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…

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…

Most people start experimenting with and/or initiating health-compromising behaviors and establishing behavioral patterns during adolescence. Possible selves and episodic future thinking have been used to foster behavioral changes. In this study, we aimed to: (1) develop a program incorporating possible selves and episodic future thinking to…

Adolescent internalizing problems (e.g., depression, anxiety) are common, but fewer than half of affected adolescents access treatment. This need-to-access gap may have been exacerbated during the coronavirus pandemic. To help address this challenge, we evaluated the potential mental health benefits of a digital single-session intervention using…

There is a well-documented developmental decline in engagement among adolescents throughout secondary school. Given this pattern of engagement poses problems for both student well-being and their academic outcomes, it is important to examine potential strategies to address this decline. As a growth-oriented strategy, personal best (PB) goal…

In recent years, opponents of the gender-affirmative approach to trans youth have argued that it bears homophobic roots and may be tantamount to conversion therapy. This argument is mistaken. In this article, I first argue that there is no evidence that social and/or medical transition is motivated by homophobia. Contrary to the critique's tacit…

Educational aspirations are an important predictor of academic outcomes. While there has been considerable research on educational aspirations in the West, there has been little research in East Asia, and the investigation of factors influencing adolescent aspirations has been neglected, particularly in rural areas. Drawing on ecological systems…

Poverty in the long run, as the long-term source of pressures, has strengthened the vulnerability of juveniles and has increased the incidence of psychological or behavioral problems during their growth. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen preventive intervention for adolescents to avoid poverty's "scar effect" upon their physical…

Approximately 30% of adolescents in the United States who date were affected by teen dating violence (TDV) in 2013, according to self-report from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS; Vagi, Olsen, Basile, & Vivolo-Kantor, 2015). Limited interest in researching TDV arose around 30 years ago. In the past 10 years, research on TDV and…

Although increasing numbers of youth are seeking help to reduce or abstain from marijuana use, little research has investigated the contextual facilitators and barriers to doing so among urban youth utilizing primary care. We qualitatively investigated contextual facilitators and barriers to marijuana reduction/abstinence in an ethnically diverse…

Adolescents with disabilities experience co-occurring mental health needs at higher rates than their peers without disabilities (Blake, 2017; Milligan et al., 2015; Poppen et al., 2016; Thornton et al., 2017). Mental health needs often become more prominent as individuals with disabilities transition from childhood to adolescence (White et al.,…

Background: Lack of engagement in child welfare services is a salient issue impeding client outcomes. Research findings indicate that providing incentives may be a promising strategy for enhancing client engagement. Objective: In response to low youth engagement and repeated re-entry into care, a Southeastern child welfare agency developed an…

Empowering students to report peer victimization is a major part of bullying intervention. Nevertheless, although bullying often can be discriminatory (e.g., homophobic), there remains limited attention to how issues of diversity relate to students reporting their victimization experiences. Among 572 students in four Chilean high schools, we…

In China, 61 million children are left behind in rural areas suffering from prolonged parent-child separation when their parents migrate for work. Meaning-focused coping is known to play a positive role in adaptation, particularly during persistent adversity, but little is known about how adolescents make meaning during prolonged parent-child…

School social workers can serve as valuable supporters of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youths in the public school system by providing services aimed to improve school climates for all students. This article describes a qualitative study that examined gay and bisexual adolescent experiences with peer support using a…