Black Emotions Matter: Understanding the Impact of Racial Oppression on Black Youth's Emotional Development: Dismantling Systems of Racism and Oppression During Adolescence: Dismantling Systems of Racism and Oppression During Adolescence.

Black US Americans' emotions are subject to stereotypes about the anger and aggression of Black people. These stereotypes are readily applied to Black adolescents' emotions. The purpose of this conceptual paper is to operationalize racial oppression in the emotional lives of Black adolescents through an application of García Coll et al.'s (1996) ecological model for minority youth development. We specify emotionally inhibitive features of Black adolescents' schools, the adaptive culture of Black Americans in the United States that responds to emotional inhibition, Black families' emotion socialization processes, and Black adolescents' emotional flexibility behaviors. Throughout, we integrate findings from research on Black adolescents' emotional adjustment with research on cultural values, emotion and racial socialization, school-based racial experiences, and theory on emotion and cultural navigation.

Discrimination and Substance Use: Examining the Moderating Role of Impulsivity among Racial-Ethnic Minority Adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Research on substance use among racial-ethnic minority populations notes that discrimination experiences predict substance use outcomes. Individual-level factors, such as impulsivity, are also known risk factors for substance use. However, little is known about the direct and interaction effects between discrimination experiences and impulsivity among racial-ethnic minority youth. The current study examines the effects of perceived experiences of discrimination on alcohol and marijuana use among racial-ethnic minority youth, and whether individual differences in impulsivity traits help to further understand potential risk for substance use. METHODS: Participants were 112 racial-ethnic minority adolescents (Mage = 15.27; African American, Hispanic, Multiracial, Native American/Alaskan Native, or Other). Adolescents completed self-report measures of perceived experiences of discrimination, alcohol and marijuana use (past year occurrence and problematic use), and five impulsivity traits (i.e., sensation seeking, lack of planning, lack of perseverance, negative urgency, and positive urgency). RESULTS: A significant main effect of perceived discrimination on problem marijuana use was found, as well as a significant main effect of lack of premeditation on current marijuana use. Several marginally significant main effects emerged for alcohol use and problem alcohol use (i.e., positive urgency and sensation seeking, respectively). CONCLUSION: While no significant moderation effects emerged, marginal findings suggest a potential interactive effect of discrimination and impulsivity traits on problem alcohol and marijuana use among racial-ethnic minority youth. Further research is needed in this area to replicate findings, which is critical to informing effective intervention and prevention efforts for this population of youth.

The associations between African American emerging adults' racial discrimination and civic engagement via emotion regulation.

OBJECTIVE: The current study tested direct and indirect associations between racial discrimination and civic engagement via emotion regulation strategies. Differences between males and females were also explored. METHOD: African American college students (76% female; Mage = 18.42) participating in a university-wide research study provided self-reports of their racial discrimination experiences, use of emotion regulation strategies, and civic engagement attitudes and beliefs. RESULTS: Greater racial discrimination was associated with less use of reappraisal (i.e., thinking about emotions in a different way) and, in turn, use of reappraisal was associated with greater civic engagement attitudes. The same association was found for civic engagement behaviors. However, reappraisal was associated with greater civic engagement behaviors for females and less civic engagement behaviors for males. CONCLUSION: The current study highlights the need to consider the role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies on college students' sociopolitical development and civic engagement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

A placebo prognostic index (PI) as a moderator of outcomes in the treatment of adolescent depression: Could it inform risk-stratification in treatment with cognitive-behavioral therapy, fluoxetine, or their combination?

Introduction: Researchers have proposed that predicting who is a likely placebo responder may help guide treatment allocations to treatment regimens that differ in intensity. Methods: We used data from the Treatment of Adolescent Depression Study (TADS) in which adolescents (n = 439) were randomized 1:1:1:1 to placebo, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), medications (MEDs), or their combination (COMB). We developed a prognostic index (PI) in the placebo group to predict self-reported (RADS) and observer-rated (CDRS) depression outcomes using elastic net regularization. We explored whether the PIs moderated outcomes in the treatment conditions. Results: PI-CDRS was predicted by multiple variables but it did not moderate outcomes. PI-RADS was predicted by baseline severity, age, sleep problems, expectations, maternal depression, and the action stage of change. It moderated outcomes such that there were treatment differences for less placebo-responsive patients. For participants prone to placebo response, type of treatment had no statistically significant impact on outcomes. Baseline depression severity accounted for this effect: treatment differences were small and non-significant for patients with milder depression but larger in more severely depressed patients. Discussion: Future work should investigate whether multiple variable explain outcomes beyond severity as well as complex interactions between severity and other variables.

