"Wild Years": Rock Music, Problem Behaviors and Mental Well-being in Adolescence and Young Adulthood.

Adolescent preferences for non-mainstream types of rock music can be markers of adolescent problem behaviors, but no study has ever investigated whether this relationship continues into adulthood. In a six-wave study, 900 Dutch adolescents were followed from ages 12 to 21 (Mage T1 12.4, 51.1% girls), while reporting on depressive symptoms, mental well-being, aggression and drug use. A latent class growth analysis on their preferences for specific types of rock music revealed four fan groups. When these fan groups were compared to one another, in adolescence, the all-out rock fans displayed the highest peak in depressive symptoms and the lowest dip in well-being and the rock/metal fans reported the most aggression. And for both these groups, drug use increased at the onset of adulthood. Pop fans displayed a profile characterized by low depressive symptoms and aggression, and high in mental well-being. Finally, the popular rock fans held an in-between position between pop fans, on one side, and the all-out rock fans and rock/metal fans, on the other side. Thus, music preferences can be markers of problems, not only in adolescence but also in young adulthood. Still, music can enhance mood, helps to cope with problems, and peers in fan groups can provide support. This research focuses on the relationship between music and problem behaviors, specifically among members of the all-out rock fans and rock/metal fans, but many of these young people might have had more personal problems if they had not had their music and their fan-group peers.

Goth Music and Depressive Symptoms among Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study.

Identification with Goth youth culture has been related to elevated levels of depression, self-harm and suicide ideation. However, this identification may be difficult to assess as Goth is stigmatized and adolescents may hesitate to self-identify. Conversely, adolescents readily respond to questions on their music preferences. This study addresses the potential link between liking Goth music and depressive symptoms in a four-year study among 10 to 15-year-olds (N = 940, M age = 12.4 at T1, 49% female). In this study, it was found that Goth music is only liked by a small minority of adolescents (4 to 11%). Both girls and boys who liked Goth music reported increased levels of depressive symptoms as they grew older. The findings of this study suggest that a preference for Goth music emerges as an early, sensitive marker of dormant or developing depressive symptoms in adolescents. The mechanisms through which music preferences can translate into or sustain depressive symptoms are discussed.

A 6-Year Longitudinal Study of Adolescents and Mothers Depression Symptoms and Their Perception of Support and Conflict.

Interpersonal theories of adolescent depression assume that adolescent and maternal depression symptoms affect adolescent and maternal perceptions of their relationship quality. However, little attention has been given to examining potential bidirectional prospective associations between both adolescent and maternal perceptions of the mother-adolescent relationship and adolescent and maternal depression symptoms across adolescence. We hypothesized that the longitudinal associations between adolescent and maternal depression symptoms and adolescent and maternal perception of conflict and support in the mother-adolescent relationship would be bidirectional. In this 6-year longitudinal study, 497 adolescents (Mage = 13.03) and their mothers participated. Each year both adolescents and their mothers completed questionnaires of their depression symptoms and their perception of conflict and support in the mother-adolescent relationship. Structural equation modelling cross-lagged panel models were constructed and analyzed. The cross-lagged panel models found bidirectional longitudinal associations between adolescent depressive symptoms and higher adolescent-reported conflict and lower adolescent-reported support. In contrast, maternal depressive symptoms were only unidirectionally associated with higher maternal-reported conflict, lower maternal-reported support and higher adolescent depression symptoms. Finally, positive bidirectional longitudinal associations were found between adolescent-reported and maternal-reported conflict, and between adolescent-reported and maternal-reported support. The findings of this study are discussed in relation to Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Adolescents (IPT-A).

Individual differences in anxiety trajectories from Grades 2 to 8: Impact of the middle school transition.

This study examined the impact of the middle school transition on general anxiety trajectories from middle childhood to middle adolescence, as well as how youths' individual vulnerability and exposure to contextual stressors were associated with anxiety trajectories. Participants were 631 youth (47% boys, M age = 7.96 years at Time 1), followed for 7 successive years from second to eighth grade. Teachers reported on youths' individual vulnerability to anxiety (anxious solitude) in second grade; youth reported on their anxiety in second to eighth grade and aspects of their social contexts particularly relevant to the school transition (school hassles, peer victimization, parent-child relationship quality, and friendship quality) in sixth to eighth grade. The results revealed two subgroups that showed either strongly increasing (5%) or decreasing (14%) levels of anxiety across the transition and two subgroups with fairly stable levels of either high (11%) or low (70%) anxiety over time. Youth in the latter two subgroups could be distinguished based on their individual vulnerability to anxiety, whereas youth with increasing anxiety reported more contextual stressors and less contextual support than youth with decreasing anxiety. In sum, findings suggest that the middle school transition has the potential to alter developmental trajectories of anxiety for some youth, for better or for worse.

