Family Structure, Family Process, and Adolescent Well-Being

This article examines the influence of family structure and family relation- ships on adolescent well-being. Using a subsample (N = 850) of data collected in the National Survey of Families and Households, we examine socioemotional adjustment, academic performance, and global well-being among adolescents (ages 12 to 18) living in the four most prevalent family structures in the United States: (a) intact first-married family units, (b) divorced, single- parent families, (c) stepfamilies, and (d) continuously single mothers and their children, one of the fastest growing types of households. These four family types vary dramatically on socioeconomic characteristics and rneasures of family relations. Compared to the other family types, families headed by continuously single mothers have the lowest income, whereas divorced families and stepfamilies report the highest levels of mother-adolescent disagreement and the lowest levels of parental supervision and mother-adolescent interaction, Unadjusted comparisons across family types reveal that adolescents in first-rnarried families have slightly higher scores on all three measures of well-being, but few of the differences are statistically significant, Regression analyses indicate that the strongest and most consistent predictor of adolescent well-being is mother-adolescent disagreement, Other family process variables directly involving the mother-adolescent dyad (mother-adolescent interaction, aggression, and support) are consistently related to adolescent adjustment, academic performance, and well-being

Social media and adolescent well-being in the Global South

Despite the rapid proliferation of digital technologies in the Global South, most academic research on social media and adolescent well-being has primarily focused on the Global North. This review investigates how social media impacts adolescent well-being in the Global South. We first review five regions (Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East & North Africa, Latin America, China and South & South-East Asia) to highlight the complex ways social media interacts with well-being around the world. We then outline research gaps in the current understanding of the impacts of social media use on adolescent populations in diverse cultural contexts. We finally highlight potential lines of inquiry that future researchers could explore to build a nuanced, contextual perspective of the risks and opportunities of social media use

Racial Disproportionality, Race Disparity, and Other Race-Related Findings in Published Works Derived from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being

Draws on articles based on the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being to examine the relationship between race/ethnicity and the child welfare agency-supervised services received, such as early intervention- and reunification-related services

Positive and Negative Effects of Social Media on Adolescent Well-Being.

Social media use is rapidly growing among adolescents, studies cite that the rates of “constant use” doubled from 2015 to 2018 (Anderson & Jiang, 2018; Lenhart, 2015). Social media use can have a serious negative impact on areas of well-being including feelings of depression, anxiety, fear of missing out, body image, bullying and sleep. Mojtabai, Olfson and Han (2016) cite the problematic use of mobile phones and social media applications as one of the trends aligning with the increase in major depressive episodes. Conversely, use of social media can promote positive feelings of well-being including creating a sense of community, providing access to needed health information, helping create new relationships and maintain existing ones and offering a platform for self-expression and creation of self-identity. The purpose of this study was to compare the positive and negative impacts of the top four social media platforms used by adolescents on 14 areas of well-being. SPSS was used for data analysis to compare well-being scores for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube. Analysis was also completed to see if there was a relationship between time spent online and perceived well-being. Consistent with research, the majority of adolescents cite that their smartphone is the primary way they access social media. YouTube was identified as having the most positive impact on adolescent well-being while Instagram was perceived as having the most negative. Time spent online indicated a weak, positive correlation to well-being with only YouTube

Stress and adolescent well-being: the need for an interdisciplinary framework

Stress and strain among adolescents have been investigated and discussed largely within three separate disciplines: mental health, where the focus has been on the negative effects of stress on emotional health; criminology, where the emphasis has been on the effects of strain on delinquency; and biology, where the focus has been to understand the effects of stress on physiology. Recently, scholars have called for increased multilevel developmental analyses of the bio-psychosocial nature of risk and protection for behaviors of individuals. This paper draws on several different but converging theoretical perspectives in an attempt to provide an overview of research relevant to stress in adolescence and puts forth a new framework that aims to provide both a common language and consilience by which future research can analyze the effects of multiple biological, social and environmental factors experienced during specific developmental periods, and cumulatively over time, on harmful behavior during adolescence. We present a framework to examine the effects of stress on diverse behavioral outcomes among adolescents, including substance use, suicidal behavior, self-inflicted harm, and delinquency

