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Disaster exposure can put survivors at greater risk for subsequent mental health (MH) problems. Within the field of disaster MH research, it is important to understand how the choice of analytic approaches and their implicit assumptions may affect results when using a disaster exposure measure. We compared different analytic strategies for quantifying disaster exposure and included a new analytic approach, latent class analysis (LCA), in a sample of parents and youth. Following exposure to multiple floods in Texas, a sample of 555 parents and 486 youth were recruited. Parents were predominantly female (70.9%) and White (60.8%). Parents were asked to have their oldest child between the ages of 10 and 19 years old participate (M = 13.74 years, SD = 2.57; 52.9% male). Participants completed measures on disaster exposure, posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety. The LCA revealed four patterns of exposure in both parents and youth: high exposure (15.5% parent, 9.5% child), moderate exposure (19.8% parent, 28.2% child), community exposure (45.9% parent, 34.4% child), and low exposure (18.8% parent, 27.8% child). In terms of MH, there were similarities across analytic approaches, but the LCA highlighted a threshold effect, with the high exposure class doing worse than all others, d = 1.12. These results have important implications in understanding the different exposure experiences of survivors and the linkage to MH outcomes. The findings are also informative in the development and use of screening tools used in postdisaster contexts in determining who may or may not need MH services.

High educational attainment is associated with beneficial outcomes for both individuals and society; however, Black males are underrepresented among college students. This study drew on a positive youth development (PYD) perspective to investigate the role of academic self-efficacy beliefs (a malleable strength) in predicting academic preparedness (a measure of PYD) and how academic preparedness, in turn, was associated with immediate postsecondary enrollment. We also investigated a school-level measure of climate--academic press--as a moderator. Our study's sample of Black male students was drawn from the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) of 2002 and used three waves of ELS data. We found significant direct and indirect (through academic preparedness) effects of academic self-efficacy beliefs on college enrollment, and the findings indicated no differences in indirect relationships based on academic press. We discuss recommendations for future studies and the practice of school counseling.

The current study investigated changes in proximal descriptive alcohol use norms from high school to college, social integration as a predictor of stable versus shifting peer norms, and the consequences of norm profile membership for developmental outcomes. Using data (N = 9753 12th grade students; 59% female; 80% White, 7% Black, 5% Hispanic, 5% Asian/Pacific Islander, 3% other races/ethnicities) from the Monitoring the Future panel study, we identified five distinct norm profiles—three stable profiles (high, moderate‐high, and low) and two shifting profiles (increasing, declining)—that had unique patterns of perceived friend alcohol use norms. Social integration distinguished norm profile membership, and we observed particular detriments to outcomes for those in the stable high peer norm profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigated early adolescents' experiences of friend-related stress across middle school and its developmental consequences following the transition to high school. Using a sample of approximately 1,000 middle school students, four unique friend-related stress trajectories were observed across middle school: consistently low friend-related stress (57% of the sample), consistently high friend-related stress (7%), moderate and increasing friend-related stress (22%), and moderate but decreasing friend-related stress (14%). Groups characterized by higher levels of friend-related stress across middle school were linked to subsequent poorer socioemotional well-being, lower academic engagement, and greater involvement in and expectancies around risky behaviors following the transition to high school. Increased friend-related stress across the high school transition was also linked to poorer outcomes, even after taking into account earlier stress trajectories. Gender differences highlighted the particular struggles girls experience both in friend stress and in the links between friend stress and subsequent well-being.

