Longitudinal Associations Between Support and Prosocial Behavior Across Adolescence: The Roles of Fathers, Mothers, Siblings, and Friends.

Family members and friends can play an important role in adolescents' prosocial behavior. To better understand the relation between support and prosocial behavior in adolescence, it's important to conduct longitudinal studies that distinguish between within-dyad variance and between-dyad variance. The current study investigated longitudinal associations between adolescents' prosocial behavior, autonomy support, and emotional support from family and friends across adolescence. Across six annual years, 497 Dutch adolescents (284 boys; mean age T1 = 13.03 years, SDage = 0.46), fathers, mothers, siblings, and friends reported on their prosocial behavior. Adolescents also reported on perceived autonomy and emotional support. Between-dyads almost all associations of support and prosocial behavior of family members and friends with adolescents' prosocial behavior were significant, with higher levels of adolescents' prosocial behavior being associated with higher levels of prosocial behavior and support from fathers, mothers and friends. Within-dyads, several concurrent associations were significant, but within-dyads links between prosocial behavior and autonomy support are particularly driven by adolescent-mother or adolescent-sibling effects. This study highlights processes that occurred either at the between-dyad level or at the within-dyad level, but that varied per relationship type and that adolescents are the main catalysts in within-dyads changes in prosocial behavior and support. Preregistration: This study was preregistered on 20 January 2020 at https://osf.io/vxkm3/?view_only=dca87fd1585c444ba5cd5a00c22280ae .

Depression Socialization in Early Adolescent Friendships: The Role of Baseline Depressive Symptoms and Autonomous Functioning.

There is mixed evidence for depression socialization, a process by which friends affect each other's level of depressive symptoms. The current study examined whether adolescents' baseline depressive symptoms and three dimensions of autonomous functioning (autonomy, peer resistance, and friend adaptation) make adolescents more or less sensitive to depression socialization, and how these dimensions of autonomous functioning were connected. In this preregistered, two-wave longitudinal study, participants completed questionnaires on depressive symptoms, autonomy, and peer resistance and participated in a task to assess friend adaptation. Participants were 416 Dutch adolescents (Mage = 11.60, 52.8% girls) across 230 close friend dyads. In contrast to expectations, results showed no significant depression socialization nor significant moderation. Furthermore, autonomy and peer resistance were related but distinct constructs, and not related to friend adaptation. These findings suggest that there is no depression socialization in early adolescence, regardless of level of autonomous functioning.

The relation between self-event connections and personality functioning in youth with severe psychopathology.

OBJECTIVE: One way in which individuals construct their narrative identity is by making self-event connections, which are often linked to better functioning. Being unable to make connections is related to identity discontinuity and psychopathology. Work in the general population corroborates this association, but also highlights the importance of focusing on specific aspects of these connections and on vulnerable populations. METHOD: We examined the association of self-event connections with personality functioning in youth with severe psychopathology (cross-sectional N = 228, Mage = 19.5, longitudinal N = 84), and the role of event and connection valence in the subsample of youth who made a connection (n = 188 and n = 68). Negative affectivity was controlled for in all models. RESULTS: We found no evidence that self-event connections, nor connection valence and its interaction with event valence, are related to functioning. Positive event valence was associated with better functioning. Higher negative affectivity was strongly linked to lower functioning and explained the relation between event valence and functioning. No longitudinal associations emerged. CONCLUSIONS: These findings show that for youth with severe psychopathology making self-event connections may not be associated with better functioning. Moreover, negative affectivity may be a distal predictor of both event valence and functioning.

Explaining Heterogeneity of Daily Conflict Spillover in the Family: The Role of Dyadic Marital Conflict Patterns.

