Early human occupation of Australia's eastern seaboard.

Secure archaeological evidence for human occupation on the eastern seaboard of Australia before ~ 25,000 years ago has proven elusive. This has prompted some researchers to argue that the coastal margins remained uninhabited prior to 25 ka. Here we show evidence for human occupation beginning between 30 ± 6 and 49 ± 8 ka at Wallen Wallen Creek (WWC), and at Middle Canalpin Creek (MCA20) between 38 ± 8 and 41 ± 8 ka. Both sites are located on the western side of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island), the second largest sand island in the world, isolated by rising sea levels in the early Holocene. The earliest occupation phase at both sites consists of charcoal and heavily retouched stone artefacts made from exotic raw materials. Heat-treatment of imported silcrete artefacts first appeared in sediment dated to ~ 30,000 years ago, making these amongst Australia's oldest dated heat-treated artefacts. An early human presence on Minjerribah is further suggested by palaeoenvironmental records of anthropogenic burning beginning by 45,000 years ago. These new chronologies from sites on a remnant portion of the continental margin confirm early human occupation along Sahul's now-drowned eastern continental shelf.

Mexican-Origin Children's Trajectories of Ethnic-Racial Pride from Childhood through Emerging Adulthood: Associations with Mothers and Fathers' Trajectories.

Ethnic-racial pride (positive feelings about one's ethnic-racial group) is critical to healthy identity development across the lifespan. Research on ethnic-racial pride development among Latinx populations has focused exclusively on youth, without regard to pride development amongst parents and relations between pride within family units. Using multivariate Latent Growth Curve Modelling among 674 Mexican-origin youth and their parents (673 mothers; 437 fathers), the trajectory of youth's pride from 5th grade through emerging adulthood (14 years/12 waves of data) as well as relations with parental pride trajectories were examined. Respondents' pride generally decreased from waves 1 to 7 (~age 11-17 in youth) and increased after wave 7. Youth's and mothers' trajectories were unrelated, but complex associations emerged between youth's and fathers' trajectories. This study supports the dynamic nature of ethnic-racial pride across distinct life stages and underscores the complex interplay of youth and parental pride trajectories, emphasizing the pivotal role parents may play in co-shaping identity development alongside their children.

Do temperament trajectories from late childhood through adolescence predict success in school? Findings from a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth.

School achievement has long-term consequences for occupational success, mental health, and overall psychological adjustment. The present study examined the association between temperament trajectories from late childhood through adolescence and academic outcomes during late adolescence and young adulthood. Data come from the California Families Project, a longitudinal study of 674 Mexican-origin youth assessed 12 times from Age 10 to 23, and from school records. Results from latent growth curve models indicate that higher levels of Effortful Control (EC) at Age 10 were associated with better academic achievement (i.e., higher high school grade point average and test scores, greater likelihood of high school graduation and college attendance) in late adolescence and young adulthood. Higher levels of Negative Emotionality (NEM) at Age 10 were associated with worse academic achievement, but this effect did not hold for all facets of NEM. Neither the levels nor slopes of Positive Emotionality (Surgency, Affiliation) consistently predicted school achievement. There were no main effects of the EC or NEM slopes; however, statistically significant interactions between these slopes and parental monitoring emerged. When parental monitoring was low, youth who experienced greater increases in EC (vs. flat or decreasing slopes) had better academic achievement, and youth who experienced greater increases in NEM had worse academic achievement; in contrast, when parents closely monitored their children, changes in EC and NEM were only weakly associated with achievement. Overall, these findings demonstrate that temperament in late childhood, and changes in temperament across adolescence, have important prospective effects on academic achievement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Investigating the trajectory of Mexican-origin youth's materialistic values across adolescence and prospective associations with life satisfaction in early adulthood: The role of familism, demographic factors, and parent characteristics.