This study examined how adolescents make meaning of racist jokes and their impact on daily well‐being using a sequential mixed‐methods research design with interview (N = 20; 60% girls, 5% gender‐nonconforming; 45% Asian American, 40% Latina/o/x, 10% Black, 5% biracial/multiethnic) and daily diary data (N = 168; 54% girls; 57% Latina/o/x, 21% biracial/multiethnic, 10% Asian American, 9% White, 4% Black). Qualitative results revealed that racist jokes were common, distinct from other overt forms of discrimination, and perceived as harmless when perpetrated by friends. Quantitatively, approximately half of adolescents reported hearing at least one racist joke during the study period, and racist jokes by friends were associated with higher daily angry, anxious, and depressed moods and stress. Racist jokes by known others and strangers were also significantly associated with poorer well‐being, although less consistently. Findings highlight the hidden harmful effects of racist jokes on adolescents' daily mood and stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescents' perceptions of the prejudice in their social environments can factor into their developmental outcomes. The degree to which others in the environment perceive such prejudice-regardless of adolescents' own perceptions-also matters by shedding light on the contextual climate in which adolescents spend their daily lives. Drawing on the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study revealed that schoolwide perceptions of peer prejudice, which tap into the interpersonal climate of schools, appeared to be particularly risky for adolescents' academic achievement. In contrast, adolescents' own perceptions of peer prejudice at schools were associated with their feelings of alienation in school. Importantly, these patterns did not vary substantially by several markers of vulnerability to social stigmatization.

Discrimination is associated with numerous psychological health outcomes over the life course. The nine-item Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) is one of the most widely used measures of discrimination; however, this nine-item measure may not be feasible in large-scale population health surveys where a shortened discrimination measure would be advantageous. The current study examined the construct validity of a combined two-item discrimination measure adapted from the EDS by Add Health (N = 14,839) as compared to the full nine-item EDS and a two-item EDS scale (parallel to the adapted combined measure) used in the National Survey of American Life (NSAL; N = 1,111) and National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) studies (N = 1,055). Results identified convergence among the EDS scales, with high item-total correlations, convergent validity, and criterion validity for psychological outcomes, thus providing evidence for the construct validity of the two-item combined scale. Taken together, the findings provide support for using this reduced scale in studies where the full EDS scale is not available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence that the learning gains of preschool fade as children transition into elementary school has led to increased efforts to sustain preschool advantages during this key transitional period. This study explores whether the observed benefits of sustainability practices for a range of child outcomes are explained and/or moderated by family and school mechanisms selecting children into experiencing these practices. Analyses of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort revealed that both family and school factors predicted children's exposure to several PK-3 sustainability practices. PK-3 sustainability practices were associated with reading (but not math) gains and better interpersonal skills (but not fewer externalizing behaviors) following the transition into kindergarten. These links were not conditioned by the selection mechanisms. The findings highlight who is more likely to seek out (at the family level) or offer (at the school level) sustainability practices and how relevant they are to fighting preschool fadeout.

There is an extensive body of work documenting the negative socioemotional and academic consequences of perceiving racial/ethnic discrimination during adolescence, but little is known about how the larger peer context conditions such effects. Using peer network data from 252 eighth graders (85% Latino, 11% African American, 5% other race/ethnicity), the present study examined the moderating role of cross-ethnic friendships and close friends' experiences of discrimination in the link between adolescents' perceptions of discrimination and well-being. Cross-ethnic friendships and friends' experiences of discrimination generally served a protective role, buffering the negative effects of discrimination on both socioemotional well-being and school outcomes. Overall, results highlight the importance of considering racial/ethnic-related aspects of adolescents' friendships when studying interpersonal processes closely tied to race/ethnicity.

Researchers, service providers, and policymakers must uncover and better understand the issues facing youths in Asian gangs in order to most effectively intervene with appropriate policies and programs. The present investigation sampled young male Filipino gang members in Hawai’i. Thematic analyses of the focus group data challenge the commonly held view of racial harmony in Hawai’i. It appears that racial and social discrimination from peers and authority figures propel Filipino boys to seek out gang membership as a way to protect themselves from being targets of oppression.