In this multi-informant, longitudinal, daily diary study, we investigated whether long-term dyadic patterns of marital conflict resolution explain the heterogeneity in short-term day-to-day cross-lagged associations between marital conflict intensity and mother-adolescent conflict intensity. The sample consisted of 419 adolescents (44.6% girls, Mage = 13.02, SD = 0.44, at T1; Mage = 17.02, SD = 0.44, at T5), their mothers (N = 419, Mage = 44.48, SD = 4.17, at T1), and their fathers (N = 419, Mage = 46.76, SD = 4.99, at T1). Mothers and fathers reported on their marital conflict resolution strategies annually across 5 years. Mother-father daily conflict intensity (mother-reported) and mother-adolescent daily conflict intensity (mother- and adolescent-reported) were assessed for 75 days across 5 years. We hypothesized that long-term marital conflict resolution patterns would moderate the short-term daily dynamics of conflict between the marital and the mother-adolescent dyads. Latent Class Growth Analysis revealed four types of families based on long-term dyadic marital conflict resolution, including families where mostly constructive or mostly destructive conflict resolution was used. Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling was used to investigate the daily levels and short-term daily dynamics of conflict, revealing that for most families there were no day-to-day lagged associations between marital conflict and mother-adolescent conflict. Results showed that long-term conflict resolution patterns did not moderate the short-term dynamics of daily conflict. However, differences among long-term marital conflict resolution patterns were found in the levels of daily conflict, such that in families with long-term destructive conflict resolution patterns, daily conflict intensity was higher.

En este estudio de informantes múltiples, longitudinal y de registro diario, investigamos si los patrones diádicos de resolución de conflictos conyugales a largo plazo explican la heterogeneidad en las asociaciones diarias de retardo cruzado a corto plazo entre la intensidad del conflicto conyugal y la intensidad del conflicto entre las madres y los adolescentes. La muestra estuvo integrada por 419 adolescentes (el 44.6 % niñas, edad promedio = 13.02, desviación típica = 0.44, en la T1; edad promedio = 17.02, desviación típica= 0.44, en la T5), sus madres (número = 419, edad promedio = 44.48, desviación típica = 4.17, en la T1), y sus padres (número = 419, edad promedio= 46.76, desviación típica = 4.99, en la T1). Las madres y los padres informaron sus estrategias de resolución de conflictos conyugales anualmente durante cinco años. Se evaluaron la intensidad del conflicto diario entre la madre y el padre (informado por la madre) y la intensidad del conflicto diario entre la madre y el adolescente (informado por la madre y el adolescente) durante 75 días a lo largo de cinco años. Planteamos la hipótesis de que los patrones de resolución de conflicto conyugal a largo plazo moderarían la dinámica diaria de conflicto a corto plazo entre la díada conyugal y la díada madre-adolescente. El análisis de crecimiento de clases latentes reveló cuatro tipos de familias sobre la base de la resolución de conflictos conyugales diádicos a largo plazo, incluidas las familias donde se usó la resolución de conflictos principalmente constructiva o principalmente destructiva. Se utilizó el modelo de ecuaciones estructurales dinámicas para investigar los niveles diarios y la dinámica diaria de conflicto a corto plazo, el cual reveló que para la mayoría de las familias no hubo asociaciones diarias retardadas entre el conflicto conyugal y el conflicto entre madres y adolescentes. Los resultados indicaron que los patrones de resolución de conflictos a largo plazo no moderaron la dinámica a corto plazo del conflicto diario. Sin embargo, se encontraron diferencias entre los patrones de resolución de conflictos conyugales a largo plazo en los niveles de conflicto diario, de modo que, en las familias con patrones de resolución de conflictos destructivos a largo plazo, la intensidad del conflicto diario fue mayor.

Peer Victimization, Internalizing Problems, and the Buffering Role of Friendship Quality: Disaggregating Between- and Within-Person Associations.

Although many studies have shown an association between peer victimization and internalizing problems, which may be buffered by friendship quality, it is unclear whether these associations apply to within-person processes as well. This would mean that at times when adolescents experience more victimization than they usually do, they also experience more internalizing problems. The current study disaggregated between- and within-person variation to examine the association between peer victimization and symptoms of depression and anxiety, and the protective effect of friend support and conflict. Participants were 497 Dutch adolescents (56% boys) with a mean age of 13.03 (SDage = 0.45, ranging from 11.68 to 15.56 at Wave 1). They participated in a 6-wave questionnaire study, with each wave taking place approximately one year after the previous. The results showed that peer victimization was associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety across adolescence, both between and within persons. Friend support buffered this association at the between-person level, but not the within-person level. This study highlights the impact of peer victimization and suggests that friend support may partly protect adolescents from the effects of peer victimization.

