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Identity research focuses on multiple processes capturing how adolescents form and maintain a sense of self. However, identity content (the “what” of identity) might impact associations between identity and the association with well-being. We examined this potential role of content (i.e., valence and life domain) in two studies, focusing on autobiographical reasoning in written narratives (i.e., self-event connections), educational identity commitment and exploration processes, and measures of general and domain-specific functioning. Study 1 (N = 180, Mage = 14.7) and Study 2 (N = 160, Mage = 13.1) provided little evidence for the hypothesized role of identity content, but moderation analyses in Study 1 showed that self-event connections were more strongly related to life satisfaction in narratives about relational events than other events. These findings suggest a more fine-grained approach is needed to capture the role of identity content.

As 20% of adolescents develop emotion regulation difficulties, it is important to identify important early predictors thereof. Using the machine learning algorithm SEM-forests, we ranked the importance of (87) candidate variables assessed at age 13 in predicting quadratic latent trajectory models of emotion regulation development from age 14 to 18. Participants were 497 Dutch families. Results indicated that the most important predictors were individual differences (e.g., in personality), aspects of relationship quality and conflict behaviors with parents and peers, and internalizing and externalizing problems. Relatively less important were demographics, bullying, delinquency, substance use, and specific parenting practices-although negative parenting practices ranked higher than positive ones. We discuss implications for theory and interventions, and present an open source risk assessment tool, ERRATA.

IntroductionExpressive flexibility, or the ability to both up- and down-regulate emotional expressions in social interactions, is thought as an indicator and a consequence of healthy interpersonal relationships. The present longitudinal study examined bidirectional associations between expressive flexibility and friendship quality in early adolescence. Since prior research found inconsistent results regarding the adaptiveness of expressive flexibility, which indicated the necessity to consider individual variability in the process, we further tested the potential moderating effect of social anxiety in the links from expressive flexibility to friendship quality. MethodsParticipants from two junior high schools in eastern China (N = 274; 50.4% female; M-age = 13.56) were surveyed at three time points with 6-month intervals. Expressive flexibility, friendship quality, and social anxiety were all assessed via self-reported scales. ResultsAccording to the cross-lagged model results, friendship quality significantly predicted increased expressive flexibility over time. Conversely, the longitudinal association from expressive flexibility to friendship quality was not significant, but the interaction between expressive flexibility and social anxiety significantly predicted later friendship quality. Further analyses via the Johnson-Neyman technique revealed that expressive flexibility only positively predicted friendship quality for adolescents with lower levels of social anxiety. ConclusionOur results suggest that expressive flexibility is not always socially adaptive, so practical interventions that aim to improve youths' social adjustment via expressive flexibility training might need to consider the role of individual characteristics.

Although parent-child discrepancies in reports of parenting are known to be associated with child depressive symptoms, the direction of causality is unknown. To address this knowledge gap, this study contributes to existing literature by examining longitudinal within-family linkages between parent-child discrepancies in their reports on autonomy support and depressive symptoms of children, while also assessing these linkages with parents' depressive symptoms. In addition, this study explored whether these linkages differ for father- versus mother-child discrepancies. Longitudinal data (six annual waves) of 497 adolescents (56.9% boys, M-age at T-1 = 13.03, SD = 0.46), their mothers (N = 495), and their fathers (N = 446) of the Dutch study Research on Adolescent Development and Relationships (RADAR) were used. Counter to expectations, the results of a Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model provided no evidence for within-family cross-lagged effects. Instead, stable differences between families explained linkages; in families where children reported on average higher levels of depressive symptoms, children also reported lower levels of autonomy support relative to their parents. There were no associations between parent-child discrepancies and parents' depressive symptoms. Thus, the findings suggest that depressive symptoms are neither a consequence, nor a predictor of parent-child discrepancies in adolescence. The hypotheses and analytical plan of this study were preregistered in a project on the Open Science Framework.