Using data from a 14-year longitudinal study of 674 Mexican-origin youth, the present study examined the development of materialistic values (MV) across adolescence (ages 10-16), correlates of the adolescent MV trajectory, and prospective associations between the MV trajectory and life satisfaction in early adulthood (ages 17-23). Latent growth curve analyses showed that MV decreased, on average, from early to late adolescence. Youth raised in families with higher household income, higher maternal and paternal education, and lower maternal and paternal MV tended to be less materialistic; higher maternal education was associated with smaller decreases in MV from age 10 to 16. A strong association of greater decreases in MV across adolescence was found with higher initial life satisfaction at age 17, but not with changes in life satisfaction from age 17 to 23. Findings from this study provide insights into the development of MV among Mexican-origin youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The development of personality-From metatraits to facets-Across adolescence and into adulthood in a sample of Mexican-origin youth.

The time between adolescence and adulthood is a transformative period of development. During these years, youth are exploring work, relationships, and worldviews while gaining the capacities needed to take on adult roles. These social and psychological processes are reflected in how personality develops across this period. Most youth personality development research has focused on the Big Five domains, ignoring the hierarchical structure of personality and missing broader, higher order processes and more specific, lower order processes. Toward a more comprehensive account, this study examines how personality develops from adolescence into the early years of adulthood at the metatrait (stability, plasticity), domain (Big Five), and facet levels. Data come from a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth (N = 645) with few socioeconomic resources who were assessed 5 times from Ages 14 to 23. We used latent growth curve models to investigate mean-level change, rank-order consistency, and the maintenance of trajectories for self-reported personality metatraits, domains, and facets. We found distinct developmental processes unfolding at each level of the hierarchy, including (a) mean-level changes in the metatraits and domains indicating increases in exploratory tendencies (i.e., plasticity) and maturity (i.e., increases in agreeableness and conscientiousness, decreases in neuroticism), and divergent change patterns between facets within each domain indicating nuanced maturational processes; (b) comparable levels of rank-order consistency for metatraits, domains, and facets; and (c) evidence that deviations from youth's developmental trajectories did not persist over time. Our findings offer insights into personality development that would be impossible to glean from the domain-level alone and adds needed sociocultural diversity to the literature. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Ethnic pride and cultural values promote positive youth development in a conceptual replication of the Five Cs model.

The current study examined the Five Cs model of positive youth development (PYD; Lerner et al., 2005) in U.S. Mexican-origin youth (N = 674, 50% female) and tested the extent to which ethnic pride, familismo, and respeto, as an index of cultural orientation, predicted PYD across midadolescence. PYD was modeled using a bifactor structure, which defined global PYD and the Five Cs (Caring, Character, Competence, Confidence, and Connection) using theoretically similar measures matched to the conceptual definitions of the Cs. Tests of longitudinal invariance of the bifactor model at ages 14 and 16 established scalar invariance, providing support for the structure and stability of the Five Cs and global PYD using the theoretically similar measures across time. Adolescents' cultural orientation (latent factor incorporating familismo, respeto, and ethnic pride) at age 14 was positively associated with the Five Cs within and across time. Greater cultural orientation at age 14 predicted increased global PYD across ages 14 and 16. The contribution of cultural orientation to the PYD across midadolescence did not differ by adolescent gender or nativity. These findings demonstrate the robust nature and stability of the Five Cs model of PYD and provide novel evidence that ethnic pride, familismo, and respeto promote greater PYD in Mexican-origin youth during midadolescence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Are trajectories of personality and socioeconomic factors prospectively associated with midlife cognitive function? Findings from a 12-year longitudinal study of Mexican-origin adults.