Friend Support and Internalizing Symptoms in Early Adolescence During COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted adolescents' psychosocial adjustment and social relationships across the world. This prospective longitudinal study examined whether internalizing problems during the pandemic could be predicted by precrisis friend support, and whether this effect was moderated by the time adolescents spent with their friends and COVID-19-related stress. 245 Dutch adolescents (Mage  = 11.60) participated before and during COVID-19. Higher pre-COVID-19 friend support predicted less (self-reported and parent-reported) internalizing problems during COVID-19, and this effect was not moderated by the time adolescents spent with friends or COVID-19-related stress. Friends may thus protect against developing internalizing symptoms in times of crisis. We also found the reverse effect: Internalizing problems before COVID-19 were predictive of friend support during COVID-19.

With a little help from my friends? Perceived friendship quality and narrative identity in adolescence.

Stressful events are associated with various outcomes, but there is variability in these associations suggesting that the interpretation of these events is important. This interpretation is reflected in the narratives adolescents tell of events, which are largely constructed in social interactions. We examined the associations of perceived friendship quality with self-event connections and redemption in turning point narratives, in a sample of Dutch adolescents. Findings from regression analyses in a cross-sectional subsample (N = 1087, Mage  = 14.8) and a three-wave cross-lagged panel model in a longitudinal subsample (N = 186, Mage at Wave 1  = 14.7) showed that perceived friendship quality was associated with the presence of redemption sequences and self-event connections within time points, but not longitudinally.

Parent-Adolescent Conflict across Adolescence: Trajectories of Informant Discrepancies and Associations with Personality Types.

Parent-adolescent conflict can be intense, yet parents and adolescents do not always agree on the intensity of conflict. Conflict intensity tends to change during adolescence and is thought to be an indicator of how the parent-adolescent relationship transforms. However, parents and adolescents might differently perceive change in conflict intensity, resulting in changing discrepancies in conflict intensity throughout adolescence. Also, personality characteristics of parents and adolescents might affect the extent to which there are discrepancies in perceptions of conflict intensity. This multi-informant longitudinal study investigated a) the trajectories of parent-adolescent conflict intensity, b) the trajectories of informant discrepancies, and c) the prediction of these trajectories by parental and adolescent personality. Dutch adolescents (N = 497, 43.1% female, Mage = 13.03 at T1), their mothers, and their fathers reported on parent-adolescent conflict intensity and personality for six years. Latent Growth Curve Modeling and Latent Congruence Modeling revealed curvilinear changes in conflict intensity, as well as in discrepancies thereof. Two cycles of discrepancies emerged. First, in early-to-middle-adolescence discrepancies in perceptions of parents and adolescents increased, reflecting that adolescents' perceived conflict intensity increased. Second, in middle-to-late-adolescence, father-adolescent discrepancies increased further, reflecting that fathers' perceptions of conflict decreased. Resilient adolescents, mothers, and fathers reported lower levels of conflict intensity than Undercontrollers and Overcontrollers, but personality was not associated with the rate of change in conflict intensity. Finally, undercontrolling fathers and overcontrolling adolescents showed higher father-adolescent discrepancies. This study showed that parents and adolescents differentially perceive conflict intensity and that in the adolescent-father relationship, the extent of the differences depends on adolescent and father personality.

Coming Closer in Adolescence: Convergence in Mother, Father, and Adolescent Reports of Parenting.

Parent-child relationships change during adolescence. Furthermore, parents and adolescents perceive parenting differently. We examined the changes in perceptions of parental practices in fathers, mothers, and adolescents during adolescence. Furthermore, we investigated if fathers', mothers', and adolescents' perceptions converge during adolescence. Following 497 families across six waves (ages 13-18), we investigated the development of parental support and behavioral control using mother and father self-reports, and adolescent reports for mothers and fathers. We found curvilinear decrease for support and control. Parent-adolescent convergence emerged over the 6 years: those with higher intercepts had a steeper decrease, whereas correlations among parent and adolescent reports increased. This multi-informant study sheds light on the development of parent-adolescent convergence on perceptions of parenting.