Longitudinal associations between social anxiety symptoms and cannabis use throughout adolescence: the role of peer involvement.

There appear to be contradicting theories and empirical findings on the association between adolescent Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) symptoms and cannabis use, suggesting potential risk as well as protective pathways. The aim of this six-year longitudinal study was to further examine associations between SAD symptoms and cannabis use over time in adolescents from the general population, specifically focusing on the potential role that adolescents' involvement with their peers may have in these associations. Participants were 497 Dutch adolescents (57 % boys; M age = 13.03 at T1), who completed annual self-report questionnaires for 6 successive years. Cross-lagged panel analysis suggested that adolescent SAD symptoms were associated with less peer involvement 1 year later. Less adolescent peer involvement was in turn associated with lower probabilities of cannabis use as well as lower frequency of cannabis use 1 year later. Most importantly, results suggested significant longitudinal indirect paths from adolescent SAD symptoms to cannabis use via adolescents' peer involvement. Overall, these results provide support for a protective function of SAD symptoms in association with cannabis use in adolescents from the general population. This association is partially explained by less peer involvement (suggesting increased social isolation) for those adolescents with higher levels of SAD symptoms. Future research should aim to gain more insight into the exact nature of the relationship between anxiety and cannabis use in adolescents from the general population, especially regarding potential risk and protective processes that may explain this relationship.

Mother and adolescent expressed emotion and adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptom development: a six-year longitudinal study.

In expressed emotion (EE) theory, it is held that high EE household environments enhance adolescent psychopathological distress. However, no longitudinal study has been conducted to examine if either the mother's EE or the adolescent's perception of EE predicts adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptom dimensions (an EE effect model) or vice versa (psychopathological effect model) together in one model. To unravel the reciprocal influences of maternal and adolescent perceived EE to adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptom dimensions, we tested two (i.e., one for internalizing and one for externalizing) cross-lagged panel models. In this study, it was found that both internalizing and externalizing symptom dimensions predicted the adolescent's perception of maternal EE as well as the mother's own rated EE criticism over time. The findings of this study should give both researchers and therapists a reason to reevaluate only using the EE effects model assumption in future EE studies.

Daily Dynamics of Adolescent Mood and Identity.

Important linkages between daily mood and identity formation have been theorized, but have not been empirically tested as of yet. This study provided a first examination of these linkages within individuals (N = 392; 55.1% boys; Mage at T1 = 13.24, SD = 0.44) across 15 series of 5 days distributed over 5 years. Results revealed negative within-time associations of educational and relational commitment with negative mood. Negative mood was positively associated with educational in-depth exploration and educational and interpersonal reconsideration. Additionally, there were some cross-lagged effects suggesting that identity and mood mutually affect one another across days. These results contribute to the growing knowledge on how identity unfolds in everyday life by revealing important associations with daily mood.

Direct Aggression and Generalized Anxiety in Adolescence: Heterogeneity in Development and Intra-Individual Change.

Co-occurrence of aggression and anxiety might change during adolescence, or stay stable. We studied change and stability of four types of co-occurrence regarding direct aggression and anxiety in adolescence: an anxious and non-aggressive type, an aggressive and non-anxious type, a comorbid aggressive-anxious type and a no problems type. We applied a person-centered approach to assess increases and decreases of these types, and tested various models of intra-individual change of the types: the stability, acting out and failure models. We used data from a five-wave study of 923 early-to-middle and 390 middle-to-late adolescents (48.5 % male), thereby covering the ages of 12-20. We observed accelerated development in the older cohort: adolescents tended to grow faster out of the aggressive types in middle-to-late adolescence than in early-to-middle adolescence. We observed one other group-dependent pattern of heterogeneity in development, namely "gender differentiation": gender differences in aggression and generalized anxiety became stronger over time. We found support for two perspectives on intra-individual change of the four types, namely the stability and the acting out perspective. The no problems--and to a lesser extent the anxious--type proved to be stable across time. Acting out was found in early-to-middle adolescents, males, and adolescents with poorer-quality friendships. In all three groups, there were substantial transitions from the anxious type to the aggressive type during 4 years (between 20 and 41 %). Remarkably, acting out was most prevalent in subgroups that, generally speaking, are more vulnerable for aggressive behavior, namely early-to-middle adolescents and males. We interpret acting out as the attempt of adolescents to switch from anxiety to instrumental aggression, in order to become more visible and obtain an autonomous position in the adolescent world. Acting out contributed to the explanation of accelerated development and gender differentiation. We also observed an increase of adolescents with no problems. These findings highlight that the co-occurrence of aggression and anxiety changes considerably during adolescence, but also that the anxious and no problems types are quite stable in this period.