The current study examined the role of mean levels of affect in the relation between affect dynamics and depressive symptoms. We analyzed data from seven studies that measured affect in daily life in adolescents and young adults (N = 1,448, age range = 11.7-29.9 years, 64.8% females). We tested main and interaction effects of affect dynamics (variability and inertia) and affect level on depressive symptoms, separately for positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). For PA, we found mostly main, but no interaction effects. Depressive symptoms were associated with more PA variability and less PA inertia, indicating that depressive symptoms in young people may be characterized by more variable and less lingering PA, independent of PA mean levels. For NA, we found a significant moderation effect between NA variability and NA levels for depressive symptoms at baseline. For individuals with low NA levels, high NA variability was associated with more depressive symptoms. In contrast, for individuals with high NA levels, high NA variability was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. These results suggest that the relative adaptiveness of NA variability depends on overall NA levels and underscores the need for a more nuanced understanding of affect variability in depression.

Personality develops across the lifespan, but most development occurs in adolescence and young adulthood. Life transitions to new social roles may be important drivers of mean-level personality development. The present study examined mean-level personality development in adolescence and young adulthood, and the role of the transition to tertiary education and working life therein in a sample of Dutch young people that were followed across 14 years (N = 497, Age(W1) = 13.03 years). We explored whether young people's self-concept clarity moderated these associations. Our hypotheses and analytical plan were pre-registered. Findings from Latent Growth Models showed support for maturation in personality across adolescence and young adulthood, but not a maturity dip. Having the role of employee was associated with higher conscientiousness, but no associations were found of the transition to tertiary education and the transition to work with mean-level development of any of the personality traits. Self-concept clarity did not moderate the role of transitions in mean-level personality development. Our findings suggest that socialization effects may not explain associations between life transitions and personality development in adolescence and young adulthood.

The secondary school transition is an important moment in adolescents' lives. Taking a prospective approach, the present study examined whether educational identity regarding a secondary school choice and own and parental expectations during the last year of primary school predicted post-transition school and psychological adjustment in Dutch adolescents (N = 314, Mage = 11.58). Additionally, the study qualitatively examined the reasons adolescents gave for their school choice, and linked these reasons to exploration behavior and post-transition adjustment. Identity processes and expectations predicted adjustment. Adolescents mostly reported multiple reasons for their school choice, with educational, practical, and social aspects of secondary schools appearing most important. The number of reasons mentioned was associated with pre-transition exploration behavior.

Stress initiates a cascade of (neuro)biological, physiological, and behavioral changes, allowing us to respond to a challenging environment. The human response to acute stress can be studied in detail in controlled settings, usually in a laboratory environment. To this end, many studies employ acute stress paradigms to probe stress-related outcomes in healthy and patient populations. Though valuable, these studies in themselves often have relatively limited sample sizes. We established a data-sharing and collaborative interdisciplinary initiative, the STRESS-NL database, which combines (neuro)biological, physiological, and behavioral data across many acute stress studies in order to accelerate our understanding of the human acute stress response in health and disease (www.stressdatabase.eu). Researchers in the stress field from 12 Dutch research groups of 6 Dutch universities created a database to achieve an accurate inventory of (neuro)biological, physiological, and behavioral data from laboratory-based human studies that used acute stress tests. Currently, the STRESS-NL database consists of information on 5529 individual participants (2281 females and 3348 males, age range 6-99 years, mean age 27.7 ± 16 years) stemming from 57 experiments described in 42 independent studies. Studies often did not use the same stress paradigm; outcomes were different and measured at different time points. All studies currently included in the database assessed cortisol levels before, during and after experimental stress, but cortisol measurement will not be a strict requirement for future study inclusion. Here, we report on the creation of the STRESS-NL database and infrastructure to illustrate the potential of accumulating and combining existing data to allow meta-analytical, proof-of-principle analyses. The STRESS-NL database creates a framework that enables human stress research to take new avenues in explorative and hypothesis-driven data analyses with high statistical power

