The multifaceted nature of peer social status entails personal benefits and potential detrimental effects that are particularly relevant to adolescents, as they place a higher emphasis on popularity and being well-liked compared to other stages of development. The study examined adolescents' motivational constructs related to gaining or changing…

Bullying is a significant problem that has received a great amount of research attention, yet a basic definition of bullying has proven challenging for researchers to agree upon. Differences of definitions between academics and the public pose additional problems for the ongoing study and prevention of bullying. Qualitative methodologies may…

Historically, Black sexuality has been depicted through a risk-based lens rather than a sex-positive lens. This study analyzed data from a subset of 540 Black heterosexual adolescents and adults who participated in the 2018 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior. Masturbation, penile-vaginal intercourse, and oral sex were the most prevalent…

This study explored the short-term longitudinal associations between Five Factor Model (FFM) and social goals (social dominance, popularity, and intimacy), with relational aggression (RAgg) as a mediator. RAgg was claimed to mediate the positive correlations of neuroticism with dominance and popularity, whereas extraversion was argued to…

Interpersonal relationships are central to adolescent well-being. The current research investigates interpersonal goal setting among a general sample of adolescents following a growth mindset intervention. This study qualitatively explores what interpersonal goals adolescents set, outcomes they aim to achieve, obstacles they perceive, and actions…

Sexual health education experienced by lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth varies widely in relevancy and representation. However, associations among sexual orientation, type of sex education, and exposure to affirming or disaffirming content have yet to be examined. Understanding these patterns can help to address gaps in LGB-sensitive sex…

Previous research suggests that ruminating on social media content is associated with greater mental distress (Yang et al., 2018). This study examined whether materialistic value orientation (MVO)--prioritizing values and goals related to consumerism, consumption, and social status--predicted social media rumination in a sample of diverse…

Few sexual health studies have examined subgroup differences in youth risk behaviors that sufficiently account for sexual orientation and gender identity. This study used 2017 New York City Youth Risk Behavior Survey data (N = 10,191), a stratified cluster-sampled survey, to examine descriptive differences in the prevalence of risky sexual…

Background: Mental health care is critical to improving mental health but factors associated with student utilization are poorly understood. Methods: Data were from high school students (N = 2933; mean age = 15.7 ± 0.6) enrolled in a California cohort. We examined associations of sociodemographic factors, substance use, and mental health symptoms…

Gender-Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) are school clubs for LGBTQ+ youth and peer allies to support one another. This eight-week weekly diary study considered whether a youth's positive and negative affect during a given week could be predicted by experiences in their most recently attended GSA meeting. Ninety-nine GSA members (M[subscript age] =…

In this single-case research design study, we investigated the effects of student-directed writing goals with adolescent writers who were developing their writing proficiency. Two students with a learning disability and two multilingual writers engaged in a pre-baseline condition to learn the functional elements of a persuasive essay. Once they…

Youth purpose was investigated using a two-phase embedded design with youth participating in Scouts BSA (N = 3,943), ages 9-20 (M = 14.0, SD = 1.9). Participating Scouts were mostly White (91%) and male (98%). In Phase 1, we conducted a two-step cluster analysis on Scouts' survey responses to three purpose dimensions (personal meaning,…

Future orientation tends to prevent engagement in risk behaviours and results in good academic performance among adolescents. Our study aimed to establish whether genetic factors contributed to future orientation among Chinese adolescents. We recruited 988 pairs of twins from Beijing. By constructing a high-order A (additive genetic variance) C…

As smartphones are emerging as a common device for adolescent, prior studies have provided theoretical and empirical evidence for the factors affecting adolescent smartphone use. However, mainstream research has tended to focus on the negative effects of smartphone. Even though smartphone use can have adverse outcomes, it may also allow students…

Executive functions, which begin developing in early childhood, are necessary for the tasks of daily life, such as decision making and planning. Despite their early development, often without teaching, many teens with disabilities need explicit instruction to acquire and apply executive functions each day. Gaps in executive functions directly…