Problems with memory, executive function, and language are a significant public health concern, especially when they begin during midlife. However, there is relatively little work on risk and protective factors for cognitive function in middle adulthood. Using data from 883 Mexican-origin adults assessed up to 6 times across 12 years (Mage at Time 1 = 38.2 years; range = 27-63 years), the present study examined whether developmental trajectories (levels and slopes) of Big Five personality domains and socioeconomic factors (per capita income, economic stress) were prospectively associated with cognitive function (memory, mental status, verbal fluency) at the final assessment. We found that individuals with higher levels of, and smaller decreases in, Neuroticism had worse cognitive function 12 years later. Further, individuals with higher initial Conscientiousness had better subsequent memory, mental status, and verbal fluency, and individuals with higher Openness and Extraversion had better subsequent verbal fluency (but not memory or mental status). The trajectories of per capita income and economic stress were robustly associated with cognitive function, such that higher initial levels and greater increases in socioeconomic resources had protective associations, whereas higher levels and greater increases in economic stress had deleterious associations with cognitive function. Higher education level was associated with better cognitive function 12 years later. These findings suggest that changes in personality and socioeconomic factors across adulthood are associated with cognitive function, which may be informative for interventions to support healthier cognitive aging starting at least as early as midlife. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychosocial Predictors of Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Mexican-Origin Youths: An 8-Year Prospective Cohort Study.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for youths in the United States. More Latino adolescents report suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors (STBs) than youths of most other ethnic communities. Yet few studies have examined multiple psychosocial predictors of STBs in Latino youths using multiyear longitudinal designs. In this study, we evaluated the progression of STBs in 674 Mexican-origin youths (50% female) from fifth grade (10 years old) to 12th grade (17 years old) and identified psychosocial predictors of changes in STBs across this period. Latent growth curve models revealed that being female and later-generation status were associated with increasing prevalence in STBs across adolescence. Family conflict and peer conflict predicted increased STBs, whereas greater familism predicted less STBs. Thus, interpersonal relationships and cultural values contribute to the development of STBs in Mexican-origin youths and may be key levers for decreasing suicidality in this understudied but rapidly growing portion of the U.S. adolescent population.

The viability and validity of the Authentic and Hubristic Pride scales: Reply to Dickens and Murphy (2023).

Dickens and Murphy (see record 2023-63008-001) claim that the Authentic and Hubristic Pride (i.e., AP/HP) scales (see record 2007-02840-009), which we developed and validated over 15 years ago, do not validly assess the theoretical constructs of authentic and hubristic pride (e.g., Tracy & Robins, 2004a, 2007). These authors further call for the development of new measures based on a top-down approach, which would incorporate the theory into scale items. Although we appreciate Dickens and Murphy's emphasis on the need for valid assessment tools in this important research domain, we disagree with their conclusion that the extant scales are "fundamentally invalid." Here, we explain why a top-down approach would not be preferable to the bottom-up one we used and review the relatively large body of evidence supporting the validity of the extant AP/HP scales. Dickens and Murphy also raised several concerns regarding the HP scale specifically; most of these, as we explain, are either incorrect, exaggerated, or valid concerns but not ones that invalidate the HP scale. Nonetheless, we agree with Dickens and Murphy's suggestion that the AP/HP scales could be improved, and we echo their call for future research in this vein. Finally, we recommend that scholars seeking to advance the field in this way adopt the "living document" approach advocated by Gerasimova (2022). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Longitudinal links between maternal cultural socialization, peer ethnic-racial discrimination, and ethnic-racial pride in Mexican American youth.

This paper used cross-lagged panel models to test the longitudinal interplay between maternal cultural socialization, peer ethnic-racial discrimination, and ethnic-racial pride across 5th to 11th grade among Mexican American youth (N = 674, Mage  = 10.86; 72% born in the United States; 50% girls; Wave 1 collected 2006-2008). Maternal cultural socialization predicted increases in subsequent youth ethnic-racial pride, and youth ethnic-racial pride prompted greater maternal cultural socialization. However, peer ethnic-racial discrimination was associated with subsequent decreases in ethnic-racial pride. The magnitude of these associations was consistent across 5th to 11th grades suggesting that maternal cultural socialization messages are necessary to maintain ethnic-racial pride across adolescence, thus families must continually support the development of ethnic-racial pride in their youth to counter the effects of discrimination.

The Development of Shyness from Late Childhood to Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study of Mexican-origin Youth.

