically but also in athletics and other extra-curricular activities (Spencer et al., 2018). ...
... The importance of educational achievement in the development of market-based industrial cultures has previously been noted Worthman and Trang, 2018). This population-level research is complemented by selective studies of young people and their identities in areas such as appearance ideals (Patrick et al., 2004;Ashikali and Dittmar, 2012;Holsen et al., 2012;Easterbrook et al., 2014;Guðnadóttir and Garðarsdóttir, 2014;Daniels and Gillen, 2015;Kling et al., 2017;Vartanian and Hayward, 2018) materialism (Ashikali and Dittmar, 2012;Easterbrook et al., 2014;Guðnadóttir and Garðarsdóttir, 2014) and educational achievement (Wiklund et al., 2010;Deci and Ryan, 2012;Luthar et al., 2013;Luthar and Kumar, 2018;Spencer et al., 2018;Luthar et al., 2020), cited below or at salient points in the paper. ...
With the transition toward densely populated and urbanized market-based cultures over the past 200 years, young people’s development has been conditioned by the ascendancy of highly competitive skills-based labor markets that demand new forms of embodied capital (e.g., education) for young people to succeed. Life-history analysis reveals parental shifts toward greater investment in fewer children so parents can invest more in their children’s embodied capital for them to compete successfully. Concomitantly, the evolution of market-based capitalism has been associated with the rise of extrinsic values such as individualism, materialism and status-seeking, which have intensified over the last 40–50 years in consumer economies. The dominance of extrinsic values is consequential: when young people show disproportionate extrinsic relative to intrinsic values there is increased risk for mental health problems and poorer well-being. This paper hypothesizes that, concomitant with the macro-cultural promotion of extrinsic values, young people in advanced capitalism (AC) are obliged to develop an identity that is market-driven and embedded in self-narratives of success, status, and enhanced self-image. The prominence of extrinsic values in AC are synergistic with neuro-maturational and stage-salient developments of adolescence and embodied in prominent market-driven criterion such as physical attractiveness, displays of wealth and material success, and high (educational and extra-curricular) achievements. Cultural transmission of market-driven criterion is facilitated by evolutionary tendencies in young people to learn from older, successful and prestigious individuals ( prestige bias ) and to copy their peers. The paper concludes with an integrated socio-ecological evolutionary account of market-driven identities in young people, while highlighting methodological challenges that arise when attempting to bridge macro-cultural and individual development.
... Therefore, this study focused on Black secondary students' mental health and help-seeking within a special admissions high-achieving school context. Discrimination and excessive pressures to succeed are two of the top four risk factors, further increasing mental health concerns within the adolescent population (Benner et al., 2018;Luthar et al., 2019). Adolescents in high-achieving schools present with higher rates of anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms compared to the national normative data of adolescents in the United States (Luthar et al., 2019). ...
... Discrimination and excessive pressures to succeed are two of the top four risk factors, further increasing mental health concerns within the adolescent population (Benner et al., 2018;Luthar et al., 2019). Adolescents in high-achieving schools present with higher rates of anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms compared to the national normative data of adolescents in the United States (Luthar et al., 2019). Similarly, perceptions of discrimination amongst adolescents are correlated with various internalizing symptoms, including anxiety, lonesomeness, stress, somatic symptoms, self-esteem, and diminished well-being, with the most substantial relationship between discrimination and depression (Benner et al., 2018). ...
... High achieving schools are perceived as environments that increase the risk for adolescent mental health concerns due to the challenging and demanding curriculum (Suldo et al., 2008); academic stress related to studying, grades, homework, and time management (Deanda et al., 2000); excessive pressures from parents and teachers; and perceptions of peer competition (Luthar et al., 2019). This stress due to high school demands occurs during a period of potentially stressful adolescent events, including puberty, school transitions, everyday life events, and changing relationships with family and peers (McNamara, 2000). ...
The underrepresentation of Black youth in high‐achieving academic settings places significant importance on examining their daily experiences. This study investigated the relationship between school discrimination, well‐being in academic settings, the risk for anxiety and depression, and school mental health help‐seeking intentions. Participants included 110 Black high school students (66% women; mean age = 15.67) attending a special‐admissions public school who participated in their school universal mental health screening. Black high school students in this high achieving context experienced few occurrences of school discrimination, yet these experiences still significantly impacted their internalizing severity. The mediation analyses revealed that experiences of discrimination predicted lower levels of academic efficacy and school connectedness, which predicted higher levels of internalizing symptoms. Experiences of discrimination were not related to mental health help‐seeking at school. However, Black youth's intentions to seek mental health services at school were low, regardless of discriminatory experiences, as evidenced by the percentage of universal screening dissent and their self‐reported plans to seek support. The findings highlight the need to consider Black adolescents' experiences in high achieving schools when engaged in universal mental health screening and individual and school‐wide mental health prevention efforts.
... Although in our study, racism and social stratification are probable causes of such counterintuitive finding, some related pattern is also shown in high White and Asian American children in high-achieving families. An extensive body of work by Luthar and colleagues [102][103][104][105] has shown elevated rates of behavioral problems such as substance use and even affective problems in White adolescents in affluent settings, wealthy suburbs, high-achieving schools, and high SES families. In several original articles and a review article published in American Psychologist [103], it was explained that the potential mechanisms by which students in affluent settings, high-income neighborhoods, and high-achieving schools may in fact be at risk. ...
... An extensive body of work by Luthar and colleagues [102][103][104][105] has shown elevated rates of behavioral problems such as substance use and even affective problems in White adolescents in affluent settings, wealthy suburbs, high-achieving schools, and high SES families. In several original articles and a review article published in American Psychologist [103], it was explained that the potential mechanisms by which students in affluent settings, high-income neighborhoods, and high-achieving schools may in fact be at risk. Given the work by Luthar et al., high SES Black children are not the only group that shows worse-than-expected developmental, emotional, and behavioral trajectories [102][103][104][105]. ...
... In several original articles and a review article published in American Psychologist [103], it was explained that the potential mechanisms by which students in affluent settings, high-income neighborhoods, and high-achieving schools may in fact be at risk. Given the work by Luthar et al., high SES Black children are not the only group that shows worse-than-expected developmental, emotional, and behavioral trajectories [102][103][104][105]. However, the explanation for worse-than-expected outcomes of White and Asian American children is not related to racism but probably expectations due to high demand, expectations, and aspirations [106]. ...
Introduction: Although the effects of parental education and household income on children’s brain development are well established, less is known about possible variation in these effects across diverse racial and ethnic groups. According to the Minorities’ Diminished Returns (MDRs) phenomenon, due to structural racism, social stratification, and residential segregation, parental educational attainment and household income show weaker effects for non-White than White children. Purpose: Built on the MDRs framework and conceptualizing race as a social rather than a biological factor, this study explored racial and ethnic variation in the magnitude of the effects of parental education and household income on children’s whole-brain cortical surface area. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, we used baseline socioeconomic and structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Our analytical sample was 10,262 American children between ages 9 and 10. The independent variables were parental education and household income. The primary outcome was the children’s whole-brain cortical surface area. Age, sex, and family marital status were covariates. Race and ethnicity were the moderators. We used mixed-effects regression models for data analysis as participants were nested within families and study sites. Results: High parental education and household income were associated with larger children’s whole-brain cortical surface area. The effects of high parental education and high household income on children’s whole-brain cortical surface area were modified by race. Compared to White children, Black children showed a diminished return of high parental education on the whole-brain cortical surface area when compared to White children. Asian American children showed weaker effects of household income on the whole-brain cortical surface area when compared to White children. We could not find differential associations between parental education and household income with the whole-brain cortical surface area, when compared to White children, for non-Hispanic and Hispanic children. Conclusions: The effects of parental educational attainment and household income on children’s whole-brain cortical surface area are weaker in non-White than White families. Although parental education and income contribute to children’s brain development, these effects are unequal across racial groups.
... Our students are bright and motivated, and are fortunate to have an abundance of resources and opportunities. Typical of high achieving schools, they also feel the weight of their privilege in equal measures of stress and pressure, which manifests itself in higher than average rates of depression and anxiety, self-harm, and suicidality (Luthar et al., 2019). ...
... School settings that tend to have high test scores, many extracurricular activities, and a majority of graduates attending elite universities (Coley, Sims, Dearing, & Spielvogel, 2018;Luthar, Kumar, & Zillmer, 2019). ...
... Youth facing excessive pressure to excel typically exist within affluent communities, but that is not always the case. For this reason, the literature has moved away from referring to these populations of students as "privileged or affluent" (Luthar & Latendresse, 2005) and towards referring to them as students or youth in high-achieving schools, or HAS youth (Luthar, Kumar, & Zillmer, 2019). ...
Adolescent girls are the future leaders of the world. They are desperately needed and increasingly in pain. Adolescent youth are facing a mental health epidemic caused by many complex factors. High-achieving settings are now considered a high-risk factor for adolescents, along with youth experiencing trauma, discrimination, and poverty. These students face immense pressure to excel, social isolation, and limited relationships. Positive Psychology provides a pathway for school environments to build structures that support adolescent well-being. Specifically, this paper will focus on how cooperative games and play are a pathway to increase well-being and build leadership competencies in adolescent girls.
... However, such homogenization of achievement may not necessarily lead to optimal outcomes for youth. Studies show that students in high achieving schools often experience pervasive pressures from their environment (e.g., parents, teachers, peers) to meet socially sanctioned academic and extracurricular expectations (Luthar et al., 2020) This pressure to keep up with their peers could explain the homogenization of students' achievement outcomes in higher-achieving schools. However, while this homogenization is associated with higher average achievement levels, such homogenization of students via socialization pressures (i.e., pressures of "fitting in) could have problematic implications for their social-emotional well-being (Crosnoe, 2011). ...
... However, while this homogenization is associated with higher average achievement levels, such homogenization of students via socialization pressures (i.e., pressures of "fitting in) could have problematic implications for their social-emotional well-being (Crosnoe, 2011). High-achieving settings have been consistently linked to increased adjustment problems among youth (Authors, 2022;Luthar et al., 2020), with social comparison tendencies found to be contributing to these problem behaviors. Thus, patterns of homogenization within a school may bring other challenges for educators and administrators. ...
The aim of this study was to examine how achievement varied within and between schools at different grade levels, its long-term trends within and across multiple countries. We used science achievement data from five cycles of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) from 2003 to 2019 involving nine countries from Asia, Europe, and the United States. Employing exploratory data mining methods of variance decomposition, correlation analysis, and Gaussian mixture modeling of data distributions, we found the following: First, between-school variances generally remained consistent across two decades, suggesting that inequality between schools has not increased over time. Second, between-school variances were relatively small for elementary grade level but increased at secondary grade level, though marginally even for countries with early between-school tracking. Third, higher-achieving schools tended to have more equal student achievement levels than lower-achieving schools, lending within-country support for the “virtuous” efficiency-equality trade-off. We further found that reduced equality within lower-achieving schools was associated with bimodality in achievement distribution. Overall, there is little evidence of inequality across schools changing over time. However, there may be evidence of increased inequalities associated with student subpopulations, particularly in lower-achieving schools, with implications on classroom instruction and school cohesion.
