Sports Participation, Frequency, and Competence Differentially Impact Youth Depressive, Anxious, and Somatic Symptoms: Gender, Neighborhood, and Sports Type Effects.

Mental health problems are prevalent in adolescence, but sports participation may offer mental health benefits through this developmental period and beyond. Characteristics of sports participation including perceived frequency and competence may differentially predict adolescent depressive, anxious, and somatic symptoms over time and results may further vary according to gender, neighborhood context, and type of sport engagement. Data were collected at two time-points six months apart from an ethnically diverse sample of adolescents (N = 183, female = 51%). Youth sports participation and symptoms were measured using the Youth Self-Report (YSR; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001). Path analyses were used to test for main and moderating effects of sports on symptoms. Results showed that categorical sports participation did not prospectively predict any type of internalizing symptoms, but perceived frequency and competence did. Competence predicted lower levels of symptoms while frequency predicted higher levels of symptoms. These results were further moderated by gender, neighborhood, and sport type such that frequency and competence predicted symptoms for girls and for youth in more resourced neighborhoods and who participated in team sports. These findings highlight the impact that sports participation can have on adolescent mental health in an ethnically diverse sample of urban youth.

Examining current physical activity interventions in Black school-age children and parents: A systematic review.

Obesity is prevalent in Black children and adults; increasing physical activity (PA) can aid in reducing childhood obesity in both age groups. The purpose of this systematic review is to examine current research on PA interventions in school-age Black children. Adhering to PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was conducted in six databases for PA interventions in Black children. A total of 13 articles met inclusion criteria (n = 7 randomized controlled trial, n = 5 quasi-experimental, n = 1 cross-sectional). The majority of the articles were on a combination of diet and PA programs (n = 9). Four articles targeted PA and parental role modeling of PA as the outcome showing positive intervention effects. Nine additional studies included PA as an outcome variable along with at least one additional obesity-related predictor. PA interventions for Black school-age children typically use a parent-child dyadic approach (n = 13), are guided by theory (n = 11) and are high quality. However, continued investigation is warranted to draw definitive conclusions and determine how to best involve parents within the PA interventions. Theory-driven higher quality trials that clearly describe the structured PA component and outcomes among Black parent-child dyads are needed.

Helping me helps us: The role of natural mentors in the ethnic identity and academic outcomes of Latinx adolescents.

This research investigated the potential contributions of natural mentoring relationships and ethnic identity to the academic attitudes and performance of Latinx high school students. In a sample of 347 urban Latinx students in grades 9 and 10, analyses examined the presence and quality of mentoring relationships as well as ethnic identity exploration and affirmation as predictors of changes in grade point average and the perceived economic value of education. Analyses included tests for a hypothesized role of ethnic identity in mediating associations of mentoring measures with the academic outcomes. The presence of a mentoring relationship was not significantly related to ethnic identity or change in academic outcomes over time. However, mentoring relationship quality was associated with a more positive ethnic identity, and support was found for the hypothesis that ethnic identity mediates the association between the quality of mentoring relationships and change over time in the economic values toward education among Latinx adolescents. Study findings suggest the importance of supportive adults in the ethnic identity and academic outcomes of Latinx adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Correlates of Active Videogame Use in Children.

OBJECTIVES: Active videogames (AVGs) could provide a novel approach to increasing physical activity and decreasing sedentary activity in children, but little is known about which children are likely to use AVGs. This study examined whether youth demographics, social support, and AVG engagement influence use of AVGs and physical activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A diverse sample of youth participants (42.4% non-Hispanic white), aged 8-14 years (n = 85), who owned an AVG console, completed surveys, wore an activity monitor, and logged AVG use for 1 week. Regression analyses were used to examine variables associated with daily AVG minutes and to examine the relationship between daily AVG minutes and daily steps. RESULTS: Older and non-Hispanic white children played AVGs for fewer minutes per day (P's < 0.03). Greater peer support for playing AVGs was associated with greater daily AVG minutes (P = 0.003). Daily AVG minutes were not associated with daily steps. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that younger children and children who do not identify as non-Hispanic white may be more open to playing AVGs. Targeting social support in AVG interventions may increase time spent playing AVGs.

The Perceived Payoff of Education: Do Generational Status and Racial Discrimination Matter?

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations among racial discrimination, generational status, and perceptions of the economic value of education among Latina/o youth. Participants were 400 urban, low-income, Latina/o students from a large Midwestern U.S. city who completed surveys in both 9th and 10th grades. Results revealed that more perceived racial discrimination was associated with more perceived economic limitations of education. When analyzed by generational status, more racial discrimination in 9th grade was significantly related to lower perceived economic value of education in 10th grade for third-generation and later participants, but not for first- or second-generation participants. The results provide evidence for the diverse experiences of racial discrimination and perceived economic value of education across generational groups.