Shyness, the tendency to be inhibited and uncomfortable in novel social situations, is a consequential personality trait, especially during adolescence. The present study examined the development of shyness from late childhood (age 10) through adolescence (age 16) using data from a large, longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth (N = 674). Using both self- and mother-reports of shyness assessed via the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised, we found moderate to high rank-order stabilities across two-year intervals and a mean-level decrease in shyness from age 10 to 16. Anxiety and depression were associated with higher initial levels of shyness, and anxiety was associated with greater decreases in shyness from age 10 to 16. Contrary to predictions, neither nativity (country of birth) nor language proficiency (English, Spanish) was associated with the development of shyness across adolescence. Thus, youth generally decline in shyness during adolescence, although there is substantial individual variability in shyness trajectories.

Perceived ethnic discrimination and cognitive function: A 12-year longitudinal study of Mexican-origin adults.

OBJECTIVES: Hispanic/Latinx adults are at increased risk for cognitive impairment, and it is critically important to identify modifiable risk factors for cognitive impairment in this population. We addressed two key questions: (1) How does perceived discrimination change across middle adulthood? And, (2) how are discrimination and the trajectory of discrimination associated with cognitive function? METHODS: We used data from 1,110 Mexican-origin adults between 26 and 62 years old (63% female; 85% born in Mexico). Participants completed a perceived ethnic discrimination scale five times across 12 years and completed cognitive assessments in the last wave, which were composited into a measure of overall cognitive function. We used latent growth curve models to estimate the longitudinal trajectory of perceived ethnic discrimination and growth mixture models to identify sub-groups of change trajectories. We evaluated whether patterns of perceived discrimination trajectories, baseline, intermediary, and concurrent discrimination predicted cognitive function at the last wave. RESULTS: Perceived ethnic discrimination decreased over time on average. Significant individual differences in within-person change revealed two change trajectory classes: Stable Low and High Declining. The Stable Low class had better cognitive performance compared to the High Declining class, but this effect was not robust to educational attainment. Perceived discrimination at the last wave was associated with worse cognitive function, and this effect remained after accounting for covariates. CONCLUSIONS: This study is among the first to evaluate changes in perceived ethnic discrimination in a sample of Mexican-origin adults and their associations with cognitive function. The results highlight the need for more research to better understand the role of discrimination and other social stressors on cognitive health outcomes.

Effect size guidelines for cross-lagged effects.

Cross-lagged models are by far the most commonly used method to test the prospective effect of one construct on another, yet there are no guidelines for interpreting the size of cross-lagged effects. This research aims to establish empirical benchmarks for cross-lagged effects, focusing on the cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) and the random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM). We drew a quasirepresentative sample of studies published in four subfields of psychology (i.e., developmental, social-personality, clinical, and industrial-organizational). The dataset included 1,028 effect sizes for the CLPM and 302 effect sizes for the RI-CLPM, based on data from 174 samples. For the CLPM, the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of the distribution corresponded to cross-lagged effect sizes of .03, .07, and .12, respectively. For the RI-CLPM, the corresponding values were .02, .05, and .11. Effect sizes did not differ significantly between the CLPM and RI-CLPM. Moreover, effect sizes did not differ significantly across subfields and were not moderated by design characteristics. However, effect sizes were moderated by the concurrent correlation between the constructs and the stability of the predictor. Based on the findings, we propose to use .03 (small effect), .07 (medium effect), and .12 (large effect) as benchmark values when interpreting the size of cross-lagged effects, for both the CLPM and RI-CLPM. In addition to aiding in the interpretation of results, the present findings will help researchers plan studies by providing information needed to conduct power analyses and estimate minimally required sample sizes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The impact of social disadvantage on autonomic physiology of latinx adolescents: The role of environmental risks.