Paternal Incarceration And Adolescent Well-Being: Life Course Contingencies And Other Moderators

Parental incarceration has been found to be associated with a wide range of negative outcomes in both childhood and adolescence. This Article uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to focus on the conditions under which associations of paternal incarceration with adolescent delinquency and depression are strongest. Paternal incarceration is most consistently and positively associated with adolescent delinquency. Associations of paternal incarceration with adolescent depression are weaker and more contingent on gender and other moderating factors. One important moderator is the respondent's retrospective reports that he or she was physically or sexually abused by a parent or other adult caregiver during childhood. For example, in the absence of sexual abuse, paternal incarceration is associated with higher depression among girls. When coupled with reports of sexual abuse, in contrast, paternal incarceration is not associated with girls' depression, suggesting a potential protective effect. The child having ever coresided with his or her father is also found to moderate associations, with paternal incarceration most strongly associated with delinquency and depression among girls who had ever coresided with their fathers. Examination of the duration and timing of paternal incarceration also pointed to gender differences

Impact of a Recreational Outdoor and Adventure Program on Adolescent Well-Being

This study used an archival dataset to investigate the effects of a recreational outdoor and adventure program (ROAP) on overall adolescent well-being. Successful ROAPs have been found to increase overall well-being as well as other factors such as increased self-efficacy, peer involvement, connectedness to nature, and decreased stress. This study examined 34 high school to college age individuals who participated in a summer ROAP. Five crews completed a 28-day canoe trip in northern Minnesota, and one crew completed a 37-day canoe trip near the Brooks Range in Alaska. Participants completed pre-trip, post-trip, and 45-day follow-up surveys measuring overall well-being, self-efficacy, perceived stress, peer involvement, and connectedness to nature. This study used multivariate analysis of variance to explore between-group differences between Times 1, 2, and 3, evaluating outcomes of the intervention period and the 45 days following intervention. Participant well-being, self-efficacy, and connectedness to nature significantly improved from pre-trip to post-trip (with small, small, and moderate effect sizes, respectively), but no significant difference was found between post-trip and follow-up. For perceived stress, however, least significant difference (LSD) post-hoc tests indicated that there was a significant improvement from the pre-trip to the 45-day follow-up (small effect size). Finally, peer relationships significantly improved from pre-trip to post-trip, then significantly decreased from post-trip to follow-up, with follow-up scores still significantly improved as compared to pre-trip scores (large effect size). These results provide some evidence of a lasting impact of ROAP participation on adolescent well-being, self-efficacy, and connectedness to nature. Limitations and areas for future research are discussed

Parental Social Support and Adolescent Well-Being : a Cross-Sectional Study in China

The aim of this study was to examine whether the two components of parental social support, emotional and instrumental, are associated with various aspects of adolescent well-being in the current Chinese context. A sample of 1306 adolescents (47% girls, 11, 13 and 15 years old, 39% urban) was derived from the nationally representative 2012 survey “China Family Panel Studies”. Four indicators of adolescent well-being were examined: health status, academic attainment, self-perception and depression. Logistic regression and multiple linear regression models were applied to analyze associations between the two domains of parental social support and four indicators of adolescent well-being, respectively. Both the intermediate and high levels of emotional support were associated with better self-perception and lower levels of depression, while these associations were only reflected at the high level of instrumental support. In addition, only the high level of emotional support was associated with higher academic attainment. Overall these associations remained after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, including age, gender, living location, family income and family size. However, some of the confounders were more influential on adolescent well-being than others. For example, those adolescents who lived in rural areas were more likely to report suboptimal health status. These findings are discussed in the context of the rapid changes in Chinese society. This research adds to the empirical evidence on the association between parental social support and adolescent well-being in contemporary Mainland China.Peer reviewe