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In this study, we identified (1) subgroups of youth during middle childhood who displayed distinct profiles of social emotional learning (SEL) skills including cooperation, prosocial behaviors, work habits, emotion regulation, and self-control; and (2) how these profiles predict longitudinal academic and social functioning during early adolescence. Using the NICHD SECCYD dataset ( N = 932, 49% girls), four profiles emerged: relatively low SEL (14%), moderate-high SEL (51%), prosocial/self-control (22%), and cooperation/work habits (13%). Longitudinally, the prosocial/self-control group and cooperation/work habits group demonstrated area-specific weakness. The prosocial/self-control youth were at risk of poor academic competence; the high cooperation/work habit youth were at risk of poor social functioning whereas the relatively low SEL skills youth demonstrated highest risk in poor academic and social functioning in early adolescence.

Moral disengagement is a social cognition people use to engage in wrongdoings even when they know it is wrong. However, little is known about the antecedents that predict moral disengagement. The current study focuses on the development of self-control and cooperation during middle childhood as two antecedents of moral disengagement among 1,103 children (50% female; 77% White, 12% Black, 6% Hispanic, and 5% other). Children's self-control at age 8 and growth in self-control from age 8 to 11 were positively linked to adolescents seeing themselves as having self-control at age 15, which then predicted less moral disengagement at age 18. Children's cooperation at age 8 also was positively linked to adolescents’ self-views of cooperation at age 15, which in turn, was associated with less moral disengagement at age 18. These findings demonstrate the potential of self-control and cooperation as intrapersonal and interpersonal strengths during middle childhood for mitigating moral disengagement 10 years later.

Youth-staff relationships and program activities are important elements in designing high-quality afterschool activities that promote a broad range of outcomes. Using a qualitative approach, Latinx...

Grounded in ecological frameworks, this study examines (a) the extent to which Latinx adolescents’ perceptions of peer ethnic discrimination were associated with their participation in organized after-school activities, activity type, and ethnic composition; (b) different patterns of perceived peer ethnic discrimination; and (c) associations between discrimination patterns with key activity experiences including psychological engagement, perceived peer support, perceived leader support, and positive feelings in the activities. Using a pattern-centered approach, we applied latent profile analysis to analyze the data from 204 Latinx adolescents (53% female, M age = 12.40) in Southwest United States. Latinx adolescents who did not participate in organized after-school activities perceived higher peer ethnic discrimination than Latinx adolescents who participated. Latinx adolescents who were the numerical ethnic majority in activities reported lower discrimination than those who were the numerical minority. Among those who participated, 4 patterns of peer ethnic discrimination Latinx adolescents experienced in activities were identified. These profiles included moderate discrimination (4%), minimal discrimination (21%), no discrimination (64%), and somewhat negative beliefs (11%), which were differentially related to adolescents’ activity outcomes. Adolescents in the no discrimination group reported the most positive activity outcomes and those in the moderate discrimination group reported the most negative activity experiences. Adolescents who experienced little discrimination but felt other peers held negative beliefs about their ethnicity reported significantly lower psychological engagement and peer support than the no discrimination group. These findings highlight the importance of examining adolescents’ varying patterns of perceived ethnic discrimination in activities and provides ways that activity practitioners can optimize organized activity settings for Latinx adolescents.

Opportunities for collaborative learning reflect positive peer processes that have strong implications for adolescents’ developmental experiences in afterschool programs (ASPs). However, collaborat...

Through the provision of different types of social support, significant nonparental youth–adult relationships can facilitate youth’s positive development across adolescence. However, despite the po...