... 36 That is further supported by evidence that teens in what have been labeled "high achievement schools," where pressure for high test scores and ultimate acceptance into elite colleges is especially high, suffer from anxiety and depression at higher levels than is true for teens in schools where such pressures are lower. 68,69 The increase in school time and pressure over decades may have impacted mental health not just by detracting from time and opportunity for independent activities but also because fear of academic failure, or fear of insufficient achievement, is a direct source of distress. 69 It is also possible that societal changes in childcare other than constraints on children's independent activity may have contributed to declines in mental wellbeing. ...
... 68,69 The increase in school time and pressure over decades may have impacted mental health not just by detracting from time and opportunity for independent activities but also because fear of academic failure, or fear of insufficient achievement, is a direct source of distress. 69 It is also possible that societal changes in childcare other than constraints on children's independent activity may have contributed to declines in mental wellbeing. From the perspective of evolutionary mismatch, it is noteworthy that childcare among hunter-gatherers included not only much freedom for independent activity as children grew beyond toddlerhood, but also highly intensive caregiving of infants and toddlers, which included almost continuous holding, immediate responsiveness to signs of distress, and prolonged breastfeeding on demand in a community of caretakers, beyond just the mother. ...
... The data presented here point to the importance of considering both trajectory and typicality in interpretations of adolescent behavior, and of integrating a variety of contextual factors more squarely into the characterization of adolescents on which researchers, practitioners, and laypersons rely. Our own and other data suggest that these contextual factors range from cultural values (e.g., Dasen, 2000;Duell et al., 2016;Rothenberg et al., 2020) to parenting (e.g., Rothenberg et al., 2020) to personality (e.g., Branje et al., 2010;Racz et al., 2017), to community and societal pressures (e.g., Luthar et al., 2020). Although universal biological characteristics emphasized by a storm and stress characterization might play a role for some individuals (Buchanan et al., 1992;Steinberg, 2008;Casey et al., 2010), they are not deterministic, and there is a great deal of variation in levels and trajectories of both difficult and positive behavior at adolescence (see also Hollenstein and Lougheed, 2013). ...
... Our data support arguments that a storm and stress characterization of adolescence should be replaced by a characterization that is more positive and nuanced (e.g., Hollenstein and Lougheed, 2013;Gutman et al., 2017). Such arguments are not new (e.g., Offer and Schonert-Reichl, 1992) and such a perspective is arguably implicit in modern theory and research on adolescence, given the influence of bioecological theories (Gutman et al., 2017;Luthar et al., 2020) as well as abundant studies documenting specific environmental influences on a variety of adolescent characteristics. It is also arguably implicit among professionals who work with adolescents and dispense advice about them, considering that many websites, podcasts, and blogs work to dispel "myths" of adolescence and offer guidance to parents about how to help their adolescents avoid problems-or even thrive. ...
In this study, we examine the predictions of a storm and stress characterization of adolescence concerning typicality and trajectories of internalizing, externalizing, and wellbeing from late childhood through late adolescence. Using data from the Parenting Across Cultures study, levels and trajectories of these characteristics were analyzed for 1,211 adolescents from 11 cultural groups across eight countries. Data were longitudinal, collected at seven timepoints from 8 to 17 years of age. Results provide more support for a storm and stress characterization with respect to the developmental trajectories of behavior and characteristics from childhood to adolescence or across the adolescent years than with respect to typicality of behavior. Overall, adolescents’ behavior was more positive than negative in all cultural groups across childhood and adolescence. There was cultural variability in both prevalence and trajectories of behavior. The data provide support for arguments that a more positive and nuanced characterization of adolescence is appropriate and important.
... The cancelation of in-person classes and activities could also provide some youth with more leisure time to engage in relaxing or creative endeavors, along with reduced workload and pressure to achieve. This could have positive impacts on well-being, potentially countering negative effects of the modern "achievement culture," in which pressure to excel is considered a top risk factor for adolescent mental health problems (Luthar et al., 2019;Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2018). Youth may also benefit from more time to attend to health and wellness, potentially getting more sleep and exercise or engaging in healthy eating routines and cooking. ...
... This finding is likely attributable to challenges experienced by schools in implementing online schooling during the initial phase of the pandemic. Developmentalists and clinicians have expressed concerns that today's adolescents are receiving insufficient sleep (Zhang et al., 2017) and are overextended, with excessive pressure to excel in numerous academic and extracurricular activities (Luthar et al., 2019;Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2018). These findings show that when overscheduling was suddenly put on hold due to the pandemic, adolescents engaged in activities and selfcare routines that are healthy for them. ...
Objective
We examined risk and protective factors for emotional health problems in adolescent girls during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated pre- to early-pandemic changes in symptoms of anxiety and depression, documented daily activities and perceived positive and negative impacts of the pandemic, and linked perceived positive and negative impacts of the pandemic to real-time changes in emotional health.
Methods
The study was a 10-day daily diary study with 93 U.S. adolescent girls (aged 12–17; 68% White non-Hispanic) at temperamental risk for anxiety and depression, conducted in April/May 2020 when all participants were under state-issued stay-at-home orders. Girls provided daily reports of positive and negative affect, depressive and anxious symptoms, activities, and positive and negative impacts resulting from the pandemic.
Results
Girls reported engaging in many activities that may contribute to well-being. Mixed effects analyses revealed positive impacts associated with improved same-day emotional health such as more time for family and relaxation and reduced pressure from school/activities. Negative impacts associated with poorer same-day emotional health included problems with online schooling, lack of space/privacy, lack of a regular schedule, and family conflict.
Conclusion
Findings highlight the importance of providing in-person or quality online schooling, resources and space for learning, promoting daily routines, and spending time with teens while reducing family conflict. The pandemic also appears to have offered many girls a respite from the chronic stress of modern teen life, with time to relax and engage in creative and healthy pursuits showing benefits for daily emotional health, which should be considered following the return to normal life.
... A comprehensive consensus study report on childhood equity from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM, 2019) named students at HASs as an at-risk group, given high, ongoing pressures to achieve. These are schools with good standardized test scores-with average SAT scores at the 75th percentile and higher (see Luthar, Kumar, & Zillmer, 2020)-potentially representing at least a quarter of high school students in the United States. HAS youth were included in the NASEM (2019) report along with several others traditionally considered vulnerable, including children with incarcerated parents, those in foster care, and those in deep poverty (see also Geisz & Nakashian, 2018). ...
... Within affluent suburban communities, parents often see adolescent substance use as normative and are somewhat lax about it. Findings have shown robust, inverse associations with students' self-reported use of drugs and alcohol in high school, with serious long-term repercussions (see Luthar, Kumar, & Zillmer, 2020). ...
This study examines adjustment patterns among a group neglected in developmental science-Asian American students in high-achieving schools. National reports have declared such schools to connote risk for elevated problems among teens. Asian American students are commonly referred to as model minorities, but little is known about adjustment issues within academically competitive settings, specifically. Guided by past research on culturally salient issues, multiple U.S. high schools were examined to (a) determine areas of relative strength versus weakness in adjustment of Asian Americans compared with Whites, and (b) more importantly, to illuminate salient within-group processes related to Asian Americans' well-being. Risk modifiers examined were perceptions of ethnic discrimination, parent perfectionism, internalized achievement pressure, authenticity in self-presentation, and closeness to school adults. Outcome variables included depression, anxiety, and isolation at school. Results demonstrated that Asian Americans fared better than Whites on anxiety and school isolation, but with low effect sizes. By contrast, they fared more poorly on almost all risk modifiers, with a large effect size on discrimination. Regression results showed that among Asian Americans the most consistent associations, across cohorts and outcomes, were for discrimination and authenticity. Findings underscore the need for greater recognition that discrimination could be inimical for students not typically thought of as vulnerable-Asian Americans in high-achieving schools; these issues are especially pressing in light of increased racism following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Results also suggest that feelings of inauthenticity could be a marker of generalized vulnerability to internalizing symptoms. Implications for future theory and interventions are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
... Smith (2021) argues that one of the biggest threats to adolescent resilience is not isolation or anxiety, but the pressure to achieve, which has intensified over the past year. Luthar (2020) found that excessive pressures to excel, generally in affluent contexts, are now listed among the top four "high risk" factors for adolescents' mental health, along with exposure to poverty, trauma, and discrimination. ...
... But these improvements were short-lived. Luthar (2020) found that beginning in the fall of 2020, as school work ramped back up, the mental health of adolescents returned to pre pandemic levels or worse. ...
This study examines the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic of 2020-2021 on high school seniors. The mixed methods design utilized survey data collected from a population of 226 18-year-old students at a Kentucky high school in May 2021 prior to graduation. The researchers identified a convenience sample of 19 students to conduct in-depth focus group interviews. Three themes emerged from qualitative data that were tested and validated from the quantitative survey data. The results are particularly important as high schools emerge from the coronavirus pandemic evaluating how best to engage and prepare adolescents for the future.
... A recent meta-analytical review showed that perfectionism has steadily increased among young adults over the last three decades (Curran & Hill, 2019). In the meantime, excessive and recurrent pressure to perform became the fourth risk factor for the development of psychological maladjustment in youth (e.g., Luthar et al., 2019). These trends point toward the need for an ecological multidisciplinary approach to reshape policies and socioeconomic structures (Luthar et al., 2019) that otherwise give fuel to the cognitive, social, and behavioral expressions that accompany dispositional perfectionism. ...
... In the meantime, excessive and recurrent pressure to perform became the fourth risk factor for the development of psychological maladjustment in youth (e.g., Luthar et al., 2019). These trends point toward the need for an ecological multidisciplinary approach to reshape policies and socioeconomic structures (Luthar et al., 2019) that otherwise give fuel to the cognitive, social, and behavioral expressions that accompany dispositional perfectionism. ...
Perfectionism involves aiming and striving toward excessive goals accompanied with overly critical self-evaluations. In my current theory elaboration, I propose that the cognitive, socio-cognitive, and socio-behavioral manifestations that accompany perfectionism should be operationalized as correlates rather than indicators of the core definitional feature of dispositional perfectionism. I offer arguments to explain how theory, research, and intervention will benefit from separating these signature expressions from the core definitional feature of perfectionism. In this new framework, signature expressions inhabit their own space in the conceptual domain of perfectionism to better explain their role as putative mechanisms involved in the maintenance of perfectionism and its associations with maladjustment. The results of a published meta-analysis are reanalyzed, and a Monte Carlo simulation is presented to show the promises of the current theory elaboration. In closing, six additional arguments are advanced to explain how this rethinking of the conceptual domain of perfectionism addresses many critical issues in the extant literature.
... For example, growth mindset interventions-which guide students to see that their abilities are not set in stone but can be developed-are especially beneficial to students with more negative self-views (Thomaes et al., 2020) and students from disadvantaged backgrounds, thus reducing achievement inequality (Yeager et al., 2016). A meta-analysis established that growth mindset interventions improve academic achievement among students from low-SES (but not high-SES) backgrounds (Sisk et al., 2018; also see Luthar et al., 2020). ...
