Avoidant Parent-Child Communication About COVID-19: A Longitudinal Investigation of Associations with Youth Adjustment Across the First 6 Months of the Pandemic.

In the aftermath of discrete disasters, how families discuss the event has been linked with child well-being. There is less understanding, however, of how family communication affects adjustment to a protracted and ongoing public health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The present research leveraged a large longitudinal sample of families (N = 1884) across the United States and Canada to investigate factors that predicted family communication styles (active versus avoidant communication) about the COVID-19 pandemic and examined the longitudinal sequelae of mental health outcomes for youth associated with different family communication styles. Parents of youth between 5 to 17 years old completed surveys about their own mental health, their child's mental health, and family communication about the COVID-19 pandemic at two time points 6 months apart. Overall, findings indicated that poorer parental mental health was related to greater use of avoidant communication, and avoidant communication styles were associated with poorer youth mental health over time. Findings suggest potential perils of avoidant family communication about ongoing threats and can help identify families at risk of negative mental health outcomes.

Longitudinal associations between lie evaluations and frequency: The moderating role of age.

While previous studies have demonstrated correlations between children and adolescents' evaluations of lies and lie-telling behaviors, the temporal order of these associations over time and changes across this developmental period remain unexamined. The current study examined longitudinal associations among children and adolescents' (N = 1128; Mage = 11.54, SD = 1.68, 49.80% male, and 83.6% white) evaluations of lies to parents for autonomy and lie-telling frequency to parents and friends. Autoregressive cross-lagged analysis revealed longitudinal associations moderated by age. Among children, evaluations of lies predicted greater lie-telling rates over time. Conversely, among adolescents, lie-telling frequency predicted lie evaluations over time, and evaluations predicted lying to parents over time. These results demonstrate a novel developmental pattern of the associations between moral evaluations of lies and lie-telling. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Children and adolescents' evaluations of lie-telling and lie-telling frequency were associated longitudinally, but the direction of this association was moderated by age. Among children, more positive lie evaluations predicted greater lie-telling to parents and friends over time. Among adolescents, more positive lie evaluations predicted lying more often to parents over time; lying more to parents and friends predicted more positive evaluations over time. These findings suggest a novel developmental pattern regarding the temporal order of the association between evaluations of lie-telling and lie-telling frequency.

A Latent Profile Analysis of Lie-Telling to Parents and Friends during Adolescence.

Adolescence has been suggested to be a time of heightened lie-telling. The current study used a latent profile analysis to examine unique patterns of lie-telling for lies told to parents and friends during adolescence as well as whether adjustment indicators (relationship quality, depressive symptoms, social anxiety, externalizing problems) could be used to predict group membership. These patterns were examined among 828 10- to 16- year-olds (Mage = 12.39, SD = 1.69, 49.9% male). In both relationships, 5-profile solutions emerged; most adolescents reported very infrequent lie-telling, while a small portion (less than 5%) told high rates of lies. Adjustment indicators predicted group membership. Depressive symptoms, social anxiety, parent relationship quality, and externalizing problems predicted group membership for lying to parents. Depressive symptoms and social anxiety predicted group membership for lying to friends. The findings indicate that high rates of lie-telling found in previous research may be driven by a small number of prolific lie-tellers.

Longitudinal associations between impulsivity and lie-telling in childhood and adolescence.

Lie-telling and impulsivity levels peak during late childhood to early adolescence and have been suggested to be related. Heightened impulsivity may lead adolescents to lie in favor of short-term benefits without consideration for the potential consequences of deception. The present study assessed longitudinal relations between self-reported impulsivity and lie-telling frequency. Participants from a large-scale longitudinal study (N = 1148; Mage  = 11.55, SD = 1.69, 9-15 years at Time 1) reported on their impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale) and their frequency of lie-telling to parents, to teachers, to friends, and about cheating across two time points 1 year apart. Cross-lagged path analysis revealed greater impulsivity was associated with more frequent lie-telling to parents, friends, and teachers, and about cheating over time. Our findings demonstrate the role of impulsivity in the development of lie-telling behaviors. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Impulsivity predicts lying across time in multiple contexts (to parents, friends, teachers, and about cheating). Previous research has demonstrated the role of top-down influences on lie-telling, but the current study suggests that bottom-up processes are also influential.

The Impact of the Consistency of Child Witness and Peer Reports on Credibility.