Longitudinal relations between emotional awareness and expression, emotion regulation, and peer victimization among urban adolescents.

INTRODUCTION: There are potential long-term psychosocial effects of experiencing peer victimization during adolescence, including: internalizing symptoms, externalizing behaviors, and risks behaviors such as substance use. While social-emotional theories of development note associations between deficits in emotion competencies and peer victimization in childhood, these associations are less established among adolescent samples. Identifying which inadequacies in emotional competence place particular adolescents at risk for peer victimization may provide insight into the developmental pathways leading to unfavorable outcomes. METHODS: The current study examined the relation between emotional competence and overt peer victimization among adolescents. Adolescents living in a mid-sized urban city in the southeastern region of the United States (N = 357; Mage = 12.14 years, 92% African American) reported their emotional awareness and reluctance to express emotion at baseline. Two years later, adolescents reported their regulation of anger and caregivers reported on adolescents' global emotion regulation. Adolescents also reported on occurrences of overt peer victimization during the previous 30 days at baseline and during the two-year follow up. RESULTS: Our hypothesized model fit the data adequately. Greater emotion awareness was associated with higher scores on caregiver-rated emotion regulation and adolescent-rated anger regulation two years later, and in turn, lower frequencies of overt victimization by peers. Further, greater expressive reluctance was associated with greater anger regulation, and in turn, lower frequencies of overt victimization by peers. Patterns of associations did not vary by sex or age. CONCLUSIONS: The present study extends models of social-emotional development and peer interactions into the development age stage of adolescence.

Emotion dysregulation, anticipatory cortisol, and substance use in urban adolescents.

Anticipatory cortisol is associated with risk for substance use in adolescents. The present study extended prior literature by testing a model linking family emotional climate, emotion dysregulation, anticipatory cortisol, and substance use. Participants were 229 adolescents (M = 11.94 years, SD = 1.55; 41% male; 92% African American) enrolled in a 4-wave study of stressors, physiological stress responses, and substance use. Caregivers completed measures of family emotional climate at baseline and adolescents' emotion dysregulation one and two years later; adolescents reported on their substance use at baseline and three years later at Wave 4. Adolescents completed a stress task at Wave 4; saliva samples taken immediately prior to the task were analyzed for cortisol. Longitudinal path models revealed that a negative emotional climate at home was associated with elevated emotion dysregulation at subsequent waves for all youth. Emotional dysregulation was prospectively associated with blunted anticipatory cortisol, which in turn was associated with elevated substance use, controlling for baseline substance use and age. However, these associations only were observed for females. This study suggests that helping girls in particular manage their emotional responses to stress more effectively may impact their physiological responses and reduce risk for substance use.

Race/ethnic differences in the association of anxiety, depression, and discrimination with subsequent nicotine and cannabis use among young adults: A prospective longitudinal study.

INTRODUCTION: The shifting patterns in nicotine and cannabis use among young adults is taking place at a time when there is also increased reports of psychosocial stressors such as anxiety, depression, and everyday discrimination. Although race/ethnicity has been found to moderate the impact of psychosocial stressors, there is limited research examining the association of anxiety, depression, and discrimination with patterns of nicotine and/or cannabis product use among diverse young adults. METHODS: Data were from a longitudinal study of 2478 US young adults surveyed between 2019 and 2021. General estimating equation models were used to examine associations of self-reported psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety) and social stressors (discrimination) with substance use (any nicotine and cannabis product use; nicotine and cannabis vaping). RESULTS: Young adults from different racial/ethnic groups differed significantly in their depression and discrimination scores with young adults of color having higher mean scores. Overall, higher depression and everyday discrimination score was associated with increased odds of past 6-month use of any nicotine/tobacco and cannabis products. Higher generalized anxiety score increased odds of any nicotine/tobacco and dual nicotine and cannabis product use. Higher everyday discrimination score was associated with increased odds nicotine and cannabis vaping overall. Stratified models showed variation in associations among different racial/ethnic groups. CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial stressors are associated with increased substance use odds among young adults. However, these stressors have a differential impact on substance use odds among young adults from different racial/ethnic contexts.

