Jennifer Connolly’s research while affiliated with York University and other places

The current study evaluated factors that can help to account for the links between peer victimization and distress among 1039 adolescents. We assessed whether rejection sensitivity and self-esteem mediate the longitudinal associations between peer victimization and mental health problems. High school students completed a series of self-report questionnaires assessing forms of peer victimization, rejection sensitivity, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and substance use at two time points. The key finding was that both rejection sensitivity and self-esteem mediated the associations between peer victimization at Time 1 and mental health problems 1-year later. These results help illuminate the mechanisms through which peer victimization is associated with mental health problems in adolescents. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Introduction Adolescents with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) are at high risk for sexual exploitation, yet there is a paucity of research on their romantic relationships. The objectives of this study were to examine the romantic understanding and experiences of youth with IDD. Methods Thirty‐one adolescents (16–19 years; 21 males and 10 females) with IDD (12 participants with additional diagnosis of ASD) were recruited from a community health clinic. Individual interviews and questionnaires assessed cross‐sectionally these youths’: (1) romantic conceptualizations; (2) romantic awareness (knowledge of: romantic relationships, sexual behaviours, initiating relationships); (3) involvement; (4) social competence; and (5) expectations for autonomy. Parent perspectives on these topics were also captured through questionnaires. Results While 85% reported an immediate desire for a romantic relationship, only 35% were currently in a relationship. Qualitative findings indicated that 14% of youth were unable to differentiate between a romantic relationship and a friendship. Among those who could make this distinction, romantic relationships were conceptualized as serious, commitment for life, and primarily for companionship. Adolescents with ASD, compared to those without ASD, showed weaker social competence and lower romantic awareness. Parents were adolescents’ primary source of information about relationships. Finally, parents and adolescents differed in their perception of the age at which they were ready to date. Conclusions This study contributes to our understanding of the romantic experiences of youth with IDD. Prevention efforts focused on education may be important to help ensure these youth develop safe and healthy relationships.

Introduction This study examined romantic relationships among street‐involved youth through the overlapping perspectives of resilience, attachment and social bonding. The main goal was to assess how youth understand their romantic attachment bonds as supporting or undermining resilience. While there are qualitative reports on how the social relationships of street‐involved youth are linked to resilience, romantic relationships have yet to be differentiated with regard to resilience. This paper also builds on existing research by providing further information on the characteristics of their romantic relationships, and the impact of street life and risky behaviours within relationships. Methods Twenty‐one youth (11 men and 10 women) in shelters, in a Canadian metropolitan city, aged 16–24 years, participated in semi‐structured interviews. A thematic analysis of the data was conducted exploring how the youth understand their romantic attachments as well as their links in supporting or undermining resilience. Results Results indicated that connection, support, validation, and encouragement within a relationship were of value to the youth's resilience, in the form of addressing drug use, achieving goals, supporting self‐worth, and promoting positive coping. The youth also reported many negative experiences within their romantic relationships, including dating violence and the stress of street‐life, which they saw as undermining their resilience. A key finding was that the youth had considerable difficulty integrating the positive and negative aspects of their relationships. Overall the findings highlight the co‐occurrence of positive and negative romantic experiences, and support the importance of developing healthy relationship programs for street‐involved youth. Key words: street‐involved; homeless; youth; romantic relationship; resilience; dating violence