Children from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds often have more negative self-views than their peers. How are these self-views shaped by teacher-student interactions in the classroom, and what are the consequences of these self-views for achievement inequality? We present a developmental framework addressing these questions by bridging insights from the psychological, educational, and sociological literatures. We show that children from low-SES backgrounds perceive themselves as less intelligent, less able to grow their intelligence, less deserving, and less worthy, independent of their actual abilities and achievements. We demonstrate how negative intellectual stereotypes-expressed through daily interactions with teachers in classrooms, such as teachers' expectations, feedback, and attention-undercut the self-views of children from low-SES backgrounds. We also show how this process can be exacerbated by institutional and cultural values reflecting a belief in meritocracy (e.g., schools that encourage competition, emphasize raw ability, and attribute achievement inequality to intrinsic factors), which are common in countries with high income inequality and rigid between-school tracking. The ensuing more negative self-views introduce psychological barriers that undermine the academic achievement of children from low-SES backgrounds, thereby reinforcing achievement inequality. This represents an enormous loss of potential and perpetuates harm into adulthood. Socioeconomic disparities in self-views can emerge early in life and widen with age, underlining the need for developmental research and timely intervention. We discuss implications for studying the nature, origins, and consequences of socioeconomic disparities in self-views, and for designing interventions to reduce achievement inequality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
... This scale has three dimensions. Knowledge (statements 1-17), Attitude (statements [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] and Practices (statements 36-52). First dimension i-e Knowledge, each statement was scored on a four-point Likert scale from 1(Don't Know) to 4 (Know). ...
Purpose of the study: This study was designed to explore the knowledge, attitude, and practices of teachers toward ADHD students. The objectives of the study were to document the knowledge, attitude, and practices of the teachers regarding ADHD, to find out the difference between knowledge attitude and practices among different strata of teachers, and to find out the effect of age, experience, and qualification on knowledge, attitude, and practices of teachers towards ADHD. Methodology: Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 600 primary school teachers from 2469 primary school teachers of district Haripur. This instrument contained 29 statements. This scale has three dimensions. Knowledge (statements 1-17), Attitude (statements18-35), and Practices (statements 36-52). The Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient for the questionnaire was 0.76 which was got through the pilot study conducted on sixty teachers. Main findings: The results indicate that overall practices of teachers are the highest in comparison to Knowledge and Attitude. There was no significant difference between knowledge, practices, and attitudes about ADHD between different strata i-e Urban and Rural area primary teachers, Male and Female primary teachers, and public and Private primary teachers. Furthermore, experience, Age, and Qualification have a profound influence on primary teachers' knowledge regarding ADHD. Teachers' Qualification has a profound influence over primary teacher's Attitude towards students with ADHD. Thus, qualification has a profound influence over primary teacher's practices towards students with ADHD. Applications of the study: This study is applicable in the field of primary education where the teachers are assessed to find out their knowledge, attitude, and practices towards ADHD students. Novelty originality of this study: Much of the research is conducted in mainstream education but this research specifically explores the knowledge, attitude of teachers towards ADHD students. Therefore, this research is a torchbearer in this particular area of education.
... There is an increased need for effective and widely accessible intervention to reduce perfectionism. Children, adolescents, and emerging adults live in a society in which success and achievement are highly valuedso much that it can be experienced as social pressure (e.g., Curran & Hill, 2022;Luthar et al., 2020). Aiming at things such as fame, fortune, and glory are unfortunately downplaying our effort to live a happy and productive life (Bradshaw et al., 2022). ...
... Despite the traditional perception of adolescents in high SES groups as having access to significant protective factors for mental health, national and cross-national studies have demonstrated similarities between adolescents at the extreme ends of the socioeconomic spectrum (AIHW, 2022;Luthar & Kumar, 2020). For example, greater externalizing problems, as well as higher rates of major depressive disorder, have been reported among adolescents in families of either low or high SES (Lund et al., 2017;Zubrick et al., 2017). ...
There is growing evidence that adolescents in high socioeconomic status groups may be at increased risk for some mental health concerns. This scoping review aims to synthesize empirical literature from 2010 to 2021 on mental health concerns and help-seeking behaviors among this adolescent group. Six comprehensive electronic databases yielded 1316 studies that were systematically reviewed in Covidence to identify relevant research. PRISMA-ScR analysis was used. Eighty-three studies met the eligibility requirements. NVivo was employed for coding, data extraction, and analysis. Key findings suggest substance use, in particular, alcohol, is the main mental health concern among adolescents in high socioeconomic status groups. Other main mental health concerns were externalizing and risk behaviors, bullying, depression, anxiety and stress. These concerns were shown to be influenced by parents, peers, school, and neighborhood contextual factors. Three emerging subgroups were identified as being at higher risk of mental health concerns among adolescents in high socioeconomic status groups. Specifically, adolescents residing in boarding schools, those with high subjective social status (e.g., popular) or low academic performance. Being pressured by parents to perform well academically was identified as a risk-factor for substance use, depression and anxiety. Albeit limited, areas explored for help-seeking behaviors centered on formal, semi-formal and informal support. Further research examining multi-level socioeconomic status factors and mental health concerns and help-seeking behaviors are urgently needed to inform appropriate interventions for this under-represented group.
... The need for achievement of excellence and perfection strivers did not significantly differ in Study 2. They are both motivated to attain success. We live in an increasingly competitive socioeconomic system in which adults and adolescents are asked to compete, make sacrifice, and maximize their productivity (e.g., Curran & Hill, 2019;Luthar et al., 2020). This potentially explains why university students easily endorse and seem to benefit from the pursuit of excellence. ...
An unresolved and controversial issue in the perfectionism literature is whether perfectionism is beneficial, harmful, or unneeded. The Model of Excellencism and Perfectionism (MEP) was recently developed to address this question by distinguishing the pursuit of perfection from the pursuit of excellence (Gaudreau, 2019). In this article, we report the results of the first empirical test of the core assumptions of the MEP. Across 5 studies (total N = 2,157), we tested the conceptual, functional, and developmental distinctiveness of excellencism and perfectionism. In Study 1, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with two samples supported the hypothesized two-factor structure of the newly developed Scale of Perfectionism and Excellencism (SCOPE). Study 2 provided evidence of convergent and discriminant validity from scores obtained from the SCOPE, and showed that, over and above excellencism, perfectionism was not associated with additional benefits (e.g., life satisfaction) or harms (e.g., depression). Studies 3-4 focused on the academic achievement of undergraduates and showed that, compared to excellence strivers, perfection strivers more often aimed for perfect A+ grades (Study 3), but in fact achieved worse grades (Study 4). Study 5 adopted a four-wave longitudinal design with undergraduates and showed that excellencism and perfectionism were associated with an upward and a downward spiral of academic development. Overall, the results support the core assumptions of the MEP and show that perfectionism is either unneeded or harmful.
... Further longitudinal research could replicate our finding that subjective SES precedes adolescent peer problems or explore this relationship in another country or over a different length of time. Furthermore, given the possibility of nonlinear associations between subjective SES and adolescent mental health, with adolescents with high SES also potentially at risk (Luthar et al., 2020), future studies could also test quadratic terms. We found evidence that sense of control was a mediator: it was concurrently associated with perceived family wealth and all four adolescent mental health outcomes and was a longitudinal mediator of paths from perceived family wealth to emotional symptoms and hyperactivity. ...
The social gradient in adolescent mental health is well established: adolescents' socioeconomic status is negatively associated with their mental health. However, despite changes in social cognition during adolescence, little is known about whether social cognitions mediate this gradient. Therefore, this study tested this proposed mediational path using three data waves, each 6 months apart, from a socioeconomically diverse sample of 1,429 adolescents (Mage = 17.9) in the Netherlands. Longitudinal modeling examined whether three social cognitions (self-esteem, sense of control, and optimism) mediated associations between perceived family wealth and four indicators of adolescent mental health problems (emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer problems). There was evidence of a social gradient: adolescents with lower perceived family wealth reported more concurrent emotional symptoms and peer problems and an increase in peer problems 6 months later. Results also showed evidence of mediation through social cognitions, specifically sense of control: adolescents with lower perceived family wealth reported a decrease in sense of control (though not self-esteem nor optimism) 6 months later, and lower sense of control predicted increases in emotional symptoms and hyperactivity 6 months later. We found concurrent positive associations between perceived family wealth and all three social cognitions, and concurrent negative associations between social cognitions and mental health problems. The findings indicate that social cognitions, especially sense of control, may be an overlooked mediator of the social gradient in adolescent mental health.
... Finally, ndings pertaining to fear of failure are mixed. Although some studies suggest that low-SES students might be prone to fear of failure 32 , others suggest that high-SES students might be especially susceptible to such fears 33 . Taken together, there is preliminary evidence that children from low-SES backgrounds experience lower self-perceived competency, more of a xed mindset, a lack of belonging, and perhaps a fear of failure, which may partly explain socioeconomic disparities in achievement. ...
Socioeconomic disadvantage can become ingrained in children’s self-perceptions. These self-perceptions may, in turn, harm children’s academic achievement. Here, we asked: Do children’s self-perceptions help explain socioeconomic disparities in academic achievement around the world? We addressed this question using data from the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey, including n = 520,729 records of 15-year-old students from 70 countries. We identified five dimensions of children’s self-perceptions measured in the PISA dataset, i.e., self-perceived competency, self-efficacy, growth mindset, sense of belonging, and fear of failure. As predicted, across countries, children’s self-perceptions jointly and separately partially mediated the association between socioeconomic status and academic achievement. The positive mediation effect of self-perceived competency was more pronounced in countries with higher social mobility and lower income inequality, indicating the importance of environments that “afford” the use of beneficial self-perceptions. By contrast, growth mindset and sense of belonging were more strongly related to achievement in countries with lower social mobility, suggesting that those self-perceptions might become less important for achievement under more supportive external conditions.
... Furthermore, an estimated 50-80% of college students who struggle with mental health issues do not seek treatment, with even lower numbers among ethnic minorities, males and LGBTQ students. Students in 'high achieving' schools may be at a particularly high risk [15]. Preventative smartphone interventions could help reduce some of the strain on college counseling centers, which serve a growing number of students [14]. ...
University students have low levels of physical activity and are at risk of mental health disorders. Mobile apps to encourage physical activity can help students, who are frequent smartphone-users, to improve their physical and mental health. Here we report students’ qualitative feedback on a physical activity smartphone app with motivational text messaging. We provide recommendations for the design of future apps. 103 students used the app for 6 weeks in the context of a clinical trial (NCT04440553) and answered open-ended questions before the start of the study and at follow-up. A subsample ( n = 39) provided additional feedback via text message, and a phone interview ( n = 8). Questions focused on the perceived encouragement and support by the app, text messaging content, and recommendations for future applications. We analyzed all transcripts for emerging themes using qualitative coding in Dedoose. The majority of participants were female (69.9%), Asian or Pacific Islander (53.4%), with a mean age of 20.2 years, and 63% had elevated depressive symptoms. 26% felt encouraged or neutral toward the app motivating them to be more physically active. Participants liked messages on physical activity benefits on (mental) health, encouraging them to complete their goal, and feedback on their activity. Participants disliked messages that did not match their motivations for physical activity and their daily context (e.g., time, weekday, stress). Physical activity apps for students should be adapted to their motivations, changing daily context, and mental health issues. Feedback from this sample suggests a key to effectiveness is finding effective ways to personalize digital interventions.
... Some participants felt underprepared to deal with future failure or disappointment, such as being uncertain how to proceed if they didn't get into a graduate program. These concerns seem consistent with other students in high-achieving contexts who often experience elevated stress related to performance expectations (Luthar et al., 2019). Furthermore, conscientious, striving, high-performing students from racially and economically marginalized backgrounds can experience a physical toll from the stresses of college, with an elevated allostatic load causing negative health consequences (Gaydosh et al., 2018;Miller et al., 2016). ...