Objective One way in which individuals construct their narrative identity is by making self-event connections, which are often linked to better functioning. Being unable to make connections is related to identity discontinuity and psychopathology. Work in the general population corroborates this association, but also highlights the importance of focusing on specific aspects of these connections and on vulnerable populations. Method We examined the association of self-event connections with personality functioning in youth with severe psychopathology (cross-sectional N = 228, M-age = 19.5, longitudinal N = 84), and the role of event and connection valence in the subsample of youth who made a connection (n = 188 and n = 68). Negative affectivity was controlled for in all models. Results We found no evidence that self-event connections, nor connection valence and its interaction with event valence, are related to functioning. Positive event valence was associated with better functioning. Higher negative affectivity was strongly linked to lower functioning and explained the relation between event valence and functioning. No longitudinal associations emerged. Conclusions These findings show that for youth with severe psychopathology making self-event connections may not be associated with better functioning. Moreover, negative affectivity may be a distal predictor of both event valence and functioning.

In the educational domain, the development of identity becomes especially salient during school transition phases. To assess the specific identity processes that match the adolescents' experiences before and after the school transition, the Educational Identity Processes Scale (EIPS) was developed. The present study aimed to test the psychometric qualities of the EIPS by examining its factor structure, the internal and convergent validity of the identity dimensions, and whether the questionnaire was measurement invariant over time. The pre-transition version was tested in a Dutch sample (N = 242 early adolescents) and the post-transition version was tested in a Lithuanian sample (N = 1,268 mid-adolescents). Findings indicated good psychometric qualities for both the pre- and post-transition versions of the EIPS. Additionally, context dependencies were observed, as distance to the transition influenced the meaning of specific identity processes and determined whether specific processes could be considered as part of normative development.

Er is al veel bewijs voor de samenhang tussen de kwaliteit van de ouder-kind relatie en depressieve symptomen bij adolescenten, er is echter nog weinig onderzoek gedaan naar deze samenhang over tijd. Het doel van het huidige onderzoek was daarom om de samenhang tussen de kwaliteit van de ouder-kind relatie in de vroege adolescentie en depressieve symptomen in de middel- tot late adolescentie te onderzoeken. Bovendien werd er gecontroleerd voor depressieve symptomen in de vroege adolescentie en werd er onderzocht of deze samenhang gemodereerd wordt door sekse. 480 Nederlandse adolescenten (57.5% jongens) hebben vragenlijsten ingevuld over de kwaliteit van de ouder-kind relatie en rapporteerde depressieve symptomen gedurende twee meetronden 4 jaar na elkaar. In lijn met de verwachtingen werd er een negatieve samenhang gevonden tussen de kwaliteit van de ouder-kind relatie in de vroege adolescentie en depressieve symptomen in de middel- tot late adolescentie, gecontroleerd voor depressieve symptomen in de vroege adolescentie. Deze samenhang wordt gemodereerd door sekse. Voor meisjes hangt een hoge relatiekwaliteit ouder-kind relatie in de vroege adolescentie samen met minder depressieve symptomen in de middel- tot late adolescentie. Voor jongens werd geen samenhang gevonden. Het huidige onderzoek suggereert dat er bij de behandeling van depressieve symptomen bij adolescenten aandacht besteed moet worden aan de kwaliteit van de ouder-kind relatie tijdens de vroege adolescentie, omdat dit niet enkel depressieve symptomen in die periode lijkt te voorspellen, maar ook effect lijkt te hebben op de relatieve verandering van depressieve symptomen over tijd.