Adults' perceptions of children's disclosures have important implications for the response to that disclosure. Children who experience adult transgressions, such as maltreatment, often choose to disclose this experience to a peer. Thus, peer disclosure recipients may transmit this disclosure to an adult or provide support for the child's own disclosure. Despite this, the influence of peer disclosure on a child witness's credibility, as well as on the perceptions of peer disclosure recipients, is unknown. The present study examined how child witnesses' and peer disclosure recipients' credibility is impacted when the peer either confirms or contradicts the witness's disclosure (or concealment) of an adult transgression. Participants listened to a child witness and peer being interviewed by an adult in one of four disclosure patterns (consistent disclose, consistent conceal, witness disclose/peer conceal, or witness conceal/peer disclose). Participants rated both the witness and the peer on dimensions of credibility (honesty and cognitive competence). Results revealed that both the witness and peer were more credible when their reports were consistent with one another. When inconsistent, the witness/peer who disclosed was considered more credible than the one who concealed. The findings indicate the potential importance of peers in the disclosure process as they may support the witness's report and even be a credible discloser when the witness is reluctant to disclose.

To Disclose or Not to Disclose? The Influence of Consistently Disclosing and Disclosure Recipient on Perceptions of Children's Credibility.

With age, children become increasingly likely to make initial disclosures of transgressions, such as maltreatment, to peers. The present study examined adults' credibility evaluations of children's disclosures to peers across two studies. Study 1 examined credibility evaluations when children disclosed (or concealed) to a peer compared to an adult. Study 2 examined credibility ratings when children disclosed consistently or inconsistently across peer and adult interviews. Children were interviewed by a same-age peer and an adult regarding an event where an adult confederate spilled water on a laptop and broke it. In Study 1, participants heard a child interviewed by either a same-age peer or adult. In Study 2, participants heard a child interviewed by both the same-age peer and adult. In both studies, participants evaluated the child's credibility. Children who disclosed the transgression were rated as significantly less credible than those who concealed the transgression; however, credibility ratings did not differ by whether the child was interviewed by a peer or adult (Study 1). Furthermore, children who concealed the transgression across both interviews were rated as significantly more credible than children who disclosed in both interviews or disclosed to the peer, but not the adult, interviewer (Study 2). The current study provides the first evidence that peer disclosures may hinder children's credibility and that adults may be hesitant to believe children's disclosures of an adult's transgression.

Maltreated and non-maltreated children's truthful and dishonest reports: Linguistic and syntactic differences.

Introduction: Adults are typically poor judges of the veracity of statements, requiring the need for alternative methods for detecting lies. One alternative method to human lie-detectors is using computer-based linguistic analysis which may present a more reliable method for detecting dishonesty. Moreover, while previous research has examined linguistic differences between typically developing children's and adults' truthful and dishonest reports, no study to date has examined whether maltreated children exhibit different linguistic cues to dishonesty. Thus, the current study examined maltreated and nonmaltreated children's linguistic and syntactic cues to children's truthful and dishonest reports. Methods: Nine- to 12-year-olds, half of whom were maltreated, played a computer game with a confederate: half of the children experienced a transgression (i.e., playing a forbidden game and crashing the computer) and were coached to conceal it, and half of the children experienced no transgression (i.e., simply played a computer game). All children were then interviewed about the event. The current study utilized automated linguistic and syntactic analysis software to compare children's truthful reports (no transgression occurred) with dishonest reports. Results and Discussion: Results indicated that maltreated and non-maltreated children did not differ in their indicators of dishonesty. Dishonest reporters used more first-person plural pronouns and cognitive mechanism terms and had less syntactically complex reports compared to truthful reporters. Finally, first-personal plural pronouns, cognitive mechanism terms, and syntactic complexity accurately classified (74.2%) the veracity of children's reports. The current findings present a new indicator of dishonesty (syntactic complexity) and suggest that indicators from typically developing populations may apply to maltreated children when coaching occurred.

Lying to friends: Examining lie-telling, friendship quality, and depressive symptoms over time during late childhood and adolescence.

INTRODUCTION: Lie-telling appears to peak during adolescence; however, previous research has not yet examined lie-telling frequency in adolescents' friendships. Increased lie-telling may be problematic given that honesty is crucial for trust within positive relationships, and more positive relationships lead to more positive well-being. The present study examined adolescents' lies to friends and longitudinal associations between lying, friendship quality, and depressive symptoms. METHODS: Canadian adolescents (Time 1: N = 1313, Mage = 11.65, SD = 11.75, 50% male) reported how often they lied to their friends about their mental health/mood, possessions, romantic relationships, school, and to avoid spending time with them. Participants also completed measures of friendship quality and depressive symptoms. Participants completed these measures at two time points one year apart. RESULTS: Poorer friendship quality predicted more frequent lie-telling over time. Greater depressive symptoms predicted more frequent lie-telling over time, and more frequent lie-telling predicted greater depressive symptoms over time. Lies about mental health in particular were bidirectionally associated with both friendship quality and depressive symptoms over time. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the developmental importance of lie-telling during adolescence. More negative friendships lead to greater lie-telling over time. Additionally, increased lie-telling predicted and is predicted by depressive symptoms, suggesting that lie-telling may be an important indicator of poor mental health.