Various initiatives for undergraduates from historically underrepresented backgrounds attempt to address disparities in the completion of science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) degrees and the pursuit of careers in scientific research. Intensive research training programs for historically underrepresented undergraduates may include multiple components, such as authentic research experiences, advising and mentoring, supplemental curriculum, and financial assistance. Following comprehensive support during program participation, the post-program transition may present a vulnerable period in students’ career trajectories. This study used a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to investigate the experiences of students completing an intensive research training program to understand and develop recommendations for the post-program transition process. As a team of program alumni, academic researchers, and program staff, we developed, conducted, and analyzed semi-structured, open-ended interviews of recent program alumni and students approaching program completion (n=11; 55% female, 55% non-White). Applying thematic analysis at semantic and latent levels through a critical paradigm revealed the transition as a bittersweet experience, with feelings of pride and accomplishment mixed with sadness and anxiety. Findings also suggested the transition is a continuous process influenced by preceding program experiences and adaptations. Financial concerns were prominent, and specific barriers and facilitators of successful transition included: aligned mentoring, negotiation of continued research employment, consideration of culture, planning for next step
... To remedy this, we see more complete reporting and attention to the collection of participant voices and data (e.g., participant engagement and receptivity to programs, data on potential harms, attention to identity, agency, and belonging) as important avenues for understanding the reception of programs and for identifying ways to adapt them to be more sensitive and responsive to the diverse needs of marginalized communities. Careful articulation of specific implementation elements can shed light on the effects of SBMPs for different groups of students and various school contexts (e.g., Luthar et al., 2020). For instance, it could be that certain implementation elements drive effects in more affluent and privileged communities, while other elements may influence implementation and outcomes for underserved and marginalized communities. ...
Objectives
Research on school-based mindfulness programs (SBMPs) indicates promising, albeit mixed, effects. However, there has been a lack of consistency and completeness in implementation reporting, frustrating efforts to draw causal inferences about the implementation elements that influence program outcomes. To address these issues, we crafted a conceptual framework with an accompanying set of key terms for SBMP implementation elements to guide the development of flexible and practical implementation reporting recommendations for studies of SBMPs.
Methods
To develop the framework and recommendations, we drew insights from the implementation science and school-based prevention literature, explored reporting standards across behavioral science fields, and examined reviews and studies of SBMPs that had an implementation focus.
Results
The SBMP Implementation Framework (SBMP-IF) is organized by four broad categories (i.e., the program, participants, context, and implementation), which inform the reporting recommendations. The recommendations nudge researchers toward more complete and consistent reporting of school contextual factors, participant characteristics and responsiveness, and teacher training/competence. They also encourage researchers to explicitly identify and incorporate into their theories of change and measurement strategies the Hypothesized and/or Validated Core Components of the program, as well as the key elements of the Implementation Support System. Finally, the recommendations urge researchers to define and operationalize mindfulness in their theories of change and consider child development when implementing and studying SBMPs.
Conclusions
The recommendations offered are novel for the field of SBMPs and represent a bold effort to strengthen the evidence base and help discern for whom SBMPs work best and under which conditions.
... The disruption of school routines and isolation, loss of support from peers and teachers, not only makes learning difficult but can heighten the anxiety that adolescents already feel about their education and career [6]. Even before the pandemic, there were reports of increases in anxiety, depression, substance use among adolescents faced with excessive pressures to excel in affluent settings [7]. Social support from other students and teachers, especially during stressful times, is critical for the social-emotional well-being of adolescents and for sustaining academic engagement and motivation [8][9][10]. ...
Introduction:
National mental health surveys have demonstrated increased stress and depressive symptoms among high-school students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but objective measures of anxiety after the first year of the pandemic are lacking.
Methods:
A 25-question survey including demographics, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7) a validated self-administered tool to evaluate anxiety severity, and questions on achievement goals and future aspirations was designed by investigators. Over a 2-month period, all students from grade 9-12 in a single high-school (n = 546) were invited to complete an online survey after electronic parental consent and student assent. Bi-variate and chi-square analyses examined demographic differences in anxiety scores and the impact on outcomes; qualitative analyses examined related themes from open-ended questions.
Results:
In total, 155/546 (28%) completed the survey. Among students with binary gender classifications, 54/149 (36%) had GAD-7 scores in the moderate or severe anxiety range (scores≥10), with a greater proportion among females than males (47% vs 21%, P<0.001). Compared to students with GAD-7<10, those with ≥ 10 were more likely to strongly agree that the pandemic changed them significantly (51% vs 28%, p = 0.05), made them mature faster (44% vs 16%, p = 0.004), and affected their personal growth negatively (16% vs 6%, p = 0.004). Prominent themes that emerged from open-ended responses on regrets during the pandemic included missing out on school social or sports events, missing out being with friends, and attending family events or vacations.
Conclusion:
In this survey of high school students conducted 2 years after the onset of COVID-19 in the United States, 47% of females and 21% of males reported moderate or severe anxiety symptoms as assessed by the GAD-7. Whether heightened anxiety results in functional deficits is still uncertain, but resources for assessment and treatment should be prioritized.
... 12 Conversely, for some youth with elevated perfectionistic tendencies or socially prescribed perfectionism, the transition to home-based learning and the associated reduction of coursework, relaxed schedules, and limited social interaction, may instead contribute to improved stress and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. 22,23 For patients who were subjected to in-person bullying or other forms of peer victimization, headache patterns may have improved as they went from in-person to home schooling. 24 More time spent on screens and less ability to go outside and participate in sports may have resulted in less time for physical activity: 54% of our patients reported that their physical activity levels decreased with the onset of COVID-19. ...
Objective
Headache disorders are exceedingly common in children and adolescents. The association between headaches, emotional stress, and disruptions in daily routines are well established. The goal of this study is to compare the experiences of patients with a preexisting diagnosis of a primary headache disorder in terms of headache frequency and severity, lifestyle techniques for headache prevention, screen use, and mood from before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
Patients evaluated by the Headache Clinic at Children’s National Hospital between Summer 2020 and Winter 2021 were enrolled in a patient registry. Patients completed a questionnaire examining changes in headache characteristics and lifestyle factors since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results
A total of 107 patients completed the survey. Since the pandemic’s onset, patients reported decreased physical activity (n = 59, 55%), increased frequency of chronic headaches from 40% (N = 42) to 50% (N = 54), and increased constant daily headaches from 22% (n = 24) to 36% (n = 38). Patients reported worsened anxiety (n = 58, 54%), mood (n = 50, 47%), and workload (n = 49, 46%). Sixty-one percent (n = 65) of patients reported using screens for school for more than 6 hours per day. The majority (n = 67, 63%) of patients indicated that they would prefer attending in-person school, with 14% (n = 15) responding that they preferred online school.
Conclusion
Since the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset, pediatric headache patients have experienced increasing headache frequency, worsening anxiety and mood, decreased physical activity, and increased screen usage. Although this study is limited by sample size and observational design, future population-based studies will further elucidate the impact of this pandemic on pediatric headache.
... The need for achievement of excellence and perfection strivers did not significantly differ in Study 2. They are both motivated to attain success. We live in an increasingly competitive socioeconomic system in which adults and adolescents are asked to compete, make sacrifice, and maximize their productivity (e.g., Curran & Hill, 2019;Luthar et al., 2020). This potentially explains why university students easily endorse and seem to benefit from the pursuit of excellence. ...
An unresolved and controversial issue in the perfectionism literature is whether perfectionism is beneficial, harmful, or unneeded. The model of excellencism and perfectionism (MEP) was recently developed to address this question by distinguishing the pursuit of perfection from the pursuit of excellence (Gaudreau, 2019). In this article, we report the results of the first empirical test of the core assumptions of the MEP. Across five studies (total N = 2,157), we tested the conceptual, functional, and developmental distinctiveness of excellencism and perfectionism. In Study 1, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with two samples supported the hypothesized two-factor structure of the newly developed Scale of Perfectionism and Excellencism (SCOPE). Study 2 provided evidence of convergent and discriminant validity from scores obtained from the SCOPE, and showed that, over and above excellencism, perfectionism was not associated with additional benefits (e.g., life satisfaction) or reduced harms (e.g., depression). Studies 3-4 focused on the academic achievement of undergraduates and showed that, compared to excellence strivers, perfection strivers more often aimed for perfect A+ grades (Study 3), but in fact achieved worse grades (Study 4). Study 5 adopted a four-wave longitudinal design with undergraduates and showed that excellencism and perfectionism were associated with an upward and a downward spiral of academic development. Overall, the results support the core assumptions of the MEP and show that perfectionism is either unneeded or harmful. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
... A comprehensive approach here can involve parent training to lessen pressures to be perfect being imposed on children and adolescents by one or both parents, but a broader approach is clearly needed in communities where there seem to be pervasive and ubiquitous social pressures to be perfect. The alarming consequences of these pressures to excel and be perfect among youth in affluent communities who attend pressure-packed schools are now being extensively documented (e.g., Luthar, Kumar, & Zillmer, 2020;Mueller & Abrutyn, 2016). ...
Perfectionism is a multidimensional personality construct with various components. Socially prescribed perfectionism (i.e., perceived social pressures and expectations to be perfect) is one key element. This trait dimension represents a chronic source of pressure that elicits feelings of helplessness and hopelessness at extreme levels. Unfortunately, at present, the destructiveness of socially prescribed perfectionism has not been fully recognized or extended conceptually despite the extensive volume of research on this dimension. To address this, we first trace the history and initial conceptualization of socially prescribed perfectionism. Next, we summarize and review findings that underscore the uniqueness and impact of socially prescribed perfectionism, including an emphasis on its link with personal, relationship, and societal outcomes that reflect poor mental well-being, physical health, and interpersonal adjustment. Most notably, we propose that socially prescribed perfectionism is a complex entity in and of itself and introduce new conceptual elements of socially prescribed perfectionism designed to illuminate further the nature of this construct and its role in distress, illness, dysfunction, and impairment. It is concluded that socially prescribed perfectionism is a significant public health concern that urgently requires sustained prevention and intervention efforts.
... As with any other vulnerable subgroup, it is important for developmental scientists to illuminate processes through which risk is conferred, and therefore, potentially minimized in the future. With regard to the conduits implicated in this particular population, accumulated evidence shows that achievement pressures come from all socializing influences in HAS students' lives (for a review, see Luthar, Kumar, & Zillmer, 2020). Their parents, teachers, community members, and school administrators seek high academic scores and extracurricular distinctions; peers are in constant competition to be the best within a generally high-performing group; college admissions policies have become increasingly selective over time; and economic changes, along with globalization, have rendered it more difficult to maintain a middle-class standard of living than was possible in the past. ...