Heterogeneity in development of adolescent anxiety disorder symptoms in an 8-year longitudinal community study.

In this study, we prospectively examined developmental trajectories of five anxiety disorder symptom dimensions (generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, school anxiety, separation anxiety disorder, and social anxiety disorder) from early to late adolescence in a community sample of 239 adolescents, assessed annually over 8 years. Latent growth modeling indicated different developmental trajectories from early into late adolescence for the different anxiety disorder symptoms, with some symptoms decreasing and other symptoms increasing over time. Sex differences in developmental trajectories were found for some symptoms, but not all. Furthermore, latent class growth analysis identified a normal developmental profile (including a majority of adolescents reporting persistent low anxiety disorder symptoms over 8 years) and an at-risk developmental profile (including a minority of adolescents reporting persistent high anxiety disorder symptoms over 8 years) for all of the anxiety disorder symptom dimensions except panic disorder. Additional analyses longitudinally supported the validity of these normal and at-risk developmental profiles and suggested differential associations between different anxiety disorder symptom dimensions and developmental trajectories of substance use, parenting, and identity development. Taken together, our results emphasize the importance of examining separate dimensions of anxiety disorder symptoms in contrast to a using a global, one-dimensional approach to anxiety.

Longitudinal effects of sibling relationship quality on adolescent problem behavior: a cross-ethnic comparison.

The aim of the present study was to examine whether adolescents of Moroccan and Dutch origin differ concerning sibling relationship quality and to examine whether the associations between quality of the sibling relationship and level and change in externalizing and internalizing problem behavior are comparable for Moroccan and Dutch adolescents. Five annual waves of questionnaire data on sibling support and conflict as well as externalizing problems, anxiety and depression were collected from 159 ethnic Moroccan adolescents (Mage = 13.3 years) and from 159 ethnic Dutch adolescents (Mage = 13.0 years). Our findings demonstrated significant mean level differences between the Moroccan and Dutch sample in sibling relationship quality, externalizing problems, and depression, with Moroccan adolescents reporting higher sibling relationship quality and less problem behavior. However, effects of sibling relationship quality on externalizing problems, anxiety, and depression were similar for the Moroccan and Dutch samples. Sibling support was not related to level of externalizing problems, nor to changes in externalizing problems, anxiety, and depression. Additionally, more sibling conflict was related to a higher starting level of and faster decreases in problem behaviors. Our results support the ethnic equivalence model, which holds that the influence of family relationships is similar for different ethnic groups. Moreover, sibling support and conflict affect both the level and the fluctuations in problem behavior over time in specific ethnic groups similarly. Implications for future studies and interventions are subsequently discussed.

Self-concept clarity across adolescence: longitudinal associations with open communication with parents and internalizing symptoms.

Higher self-concept clarity is related to several adjustment indices and may be promoted by open communication with parents, while problems with self-concept clarity development could enhance internalizing problems (i.e., depressive and anxiety symptoms) in adolescence. This longitudinal study examined linkages between self-concept clarity, adolescents' open communication with parents, and adolescent depressive and anxiety symptoms. Dutch youths (N = 323; 51.1 % girls; mean age Time 1 = 13.3 years) reported on these constructs over four consecutive annual measurements. Concurrent positive links between open communication and self-concept clarity were found at Time 1. Over time, higher levels of open communication with parents predicted higher self-concept clarity only in middle adolescence (mean age between 14 and 15 years). We also found concurrent associations between self-concept clarity and both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Longitudinally, lower self-concept clarity predicted relatively higher levels of depressive symptoms across all waves, and also higher anxiety levels from Time 1 to Time 2. Conversely, higher levels of anxiety also predicted lower levels of self-concept clarity during the first three waves. Self-concept clarity did not mediate the longitudinal associations between open communication and internalizing symptoms. This study is one of the first to investigate self-concept clarity across adolescence. It highlights the possible importance of both anxiety symptoms and communication with parents in understanding the development of a clear self-concept, and demonstrates an association between lower self-concept clarity and higher levels of later depressive and anxiety symptoms.

