The current study examined the experience of friendship dissolution among early adolescents, including the number of friendship dissolutions, the reasons for the dissolution, and the ways in which friendships ended. Participants were 354 middle school students ([X-bar][subscript age] = 11.89 years, SD = 0.86). Results indicate that dissolutions…

This preliminary study explored a person-group dissimilarity hypothesis in the context of adolescent sexual harassment. Theory suggests that victimized youth are expected to experience worse outcomes if they perceive victimization to be a rare experience among their peers. This study comprised 435 middle school students who reported on their…

The current study examines the extent to which associations between internalizing problems, body mass index (BMI), and language skills from early (36 months) to late childhood (fifth grade) are due to relatively stable between-child differences, time-specific correlations, or cross-lagged paths. Data from the NICHD study, Early Child Care and…

With the nationwide closures of educational institutions in the United States due to the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many schools transitioned from face-to-face instruction to eLearning formats at the beginning of the pandemic, while many students and their families self-isolated at home. The literature has revealed that…

Tenets of the Boivin et al. (1995) social process model were reexamined with two longitudinal samples using both the original and contemporary analytic strategies. Study goals included reconstructing (e.g., quasireplicating) Boivin et al.'s (1995) original findings and evaluating hypothesized relations across both comparable and longer…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic affected the social and psychological well-being of early adolescent schoolchildren. Participants were 309 youth (51% female, average age = 12.38 years) enrolled in the sixth, seventh, or eighth grades of a single middle school located in…

Discrepancies in first- (M = 14.97 years, SD = 1.82) and second-born adolescents' (M = 12.20 years, SD = 1.90 years) and their parents' perceptions of parental authority legitimacy (PAL) were examined in a longitudinal sample of 145 predominantly White, middle-class, U.S. families. Utilizing a growth curve modeling approach, changes in the…

This study used a person-centered approach to examine patterns of adjustment along psychological (i.e., depression, self-esteem, anxiety) and academic (i.e., academic motivation) domains in a sample (N = 338) of Mexican-origin female adolescents. Four adjustment profiles were identified. A "High Functioning" (n = 173) group, which…

The authors examine predictors of family participation in the G.R.E.A.T. Families Program of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project (MVPP), a four-site collaboration examining student, teacher, and family interventions for middle school students. Teachers recruited two cohorts of sixth grade students, recognized as being aggressive and…