This is a mixed-methods study of risk and resilience in a sample of over 14,000 students from 49 schools, assessed during the first 3 months of COVID-19 in the United States. Over a third of students were of color and almost a third received financial aid. Participation rates were typically 90–99%. Overall, rates of clinically significant depression and anxiety were lower during distance learning in 2020 as compared to parallel rates
documented during 2019, with a few exceptions. Hispanic students did not show reductions in depression rates, nor did gender non-binary youth. Analyses of multiple risk and protective factors showed that in relation to depression, the most potent predictor was parent support, with effect sizes at least twice as high as those for any other predictor. Other robust predictors of depression included efficacy of learning online and concerns heard by school adults. In predicting to anxiety, parent support again had the largest effect sizes, followed by concerns heard at school, students’ worries about their futures, and worries about grades. In general, the absence of protective factors was more likely to be linked with high distress among youth of color than White students, and among girls and gender non-binary students as compared to boys. At a policy level, the findings call for concerted attention to the well-being of adults charged with caring for youth. Parents’ mental health has been increasingly threatened with the protracted stress linked with the pandemic. Thus, all avenues must be considered toward providing
them with support—using feasible, community-based interventions—as this is always the most important step in fostering children's resilience through adversity. Additionally, schools’ expectations about learning will have to be adjusted. As educators try to make up for academic losses during the pandemic, they must avoid high workloads detrimental
for students’ mental health (and thus ability to learn). Finally, there must be ongoing institutional mental health support for teachers, counselors, administrators, and staff. Many of these adults have provided critical
safety nets for youth since the start of the pandemic and are themselves at high risk for burnout. In conclusion, findings clearly show that if a central societal goal is to maximize resilience among youth through the continuing pandemic related challenges, we will have to deliberately
prioritize an “upstream” approach, ensuring ongoing support for the adults who take care of them in their everyday lives.
... The challenges confronting middle-aged adults nowadays have increased in their intensity, magnitude, and sheer load, particularly in the areas of intergenerational relationships and financial vulnerabilities (Infurna et al., 2020). For example, the relationship dynamic between middle-aged adults and their adult children is undergoing historical changes in the form of increased contact and support from parents to children (i.e., continued or renewed dependency; Fingerman, 2017), in addition to increased parenting pressures (Luthar et al., 2020 A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t ...
Objective:
Our objective is to examine whether lifetime adversity has either a 'steeling effect' or 'cumulative disadvantage effect' on the consequences of monthly adversity on psychological well-being in middle-aged adults. An exploratory step was to examine whether such associations differed based on the domain of adversity (personal, family/friend, bereavement, social-environmental, and relationship).
Method:
Multilevel modeling was applied to data from a sample of participants in midlife (n = 358, ages 50-65, 54% women) who were assessed monthly for two years.
Results:
Lifetime adversity did not show steeling effects, but instead appeared to exacerbate the impact of monthly adversity on psychological well-being, indicating cumulative disadvantage. On months where an adversity was experienced, on average, individuals who reported more lifetime adversity showed stronger increases in depressive symptoms, anxiety, and negative affect and decreases in positive affect. There was limited evidence to suggest for steeling effects for life satisfaction. Reporting adversity in the personal, bereavement, social-environmental, and relationship domains showed the strongest associations with psychological well-being.
Discussion:
Our discussion focuses on how lifetime adversity showed a cumulative disadvantage effect on the consequences of monthly adversity on psychological well-being. We also elaborate on future directions for research that include other conceptualizations of adversity and research to examine mechanisms underlying this relationship.
... (To be clear, public school districts must provide free disability evaluations by parental request, but school district employees lack a direct financial incentive to recommend desired accommodations, especially when children are doing well in school). Finally, students from privileged families are more likely to be under intense pressure from parents and schools to achieve at extremely high levels (Luthar et al., 2020), leading to a search for any supports (e.g., subject-area tutors, executive function coaches, and educational accommodations) to make that achievement possible. These students are apt to feel in competition with peers in the same high-achieving environment, rather than judging themselves against expectations for the general population or criterionreferenced standards such as skill mastery. ...
Educational accommodations are frequently given to students with disabilities. For instance, students might be given a copy of class notes or provided additional time to complete a test. One purpose of accommodations is to improve educational equity, putting all students on equal footing. However, research on current accommodations practices raises two distinct equity-related concerns. First, students from privileged backgrounds are more likely to receive certain accommodations even without adequate evidence of need; this can provide an unfair boost in performance and widen gaps among students. Second, when students from less privileged backgrounds are given accommodations, the incentive for schools to provide academic remediation, compensatory strategies, and coping skills is lessened, leaving these students in a worse position when accommodations are not available outside of educational settings. Implications for practice are discussed.
... Objective SES and subjective SES are proposed to have somewhat different pathways to mental health-objective SES more through the benefits of access to material resources and subjective SES more through psychosocial mechanisms-so it is important that studies of this social gradient include both SES indicators [1,4]. Regarding mental health, some studies have even found that adolescents with higher SES may show vulnerability for some mental health outcomes (see [5]). Therefore, in this study, we included multiple indicators of SES and of mental health problems. ...
Purpose
A social gradient in adolescent mental health exists: adolescents with higher socioeconomic status (SES) have fewer mental health problems than their peers with lower SES. Little is known about whether adolescents’ societal beliefs play a role in this social gradient. Belief in a just world (BJW) may be a mediator or moderator of the social gradient in adolescent mental health.
Methods
Using data from 848 adolescents ( M age = 17) in the Netherlands, path analyses examined whether two indicators of BJW (general and personal) mediated or moderated the associations between two indicators of SES (family affluence and perceived family wealth), and four indicators of adolescent mental health problems (emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer problems).
Results
Adolescents with lower family affluence and lower perceived family wealth reported more emotional symptoms, and the association between perceived family wealth and emotional symptoms was mediated by lower personal and general BJW. Furthermore, higher personal BJW amplified the negative association between SES and peer problems.
Conclusion
This study suggests BJW may both mediate and amplify the social gradient in adolescent mental health. Adolescents’ beliefs about society may be important to include in research aimed at understanding this social gradient.
... Children of affluence are generally presumed to be at low risk for negative health outcomes. However, the current study, in accordance with other recent studies [29,55], suggest problems in several domains including alcohol and drug use and stress related problems, even if the cause of these problems cannot be determined based on our interview study. Previous explanations for extensive substance use among affluent young people have been exceptionally high-performance requirements in both school and in leisure activities, and absence of emotional and physical adult contact, resulting from parents in affluent areas spending a lot of time on their jobs and careers [30,[56][57][58]. ...
Background
The use of alcohol and illicit drugs during adolescence can lead to serious short- and long-term health related consequences. Despite a global trend of decreased substance use, in particular alcohol, among adolescents, evidence suggests excessive use of substances by young people in socioeconomically affluent areas. To prevent substance use-related harm, we need in-depth knowledge about the reasons for substance use in this group and how they perceive various prevention interventions. The aim of the current study was to explore motives for using or abstaining from using substances among students in affluent areas as well as their attitudes to, and suggestions for, substance use prevention.
Methods
Twenty high school students (age 15–19 years) in a Swedish affluent municipality were recruited through purposive sampling to take part in semi-structured interviews. Qualitative content analysis of transcribed interviews was performed.
Results
The most prominent motive for substance use appears to be a desire to feel a part of the social milieu and to have high social status within the peer group. Motives for abstaining included academic ambitions, activities requiring sobriety and parental influence. Students reported universal information-based prevention to be irrelevant and hesitation to use selective prevention interventions due to fear of being reported to authorities. Suggested universal prevention concerned reliable information from credible sources, stricter substance control measures for those providing substances, parental involvement, and social leisure activities without substance use. Suggested selective prevention included guaranteed confidentiality and non-judging encounters when seeking help.
Conclusions
Future research on substance use prevention targeting students in affluent areas should take into account the social milieu and with advantage pay attention to students’ suggestions on credible prevention information, stricter control measures for substance providers, parental involvement, substance-free leisure, and confidential ways to seek help with a non-judging approach from adults.
... Results of the YIPS indicated that 39.1% (n = 190) of students endorsed internalizing problems in the at risk range, with the remaining 60.9% (n = 296) reporting symptoms in the no or low risk range. This elevated proportion is consistent with literature that has found that high-achieving schools can increase the risk for adolescent mental health concerns due to the pressures and demanding curriculum (Luthar et al., 2019). There were significant differences in internalizing symptoms by gender identity with boys reporting the lowest level of internalizing symptoms (M = 17.63; ...
Mental health challenges (including mood, anxiety, and behavioral disorders) affect up to one-fifth of adolescents ages 13–18. Although these disorders are associated with impairments in psychological, academic, social, and family domains, they are often left untreated. Schools have great potential to address this service-underutilization gap by identifying those students at risk through mental health screening tools and by providing treatment at no cost for students. However, at the secondary level, school personnel partly expect high school students to initiate support for themselves. The present study advances research by exploring the variables related to adolescent mental health help-seeking intentions within the school setting. Specifically, this study assesses the utility of the theory of planned behavior in an effort to identify what factors relate to high school students' willingness to seek help at school. A secondary aim of this study was to examine why adolescent boys are consistently less willing to seek help for mental health problems than adolescent girls. Results of this study highlight important factors to target when developing interventions to increase help-seeking intent in high school students.
Recent studies have provided insight into the schooling experiences and lives of Black girls. These studies highlight the challenges that Black girls face in the school environment including underachievement, disproportionality in school discipline, deficit ideologies, and educator and counselor bias. The current study centers the voices on high achieving Black girls in an effort to center their unique and nuanced experiences in high school. Data was collected using in-depth individual interviews and analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. We found that high achieving Black girls must navigate deficit thinking and negative stereotypes similar to their peers while they also pull strength and resilience from their intersecting identities. Further, high achieving Black girls were tenacious in their pursuits and found familial and teacher relationships to be paramount in their success. These findings support the importance of developing intentional and systemic supports to counter intersectional oppression to meet the needs of high achieving Black girls.
At the 2020 American String Teachers Association (ASTA) Conference held in Orlando Florida, an attendee of the Wellness Committee Listening Session recommended that a study be conducted to determine the prevalence and awareness of mental health concerns among students and teachers within the organization. Members agreed that there is more needed to be understood so that ASTA could provide professional development webinars, resources, as well as local, state, and national conference sessions. In response to this request and the clear need for more information, a survey was developed and deployed to the ASTA membership in the fall of 2020. Follow-up interviews with members who volunteered in response to an invitation on the survey were conducted in the spring and early summer of 2021. Teachers reported a high prevalence of student mental health issues prior to and during the pandemic and reported concerning levels of work overload, compassion fatigue/burnout, and mental health issues. Generational differences in mental health perceptions were noted, as were opportunities to provide targeted professional development and community-level services.
Internalizing conditions of psychopathology include depressive and anxiety disorders; they most often onset in adolescence, are relatively common, and contribute to significant population morbidity and mortality. In this research review, we present the evidence that internalizing conditions, including depression and anxiety, as well as psychological distress, suicidal thoughts and self-harm, and fatal suicide, are considerably increasing in adolescent populations across many countries. Evidence indicates that increases are currently greatest in female adolescents. We present an epidemiological framework for evaluating the causes of these increases, and synthesize research on whether several established risk factors (e.g., age of pubertal transition and stressful life events) and novel risk factors (e.g., digital technology and social media) meet conditions necessary to be plausible causes of increases in adolescent internalizing conditions. We conclude that there are a multitude of potential causes of increases in adolescent internalizing conditions, outline evidence gaps including the lack of research on nonbinary and gender nonconforming populations, and recommend necessary prevention and intervention foci from a clinical and public health perspective.