Psychological well-being in Europe after the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has had devastating effects on the Ukrainian population and the global economy, environment, and political order. However, little is known about the psychological states surrounding the outbreak of war, particularly the mental well-being of individuals outside Ukraine. Here, we present a longitudinal experience-sampling study of a convenience sample from 17 European countries (total participants = 1,341, total assessments = 44,894, countries with >100 participants = 5) that allows us to track well-being levels across countries during the weeks surrounding the outbreak of war. Our data show a significant decline in well-being on the day of the Russian invasion. Recovery over the following weeks was associated with an individual's personality but was not statistically significantly associated with their age, gender, subjective social status, and political orientation. In general, well-being was lower on days when the war was more salient on social media. Our results demonstrate the need to consider the psychological implications of the Russo-Ukrainian war next to its humanitarian, economic, and ecological consequences.

Is adolescent generalized anxiety disorder a magnet for negative parental interpersonal behaviors?

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have found that perceived parental interpersonal interaction behaviors, such as rejection, overcontrol, and negative attachment behaviors, increase adolescent generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms. However, most of these studies have been cross-sectional, as opposed to longitudinal, and have examined these perceived parental interaction behaviors individually. Hence, the goal of this longitudinal study is to examine these perceived parental behaviors and adolescent GAD symptoms together, in one model, to examine the unique effects each has on one another. METHODS: Participants were 923 adolescents from the general community. The adolescent population was comprised of both boys (50.7%) and girls (49.3%) with an average age of 12 at the first measurement. In a prospective, 5-year longitudinal design, the adolescents completed questionnaires of parental interaction behaviors and adolescent GAD symptoms on the first, third, and fifth years of the study. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling cross-lagged panel model analyses were conducted to examine the effects perceived parental interaction behaviors and adolescent GAD have on one another. It was found that adolescent GAD consistently predicted parental interpersonal interaction behaviors longitudinally. CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that adolescent GAD influences the perception of parental interpersonal behaviors. And the influence adolescent GAD may have on these perceived parental interpersonal behaviors is to create an environment in which the parents are perceived to begin to disengage in their interactions with their adolescent.

Impact of early adolescent externalizing problem behaviors on identity development in middle to late adolescence: a prospective 7-year longitudinal study.

Adolescents at-risk for problem behaviors can have more difficulties in developing a firm sense of personal identity. Hence the purpose of this prospective longitudinal study was to scrutinize how externalizing problems in early adolescence impact identity development in middle to late adolescence. Participants were 443 (43.12% female) Dutch adolescents. Teachers rated their externalizing problem behaviors when participants were 11 or 12 years old and their identity formation was studied during five consecutive years (from 14 to 18 years of age). The sample was divided into four groups: boys and girls with a high versus a low-risk for externalizing problem behaviors. Participants completed a self-report measure of identity commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment. Multi-group Latent Growth Curve and profile stability analyses were used to evaluate identity development across adolescence. Findings indicated that high-risk boys and girls reported a less structured identity, with lower levels of commitment and higher levels of reconsideration of commitment. Since externalizing problems behaviors and lack of a coherent sense of identity might reinforce each other, early intervention for high-risk adolescents might foster positive youth development.

Characterizing the self-system over time in adolescence: internal structure and associations with internalizing symptoms.

The longitudinal effects among self and identity processes, and between these processes and internalizing symptoms, are not well understood. As a result, the present study was designed to ascertain the over-time effects among identity commitment, reconsideration of commitments, and self-concept clarity, as well as to map the interplay of these self and identity processes with anxiety and depressive symptoms in early adolescence. A sample of 923 Dutch adolescents (mean age 12.4 years at Time 1; 49.3% female) participated at each of five annual assessments. Multivariate growth curve and cross-lagged panel models indicated that the association between self-concept clarity and commitment was bidirectional, that reconsideration occurs based on problems or dissatisfaction with self-concept clarity and with identity commitments, and that self-concept clarity (but not commitment or reconsideration) temporally precedes depressive and anxiety symptoms. Results are discussed in terms of the structure of the self-system and its associations with internalizing symptoms.

A meta-analysis of the cross-cultural psychometric properties of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED).