Behavioural problems in the first five years of life can lead to long-term problems and may have adverse effects on families, school, and the child’s well-being. The objective was to investigate three comprehensive models to explore the pathways that lead to behavioural problems in children of teen, middle age, and advanced age mothers in Canada. This was based on the analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Mothers were grouped into: teen (15–19 years), middle age (20–34 years), and advanced age (35+ years). Using Bronfenbrenner’s theoretical framework, behavioural problems were the outcome measured when the child became 4–5 years old. The predictors examined when the child was 0–1-year-old, and 2–3 years old and were fitted within the systemic levels of the framework. Structural equation modeling was performed separately for each age group. A total of 4787 mothers were analyzed. In all models, neighbourhood quality significantly predicted socioeconomic status (SES), and SES significantly predicted depression. In the teen mother group, only greater depression significantly predicted greater behavioural problems for the child (p = 0.038). In the middle age group, greater depression significantly predicted greater child behavioural problems (p < 0.001); and parenting significantly predicted lower child behavioural problems (p < 0.001). In the advanced age group, only parenting significantly predicted lower behavioural problems (p = 0.005). The pathways from depression and parenting to the behavioural problems differed among the groups. Our results highlight the importance of developing targeted interventions to reduce behavioural problems in children separately by maternal age.

Background: Increasing evidence suggests an association between internalizing symptoms and violence against others. It remains unknown whether this link exists in the context of romantic relationships. In the current study, we tested whether anxiety and depression were associated over time with adolescent dating violence perpetration. Methods: The sample included 238 Canadian adolescents (42% boys). Using a longitudinal design, their anxiety, depressive symptoms, and dating violence perpetration were annually assessed from age 14 to 15 years. Results: Cross-lagged analyses revealed effects from anxiety and depressive symptoms to dating violence one year later (β = 0.27, p < .001; and β = 0.14, p = .04, respectively). No reversed cross-lagged paths were found from dating violence to subsequent anxiety or depression. Conclusions: Our findings underscore the predictive value of internalizing symptoms on dating violence perpetration. Reducing internalizing symptoms and improving coping strategies are important targets for the prevention of dating violence.

Background: Positive-interaction parenting early in childhood is encouraged due to its association with behavioural development later in life. The objective of this study was to examine if the level of positive-interaction parenting style differs among teen, optimal age, and advanced age mothers in Canada, and to identify the characteristics associated with positive-interaction parenting style separately for each age group. Methods: This was a cross-sectional secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. First-time mothers with children 0-23 months were grouped into: teen (15-19 years, N = 53,409), optimal age (20-34 years, N = 790,960), and advanced age (35 years and older, N = 106,536). The outcome was positive-interaction parenting style (Parenting Practices Scale); maternal socio-demographics, health, social, and child characteristics were considered for backward stepwise multiple linear regression modeling, stratified for each of the age groups. Results: Teen, optimal age, and advanced age mothers reported similar levels of positive- interaction parenting style. Covariates differed across the three age groups. Among optimal age mothers, being an ever-landed immigrant, childcare use, and being devoted to religion were found to decrease positive-interaction parenting style, whereas, higher education was found to increase positive-interaction parenting style. Teen mothers were not found to have any characteristics uniquely associated with positive-interaction parenting. Among advanced age mothers, social support was uniquely associated with an increase in positive-interaction parenting. Very good/excellent health was found to be positively associated with parenting in teens but negatively associated with parenting in advanced age mothers. Conclusion: Characteristics associated with positive-interaction parenting varied among the three age groups. Findings may have public health implications through information dissemination to first-time mothers, clinicians, researchers, and public health facilities.

Background Social support is highly valued and beneficial for women, especially after childbirth. The objective was to examine the differences of social support reported among teen, optimal age, and advanced age women, and to identify the characteristics associated with social support separately for each age group. Methods This was a cross-sectional analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Primiparous women with infants were grouped into: teen (15–19 years), optimal age (20–34 years), and advanced age (35 years and older). The outcome was social support (Social Provisions Scale), and demographic, socio-economic, health, community, and infant characteristics were considered for stepwise linear regression, separately for the groups. Results Total of 455,022 mothers was analyzed. Teens had the lowest social support (Mean = 17.56) compared to other groups (Means = 19.07 and 19.05; p < 0.001). Teens’ volunteer involvement was associated with an increase in social support (Adjβ 2.77; 95%CI 0.86, 4.68), and depression was associated with a decrease (Adjβ −0.12; 95%CI −0.22, −0.02). Optimal age women’s support significantly increased with maternal age (Adjβ 0.07; 95%CI 0.02,0.12), working status (Adjβ 0.60; 95%CI 0.13,1.07), and with chronic condition(s) (Adjβ 0.59; 95%CI 0.16,1.02), while it decreased with depression (Adjβ −0.05; 95%CI −0.10, −0.01) and ever-immigrants (Adjβ −1.67; 95%CI −2.29, −1.04). Use of childcare was associated with increased support among women in advanced age group (Adjβ 1.58; 95%CI 0.12, 3.04). For all groups, social support was significantly associated with neighbourhood safety. Conclusion The characteristics associated with social support varied among the three age groups. The findings may help promote awareness of the essential needs to increase support, especially for teens.