The aim of this study was to discover whether there is a relationship between household composition of young adults and compliance with the COVID-19 measures and whether this relationship occurs through the experience of social support and the experience of limitations in social contacts. Participants included 533 young adults between 18-30 years old. Data was collected by a 20-minute survey from the beginning of June 2020 to the end of July 2020. Findings revealed a negative relationship between household composition and compliance with COVID-19 measures. This means that young adults who live together in a larger household composition are less able to comply with the measures. This study also showed that young adults who experience more social support comply with the measures better. However, no link was found between household composition and perceived social support or perceived limitation in social contacts. It can therefore be stated that the relationship between household composition and compliance with the measures is not mediated by perceived social support or perceived limitation in social contacts.

This study investigated, using a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, the extent to which young adults are concerned about their financial situation and the influence of psychological factors (individualistic vs. collectivist values and empathy) in relation to the extent of their adherence to COVID-19 measures. A sample of N = 460 young adults aged 18 to 25 years was used. No significant relationship has been found between financial concerns and compliance with COVID-19 measures. Furthermore, a moderate but significant correlation has been found between collectivist values and adherence to COVID-19 measures (p = <.05). Finally, a significant relationship between showing empathy and adhering to the COVID-19 measures (p = <.001) has been found. This study has a number of limitations that must be taken into account, for example, the use of self-report lists only. In follow-up research, other measuring instruments can also be used, such as observations or interviews with family and friends of the participants.

Prosocial behavior has positive effects on the well-being of adolescents. There are conflicting results on how prosocial behavior develops and what might influence this development. Therefore, this 6-year longitudinal study examines the development of prosocial behavior and the influence of parental conflict resolution style on this behavior. The conflict resolution style of parents may influence the development of prosocial behavior (Barthassat, 2014; McCoy et al., 2009). This development seems to be different for boys and girls (Van der Graaff et al., 2018). Also, the conflict resolution style of parents seems to have a different effect on boys and girls (López-Larrosa et al., 2019). The study involved 343 Dutch adolescents (Mage = 12.99, SD = 0.43) and both of their parents. Adolescents provided information on the degree of prosocial behavior. Parents provided information about their conflict resolution style. The study revealed that adolescents show an increase in prosocial behavior between the ages of 13 and 17. From the age of 17 onwards, there is a decrease in prosocial behavior. The degree of constructive or non-constructive conflict resolution style by parents has no influence on this decrease. Although girls show more prosocial behavior than boys, the development of prosocial behavior does not differ for boys and girls. There is no correlation between conflict resolution style in the parental relationship and the development of prosocial behavior in adolescents, and this result does not differ for boys and girls.

Het doel van deze studie was om te onderzoeken of er een samenhang over tijd bestaat tussen negatieve en positieve vader-adolescent interactie tijdens de jonge adolescentie en externaliserend gedrag tijdens de latere adolescentie. Doelgroep van de studie waren adolescenten (gemiddelde leeftijd van 13 jaar) en hun vaders, bestaande uit een steekproef van 63 respondenten. Er is een hiërarchische multipele regressieanalyse uitgevoerd, waarbij de negatieve en positieve vader-adolescent interactie apart is meegenomen. De gegevens zijn gebaseerd op interactieobservaties, CBCL lijsten ingevuld door vaders en YSR lijsten ingevuld door adolescenten. Er is geen significante samenhang gevonden tussen negatieve en positieve vader-adolescent interactie op jongere adolescentleeftijd en externaliserend gedrag op latere adolescentleeftijd. Er kon wel geconcludeerd worden dat het externaliserende gedrag over tijd stabiel bleef. Een mogelijke limitatie van het onderzoek was de steekproefgrootte; een grotere steekproef leidt mogelijk tot een groter effect.