Developmental theories and previous research have emphasized the significance of cooperation and self-control in middle childhood. The present study extends previous research by examining (a) the growth of cooperation and self-control as well as the relations between them in middle childhood (third to sixth grade) and (b) the extent to which mothers' and fathers' parenting during early childhood (54 months and first grade) was associated with children's cooperation and self-control. The sample included 705 children (51% female, 86% White) and their mothers, fathers, and teachers in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD). Children, on average, exhibited increases in self-control but not cooperation from third to sixth grade though the increases were smaller for children who had higher self-control or cooperation at third grade. Children who exhibited higher self-control at third grade tended to exhibit higher cooperation at third grade; similar positive associations emerged for the changes in self-control and cooperation over time. In addition, if a child exhibited higher self-control at one time point relative to their typical average level, they tended to also exhibit higher cooperation at the same time point relative to their typical average level. However, these relative deviations within person were not associated over time. Lastly, maternal and paternal sensitive and stimulating parenting in early childhood was positively associated with children's cooperation and self-control in middle childhood. Overall, our findings shed light on the growth of and the relations between cooperation and self-control in middle childhood and highlight the role of maternal and paternal parenting in early childhood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Having or developing a sense of purpose is an important component of positive adolescent development. However, there is limited empirical understanding of how youth purpose develops and what aspects of youth’s ecologies best support purpose development during adolescence. This chapter seeks to provide insight into how significant adults, both parents and non-parental adults, serve as ecological assets that may support purpose development for youth during adolescence. We begin by discussing how developmental and ecological theories can inform the broader literature on youth purpose. We then present findings from a study examining the development, characteristics, and influence of youth–adult relationships across multiple contexts and over key transition points across adolescence, focusing on the ways in which relationships with parents and other significant adults can play a key role in cultivating and nurturing purpose development during adolescence. We close by discussing implications for understanding effective ways of supporting purpose development during adolescence and the benefits of mixed methods research for those aims.

Early adolescence is an important period for students’ math motivational beliefs. This explanatory sequential mixed methods study examined middle school students’ experiences in a university-based math afterschool program serving predominantly underprivileged Latinx adolescents. First, utilizing quantitative pre- and post-survey data (N = 129), we found that the support adolescents’ received in the program for their competence needs positively predicted changes in their math motivational beliefs (i.e., math ability self-concepts and subjective task-values) over one academic year. In our follow-up analysis of qualitative interview data (N =28), we examined specifically how mentors in the program supported adolescents’ competence needs. The findings highlight specific culturally responsive practices - including helping adolescents leverage their funds of knowledge as well as various strategies and perspectives - that afterschool programs and mentors can utilize to create supportive learning environments for competence needs that help to promote adolescents’ math motivational beliefs.

Interpersonal relationships during adolescence can be powerful avenues for personal development. As school is a universal context for youth, positive teacher-student relationships (TSRs) are one potential source for such developmentally promotive relationships. Unfortunately, research has shown a decline in the quality of teacher-student interactions as students progress through PK-12, which suggests a missed developmental opportunity. More research is needed to identify factors that contribute to positive TSRs, especially during adolescence. Utilizing qualitative methods, this study explores adolescent perceptions of TSRs in order to identify and understand key interactions and characteristics of high-quality, positive TSRs. We identified two overarching themes that emerged from our qualitative analysis: teacher noticing and teacher investment. Within these themes, we also examined the role of “free” and “same-level” conversations in promoting positive TSRs. Our findings contribute to research aimed at understanding specific processes that occur within positive youth-adult relationships. Specifically, we find promise in key teacher-student interactions that fulfill adolescents’ developmental needs including autonomy, competence and connection. Our findings emphasize the importance of the student perspective and that capitalizing on positive TSRs during adolescence can be a powerful way to promote positive youth development.

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the relationship between attachment, supportive nonparental youth-adult relationships, and self-esteem during adolescence. First, in a quantitative path analysis, we found that perceived social support from nonparental adults partially mediated the relationship between adolescent attachment and self-esteem. In our follow-up mixed methods analysis, we analyzed youth reflections of support experienced in relationships with significant non-parental adults (VIPs). As compared to youth with positive attachment models, youth with negative attachment models reported fewer instances of emotional support but more instances of validation support. The youth with negative attachment models described (1) the importance of trust and (2) receiving emotional support specific to their needs. In instances of validation support, these youth described how their VIPs (1) provided them with honest and realistic feedback, (2) challenged their negative thinking and (3) created opportunities for them to recognize and showcase their strengths. Our findings underscore the importance of considering youths' individual attributes in the context of their ongoing relationships in order to gain a more nuanced understanding of the role and dynamics of supportive nonparental youth-adult relationships in youths' lives.