References
Mishra N.K, Dr Kumar D, & Kumari Swati. (2023). Supportive Psychotherapy for Depressive Symptoms Among College Students. Journal of Positive Psychology & Wellbeing. https://doi.org/0000-0001-7075-0307
Emerging research suggests that adolescents at high-achieving schools (HAS) in Western societies are at elevated risk for problem behaviours. This cross-sectional study explored whether adolescents attending HAS in a non-Western setting show similar risk patterns and if contextual (school-, family-, and peer-based) factors typically associated with the excessive pressures to achieve predict these problems. Participants were 237 adolescents (14–18 years old), and one of their parents, who were recruited from high-achieving private schools in Hong Kong. The parent-child dyads completed questionnaires on youth internalizing and externalizing problems and perceived stressors. Multiple linear regressions were conducted to test whether academic demands, parent-related stressors, and social status among peers were associated with youth problem behaviours, after controlling for age and gender. The study found that nearly half of the female adolescents and over a third of the males met borderline-clinical levels (≥ 86%ile) of internalizing problems; moreover, more females than males met clinical criteria (≥ 98%ile) for self-reported externalizing problems and parent-reported internalizing problems. Academic demands, parent-related stressors, and social status among peers predicted youth-reported internalizing problems; and the latter two factors contributed parent-reported internalizing problems. However, only parent-related stressors significantly predicted youth- and parent-reported externalizing problems. The findings provide preliminary indication that HAS adolescents from Hong Kong may be an “at risk” group, highlighting the need for increased awareness and targeted interventions.
Interest in adolescents’ wellbeing and mental health is growing worldwide, but little research in this area has been conducted in certain world regions and countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Geographic, socio-demographic and school type differences in adolescent wellbeing and mental health are commonly observed in the field, and the UAE is a diverse country where these types of differences have been found for other outcomes (notably, academic). Yet, no prior national study has explored these differences in terms of wellbeing and mental health in the nation. We address this gap by investigating differences across emirates, gender, socio-economic status, immigrant status, school sector and school curriculum for overall life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, meaning and purpose in life, and internalizing difficulties. We use linear regression to analyse cross-sectional data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study from 2015 and 2018. We find substantial geographic, socio-demographic and school type differences in levels (2018) of wellbeing and mental health -which vary across distinct domains- and declines (2015–2018) of wellbeing. Better wellbeing and mental health are observed in the northern emirates and among boys. Better wellbeing and poorer mental health are observed among nationals (compared to expatriates) and in public schools (compared to private schools). Despite presenting the best academic outcomes, British schools present the worst wellbeing and mental health outcomes. However, results show the absence of a trade-off between academic competence and wellbeing and mental health, with evidence of a small positive association with wellbeing.
Substance use among Nigerian adolescents has increased significantly in the past decade, highlighting the need to implement evidence-based, effective prevention programs as one strategy to help reverse this trend. This study aimed to identify profiles of adolescent substance use and parenting and school correlates of these profiles to inform preventive interventions. Latent class analysis identified four distinct use patterns in 2,004 adolescents (46% male; M = 14.8 years) attending public and private schools in Lagos. Low levels of use distinguished the Low Use class (92.1% of the sample), while use of alcohol, cigarettes, and codeine defined the Alcohol Use class (2.9%). Moderate to high use of tramadol and codeine without a prescription differentiated the Nonmedical Use class (2.8%), and high use of most substances defined the High Use class (2.1%). Males, older youth, and private school students engaged in the riskiest substance use. Students in the Low Use class compared to students in the High Use class were more likely to attend public schools and had parents who solicited less information from them but were more disapproving of substance use. Students in the Low Use class relative to students in the Alcohol Use class also were more likely to attend public schools and had parents who solicited less information but knew more about their child’s activities. These findings suggest that tailored preventive interventions with parents and adolescents could be useful and that more research is needed to understand how the private school context confers risk for substance use.
This study examined associations between characteristics of the residential neighbourhood and the school and adolescent mental health, including the moderating role of family socioeconomic status (SES) and family support. Nationally representative Dutch data from adolescents aged 12–16 (N = 6422) were analysed through cross-classified multilevel models. Findings showed that school characteristics are more strongly linked to adolescent mental health than residential neighbourhood characteristics. More specifically, higher levels of school SES were associated with more hyperactivity-inattention problems, while higher levels of school social disorder were related to more conduct problems and more peer relationship problems. Further, higher levels of school SES were associated with more emotional symptoms only for adolescents with a relatively low family SES. Higher levels of neighbourhood SES were associated with fewer peer relationship problems. Overall, there was little evidence for the moderating role of family SES or family support.
The current study examined the feasibility of adapting an existing measure to create a brief mattering measure suitable for use with adolescents. We then evaluated this brief measure by testing the hypothesis that mattering in adolescents is associated broadly with positive achievement outcomes and associated motivational orientations and behavioral tendencies. A sample of 206 high school students completed a slightly modified version of the Mattering Index, the Pattern of Adaptive Learning Scales, and a measure of executive function. School grades, school risk behavior, and social risk behavior were also assessed. Participants also completed measures of hope and loneliness. Psychometric analyses resulted in two brief four-item mattering subscales tapping a) general mattering and b) mattering by giving value to others. Correlational and regression analyses established that both mattering factors were associated with a positive academic orientation and higher grades. Mattering was also associated with less risk behavior, lower levels of loneliness, and higher levels of hope. Gender differences were found in terms of levels of mattering and the correlates of mattering. The findings are discussed in terms of how a focus on the promotion of mattering should contribute to an adaptive academic orientation, enhanced self-regulation, and the capacity to be adaptable and resilient.
Ed Zigler believed that developmental science should be applied to policy, programs, and practices to improve the lives of children and families. He shared this belief with others and paved the way for alternative career pathways. This paper describes how Ed influenced others to connect science with program development, evaluation, and policy, and created networks of applied scholars. Ed Zigler's influence is broad and spans beyond academia to influencer organizations. We weave our own professional experiences throughout the paper, which we organized around three lessons we learned from Ed: (a) explore alternative career pathways and build the field; (b) start with the science and think application; (c) apply the knowledge and influence policy.
Among youth from high-achieving schools, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) were examined in relation to (a) internalizing and externalizing symptoms in adolescence (n = 527), and (b) symptoms plus psychiatric diagnoses-based on multiple annual interviews-in adulthood (n = 316). Also examined were associations for a "Proxy ACEs" (P-ACEs) measure, containing items similar to those on standard ACEs measures without reference to abuse or neglect. Rates of ACEs were comparable with those in other studies; most commonly endorsed were perceived parental depression followed by aspects of emotional neglect. Groups exposed to zero, 1, 2, 3, and 4+ ACEs differed on symptoms in adulthood, with small to moderate effect sizes; in parallel comparisons of P-ACEs groups on Grade 12 symptoms, differences had large effect sizes. In relation to psychiatric diagnoses, comparisons with the zero ACEs group showed that groups with 1, 2, 3 ACEs, versus 4+ ACES, respectively, had twofold and over fivefold greater odds of having any lifetime diagnosis. The odds for internalizing diagnoses specifically were 2-6 times greater for individuals with 1, 2, and 3 ACEs, and 12 times greater for those reporting 4 ACEs. Remarkably, Grade 12 reports of 2, 3, and 4+ P-ACEs were linked to 2-3 times greater odds of a psychiatric disorder in adulthood, and 3-6 times greater odds for internalizing diagnoses specifically. In the future, assessments of ACEs and P-ACEs could facilitate early detection of problems among HAS students, informing interventions to mitigate vulnerability processes and promote resilience among these youth and their families. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
This exploratory study aims to analyse the factors that influence subjective well-being of high school students. The purpose of the study is to formulate hypotheses about the impact of the situation of self-identification on the school students’ subjective well-being. The research is based on 14 interviews with school students in 10th and 11th grades. These interviews showed how adolescents perceive the situation of transition from the status of schoolchildren to the status of school graduates, what aspects of this transition cause anxiety and stress, and what changes in the behavior and everyday life of schoolchildren are caused by the need to make educational and life choices. The results suggest that in schools with a highly competitive environment, in which students have higher educational aspirations, the stress from self-determination and planning for the future in adolescents is higher than in schools with a less competitive environment. The obtained data place the subjective well-being of the high schoolchild in a broader context of life path design and allow to formulate a hypothesis that it is the need to solve the age-related problem of self-determination that has a decisive influence on the experiences of adolescents of this age. Understanding how well-being is related to the characteristics of this transitional stage in adolescents’ life, on the one hand, and social factors, on the other, creates the basis for further analysis: identifying risk groups of schoolchildren, studying and revising strategies to improve their well-being.
Meta-analyses on the relation between socioeconomic status (SES) and performance on measures of cognitive ability and achievement arrive at the same general conclusion of a small to medium association. Advancements in methods make possible for meta-analyses to examine specific pathways linking SES to cognitive ability and achievement, as well as the moderators of these pathways. In this study, we conducted a systematic overview of meta-analyses on SES to address three research questions: 1) what is the direction and overall strength of association between SES and performance on measures of cognitive ability and achievement, and how precise are the effect sizes reported? 2) to what extent have meta-analyses examined moderation by components of SES, age, sex, and race/ethnicity? and 3) to what extent have meta-analyses examined mechanisms linking SES to cognitive ability and achievement? We conducted a systematic search using online archives (i.e., PsycINFO, ERIC, PubMed, Sociological Abstracts, and Web of Science), searching issues in Psychological Bulletin and Review of Educational Research, and examining references and citations. We identified 14 meta-analyses published between 1982 and 2019. These meta- analyses consistently reported positive associations of small to medium magnitude, indicating that SES is a meaningful contributor to the development of cognitive ability and achievement. Fewer meta-analyses reported evidence of moderation by age, sex, and race/ethnicity. None of the meta-analyses directly examined mechanisms, but provided evidence of possible mechanisms for future research. We suggest that meta-analyses can increase their contribution to future research, interventions, and policy by narrowing their focus on specific pathways.
From Conference brochure:
With a basis in over 30 years of scientific research on resilience, Dr. Luthar will describe the culture-specific risk and protective factors that affect student well-being in high achieving schools. She will discuss critical aspects of students' relationships with parents and with peers, as well as salient aspects of school climate, with an emphasis, throughout, on factors that are amenable to change by stakeholders at schools. Based on cutting-edge data across multiple schools, she will summarize specific directions for educators and parents about how to foster the well-being of “the whole child” in high achievement settings.
Substantial evidence links socioeconomic status to internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. However, it is unclear how these two categories of behavior problems relate to specific components of socioeconomic status (e.g., income, educational attainment, and occupational prestige) or overall social status. In this study, we conducted a second-order meta-analysis to estimate the average associations of income, education, occupation, and overall socioeconomic status with internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, and to examine if age, sex, and race/ethnicity moderated these associations. Our systematic search in PsycINFO, PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global identified 12 meta-analyses (17% unpublished), including approximately 474 primary studies and 327,617 participants. In relation to internalizing, we found small average associations with income, r+ = –.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) [–.31, –.04], and education, r+ = –.12, 95% CI [–.15, –.09]. In relation to externalizing, we found smaller associations with income, r+ = –.02, 95% CI [–.15, .10], education, r+ = –.03, 95% CI [–.16, .10], and overall socioeconomic status, r+ = –.05, 95% CI [–.11, .01], but these CIs included zero. Only sex composition of the samples moderated the latter association. We provide recommendations for best practices and future research directions.