The COVID‐19 pandemic upended the lives of adolescents and young adults across the globe. In response to the pandemic onset, educational institutions were forced to pivot to online learning, a new teaching and learning format for most secondary and university students. This systematic narrative review summarizes findings from 168 publications spanning 56 countries on students' educational outcomes and school climate as well as the internal assets and contextual supports that promoted academic well‐being during the pandemic. Our findings suggest that young people commonly reported declines in their academic‐related outcomes and school‐based relationships due to the COVID‐19 pandemic. Internal assets (e.g., intrinsic motivation and self‐efficacy) and contextual supports (i.e., relationships with teachers, peers, and parents) promoted academic well‐being during the pandemic. Next steps for research on young people's academic well‐being during the pandemic are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study assessed whether greater use of shift-and persist strategies, which entail the reappraisal of stressors (shifting) and endurance through optimism and meaning-making (persist), buffered the associations between life stressors and adolescents' psychological health (i.e. depressive symptoms and anxiety) and physical health and health behaviors (i.e. self-rated health and sleep quality). Survey data were drawn from a racially/ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of 750 9th grade adolescents (53% female). Path analysis revealed racial discrimination, neighborhood risk, and deportation exposure were linked to poorer psychological and physical health, while socioeconomic disadvantage was related to less anxiety but poorer physical health. Some evidence suggested that shift-and-persist may be protective-reactive, wherein shift-and-persist typically promoted well-being across health domains but more so when the life stressors were at low versus high levels. Shift-and-persist strategies promote both mental and physical health, but the promotive effects appear to be maximized when adolescents' exposure to life stressors is minimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because children from low-income families benefit from preschool but are less likely than other children to enroll, identifying factors that promote their enrollment can support research and policy aiming to reduce socioeconomic disparities in education. In this study, we tested an accommodations model with data on 6,250 children in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort. In general, parental necessity (e.g., maternal employment) and human capital considerations (e.g., maternal education) most consistently predicted preschool enrollment among children from low-income families. Supply side factors (e.g., local child care options) and more necessity and human capital factors (e.g., having fewer children, desiring preparation for school) selected such children into preschool over parental care or other care arrangements, and several necessity factors (e.g., being less concerned about costs) selected them into non-Head Start preschools over Head Start programs. Systemic connections and child elicitation did not consistently predict preschool enrollment in this population.

We investigated the links between racial/ethnic marginalization (i.e., having few same-race/ethnic peers at school) and adolescents' socioemotional distress and subsequent initiation of substance use (alcohol and marijuana) and substance use levels. Data from 7,731 adolescents (52% female; 55% White, 21% African American, 16% Latino, 8% Asian American) were drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. In our path analysis model, we found that adolescents who were racially/ethnically marginalized at school (i.e., who had less than 15% same-ethnicity peers) reported poorer school attachment, which was linked to more depressive symptoms. More depressive symptoms were associated with higher levels of subsequent marijuana and alcohol use. These relationships showed some variation by students' gender, race/ethnicity, and age. Findings suggest that the influence of school demographics extends beyond the academic domain into the health and well-being of young people.

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (N = 13,970), we examined whether two aspects of school-family connections, parental involvement and communication quality, accounted for the association between classroom composition and children's academic and socioemotional functioning following the transition to elementary school. For students with more same-race/ethnic representation in their classrooms, greater classroom race/ethnic diversity promoted more parental involvement, which in turn promoted children's interpersonal skills and reading achievement. Classroom diversity made little difference to parental involvement when students had fewer same-race/ethnic peers in the classroom. Teacher-parent communication quality did not emerge as an explanatory mechanism, and findings did not vary by the race/ethnic match between students and their teachers.

COVID‐19 has altered adolescents' opportunities for developing and strengthening interpersonal skills and proficiencies. Using data from adolescents in Italy, the United States, and the United Kingdom, we examined the relation between internalizing symptoms assessed pre‐pandemic or when pandemic‐related restrictions were lifted (Time 1) and associated internalizing symptoms during a subsequent restrictive pandemic period (Time 2). Across all 3 countries, we found significant and consistent effect sizes in the relation between Time 1 and Time 2 internalizing symptoms. We further examined the direct and moderating impact of self‐efficacy and contextual supports for adolescents' internalizing symptoms. Higher self‐efficacy was associated with lower levels of internalizing symptoms at Time 2 in all 3 countries. Additionally, the relation between Time 1 and 2 internalizing symptoms was buffered by regulatory self‐efficacy and peer support in Italy, but in the U.S., higher levels of general self‐efficacy instead had an exacerbating effect on the relation between Times 1 and 2 internalizing symptoms. Results are discussed in the context of utilizing cross‐national datasets to examine similarities in adolescent well‐being over time and in the face of varying government responses to the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current study, we examine patterns of school attendance across middle and high school with a diverse sample of 8,908 students (48% female; 54% Latino, 31% White, 13% African American, 2% Asian American). Attendance declined from middle through high school, but this overall pattern masked important variations. In total, 44% of students maintained their attendance trajectories from middle to high school (11% stable high, 19% high-decreasing, 10% mid-decreasing, 4% low-decreasing), and shifting attendance trajectories often signaled greater school disengagement (38% shifted to poorer attendance trajectories, 18% experienced improved attendance trajectories). Transition experiences, school structural characteristics, and the divergence between students' middle and high schools provided insights into which students recovered, becoming more engaged in high school versus those who became more disconnected. Implications for identifying and intervening with disengaged youth are discussed.