Mother-Adolescent Conflict Interaction Sequences: The Role of Maternal Internalizing Problems.

Adaptive mother-adolescent conflict interactions are characterized by the ability to move from negative to positive emotions. The current micro-observational study investigated how mothers and adolescents make transitions between positive, neutral and negative emotions and whether these transitions depend on maternal internalizing problems. We used three annual waves of conflict interaction observations among 102 mother-adolescent dyads. Mothers were more likely than adolescents to initiate positivity after negativity whereas adolescents were more likely than mothers to reciprocate negativity. Mothers high and low in internalizing problems were equally likely to drive transitions toward positivity. Our study indicates that an active role of mothers in regulating negativity toward positivity is desirable because adolescents are likely to maintain dysfunctional interaction patterns of rigid negativity.

Stressful life events and identity development in early and mid-adolescence.

INTRODUCTION: In the past, stressful life events have been consistently linked to developmental outcomes such as well-being and psychopathological problems. Theory on identity postulates that stressful life events may also predict a regression in identity development. While some support for this link has been found in adult populations, it is important to examine this in adolescence, a time marked by identity development as well as stressful transitions and experiences. METHODS: In the present study, we examined whether having to repeat a grade and death of a family member or friend were related to regressive change in educational and relational identity in a sample of 840 Dutch adolescents (49% female, Mage W1 = 12.4) drawn from a large ongoing longitudinal study. We also investigated whether the impact of the events was moderated by neuroticism, and parental and peer support. All analyses were controlled for age, educational level, and sex. RESULTS: Results of latent difference score models indicated that experiencing an event did not predict regressions in identity. Congruence between the domain of the event and identity (i.e., educational or relational) did not affect the strength of the effects. Neuroticism and parental and peer support did not significantly moderate this link. However, social support was related to relational and educational identity. CONCLUSIONS: The link between stressful events and identity may not be as straightforward as would be expected based on identity theory, as our results did not show evidence for a link between these events and change in identity for all adolescents.

Linking Parent-Child and Peer Relationship Quality to Empathy in Adolescence: A Multilevel Meta-Analysis.

Empathy, which is the ability to feel concern for and to understand others' feelings, is thought to develop in high quality relationships with parent and peers, but also to facilitate the quality of these relationships. While a wide literature has addressed this aspect, the heterogeneity of primary studies, in which different indicators of relationship quality (e.g., support, conflict) and empathy (i.e., affective and cognitive) have been examined, makes it difficult to draw conclusive answers. Therefore, it remained ambiguous how parent-child and peer relationship quality are associated with adolescents' empathy. In order to increase the understanding of these associations, a multilevel meta-analysis was performed, which allowed for including multiple effect sizes from each study. By a systematic literate search, 70 eligible studies were found that provided 390 effect sizes from 75 independent samples. The results showed a small positive correlation between parent-child relationship quality and empathy, and a small-to-moderate positive correlation between peer relationship quality and empathy, which was significantly stronger than the correlation with parent-child relationship quality. Hence, the meta-analytic results indicate that adolescents with higher quality relationships, especially with peers, indeed tend to show more concern for and understanding of others' emotions than adolescents with lower quality relationships. Moreover, the moderation analyses showed stronger correlations for the positive dimension of relationship quality than for the negative dimension, and stronger correlations for composite scores of affective and cognitive empathy than for separate scores of the empathy dimensions. However, no differences in correlations were found between the affective and cognitive empathy dimension, and no moderation effects were found for gender and age. Thus, this meta-analysis demonstrates robust positive associations between parent-child and peer relationship quality and empathy in adolescence, implying that good empathic abilities may be a protective factor for experiencing poor relationships.

Prosocial Behavior in Adolescence: Gender Differences in Development and Links with Empathy.