A Latent Class Analysis of Adolescents in First-Year University: Associations with Psychosocial Adjustment Throughout the Emerging Adult Period and Post-University Outcomes.

The long-term outcomes for adolescents who struggle in first-year university remain unexplored. This 7-year longitudinal study aimed to identify distinct groups of adolescents based on their characteristics/behaviors in first-year university, and then assess whether these groups differ in psychosocial adjustment trajectories (i.e., mental health, positive relationships) throughout the emerging adult period, as well as in graduation rates, employment characteristics, and reflections on time spent at university. Participants (N = 1017; 71% female; Year 1 Mage = 19 years) enrolled in a Canadian university completed a survey annually for 7 years. Four groups in Year 1 were identified: Good Students who exhibited no difficulties; Sensation-Seeking who prioritized social engagement and substance use over academic engagement but reported no psychological adjustment difficulties; Struggling Students who had the most difficulties; and Club Involved who exhibited high club involvement. The Struggling Students Group continued to have more psychosocial adjustment difficulties than the other groups during and after university, were more likely to drop out of university, and to later have less job satisfaction. This group requires the most support. Consideration also should be given to the Sensation-Seeking Group, as they reported a lack of academic motivation (and regret about that later) and also were more likely to drop out of university. At the same time, they may be more difficult to target given that they did not report psychosocial difficulties. Overall, the findings highlight the need for early support and discourage a 'one-size fits all' method for promoting psychosocial adjustment.

Executive functions and young children's lie-telling and lie maintenance.

The current study is the first to provide a comprehensive examination of the activation-decision-construction model (Walczyk, Roper, Seemann, & Humphrey, 2003, 2009) in relation to young children's lie-telling and lie maintenance. Young children (3 to 4 years of age, N = 93) completed the temptation-resistance paradigm to elicit a transgression (peeking at a forbidden toy). Children were asked if they peeked at the toy (initial lie) and what they thought the toy was (lie maintenance). A battery of executive functioning tasks was administered (working memory, inhibitory control, planning). With increased inhibitory control on a response inhibition task, children were significantly more likely to lie. With increased inhibitory control on a conflict inhibition task and superior planning on a planning task, children were significantly more likely to maintain their lies. Support for the activation-decision-construction model in relation to young children's deception is discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

A Longitudinal Examination of the Relation Between Lie-Telling, Secrecy, Parent-Child Relationship Quality, and Depressive Symptoms in Late-Childhood and Adolescence.

Lie-telling and secret-keeping are common behaviors during adolescence. Given the importance of honesty for building trust in positive relationships, the present study examined relations between lie-telling, secret-keeping, and relationship quality over time. Additionally, given the protective role of positive relationships in developing depression, the present study examined how lying to and keeping secrets from parents related to depressive symptoms over time. Children and adolescents (N = 1313; 8 to 15 years old at Time 1, Mage= 11.65, SD = 11.75; 50.04% male) reported on lying to parents, secret-keeping from parents, relationship quality with parents, and depressive symptoms at two time points one year apart. The results indicated that greater secret-keeping was bidirectionally associated with poorer parent-child relationship quality and greater depressive symptoms over time. Thus, keeping secrets from parents appears to be an important behavior to examine in the context of development between late childhood and adolescence.

Perceptions of Dishonesty: Understanding Parents' Reports of and Influence on Children and Adolescents' Lie-Telling.

Previous studies suggest parents lack knowledge regarding child and adolescent lie-telling; however, no study to date has examined children's and parents' reports of lying within parent-child dyads. The current study examined parents' knowledge of and influence on children's and adolescents' lie-telling. Parent-child dyads (N= 351) completed self-report surveys. Children (8-14 years, 52.3% children female) reported on prosocial and antisocial lie-telling. Parents (Mage = 41.68, 89.5% parents female) reported on their child's lie-telling, as well as their own honesty-targeted parenting strategies and modeling of dishonest behaviors. Parents' reports were unrelated to children's and adolescents' reports of prosocial and antisocial lie-telling. Additionally, parents' honesty-targeted parenting strategies and modeling of dishonesty did not predict children's lie-telling. Parents' behaviors predicted their reports of children's lie-telling, suggesting parents' behaviors bias their reports. Parents' biased perception of adolescents lie-telling may have negative implications for parent-child relationships.