Achtergrond De etiologie van psychiatrische stoornissen is multifactorieel. Doel Bespreken van factoren tijdens de zwangerschap en vroege kindertijd die bijdragen aan de ontwikkeling van psychische problemen. Methode Overzicht van de bevindingen van vier grote Nederlandse kindercohorten. Resultaten In plaats van op geïsoleerde risicofactoren is het belangrijk te focussen op het grotere geheel en op de samenhang van risico en veerkracht. Prenatale stress, gezinsfunctioneren en psychische problemen representeren een multifactorieel, multicausaal probleem en vroege interventies zijn gewenst, gericht op (aanstaande) ouders en kind. Conclusie De bevindingen van de cohortonderzoeken kunnen als aangrijpingspunten dienen voor vervolgonderzoek, preventie en interventie.

Heterogeneity in development of imbalance between impulse control and sensation seeking has not been studied until now. The present study scrutinized this heterogeneity and the link between imbalance and adolescent risk. Seven-wave data of 7,558 youth (50.71% males; age range from 12/13 until 24/25) were used. Three developmental trajectories were identified. The first trajectory, “sensation seeking to balanced sensation seeking”, included participants with a higher level of sensation seeking than impulse control across all ages. The second trajectory, “moderate dominant control”, included participants showing moderate and increasing impulse control relative to sensation seeking across all ages. The third trajectory, “strong late dominant control”, included participants showing the highest level of impulse control which was about as strong as sensation seeking from early to middle adolescence and became substantially stronger from late adolescence to early adulthood. Although the systematic increase of impulse control in all subgroups is in line with both models, neither of these combined trajectories of control and sensation seeking was predicted by the Dual Systems Model or the Maturational Imbalance Model. Consistent with both models the “sensation seeking to balanced sensation seeking” trajectory showed the highest level of substance use. It can be concluded that, even though both theories adequately predict the link between imbalance and risk, neither the Dual Systems Model nor the Maturational Imbalance Model correctly predict the heterogeneity in development of imbalance between impulse control and sensation seeking.

The authors regret that Table 1 contained some minor errors and should have appeared as follows: The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

We tested whether adolescents with daily high identity uncertainty showed differential structural brain development across adolescence and young adulthood. Participants (N = 150, MageT1 15.92 years) were followed across three waves, covering 4 years. Self-reported daily educational identity and structural brain data of lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC)/anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), medial PFC, and nucleus accumbens (NAcc) was collected across three waves. All hypotheses were pre-registered. Latent class growth analyses confirmed 2 identity subgroups: an identity synthesis class (characterized by strong commitments, and low uncertainty), and an identity moratorium class (high daily identity uncertainty). Latent growth curve models revealed, on average, delayed maturation of the lateral PFC/ACC and medial PFC and stable NAcc. Yet, adolescents in identity moratorium showed lower levels and less decline in NAcc gray matter volume. Lateral PFC/ACC and medial PFC trajectories did not differ between identity subgroups. Exploratory analyses revealed that adolescents with higher baseline levels and delayed maturation of lateral PFC/ACC and medial PFC gray matter volume, surface area, and cortical thickness reported higher baseline levels and stronger increases of in-depth exploration. These results provide insight into how individual differences in brain developm

Behaviors, traits and characteristics are transmitted from parents to offspring because of complex genetic and non-genetic processes. We review genetic and non-genetic mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of psychopathology and parenting and focus on recent methodological advances in disentangling genetic and non-genetic factors. In light of this review, we propose that future studies on intergenerational transmission should aim to disentangle genetic and non-genetic transmission, take a long-term longitudinal perspective, and focus on paternal and maternal intergenerational transmission. We present four large longitudinal cohort studies within the Consortium on Individual Development, which together address many of these methodological challenges. These four cohort studies aim to examine the extent to which genetic and non-genetic transmission from the parental generation shapes parenting behavior and psychopathology in the next generation, as well as the extent to which self-regulation and social competence mediate this transmission. Conjointly, these four cohorts provide a comprehensive approach to the study of intergenerational transmission.