Although adolescents' prosocial behavior is related to various positive outcomes, longitudinal research on its development and predictors is still sparse. This 6-wave longitudinal study investigated the development of prosocial behavior across adolescence, and examined longitudinal associations with perspective taking and empathic concern. Participants were 497 adolescents (M age t1 = 13.03 years, 43% girls) who reported on their prosocial behaviors, empathic concern, and perspective taking. The results revealed marked gender differences in the development of prosocial behavior. For boys, levels of prosocial behavior were stable until age 14, followed by an increase until age 17, and a slight decrease thereafter. For girls, prosocial behavior increased until age 16 years and then slightly decreased. Regarding longitudinal associations, empathic concern was consistently related to subsequent prosocial behavior. However, perspective taking was only indirectly related to prosocial behavior, via its effect on empathic concern. Tests of the direction of effects showed support for the notion that earlier prosocial behavior predicts subsequent empathy-related traits, but only for girls. The findings support cognitive-developmental and moral socialization theories of prosocial development and the primary role of moral emotions in predicting prosocial behaviors. Our findings inform strategies to foster prosocial behaviors by emphasizing moral emotions rather than moral cognitions during adolescence.

Motor, affective and cognitive empathy in adolescence: Interrelations between facial electromyography and self-reported trait and state measures.

This study examined interrelations of trait and state empathy in an adolescent sample. Self-reported affective trait empathy and cognitive trait empathy were assessed during a home visit. During a test session at the university, motor empathy (facial electromyography), and self-reported affective and cognitive state empathy were assessed in response to empathy-inducing film clips portraying happiness and sadness. Adolescents who responded with stronger motor empathy consistently reported higher affective state empathy. Adolescents' motor empathy was also positively related to cognitive state empathy, either directly or indirectly via affective state empathy. Whereas trait empathy was consistently, but modestly, related to state empathy with sadness, for state empathy with happiness few trait-state associations were found. Together, the findings provide support for the notion that empathy is a multi-faceted phenomenon. Motor, affective and cognitive empathy seem to be related processes, each playing a different role in the ability to understand and share others' feelings.

Standardization of facial electromyographic responses.

In behavioral studies, facial electromyographic (EMG) responses to external stimuli or internal events are usually quantified relative to the resting state, presumed to represent a neutral baseline condition. In the large majority of recent studies, EMG responses were expressed as a difference score in terms of microvolts with the resting state. We argue that since EMG activity is measured on a ratio scale rather than on an interval scale, percentage scores should be used instead of difference scores. Reanalyzing results from an earlier study on the relationships between facial EMG responses and affective empathic responses to emotional video clips, we found that the two different types of EMG response quantification were differently related to affective empathy. Relationships between EMG responses and affective empathy were more consistent or stronger for percentage scores than for difference scores. In another study, facial EMG mimicry responses to pictures of emotional facial expressions were stronger for percentage scores than for difference scores. The adequacy of percentage scores relative to difference scores as indices of psychological variables may be simply checked by comparing both types of scores.

The moderating role of empathy in the association between parental support and adolescent aggressive and delinquent behavior.

The present two-wave longitudinal study addressed the role of affective empathy and parental support in aggressive and delinquent behavior in a sample of 323 adolescents (158 boys, 165 girls). Self-report questionnaires were used to assess affective empathy, perceived support from parents, delinquency, and aggression. Guided by theories on children's differential susceptibility to socialization, we expected adolescents with different levels of empathy to vary in their responsiveness to parental support. In agreement with our hypothesis, empathy moderated the relation of perceived parental support with aggressive and delinquent behavior. Controlling for the effect of gender and for the stability of aggression and delinquency, higher perceived parental support was predictive of lower levels of aggression at age 15, but only for adolescents high in empathy. Remarkably, adolescents low in empathy not only appeared to benefit less from parental support, but even showed more aggression and delinquency at age 15 when they perceived their parents to be more supportive at age 14.