Prior research suggests a link between academic performance and alcohol use during adolescence, but the degree to which this association reflects actual protective effects continues to be debated. We investigated the role of genetic factors in the association between academic achievement and adolescent alcohol use and whether achievement might constrain the translation of genetic influences on drinking into actual behavior (a Gene × Environment interaction). Analysis of twin data from Add Health (n = 399 monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs) revealed not only common genetic factors underlying the association between achievement and alcohol consumption but also evidence for a gene--environment interaction. Specifically, the protective effect of achievement operated by moderating heritability of alcohol use, which was particularly salient for adolescents at high genetic risk for alcohol use.

This study explored how discrepancies between parents' and adolescents' educational expectations influenced adolescents' achievement using a nationally representative, longitudinal sample of 14,041 students (14 years old at baseline). "Actual" discrepancies (i.e., those between parents' and adolescents' actual educational expectations) and "perceived" discrepancies (i.e., those between adolescents' perceptions of their parents' educational expectations and adolescents' own) were examined. Achievement was higher when parents "actually" held higher expectations than adolescents held or when adolescents "perceived" that their parents' expectations were lower than their own. In contrast, achievement was lower when parents "actually" held lower expectations than adolescents held or when adolescents "believed" that their parents' expectations exceeded their own. Implications for identifying adolescents at risk and promoting adaptive parent-child educational expectations are discussed.

In the current study, we examined the precursors and consequences of discrimination for 876 Latino, African American, and Asian American adolescents (M[subscript age] = 16.9 years, SD = 0.43). The race/ethnic characteristics of schools and neighborhoods influenced adolescents' perceptions of the race/ethnic climates of these contexts. In turn, adolescents who viewed climates more negatively were more likely to perceive discriminatory treatment by school personnel, peers, and societal institutions. Discrimination from these 3 sources exerted differential influence on developmental outcomes: Greater discrimination from school personnel was associated with poorer academic performance, greater discrimination from peers was associated with more psychological maladjustment, and greater societal discrimination was associated with heightened racial awareness. Relations were consistent across race/ethnic groups and gender. Implications for intervening to reduce racial discrimination and other social stigmas are discussed.

Implications of high school exit examination performance were examined with a sample of 672 racial/ethnic minority students. Exit examination failure in the 10th grade was negatively linked to subsequent grade point average, school engagement, and school belonging one year later, controlling for outcomes prior to taking the examination. Academically incongruent students-those who failed the exit examination but were in schools where their same-race/ethnicity peers were performing well academically-seemed to be at particular risk for struggling grades and poorer socioemotional well-being (e.g., experiencing greater depressive symptoms and loneliness). Findings contribute to the limited research base on exit examinations and highlight the links between exit examination performance and developmental outcomes beyond the oft-studied academic domain. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

Secondary schools are sites of academic instruction but also contexts of socioemotional development, and the intertwining of these two functions has consequences for adolescents' future health and education. Drawing on nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 8,271), this study explored the bidirectional associations among indicators of adolescents' alcohol use and their feelings of social integration at school. Socioemotional problems did not predict increased drinking over time, but drinking predicted declining socioemotional functioning, with negative implications for adolescents' academic grades by the end of high school. These associations, however, were conditioned by aspects of school context, with drinkers feeling more marginalized in schools characterized by dense networks with low rates of drinking. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)