In an upper-middle class setting, we explored associations between students’ peer reputation in Grades 6 and 7 with adjustment at Grade 12. With a sample of 209 students, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of peer reputation dimensions supported a 4-factor model (i.e., popular, prosocial, aggressive, isolated). Structural equation models were used to examine prospective links between middle school peer reputation and diverse Grade 12 adjustment indices, including academic achievement (Scholastic Aptitude Test scores and grade point average), internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. Prosocial reputation was connected to higher academic achievement levels and fewer externalizing symptoms. Both prosocial and isolated reputations were negatively associated with dimensions of substance use, whereas popularity was positively associated. Implications for future research and interventions are discussed.
Although high socioeconomic status (SES) is traditionally conceptualized as a health protective factor, recent literature has documented positive associations between SES (e.g., income) and depression among Blacks, including Black youth. To extend the results of this recent literature, the current study used the Family and Community Health Study (FACHS) data to examine the multiplicative effects of gender, place, and SES on average depressive symptoms of Black youth over a long period of time. FACHS, 1997–2017, followed 889 Black children aged 10–12 years old for up to 18 years. Depressive symptoms were measured in seven waves. The main predictors of interest were two SES indicators, parent education and family income measured at baseline (1997). Main outcome of interest was average depressive symptoms over the 18 year follow up period. Place of residence and gender were the focal moderators. Linear regression models were used for data analysis. In the pooled sample, living in a predominantly White area was associated with higher average depressive symptoms over time, however, this association was fully explained by higher perceived racial discrimination in the predominantly White areas. We found an interaction between income and place of residence on average depressive symptoms, suggesting that higher income is associated with more depressive symptoms in predominantly White compared to predominantly Black areas. Place did not interact with parent education on average depressive symptoms. Gender also did not interact with education or income on depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that place and SES may interact on depressive symptoms of Black youth, with high income becoming a risk factor for depressive symptoms in predominantly White areas. How SES indicators, such as income, protect or become a risk factor depend on other contextual factors, such as place of residence. There is a need to reduce discrimination experienced by Blacks, especially in predominantly White areas. Meanwhile, Black youth who live in predominantly White areas may require additional help that enhances their coping.
In this chapter, we review evidence on a group recently identified as "at-risk", that is, youth growing up in the context of high achieving schools (HAS), predominated by well-educated, white collar professional families. Though these youngsters are thought of as "having it all", they are statistically more likely than normative samples to show serious disturbances across several domains including drug and alcohol use, as well as internalizing and externalizing problems. We review data on these problems with attention to gender-specific patterns, presenting quantitative developmental research findings along with relevant evidence across other disciplines. In considering possible reasons for elevated maladjustment, we appraise multiple pathways including aspects of family dynamics, peer norms, and pressures at schools. All of these pathways are considered within the context of broad, exosystemic mores: the pervasive emphasis, in contemporary American culture, on maximizing personal status, and how this can threaten the well-being of individuals and of communities. The chapter concludes with ideas for future interventions, with discussions on how research-based assessments of schools can best be used to reduce pressures, and to maximize positive adaptation, among youth in highly competitive, pressured school environments.
Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory of human development is one of the most widely known theoretical frameworks in human development. In spite of its popularity, the notion of culture within the macrosystem, as a separate entity of everyday practices and therefore microsystems, is problematic. Using the theoretical and empirical work of Rogoff and Weisner, and influenced as they are by Vygotsky’s sociocultural perspective, we reconceptualize Bronfenbrenner’s model by placing culture as an intricate part of proximal development processes. In our model, culture has the role of defining and organizing microsystems and therefore becomes part of the central processes of human development. Culture is an ever changing system composed of the daily practices of social communities (families, schools, neighborhoods, etc.) and the interpretation of those practices through language and communication. It also comprises tools and signs that are part of the historical legacy of those communities, and thus diversity is an integral part of the child’s microsystems, leading to culturally defined acceptable developmental processes and outcomes.
BACKGROUND: We report on effects of an intervention to foster resilience among professional women at high risk for stress and burnout: health care providers (physicians, PhD clinicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners) who are mothers.
METHODS: Between February and November 2015, 40 mothers on staff at the Mayo Clinic, Arizona were randomly assigned to either (1) 12 weekly one-hour sessions of a structured, relational supportive intervention, the Authentic Connections Groups (ACG; n=21) with protected time to attend sessions, or to (2) 12 weekly hours of protected time to be used as desired (Controls; n=19). Participants were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and three months follow-up on multiple psychological measures plus plasma cortisol.
RESULTS: Across the 12-weeks of the intervention groups, there were zero dropouts. At post-intervention, analyses of covariance showed significantly greater improvements (p< 0.05) for mothers in the Authentic Connections Groups than Control condition for depression and global symptoms. By three months follow-up, significant differences were seen for these two dimensions and almost all other central variables, including self-compassion, feeling loved, physical affection received, and parenting stress, with moderate effect sizes (ηp2 .08 - .19; median .16). Participants in Authentic Connections Groups (but not Control) condition also showed significant reductions in cortisol levels at both post-intervention and follow-up.
CONCLUSION: Facilitated colleague support groups could be a viable, low-cost, preventive intervention to mitigate burnout and distress for mothers in high-stress professional settings such as hospitals, resulting in personal benefit, greater engagement at work and attenuated stress associated with parenting.
Research on executive control during the teenage years points to shortfalls in emotion regulation, coping, and decision making as three linked capabilities associated with youth's externalizing behavior problems. Evidence gleaned from a detailed review of the literature makes clear that improvement of all three capabilities is critical to help young people better navigate challenges and prevent or reduce externalizing and related problems. Moreover, interventions can successfully improve these three capabilities and have been found to produce behavioral improvements with real-world significance. Examples of how successful interventions remediate more than one of these capabilities are provided. Future directions in research and practice are also proposed to move the field toward the development of more comprehensive programs for adolescents to foster their integration.
Compiled in this Special Section are recommendations from multiple experts on how to maximize resilience among children at risk for maladjustment. Contributors delineated processes with relatively strong effects and modifiable by behavioral interventions. Commonly highlighted was fostering the well-being of caregivers via regular support, reduction of maltreatment while promoting positive parenting, and strengthening emotional self-regulation of caregivers and children. In future work, there must be more attention to developing and testing interventions within real-world settings (not just in laboratories) and to ensuring feasibility in procedures, costs, and assessments involved. Such movement will require shifts in funding priorities—currently focused largely on biological processes—toward maximizing the benefits from large-scale, empirically supported intervention programs for today's at-risk youth and families.
High achievement expectations and academic pressure from parents have been implicated in rising levels of stress and reduced well-being among adolescents. In this study of affluent, middle school youth, we examined how perceptions of parents’ emphases on achievement (relative to prosocial behavior) influenced youth’s psychological adjustment and school performance, and examined perceived parental criticism as a possible moderator of this association. The data were collected from 506 (50% female) middle school students from a predominately white, upper middle class community. Students reported their perceptions of parents’ values by rank ordering a list of achievement- and prosocial-oriented goals based on what they believed was most valued by their mothers and fathers for them (the child) to achieve. The data also included students’ reports of perceived parental criticism, internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and self-esteem, as well as school-based data on grade point average and teacher-reported classroom behavior. Person-based analyses revealed six distinct latent classes based on perceptions of both mother and father emphases on achievement. Class comparisons showed a consistent pattern of healthier child functioning, including higher school performance, higher self-esteem, and lower psychological symptoms, in association with low to neutral parental achievement emphasis, whereas poorer child functioning was associated with high parental achievement emphasis. In variable-based analyses, interaction effects showed elevated maladjustment when high maternal achievement emphasis coexisted with high (but not low) perceived parental criticism. Results of the study suggest that to foster early adolescents’ well-being in affluent school settings, parents focus on prioritizing intrinsic, prosocial values that promote affiliation and community, at least as much as, or more than, they prioritize academic performance and external achievement; and strive to limit the amount of criticism and pressure they place on their children.
Helicopter parenting has become an increasing concern among practitioners, college administrators, and professors. Further, some research has indicated that this form of parenting may have a deleterious effect on emerging adult college students’ mental health. This study examines the factor structure of the Helicopter Parenting Behaviors measure, a recent scale developed to examine intrusive and supportive parenting behaviors, by using confirmatory factor analysis. We utilized a self-determination theoretical framework to replicate and expand current research regarding the impact of helicopter parenting and autonomy supportive parenting on emerging adult mental and physical well-being. Further, we examined self-efficacy as a mechanism for helicopter parenting and autonomy supportive parenting to impact well-being, using structural equation modeling with a sample of 461 emerging adult college students from a large southeastern, United States university. The two-factor structure of the Helicopter Parenting Behaviors measure was confirmed, indicating helicopter parenting and autonomy supportive parenting are two unique, but related, constructs. Both autonomy supportive parenting and helicopter parenting were found to have indirect effects on anxiety, depression, life satisfaction, and physical health through self-efficacy. Results also indicated autonomy supportive parenting was directly related to life satisfaction and physical health when accounting for self-efficacy, whereas helicopter parenting was not directly related to well-being. This study adds to the extant literature by its’ application of a family-level lens to the self-determination theory, its’ advancement of parenting behaviors measurement, and its’ exploration of the continued influence of parenting during emerging adulthood.
We review evidence on a group recently identified as "at risk," that is, youth in upwardly mobile, upper-middle class community contexts. These youngsters are statistically more likely than normative samples to show serious disturbance across several domains including drug and alcohol use, as well as internalizing and externalizing problems. Extant data on these problems are reviewed with attention to gender-specific patterns, presenting quantitative developmental research findings along with relevant evidence across other disciplines. In considering possible reasons for elevated maladjustment, we appraise multiple pathways, including aspects of family dynamics, peer norms, pressures at schools, and policies in higher education. All of these pathways are considered within the context of broad, exosystemic mores: the pervasive emphasis, in contemporary American culture, on maximizing personal status, and how this can threaten the well-being of individuals and of communities. We then discuss issues that warrant attention in future research. The paper concludes with suggestions for interventions at multiple levels, targeting youth, parents, educators, as well as policymakers, toward reducing pressures and maximizing positive adaptation among "privileged but pressured" youth and their families.
Imagining one's possible future self can motivate action but whether motivational power resides more in positive or more in negative future identities is not clear. We predicted that motivational power resides not in these positive or negative future identities but in the fit between context and future self. We varied fit in four experiments by having students read about college as a success-likely or failure-likely context and then write about their desired or undesired possible future identities. Which aspect of the future self was motivating depended on context. Motivation was higher in success-likely contexts if desired rather than undesired possible futures came to mind and was higher in failure-likely contexts if undesired rather than desired possible futures come to mind.
This study involved two academically-gifted samples of 11th and 12th grade youth at the socioeconomic status (SES) extremes; one from an exclusive private, affluent school, and the other from a magnet school with low-income students. Negative and positive adjustment outcomes were examined in relation to multiple dimensions of perfectionism including perceived parental pressures to be perfect, personal perfectionistic self-presentation, and envy of peers. The low-income students showed some areas of relative vulnerability, but when large group differences were found, it was the affluent youth who were at a disadvantage, with substantially higher substance use and peer envy. Affluent girls seemed particularly vulnerable, with pronounced elevations in perfectionistic tendencies, peer envy, as well as body dissatisfaction. Examination of risk and protective processes showed that relationships with mothers were associated with students' distress as well as positive adjustment. Additionally, findings showed links between (a) envy of peers and multiple outcomes (among high SES girls in particular), (b) dimensions of perfectionism in relation to internalizing symptoms, and (c) high extrinsic versus intrinsic values in relation to externalizing symptoms.
