Guided by the life course perspective, this study investigated the developmental antecedents of contact, closeness/warmth, and negativity in young adults' relationships with their parents. Taking the developmental systems approach, we considered interindividual differences in not only initial levels of parenting quality in early adolescence (Grade…

Children's motivation to master challenging tasks is an important predictor of school success, and yet, such motivation declines during adolescence. It is therefore important to identify ways to intervene to reduce this decline. One malleable factor that is associated with motivation is parenting. The present study used structural equation…

The present paper (1) examined variables, which could predict traditional bullying, cyberbullying, traditional victimization and cybervictimization and (2) looked at persons to examine whether academic, socio-emotional and demographic characteristics differed between traditional, cyber and mixed bullies, victims and bully-victims. A sample of…

Parenting behaviors have been linked to children's self regulation, but it is less clear how they relate to adolescent psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility is a broad construct that describes an individual's ability to respond appropriately to environmental demands and internal experiences in the service of their goals. We examined…

Involving more than 1,500 academically gifted students and their parents, this study examined relationships between family environment and social competence of gifted students. Results from an online survey revealed that our gifted students rated their families as cohesive and flexible with high levels of satisfaction and communication among…

A study of 805 4th through 7th graders used a model of motivational development to guide the investigation of the internal dynamics of 4 indicators of behavioral and emotional engagement and disaffection and the facilitative effects of teacher support and 3 student self-perceptions (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) on changes in these…

Two studies addressed age- and gender-related patterns in early adolescents' and emerging adults' conceptions of intimacy in friendships. Forty-one early adolescents and 96 emerging adults in Study 1 and 174 emerging adults in Study 2 described a time when they felt especially close to a friend. Narratives were coded for intimate behaviors and…

To understand whether difficulties in emotional functioning distinguish between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating, a set of emotion regulation (i.e., negative emotion, emotional awareness, coping), demographic (i.e., age), and physical (i.e., BMI (Body Mass Index)) factors were assessed in 234 early adolescent girls, grades six to eight.…

This study first examined a model of the predictors and mediators of both suicidal ideation and violent ideation, particularly since both types of ideation were highly correlated (r = 0.55) among our young adolescent participants. The variables in the model were those identified in media accounts of the histories of the 10 high-profile school…

The study examined the role of body dissatisfaction, body image importance, sociocultural influences (media and parent and peer encouragement), self-esteem and negative affect on body change strategies to decrease weight and increase muscles in adolescent boys and girls. Surveys were administered to 587 boys and 598 girls aged between 11 and 15…