Developmental Change and Time-Specific Variation in Global and Specific Aspects of Self-Concept in Adolescence and Association with Depressive Symptoms.

Previous research has demonstrated that adolescents make differential self-evaluations in multiple domains that include physical appearance, academic competence, and peer acceptance. We report growth curve analyses over a seven year period from age 9 to age 16 on the six domains of the Harter Self-Perception Profile for Children. In general, we find little change in self-concept, on average, but do find substantial individual differences in level, rate of change, and time-specific variation in these self- evaluations. The results suggest that sex differences and adoptive status were related to only certain aspects of the participants' self-concept. Depressive symptoms were found to have significant effects on individual differences in rate of change and on time-specific variation in general self-concept, as well as on some of the specific domains of self-concept.

The gap that makes us desperate: paths from language to mental health.

Although past research provided some clues about the relation of language use with mental health, the mediatory functions of personality variables in this relationship have been ignored. This research examined the mediatory role of self-concept clarity in the relationship between language use perceived by individuals and mental health indicators including anxiety, depression, and alexithymia. Based on the theoretical framework suggested by Simsek (2010), two studies sought to test two alternative structural equation models in data from university students in the first study (n = 250) and data from other groups in the second study (n = 331). The first model assumed that the relationship of language use with anxiety, depression, and alexithymia was mediated by self-concept clarity. The second model tested the mediatory role of both anxiety and self-concept clarity in this relationship. The results of the first study showed that the second model fitted better to the data than the first. Consistent with the first study, the results of the second study confirmed that the second model produced better goodness of fit statistics than the first model.

Language and the Symptoms of Mental Illness Connection via Abstract Representations of the Self and the World.

The aim of the present study is to provide additional knowledge about the mediatory processes through which language contributes to the symptoms of mental illness. Although recent studies have provided insight about the relationship between language and the indicators of mental illness, the role of intervening variables in this connection has been ignored. The present investigation tested a structural equation model in which the need for the absolute truth about self and worry mediated the relationship of the gap between inner psychological experience and language with anxiety and depression. The results have provided support for the model and showed that the gap predicts both the need for absolute truth and worry which, in turn, predict the levels of anxiety and depression. The results have been discussed in the light of previous research, and implications for future research have also been considered.

Intentional and Non-Intentional Assessments of Emotion Experiences: Comparisons of Old and New Measures.

In two studies, we compared intentional and non-intentional measures of emotional well-being in terms of reliability and validity. In the first study, we expanded on the findings of Simsek ( 2011 ) by showing that an intentional measure of emotional well-being, namely the Emotional Well-Being Scale, accounted for unique variance in both negative and positive mental health indicators above and beyond the variance accounted for by Larsen and Diener's Scales (1992), which measures all dimensions of affect circumplex. The correlated traits-correlated uniqueness model results showed that the original-intentional version of the Emotional Well-Being Scale explained more variance in the measurement model than the non-intentional version. The second study showed that the results were similar for the intentional vs. non-intentional versions of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedules (Watson, Clark & Tellegen, 1988 ). The intentional version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedules accounted for more variance in the criteria than the non-intentional version.

Self-determined choices and consequences: the relationship between basic psychological needs satisfactions and aggression in late adolescents.

This research examined the mediatory role of life purpose and career indecision in the relationship between the satisfaction of basic psychological needs and aggression. Data were collected from high school students (n = 466) and results showed that life purpose and career indecision fully mediated the relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction and aggression. These findings suggested that unsatisfied basic psychological needs foster late adolescents' aggression by promoting less clear life purposes and career indecision.