The experience of poverty embodies complex, multidimensional stressors that may adversely affect physiological and psychological domains of functioning. Compounded by racial/ethnic discrimination, the financial aspect of family poverty typically coincides with additional social and physical environmental risks such as pollution exposure, housing burden, elevated neighborhood unemployment, and lower neighborhood education levels. In this study, we investigated the associations of multidimensional social disadvantage throughout adolescence with autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning at 17 years. Two hundred and twenty nine low-income Mexican-American adolescents (48.6% female) and their parents were assessed annually between the ages of 10 and 16. Participants' census tracts were matched with corresponding annual administrative data of neighborhood housing burden, education, unemployment, drinking water quality, and fine particulate matter. We combined measures of adolescents' electrodermal response and respiratory sinuses arrhythmia at rest and during a social exclusion challenge (Cyberball) to use as ANS indices of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, respectively. Controlling for family income-to-needs, youth exposed to greater cumulative water and air pollution from ages 10-16 displayed altered patterns of autonomic functioning at rest and during the social challenge. Conversely, youth living in areas with higher housing burden displayed healthy patterns of autonomic functioning. Altogether, results suggest that toxin exposure in youths' physical environments disrupts the ANS, representing a plausible mechanism by which pollutants and social disadvantage influence later physical and mental health.

Is high self-esteem beneficial? Revisiting a classic question.

Debates about the benefits of self-esteem have persisted for decades, both in the scientific literature and in the popular press. Although many researchers and lay people have argued that high self-esteem helps individuals adapt to and succeed in a variety of life domains, there is widespread skepticism about this claim. The present article takes a new look at the voluminous body of research (including several meta-analyses) examining the consequences of self-esteem for several important life domains: relationships, school, work, mental health, physical health, and antisocial behavior. Overall, the findings suggest that self-esteem is beneficial in all these domains, and that these benefits hold across age, gender, and race/ethnicity, and controlling for prior levels of the predicted outcomes and potential third variable confounds. The meta-analytic estimates of self-esteem effects (which average .10 across domains) are comparable in size to estimates for other hypothesized causal factors such as self-efficacy, positive emotionality, attachment security, and growth mindset, and larger than some generally accepted pharmaceutical interventions. Discussion focuses on several issues that are critical for evaluating the findings, including the strength of the evidence for making causal inferences, the magnitude of the effects, the importance of distinguishing between self-esteem and narcissism, and the generalizability of the results. In summary, the present findings support theoretical conceptions of self-esteem as an adaptive trait that has wide-ranging influences on healthy adjustment and adaptation, and suggest that interventions aimed at boosting self-esteem might, if properly designed and implemented, benefit individuals and society as a whole. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The benefits of self-esteem: Reply to Krueger et al. (2022) and Brummelman (2022).

Krueger et al. (2022) argue that our review (Orth & Robins, 2022) finds benefits of self-esteem primarily for subjective outcomes and largely fails to demonstrate any "objective" benefits. We disagree with this portrayal of the findings and highlight research that provides evidence for the benefits of self-esteem using objective measures. We also address Krueger et al.'s claim that positivity bias in self-reports can account for the effects of self-esteem on subjectively assessed life outcomes, and explain how the statistical analyses used to document these effects substantially control for this bias. We maintain that there is now a large body of evidence from meta-analyses and large-scale longitudinal studies demonstrating that high self-esteem has adaptive consequences for social relationships, school, work, mental health, physical health, and antisocial behavior. Brummelman (2022) presents a compelling theoretical framework that can guide the design of interventions to improve children's self-esteem. We agree with his concerns about the need for randomized controlled trials to evaluate the efficacy of self-esteem interventions and the importance of ensuring that children's self-esteem can be raised without causing them to become narcissistic. The research reviewed in our article indicates that high self-esteem is adaptive for children, adolescents, and adults, suggesting that well-designed and effective self-esteem interventions might be beneficial for individuals of all ages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Self-esteem development during the transition to work: A 14-year longitudinal study from adolescence to young adulthood.