Racial-Ethnic Differences in ADHD Diagnosis and Treatment During Adolescence and Early Adulthood.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined racial-ethnic differences in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and treatment during adolescence and early adulthood. METHODS: A national health care claims database was used to identify a cohort of 4,216,757 commercially insured youths with at least 1 year of coverage during 2014-2019. Racial-ethnic differences in the prevalence of visits with a recorded ADHD diagnosis (identified through ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM codes) and of ADHD treatment (identified through medical claims for psychosocial treatments and pharmacy claims for ADHD medications) were examined. Period prevalence rates were determined within five age categories, stratified by race-ethnicity. Poisson regression with a natural log link was used within each age category to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) comparing prevalence in each racially and ethnically minoritized group with prevalence in the White group. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of ADHD diagnosis was 9.1% at ages 12-14 and 5.3% at ages 24-25. In each age category, Asian, Black, and Hispanic youths had lower prevalence of ADHD diagnosis than did White youths (PR=0.29-0.77). Among youths with an ADHD diagnosis, relative racial-ethnic differences in treatment were small (PR=0.92-1.03). CONCLUSIONS: Throughout adolescence and early adulthood, racially and ethnically minoritized youths were less likely than White youths to have health care visits with recorded ADHD diagnoses and, among those with diagnoses, were also slightly less likely to receive treatment. More research is needed to understand the processes underlying these differences and their potential health consequences among racially and ethnically minoritized youths.

Traditional risk and cultural protection: Correlates of alcohol and cannabis co-use among African-American adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Previous work indicates that African-American adolescents are at high risk for concurrent alcohol and cannabis use. The present study examines the associations of traditional ecological predictors of substance use with concurrent alcohol and cannabis use among African-American adolescents. It also examines whether racial identity, a culturally relevant factor, is associated with concurrent use beyond the influence of traditional factors. METHOD: Secondary analyses were conducted based on a large survey of high school adolescents. Responses on self-report measures of substance use and psychosocial determinants of health were examined for those respondents in grades 9-12 who identified as African American (N = 465; 59.8% female). RESULTS: Findings demonstrated that traditional risk and resilience factors, including externalizing symptoms and substance use beliefs, were related to alcohol and cannabis co-use relative to other patterns of use among African-American adolescents. Racial identity dimensions were also associated with alcohol and cannabis co-use beyond the influence of traditional factors. However, the direction of these associations varied by dimension. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from the present study assist in advancing the current knowledge base by identifying potential risk and protective factors for alcohol and cannabis co-use among African-American youth, who face increasing rates of this substance use pattern. They also underscore the importance of accounting for cultural variability in models of adolescent substance use among this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Social Media Use, Physical Activity, and Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescence: Cross-sectional Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Most American adolescents have access to smartphones, and recent estimates suggest that they spend considerable time on social media compared with other physical and leisure activities. A large body of literature has established that social media use is related to poor mental health, but the complicated relationship between social media and symptoms of depression and anxiety in adolescents is yet to be fully understood. OBJECTIVE: We aim to investigate the relationship between social media use and depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescents by exploring physical activity as a mediator. METHODS: A Qualtrics survey manager recruited adult panel participants between February and March 2019, who indicated that they had adolescent children who spoke English. A total of 4592 adolescent-parent dyads completed the survey that took approximately 39 minutes. The survey entailed completing web-based questionnaires assessing various aspects of social media use, psychological symptoms, and psychosocial factors. The average age of the adolescent participants was 14.62 (SD 1.68; range 12-17) years, and the majority of the adolescent sample was male (2392/4592, 52.09%). RESULTS: Total social media use was associated with more depressive symptoms (multiple R2=0.12; F3,4480=207.1; P<.001), anxiety (multiple R2=0.09; F3,4477=145.6; P<.001), and loneliness (multiple R2=0.06; F3,4512=98.06; P<.001), controlling for age and gender. Physical activity was associated with decreased depression and anxiety symptoms after controlling for other extracurricular activities and social media use (multiple R2=0.24; F5,4290=266.0; P<.001). There were significant differences in symptoms based on gender: female adolescents reported higher rates of social media use and males reported higher rates of depression. Nonbinary and transgender adolescents had higher rates of depression, anxiety, and loneliness than the female and male adolescents in the sample. CONCLUSIONS: In a nationally representative sample of adolescents, more social media use was associated with more severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Increased physical activity was associated with decreased depression and anxiety symptoms. Physical activity partially mediated the relationship between social media use and depression and anxiety. As this was a cross-sectional study, we cannot conclude that social media use causes internalizing symptoms or that physical activity leads to decreased internalizing symptoms-there may be additional confounding variables producing the relationships we observed. Physical activity may protect against the potentially harmful effect of social media on some adolescents. The effect sizes were small to medium, and the results should be interpreted with caution. Other limitations of this study include our reliance on self-reporting. Future work should examine social media use beyond how much time adolescents spend using social media and instead focus on the nature of social media activity.