The Costs and Benefits of Active Coping for Adolescents Residing in Urban Poverty.

The present study addresses the lack of specificity and diversity highlighted in recent stress literature reviews by examining active coping in relationships between exposure to violence and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in a sample of urban youth from predominantly low-income, African American and Latino backgrounds. Two hundred and forty-one youth (mean age at Time 1 = 13 years; 66 % female; 41 % African American, 28 % Latino, 14 % European American, 6 % Asian American, 7 % mixed/biracial, 1 % American Indian/native American, .5 % Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 2 % other) and their parents participated in this three-wave study. Hierarchical regression analyses tested for moderation, and a cross lag panel path analysis tested for mediation. The results provide greater support for active coping as a variable that changes the relationship between exposure to community violence and externalizing symptoms, or moderation, rather than one that explains or mediates it. Further, specificity did not emerge for type of psychological outcome but did emerge for gender, such that active coping exacerbated the association between exposure to community violence and both internalizing and externalizing symptoms for girls, but not boys. These findings highlight the importance of contextual and demographic factors in influencing stress and coping processes during adolescence.

Predicting Depressive Symptoms and Weight from Adolescence to Adulthood: Stressors and the Role of Protective Factors.

Depressive symptoms and weight gain follow similar developmental trajectories from adolescence to adulthood and stressors are a risk factor for both. However, less is known about whether they share protective factors that reduce the risk for depressive symptoms and weight gain. The goal of the current study was to examine the role of stress and four protective factors (social support, self-esteem, physical activity, and sedentary behavior) as predictors of depressive symptoms and body mass index over time. Participating in the current study were 6504 (51.6 % female; 60.7 % European American, 22.5 % African American, 11.4 % Hispanic, 3.3 % Asian American, and 2 % other ethnicities) adolescents from the National Study of Adolescent and Adult Health. Participants were followed for three waves from adolescence to young adulthood (Wave I age range = 12-18; Wave III age range = 18-26). Data were analyzed using multi-level modeling and results showed that stressors significantly predicted trajectories of depressive symptoms and body mass index over time. Social support buffered the effects of stressors on BMI over time. Self-esteem influenced trajectories of both BMI and depressive symptoms. Differential effects were found for physical activity with physical activity predicting declines in depressive symptoms and sedentary behavior predicting declines in BMI over time. The current study suggests that stress is a common risk factor for depressive symptoms and weight gain, but that there is specificity in how the protective factors influence each type of outcome.

The manifestation of depression in the context of urban poverty: a factor analysis of the Children's Depression Inventory in low-income urban youth.

The current study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to compare the fit of 2 factor structures for the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) in an urban community sample of low-income youth. Results suggest that the 6-factor model developed by Craighead and colleagues (1998) was a strong fit to the pattern of symptoms reported by low-income urban youth and was a superior fit with these data than the original 5-factor model of the CDI (Kovacs, 1992). Additionally, results indicated that all 6 factors from the Craighead model contributed to the measurement of depression, including School Problems and Externalizing Problems especially for older adolescents. This pattern of findings may reflect distinct contextual influences of urban poverty on the manifestation and measurement of depression in youth.

Mediating effects of parent-child relationships and body image in the prediction of internalizing symptoms in urban youth.

Youth are faced with many stressful interpersonal, contextual, and identify development related challenges that contribute to the increased risk of negative outcomes during adolescence. The current study examined two important factors related to youth's development and well-being: parent-child attachment and negative body image. Specifically, the current study examined body image as one mechanism responsible for the effect that mother and father attachment has on internalizing symptoms in a sample of low-income, ethnic minority youth. Additionally, differences across gender and ethnic/racial groups were examined. Participants included 140 (71 % female) ages 10-16 at baseline recruited from urban public schools in Chicago with high percentages of low-income students. The current sample was ethnically diverse (41 % African American, 30 % Latino, 16 % European American, 6 % Biracial, 6 % Asian, and 1 % other). Participants completed measures of their relationships with their mothers and fathers, negative body image, and internalizing symptoms across two periods of time separated by approximately 1 year. Results showed that body image mediated the relation between both mother and father attachment and internalizing symptoms. These results were further moderated by race/ethnicity, but not by sex. For African American participants, mother attachment was related to internalizing symptoms through negative body image while for Latinos, paternal attachment was related to internalizing symptoms through negative body image. Although maternal attachment had direct effects on internalizing symptoms for Latinos, negative body image did not mediate this relationship. These results support an integrative model in which interpersonal risk lays the foundation for the development of cognitive risk, which in turn leads to internalizing symptoms for urban youth.