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies examined the trajectory of self-esteem during critical developmental periods and over the life-span. However, little is known about how self-esteem changes during the school-to-work transition. METHOD: We examined the effect of beginning a job for the first time on self-esteem development, using data from 368 adolescents assessed up to six times across a 14-year time span. Specifically, we analyzed the pattern of self-esteem change during the transition to work and whether the self-esteem trajectory varied as a function of several school- and job-related variables, while controlling for important covariates. RESULTS: Results revealed linear increases in self-esteem across the 14-year study period, with partial support that the rate of increase slowed slightly after the school-to-work transition. We found significantly greater variability in the slopes after the transition, supporting the idea that people differ in the way they cope with the developmental tasks associated with important life transitions. We also found evidence for an interaction between college graduation and educational expectations, such that the positive effect of college graduation on self-esteem change was stronger for those who graduated with low (vs. high) educational expectations. CONCLUSION: School-to-work transition has an effect on self-esteem development. Developmental processes of findings were discussed.

Prospective associations between emotion regulation and depressive symptoms among Mexican-origin adolescents.

Reappraisal (reconstruing emotional experiences to alter their impact) and suppression (inhibiting emotionally expressive behavior) are emotion-regulation strategies with important implications for depression. While reappraisal generally predicts lower depressive symptoms, suppression generally predicts higher depressive symptoms. Because cultural factors can influence the processes involved in these links and because adolescence-especially for ethnic minority youth-brings particular emotional challenges, it's critical to investigate these links among Mexican-origin adolescents. However, research examining emotion regulation among Mexican-origin individuals is scarce and generally limited to cross-sectional designs. Thus, we examined prospective associations between reappraisal and suppression (assessed at age 17) and 2 facets of depressive symptoms (anhedonia and general distress) over 3 years (assessed at ages 16, 18, and 19) among 228 Mexican-origin adolescents. Latent growth curve models indicated that reappraisal was associated with lower anhedonia at baseline (age 16) and lower anhedonia over time, whereas suppression predicted greater anhedonia at baseline but not change over time. Consistent with the Mexican cultural value of simpatía, which emphasizes expressing positive emotions and inhibiting negative emotions, suppression of positive emotions was associated with greater anhedonia over time whereas suppression of negative emotions was associated with lower anhedonia over time. However, neither associated with anhedonia at baseline. Reappraisal and suppression were not associated with distress symptoms, and no effects were moderated by familism, household income, gender, or child nativity. The anhedonia results suggest that the benefits of reappraisal extend to Mexican-origin adolescents, but the effects of suppression may depend upon emotional valence in this group. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Shift and Persist in Mexican American Youth: A Longitudinal Test of Depressive Symptoms.

This paper tested whether shift-&-persist coping, or coping involving the combination of cognitive reappraisal, acceptance, and optimism (Chen & Miller, Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2012, 7, 135), attenuates the risks presented by economic hardship and ethnic discrimination for change in depressive symptoms from 9th to 12th grade, in a sample of 674 Mexican American youth (Mage W1 = 10.86; 50% female; 72% US born) and whether this effect depends on ethnic pride. Structural equation modeling indicated that, when accounting for economic hardship, shift-&-persist was associated with fewer concurrent depression symptoms. Youth with lower ethnic pride who endorsed high levels of shift-&-persist were protected against the negative impacts of peer ethnic discrimination on depressive symptoms. Future research on ethnic discrimination should examine patterns of coping and identity that can mitigate risk.

Pride: A meta-analytic project.

Pride is a complex construct, at times conceptualized positively (as a positive emotional reaction to a personal success) and at other times defined negatively (as exhibiting arrogant or conceited feelings and beliefs). Based on this dichotomy, Tracy and Robins (2007) proposed that pride consists of two facets: authentic pride (AP) and hubristic pride (HP). For over a decade, researchers have used this two-facet model to investigate similarities and differences between AP and HP. The current work aims to synthesize this body of research by presenting findings from a meta-analysis of the association between AP and HP and a wide range of personality characteristics, mental health outcomes, social status constructs, and attributional tendencies. Comprised of 94 independent samples (N = 64,698) of predominantly North American adults, meta-analyses (both unweighted and weighted random effects models) were conducted for the relationship between AP and HP, and for each outcome variable separately, resulting in 103 total analyses (ks = 2-93). This project provides strong evidence that AP and HP are empirically distinct constructs (meta-analytic r = .13) that often align in opposite ways with personality and related variables, with AP exhibiting associations that suggest better psychological health than HP. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).