This randomized intervention trial examined the effects of yearly Family Check-Ups (FCUs) and tailored parent management training on parent report of problem behavior from age 2 to 5 years and teacher report of oppositional behavior at age 7.5. A multiethnic risk sample of 731 families in 3 distinct geographical settings who were receiving assistance from the Women, Infants, and Children Nutritional Supplement (WIC) program were randomly assigned to a yearly FCU. Intention to treat (ITT) analyses were used to examine overall intervention effects, and complier average causal effect (CACE) modeling was used to examine the effects of annual intervention engagement in the FCU on parent reports of child problem behavior from age 2 to 5 and teacher reports of problem behavior at age 7.5. ITT intervention effects were found regarding parent report at ages 2 to 5 and teacher report at age 7.5, indicating less growth in problem behavior for children in the intervention group than for those in the control group. CACE modeling of intervention engagement revealed that the effect sizes on parent- and teacher-reported problem behavior increased as a function of the number of yearly FCUs caregivers participated in. Findings suggest that embedding yearly FCU services within the context of social, health, and educational services in early childhood can potentially prevent early-onset trajectories of antisocial behavior. The increases in effect size with successive FCU engagement underscores the importance of a motivational approach to parenting support among high-risk families.
In this article, we employ Spencer's (1995) Phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST) as a framework to examine risk and resilience, with a spe- cific focus on understanding hypermasculine attitudes among low-resource urban, adolescent males. In the article, we highlight the need to understand normative hu- man development processes in context and to consider risk and resilience in con- junction with these processes. We describe findings from a study of risk, social supports, and hypermasculinity. In the discussion, we outline the implications of these findings for theory and practice. A comprehensive and nuanced understanding of risk and resilience is among the most salient prerequisites for the application of human development research to policy and practice. The risks that youth face, along with the successful and un- successful strategies they employ to cope with these risks, need to be understood both in relation to their maturation and identity development and as linked to the social, cultural, and historical context in which these youth develop. Throughout the broad, interdisciplinary realm of human development, it is critical to concep- tualize the development of lives in context. It is apparent from research efforts on diverse, urban youth that this is rarely the case as illustrated in the ways that re- searchers formulate questions, identify constructs, theorize about phenomena, in- terpret results, and implement social policy. A myriad of conceptual flaws have
In this article, we examine the construct of peer contagion in childhood and adolescence and review studies of child and adolescent development that have identified peer contagion influences. Evidence suggests that children's interactions with peers are tied to increases in aggression in early and middle childhood and amplification of problem behaviors such as drug use, delinquency, and violence in early to late adolescence. Deviancy training is one mechanism that accounts for peer contagion effects on problem behaviors from age 5 through adolescence. In addition, we discuss peer contagion relevant to depression in adolescence, and corumination as an interactive process that may account for these effects. Social network analyses suggest that peer contagion underlies the influence of friendship on obesity, unhealthy body images, and expectations. Literature is reviewed that suggests how peer contagion effects can undermine the goals of public education from elementary school through college and impair the goals of juvenile corrections systems. In particular, programs that "select" adolescents at risk for aggregated preventive interventions are particularly vulnerable to peer contagion effects. It appears that a history of peer rejection is a vulnerability factor for influence by peers, and adult monitoring, supervision, positive parenting, structure, and self-regulation serve as protective factors.
In this article a conceptual model for the study of child development in minority populations in the United States is proposed. In support of the proposed model, this article includes (a) a delineation and critical analysis of mainstream theoretical frameworks in relation to their attention and applicability to the understanding of developmental processes in children of color and of issues at the intersection of social class, culture, ethnicity, and race, and (b) a description and evaluation of the conceptual frameworks that have guided the extant literature on minority children and families. Based on the above considerations, an integrative conceptual model of child development is presented, anchored within social stratification theory, emphasizing the importance of racism, prejudice, discrimination, oppression, and segregation on the development of minority children and families.
Growing up in the culture of affluence can connote various psychosocial risks. Studies have shown that upper-class children can manifest elevated disturbance in several areas-such as substance use, anxiety, and depression-and that two sets of factors seem to be implicated, that is, excessive pressures to achieve and isolation from parents (both literal and emotional). Whereas stereotypically, affluent youth and poor youth are respectively thought of as being at "low risk" and "high risk," comparative studies have revealed more similarities than differences in their adjustment patterns and socialization processes. In the years ahead, psychologists must correct the long-standing neglect of a group of youngsters treated, thus far, as not needing their attention. Family wealth does not automatically confer either wisdom in parenting or equanimity of spirit; whereas children rendered atypical by virtue of their parents' wealth are undoubtedly privileged in many respects, there is also, clearly, the potential for some nontrivial threats to their psychological well-being.
Drawing from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH; N = 611,880), a nationally representative survey of U.S. adolescents and adults, we assess age, period, and cohort trends in mood disorders and suicide-related outcomes since the mid-2000s. Rates of major depressive episode in the last year increased 52% 2005-2017 (from 8.7% to 13.2%) among adolescents aged 12 to 17 and 63% 2009-2017 (from 8.1% to 13.2%) among young adults 18-25. Serious psychological distress in the last month and suicide-related outcomes (suicidal ideation, plans, attempts, and deaths by suicide) in the last year also increased among young adults 18-25 from 2008-2017 (with a 71% increase in serious psychological distress), with less consistent and weaker increases among adults ages 26 and over. Hierarchical linear modeling analyses separating the effects of age, period, and birth cohort suggest the trends among adults are primarily due to cohort, with a steady rise in mood disorder and suicide-related outcomes between cohorts born from the early 1980s (Millennials) to the late 1990s (iGen). Cultural trends contributing to an increase in mood disorders and suicidal thoughts and behaviors since the mid-2000s, including the rise of electronic communication and digital media and declines in sleep duration, may have had a larger impact on younger people, creating a cohort effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
A theoretical model linking achievement and emotions is proposed. The model posits that individual achievement promotes positive achievement emotions and reduces negative achievement emotions. In contrast, group-level achievement is thought to reduce individuals' positive emotions and increase their negative emotions. The model was tested using one cross-sectional and two longitudinal datasets on 5th to 10th grade students' achievement emotions in mathematics (Studies 1-3: Ns = 1,610, 1,759, and 4,353, respectively). Multilevel latent structural equation modeling confirmed that individual achievement had positive predictive effects on positive emotions (enjoyment, pride) and negative predictive effects on negative emotions (anger, anxiety, shame, and hopelessness), controlling for prior achievement, autoregressive effects, reciprocal effects, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES). Class-level achievement had negative compositional effects on the positive emotions and positive compositional effects on the negative emotions. Additional analyses suggested that self-concept of ability is a possible mediator of these effects. Furthermore, there were positive compositional effects of class-level achievement on individual achievement in Study 2 but not in Study 3, indicating that negative compositional effects on emotion are not reliably counteracted by positive effects on performance. The results were robust across studies, age groups, synchronous versus longitudinal analysis, and latent-manifest versus doubly latent modeling. These findings imply that individual success drives emotional well-being, whereas placing individuals in high-achieving groups can undermine well-being. Thus, the findings challenge policy and practice decisions on achievement-contingent allocation of individuals to groups.
Mindset theory predicts that children’s IQ and school grades are positively linked to their belief that basic ability is malleable rather than fixed. We test this prediction in three experimental studies (total n = 624 individually-tested 10-12-year-olds). Two studies included active-control conditions to test effects of fixed-ability beliefs independent of motivation. In addition, we tested whether children’s own mindsets relate to real-life IQ, educational attainment in longitudinal analyses of school grades. Praise for intelligence had no significant effect on cognitive performance. Nor were any effects of mindset were found for challenging material. Active-control data showed that occasional apparent effects of praise for hard work on easy outcome measures reflected motivational confounds rather than effects of implicit beliefs about the malleability of intelligence (study 3, active control condition). Children’s own mindsets showed no relationship to IQ, school grades, or change in grades across the school year, with the only significant result being in the reverse direction to prediction (better performance in children holding a fixed mindset). Fixed beliefs about basic ability appear to be unrelated to ability, and we found no support for mindset-effects on cognitive ability, response to challenge, or educational progress.
We examined longitudinal associations across an 8-year time span between overcontrolling parenting during toddlerhood, self-regulation during early childhood, and social, emotional, and academic adjustment in preadolescence (N = 422). Overcontrolling parenting, emotion regulation (ER), and inhibitory control (IC) were observed in the laboratory; preadolescent adjustment was teacher-reported and child self-reported. Results from path analysis indicated that overcontrolling parenting at age 2 was associated negatively with ER and IC at age 5, which, in turn, were associated with more child-reported emotional and school problems, fewer teacher-reported social skills, and less teacher-reported academic productivity at age 10. These effects held even when controlling for prior levels of adjustment at age 5, suggesting that ER and IC in early childhood may be associated with increases and decreases in social, emotional, and academic functioning from childhood to preadolescence. Finally, indirect effects from overcontrolling parenting at age 2 to preadolescent outcomes at age 10 were significant, both through IC and ER at age 5. These results support the notion that parenting during toddlerhood is associated with child adjustment into adolescence through its relation with early developing self-regulatory skills.
Research examining associations between self-reported experiences of discrimination overall (e.g., potentially due to race, gender, socioeconomic status, age) and health—particularly among African Americans—has grown rapidly over the past two decades. Yet recent findings suggest that self-reported experiences of racism alone may be less impactful for the health of African Americans than previously hypothesized. Thus, an approach that captures a broader range of complexities in the study of discrimination and health among African Americans may be warranted. This article presents an argument for the importance of examining intersectionalities in studies of discrimination and physical health in African Americans and provides an overview of research in this area.
Mind-sets (aka implicit theories) are beliefs about the nature of human attributes (e.g., intelligence). The theory holds that individuals with growth mind-sets (beliefs that attributes are malleable with effort) enjoy many positive outcomes—including higher academic achievement—while their peers who have fixed mind-sets experience negative outcomes. Given this relationship, interventions designed to increase students’ growth mind-sets—thereby increasing their academic achievement—have been implemented in schools around the world. In our first meta-analysis (k = 273, N = 365,915), we examined the strength of the relationship between mind-set and academic achievement and potential moderating factors. In our second meta-analysis (k = 43, N = 57,155), we examined the effectiveness of mind-set interventions on academic achievement and potential moderating factors. Overall effects were weak for both meta-analyses. However, some results supported specific tenets of the theory, namely, that students with low socioeconomic status or who are academically at risk might benefit from mind-set interventions.
Praise for process, which includes praising students’ level of effort and effective strategies, has shown promise in improving students’ motivation to learn. However, parents and teachers may interpret this to mean that solely praising students’ effort level is sufficient. Although praise for effort is effective in some respects in early childhood, it often stops working and even backfires by adolescence. In this article, we explain these findings developmentally. We suggest that effort praise can communicate that effort is a path to improving ability, but can also imply that the student needs to work hard because of low innate ability. We propose that adolescents are at greater risk for interpreting the praise in the second way because secondary schools often value innate ability more than effort and adolescents are conscious of ability stereotypes. We conclude with implications for theory and research.