The significance of anxiety symptoms in predicting psychosocial functioning across borderline personality traits.

Emotion regulation is a central task of daily life. Difficulty regulating emotions is a core feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD), one of the most common and impairing personality disorder diagnoses. While anger and symptoms of depression are instantiated in the criteria for BPD, anxiety is not, despite being among the most common psychiatric symptoms. In a sample of online respondents (N = 471), we explored the interactions between anxiety symptoms and BPD traits in predicting well-being (WHO-5) as well as poorer work and social adjustment (WSAS), while controlling for anger and depression. We hypothesized that anxiety would lead to more impairment (i.e., lower well-being and poorer work and more difficulties with work and social adjustment) as BPD traits increased. BPD traits and symptoms of anxiety both contributed to overall lower levels well-being and higher levels of psychosocial dysfunction. However, contrary to our expectations, at higher (vs. lower) levels of BPD traits, symptoms of anxiety were less conducive to lower well-being on the WHO-5. For the WSAS, there was no consistent evidence for an interaction between BPD traits and anxiety in predicting functioning. By and large, our results do not support the idea that anxiety contributes to more impairment at higher levels of BPD traits.

Reward expectations lead to smoking uptake among depressed adolescents.

AIMS: While the comorbidity between adolescent depression and smoking has been well documented, less is known about why smoking is disproportionately higher among depressed adolescents. Emerging research suggests that reward-related mechanisms may be important to consider. This study sought to determine whether adolescents with higher depression symptoms have greater smoking reward expectations, which in turn, influence smoking progression. PARTICIPANTS: The sample was composed of 1393 adolescents participating in a longitudinal survey study of adolescent health behaviors. DESIGN AND MEASUREMENTS: In this prospective cohort study, variables were measured via self-report every six months from age 14 to age 17 resulting in six waves of data. Findings Parallel processes latent growth curve modeling indicated that higher depression symptoms across mid to late adolescence predicted a 17% increase in smoking reward expectations (ß=3.50, z=2.85, p=0.004), which in turn predicted a 23% increase in the odds of smoking progression (ß=0.206, z=3.29, p=0.001). The indirect effect was significant with delta method (ß(indirect)=0.72, z=3.09, p=0.002; 95% CI=0.26, 1.18) and bootstrap (ß(indirect)=0.72, z=2.10, p=0.03; 95% CI=0.05, 1.39) standard errors. CONCLUSIONS: The study provides novel evidence that expectations of smoking reward facilitate smoking uptake among depressed adolescents. Smoking reward expectations may identify depressed adolescents at risk of smoking. Addressing alternative ways to meet the reward expectations rather than smoking may be an important component to consider in the preventing smoking and promoting smoking cessation among adolescents with elevated depression symptoms.