BACKGROUND: Accumulating studies have demonstrated that the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), a modern youth anxiety questionnaire with scales explicitly designed to map onto specific DSM-IV-TR anxiety disorders, has good psychometric properties for children and adolescents from various countries. However, no study has yet been conducted as to the overall strength of the psychometric properties found in these studies. METHODS: Studies were collected from the PsycINFO, PubMed, SSCI, SCI-Expanded, ERIC, and A&HCI databases from the year of the SCARED's first publication (1997) to the present. The inclusion criteria focused on all studies that examined the psychometric properties of the SCARED. RESULTS: We retained 21 articles, reporting a total of 25 studies from predominantly Europe (Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands) and the USA, as well as South Africa and China, which matched our inclusion criteria. It was found that the psychometric properties were robust for the SCARED scales related to the symptoms of DSM-IV-TR anxiety disorders, that females scored significantly higher than males and that age had a moderating effect on male and female score differences. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests that the SCARED can be utilized as a screening instrument for DSM-IV-TR anxiety disorder symptom dimensions for children and adolescents from various countries.

How does longitudinally measured maternal expressed emotion affect internalizing and externalizing symptoms of adolescents from the general community?

BACKGROUND: In previous studies, maternal expressed emotion (EE) has been found to be a good predictor of the course of adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms. However, these studies have been cross-section as opposed to longitudinal. The goal of this study is to examine longitudinal data of perceived maternal EE and adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms to determine if maternal EE affected the course of adolescent symptoms (a parent effect model), or if the course of adolescent symptoms affected maternal EE (a child effect model), or if maternal EE and adolescent symptoms affected one another bidirectionally. METHODS: Dutch adolescents (N = 497; 57% boys; M = 13 years) from the general community and their mothers were prospectively studied annually for three years. At all waves the mothers completed the Level of Expressed Emotion (LEE) questionnaire and the adolescents completed self-rated measures of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the longitudinal data. RESULTS: The results of the SEM analyses clearly demonstrate that a child effect model best describes the relationship between maternal EE and the course of adolescent internalizing and externalizing symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: This longitudinal study of the mothers' EE perceptions suggests that it is the course of the internalizing and externalizing symptoms of adolescents from the general community that affects maternal EE, and not the mothers' perceived EE influencing the course of the adolescents' symptoms. Since this study was based on adolescents from the general community, it is suggested that these findings should also be replicated in clinical samples of adolescents.

The predictive capacity of perceived expressed emotion as a dynamic entity of adolescents from the general community.

BACKGROUND: In previous studies, it has been demonstrated that high parental expressed emotion (EE) is predictive of depressive, aggressive and delinquency symptoms of adolescents. Two issues have received much less prominence in EE research, these being studies of adolescent perceived EE and the measurement of the EE as a dynamic, developmental construct. This 4-year, three-wave, longitudinal study of perceived EE of adolescents from the general community examines if adolescent perceived EE measured with the traditional, one-measurement EE approach as well as adolescent perceived EE measured with a repeated measured, dynamic EE approach can predict adolescent depressive, aggressive and delinquency symptoms. METHODS: Dutch adolescents (N = 285; 51% girls; M = 13 years) from the general community were prospectively studied annually for 4 years. At all waves, the adolescents completed the Level of Expressed Emotion (LEE) questionnaire and at the final wave also completed self-rated measures of depressive, aggressive and delinquent symptoms. Growth models were used to predict adolescent symptoms from adolescent perceived EE. RESULTS: Growth models significantly predicted adolescent depressive, aggressive and delinquency symptoms from adolescent perceived EE. CONCLUSIONS: This study of the LEE demonstrates that developmental characteristics of EE are predictive of adolescents' symptoms. These findings hold implications for current EE intervention therapies and the conceptualization of EE.

The direction of effects between perceived parental behavioral control and psychological control and adolescents' self-reported GAD and SAD symptoms.

This study examined the direction of effects and age and sex differences between adolescents' perceptions of parental behavioral and psychological control and adolescents' self-reports of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and separation anxiety disorder (SAD) symptoms. The study focused on 1,313 Dutch adolescents (early-to-middle cohort n = 923, 70.3%; middle-to-late cohort n = 390, 29.7%) from the general population. A multi-group, structural equation model was employed to analyze the direction of the effects between behavioral control, psychological control and GAD and SAD symptoms for the adolescent cohorts. The current study demonstrated that a unidirectional child effect model of the adolescents' GAD and SAD symptoms predicting parental control best described the data. Additionally, adolescent GAD and SAD symptoms were stronger and more systematically related to psychological control than to behavioral control. With regard to age-sex differences, anxiety symptoms almost systematically predicted parental control over time for the early adolescent boys, whereas no significant differences were found between the late adolescent boys and girls.