Romantic breakups are common among youths. Yet “why” they occur is not well understood. In adolescence and emerging adulthood, unique characteristics of romantic participation call for investigation of breakups from a developmental perspective. Our principal objective was to map out breakup reasons of adolescents and emerging adults, accounting for relevant theory and research on both age-groups. We considered the role of age, gender, and dating stage (casual vs. serious) on youths’ breakup reasons. Results revealed a five-factor scale with affiliation, intimacy, autonomy, infidelity, and status as unique factors. Consistent with theory and research, we found similarities and differences in how youths of different age, dating stage, and gender endorse these reasons. These findings are consistent with the notion that breakups stem from a failure of romantic relationships to meet youths’ emerging romantic needs, and that there is considerable continuity in these relational dimensions from adolescence into emerging adulthood.

Objective: The goals of the present review were to determine the prevalence of physical and sexual TDV among adolescents, obtain the rates of teen dating violence (TDV) separately by gender, and examine the potential moderation effects of age, demographics, and measurement. Method: A systematic literature search elicited 101 studies reporting rates for youth aged 13 to 18. Results: Meta-analytic combination produced an overall prevalence of 20% for physical TDV and 9% for sexual TDV. Significant variability in rates was found, with physical TDV ranging from 1% to 61% and sexual TDV ranging from <1% to 54%. Gender differences in physical TDV were significant for perpetration (boys 13% vs. girls 25%) but not for victimization (21% boys and girls). A different pattern was observed for sexual TDV with girls reporting lower rates of perpetration compared with boys (3% vs. 10%) and higher rates of victimization (14% vs. 8%). Moderator analyses revealed higher rates in samples representing higher proportions of older teens (sexual TDV), cultural minority girls (physical TDV), and disadvantaged neighborhoods (physical TDV). Studies using broad measurement tools yielded higher rates of both forms of TDV across gender. Conclusions: Basing the meta-analysis on a large pool of studies with comparable samples, 1 in 5 adolescents reported physical TDV and roughly 1 in 10 reported sexual TDV. Systematic bias in boys' and girls' self-reports was evident along with high variability in TDV rates across studies and significant moderator influences. These findings are suggestive of substantive methodological challenges in extant studies. The obtained rates should be cautiously interpreted and future research should address the methodological limitations of self-reported TDV, taking into consideration the potential influences of gender, demographics, age, and measurement issues when designing TDV research. (PsycINFO Database Record

Our systematic review identified 21 quantitative articles and eight qualitative articles addressing dating violence among high risk young women. The groups of high-risk young women in this review include street-involved, justice-involved, pregnant or parenting, involved with Child Protective Services, and youth diagnosed with a mental health issue. Our meta-analysis of the quantitative articles indicated that 34% (CI = 0.24–0.45) of high-risk young women report that they have been victims of physical dating violence and 45% (CI = 0.31–0.61) of these young women report perpetrating physical dating violence. Significant moderator variables included questionnaire and timeframe. Meta-synthesis of the qualitative studies revealed that high-risk young women report perpetrating dating violence to gain power and respect, whereas women report becoming victims of dating violence due to increased vulnerability.