Testing models of children's self-regulation within educational contexts: implications for measurement.

Young children's self-regulation has increasingly been identified as an important predictor of their skills versus difficulties when navigating the social and academic worlds of early schooling. Recently, researchers have called for greater precision and more empirical rigor in defining what we mean when we measure, analyze, and interpret data on the role of children's self-regulatory skills for their early learning (Cole, Martin, & Dennis, 2004; Wiebe, Espy, & Charak, 2008). To address that call, this chapter summarizes our efforts to examine self-regulation in the context of early education with a clear emphasis on the need to consider the comprehensiveness and precision of measurement of self-regulation in order to best understand its role in early learning.

A prospective comparison of moderating relationships among stressors, hopelessness, and internalizing symptoms in low-income urban youth with asthma.

There are many risk factors associated with the development of internalizing symptoms in low-income urban youth, and youth with asthma appear to be at greater risk for experiencing stressors in multiple domains. The purpose of the current study was to examine stressors, hopelessness, and the interaction between them, as predictors of trajectories of anxious/depressed and withdrawn symptoms over a 4-year period of adolescence. Participating in the study were 53 youth from Chicago public schools, the majority of whom identified themselves as African American or Latino. Multi-level modeling was used to examine major life events, daily hassles, exposure to violence, poverty, and hopelessness as predictors of both types of symptoms. Major life events and exposure to violence predicted anxious/depressed symptoms but not withdrawn symptoms. Hopelessness predicted both types of symptoms and further interacted with major life events to predict both anxious/depressed and withdrawn symptoms. Hopelessness also moderated the effects of daily hassles on anxious/depressed symptoms and poverty on withdrawn symptoms. Results of this study provide insight into the psychosocial risk factors associated with the experience of asthma in urban adolescents.

Family orientation, language, and anxiety among low-income Latino youth.

There is emerging evidence that Latino youth report higher levels of anxiety symptoms than children from other ethnic groups. Although often implicated, cultural variables have not been systematically evaluated to determine their relationship to anxiety symptoms in Latino youth. The present study examined family orientation values, as measured by family obligation and affiliative obedience, and their relationship to youth anxiety symptoms. The sample consisted of 133 Latino students (grades 5th through 7th) of low-income backgrounds in an urban public school setting. Structural equation models revealed that higher family orientation was associated with separation anxiety/panic (ß=.32) and harm avoidance (ß=.51). Models employing language proficiency and use mirrored those employing family orientation, suggesting that language fluency captures, in part, family socialization values. The results provide support for the impact of culture in the assessment and specific needs of Latino youth with anxiety problems.

Predictors of the first onset of a major depressive episode and changes in depressive symptoms across adolescence: stress and negative cognitions.

This 6-year longitudinal study examined stressors (e.g., interpersonal, achievement), negative cognitions (self-worth, attributions), and their interactions in the prediction of (a) the first onset of a major depressive episode (MDE), and (b) changes in depressive symptoms in adolescents who varied in risk for depression. The sample included 240 adolescents who were first evaluated in Grade 6 (M = 11.86 years old; SD = 0.57; 54.2% female) and then again annually through Grade 12. Stressful life events and depressive diagnoses were assessed with interviews; negative cognitions and depressive symptoms were assessed with self-report questionnaires. Discrete time hazard modeling revealed a significant interaction between interpersonal stressors and negative cognitions, indicating that first onset of an MDE was predicted by high negative cognitions in the context of low interpersonal stress, and by high levels of interpersonal stressors at both high and low levels of negative cognitions. Analyses of achievement stressors indicated significant main effects of stress, negative cognitions, and risk in the prediction of an MDE, but no interactions. With regard to the prediction of depressive symptoms, multilevel modeling revealed a significant interaction between interpersonal stressors and negative cognitions such that among adolescents with more negative cognitions, higher levels of interpersonal stress predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms, whereas at low levels of negative cognitions, the relation between interpersonal stressors and depression was not significant. Risk (i.e., maternal depression history) and sex did not further moderate these interactions. Implications for intervention are discussed.

Social competence in children with chronic illness: a meta-analytic review.