Objective: Advanced parenthood increases the risk of severe neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, Down syndrome and schizophrenia. Does advanced parenthood also negatively impact offspring’s general neurodevelopment? Method: We analyzed child-, father-, mother- and teacher-rated attention-problems (N = 38,024), and standardized measures of intelligence (N = 10,273) and educational achievement (N = 17,522) of children from four Dutch population-based cohorts. The mean age over cohorts varied from 9.73–13.03. Most participants were of Dutch origin, ranging from 58.7%-96.7% over cohorts. We analyzed 50% of the data to generate hypotheses and the other 50% to evaluate support for these hypotheses. We aggregated the results over cohorts with Bayesian research synthesis. Results: We mostly found ne

While it is largely known that the sibling relationship is one of the most long lasting relationships during life, research about this relationship during adolescence remains scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to examine if there is a link between the quality of the sibling relationship with adolescent empathy and prosocial behaviour over time. Additionally, this thesis examined whether these effects were moderated by birth order. For this reason, 353 adolescents (57.2% boys; Mage = 13.01 years) and their siblings (43.3% boys; Mage = 14.88 years) completed multiple questionnaires about how they rated the quality of their sibling relationship and adolescents reported on the extent of their empathy and prosocial behaviour during time 1 and time 6. The results revealed that although there is a weak positive correlation between the quality of the sibling relationship and prosocial behaviour at time 1, there is no link between the quality of the sibling relationship and both empathy and prosocial behaviour over time. Moreover, birth order did not moderate these links. The current results indicate that the quality of the sibling relationship may not have an influence on adolescents’ empathy and prosocial behaviour. However, this insight can be used to involve siblings more in future research so that their role in adolescent development becomes more understood. Limitations of this thesis were discussed and recommendations for future research were given.

Adolescenten die te maken hebben gehad met slachtofferschap van delinquent gedrag komt tussen de 8-32% voor. Uit onderzoek is gebleken dat blootstelling aan slachtofferschap een verhoogd risico kan geven op het ontwikkelen van internaliserende en externaliserende gedragsproblemen. Het doel van deze huidige studie was of slachtofferschap van delinquent gedrag gedragsproblemen zoals, depressie, angst, agressie en delinquent gedrag kan voorspellen. Huidig onderzoek maakt gebruik van gegevens uit het Research on Adolescent Development And Relationships (RADAR). De steekproef bestaat uit 497 adolescenten. De ontwikkeling van de adolescent werd tijdens het onderzoek meegenomen van meetronde één tot meetronde zes. De deelnemers zijn op willekeurige geselecteerde scholen geworven in het midden en westen van Nederland. Zelfrapportage vragenlijsten werden door de adolescent ingevuld. De vragenlijsten zijn gericht op angst, depressie, agressie, delinquent gedrag en slachtofferschap. Uit de onderzoeksresultaten is gebleken dat er een gemiddeld verschil is gevonden in slachtofferschap, de slachtoffers scoren in bijna alle probleemgebieden hoger dan de niet-slachtoffers, behalve bij het probleemgebied angst. Verder is gebleken dat er een significant interactie-effect is gevonden tussen tijd en slachtofferschap op agressie en delinquent gedrag. Dit betekent dat de ontwikkeling van agressie en delinquent gedrag over tijd verschilde tussen de groepen. Door deze kennis kan er een bijdrage geleverd worden aan de gevolgen van slachtofferschap van delinquent gedrag. Om vervolgens een preventieprogramma te maken, waarin de adolescent vroegtijdig de signalen kan herkennen van internaliserende en externaliserende gedragsproblemen.

This study investigated the longitudinal relationship between perceived sibling dominance and adolescent agreeableness and the moderating role of birth order. 354 adolescents judged their own agreeableness and the dominance perceived from their sibling during the first wave and six years later during the sixth wave. Based on the results, it appeared that there was no significant relationship between perceived dominance and agreeableness, agreeableness and perceived dominance, and that birth order did not play a role in the relationship between perceived dominance and agreeableness. Results are not consistent with previous literature and theoretical frameworks that suggest that personality and relationship quality can influence each other.