What Should I do and Who's to blame? A cross-national study on youth's attitudes and beliefs in times of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 crisis has had a major impact on youth. This study examined factors associated with youth's attitudes towards their government's response to the pandemic and their blaming of individuals from certain risk groups, ethnic backgrounds, and countries or regions. In a sample of 5,682 young adults (Mage = 22) from 14 countries, lower perceived burden due to COVID-19, more collectivistic and less individualistic values, and more empathy were associated with more positive attitudes towards the government and less blaming of individuals of certain groups. Youth's social identification with others in the pandemic mediated these associations in the same direction, apart from the COVID-19 burden on attitudes, which had a positive indirect effect. No evidence of country-level moderation was found.

Day-to-day spillover and long-term transmission of interparental conflict to adolescent-mother conflict: The role of mood.

Conflicts may drift from one family dyad to another. Short-term spillover and long-term transmission processes suggest that interparental conflict will cause parent-adolescent conflict, and vice versa, as well as that negative mood of parents and adolescents may be one of the transferring mechanisms. This multi-informant daily diary study is among the first to test the day-to-day and year-to-year cross-lagged effects between interparental conflict and later parent-child conflict at the level of individual families (as compared to between-family studies). Also, this study investigated the mediating role of negative mood. Data came from 443 Dutch adolescents (M = 13.02, 44.5% girls) and their mothers. A total of 75 daily diaries regarding conflict and negative mood were completed across 15 weeks spread over 5 years. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were applied to investigate long-term year-to-year transmission, and Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling was used to investigate short-term day-to-day spillover. Overall, we found neither short-term spillover, nor long-term transmission, as the reciprocal cross-lagged effects between interparental conflict and adolescent-mother conflict were nonsignificant. Even though we found direct and reciprocal cross-lagged effects between negative mood and both interparental and adolescent-mother conflict on both the day-to-day and year-to-year timescales, both the direct and the indirect effects between interparental and adolescent-mother conflict were nonsignificant. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Moderates the Relation between Parent-Adolescent Relationship Quality and Adolescents' Social Adjustment.

This 2-wave longitudinal study aimed (1) to investigate whether high resting RSA predicted adolescents' lower externalizing behavior and higher empathic concern, and (2) to address the potential moderating role of resting RSA in the association between parent-adolescent relationship quality and adolescents' externalizing behavior and empathic concern. In a sample of 379 adolescents (212 boys, 167 girls), resting RSA was assessed during a laboratory session, and adolescents reported on parental support, negative interaction with parents, empathic concern and externalizing behavior during a home visit. We found no support for high resting RSA predicting low externalizing behavior or high empathic concern. However, in line with our hypotheses, we did find several instances of RSA functioning as a moderator, although the interaction patterns varied. First, negative interaction with parents was a negative predictor of externalizing behavior for girls low in resting RSA, whereas the association was non-significant for girls with high RSA. Second, higher negative interaction with parents predicted lower empathic concern for boys high in resting RSA, whereas the association was reversed for boys with low resting RSA. Third, parental support was a positive predictor of empathic concern for girls high in resting RSA, whereas the association was non-significant for girls low in resting RSA. The findings suggest that adolescents with different levels of resting RSA respond differentially to relationship quality with parents.

The Dynamic Interplay among Maternal Empathy, Quality of Mother-Adolescent Relationship, and Adolescent Antisocial Behaviors: New Insights from a Six-Wave Longitudinal Multi-Informant Study.

Adolescents' behavior is often a matter of concern, given their increased likelihood of enacting antisocial behaviors, which cause disruptions in the social order and are potentially harmful for the adolescents themselves and for the people around them. In this six-wave longitudinal study we sought to examine the interplay among maternal empathy, multiple indicators of mother-adolescent relationship quality (i.e., balanced relatedness, conflict, and support), and adolescent antisocial behaviors rated both by adolescents and their mothers. Participants for the current study were 497 Dutch adolescents (56.9% males) followed from age 13 to 18, and their mothers. A series of cross-lagged panel models revealed reciprocal associations between maternal empathy and mother-adolescent relationship quality and between mother-adolescent relationship quality and adolescent antisocial behaviors. Interestingly, we also found some indirect effects of adolescent antisocial behaviors on maternal empathy mediated by mother-adolescent relationship quality. Overall, this study further highlights a process of reciprocal influences within mother-adolescent dyads.