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a meta-analysis of social competence in children with a chronic illness. METHODS: The meta-analysis included 57 studies comparing levels of social competence in children with chronic illness to those of children without chronic illness. A random effects model was used to calculate overall effect, subgroup, and meta-regression analyses. RESULTS: Overall, the meta-analysis calculated 90 unique outcomes, producing a summary standardized mean difference of d = -0.44, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) -0.52 to -0.36 indicating a medium overall effect for decrease social competence. Chronic illness, measure, and informant moderated social competence outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of chronic illness on youth varied by individual child factors (e.g., gender, chronic illness type) and by measurement features such as informant and measure type. The current study demonstrates a need for further research of the assessment of social competence and has implications for the development of social skills programs for children with chronic illness.

Posttraumatic growth among children and adolescents: a systematic review.

Stress and trauma research has traditionally focused on negative sequelae of adversity. Recently, research has begun to focus on positive outcomes, specifically posttraumatic growth (PTG) - "positive change experienced as a result of the struggle with trauma" - which emphasizes the transformative potential of one's experiences with highly stressful events and circumstances. The positive changes of PTG are generally thought to occur in five domains: new possibilities, relating to others, personal strength, appreciation of life, and spiritual change. The study of PTG has, for the most part, been centered on adults, and not until very recently has there been sufficient research on PTG among children and adolescents to justify a review. The current systematic review of the literature on PTG among children and adolescents included 25 studies that tested associations between PTG and conceptually-relevant variables found to be associated with PTG in adults and hypothesized to play similar roles in young people, including environmental characteristics, distress responses, social processes, psychological processes, positive outcomes, and demographic variables. Links were made between a theoretical model of PTG among youth and findings of the current review. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Post-traumatic reactions in adolescents: how well do the DSM-IV PTSD criteria fit the real life experience of trauma exposed youth?

This study examined the structure and symptom specific patterns of post traumatic distress in a sample of 1,581 adolescents who reported exposure to at least one traumatic event. Symptom reporting patterns are consistent with past literature in that females reported more symptoms than males and older youth reported more symptoms than did their younger peers. Young people reporting exposure to exclusively violent type traumas were also found to be more likely to endorse symptoms than peers exposed exclusively to non violent type traumas. Confirmatory factor analysis provided stronger support for a four-factor model of PTSD than either the DSM-IV model or an alternate model. Further examination of the four factor model revealed gender differences in factor loadings with small to moderate effect sizes for recurrent, distressing memories, flashbacks, restricted affect, difficulty remember details, detachment, limited future orientation, hypervigilance and startle symptoms. Differences in factor loadings with the four factor model were also noted between younger and older adolescents, with medium to large effect sizes on the arousal items. In contract, comparison of the factor loadings revealed only small differences between youth exposed exclusively to violent traumatic stressors and those exposed exclusively to non violent traumatic stressors, suggesting relative similarity between these two groups.

Evidence-based assessment in pediatric psychology: measures of psychosocial adjustment and psychopathology.

OBJECTIVE: To provide an evidence-based review of measures of psychosocial adjustment and psychopathology, with a specific focus on their use in the field of pediatric psychology. METHODS: As part of a larger survey of pediatric psychologists from the Society of Pediatric Psychology e-mail listserv (American Psychological Association, APA, Division 54), 37 measures were selected for this psychometric review. Measures that qualified for the review fell into one of the following three categories: (a) internalizing or externalizing rating scales, (b) broad-band rating scales, and (c) self-related rating scales. RESULTS: Psychometric characteristics (i.e., three types of reliability, two types of validity) were strong for the majority of measures reviewed, with 34 of the 37 measures meeting "well-established" evidence-based assessment (EBA) criteria. Strengths and weaknesses of existing measures were noted. CONCLUSIONS: Recommendations for future work in this area of assessment are presented, including suggestions that more fine-grained EBA criteria be developed and that evidence-based "profiles" be devised for each measure.

Modeling relations between hassles and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in adolescents: a four-year prospective study.

This study examined the relations between hassles and internalizing and externalizing symptoms across 4 years in adolescents who varied with regard to their risk for psychopathology. The sample comprised 240 adolescents assessed in 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grades regarding their level of peer and academic hassles and internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Structural equation modeling was used to construct latent variables of hassles and internalizing and externalizing syndromes. Results varied by informant about the teens' symptoms. For adolescent report, the stress exposure model fit the data best for internalizing syndromes; that is, higher levels of stressors predicted significantly higher levels of self-reported symptoms 1 year later. For mother report of adolescents' symptoms, the stress generation model fit the data best for both internalizing and externalizing syndromes; that is, higher levels of adolescents' internalizing and externalizing symptoms, as reported by their mothers, significantly predicted higher levels of hassles 1 year later.