Adolescence as a peak period of borderline personality features? : A meta-analytic approach

This meta-analysis of cross-sectional data aimed to shed light on the often assumed peak in mean-level of borderline personality features during middle to late adolescence (i.e. age 17–22). Borderline personality features were operationalized through the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II). Search terms were entered into PsycINFO and Scopus. A total of 168 samples were included in the analyses, comprising 25,053 participants. Mean age ranged from 14.35 to 51.47 years (M = 29.01, SD = 8.52) and mean number of borderline personality features from 0 to 8.10 (M = 4.59, SD = 2.34). The hypothesized peak between age 17 and 22 was not substantiated by the confirmatory ANOVA analysis. However, subsequent exploratory GAM analysis provided evidence for a peak at 29.4 years. Caution is needed in interpreting these findings given that different trends appeared when GAM models were constructed separately for community, patient and borderline personality disorder (BPD) samples. Age differences in community samples indicated a significant linear decline in mean-level of borderline personality features over time. A linear rising trend was found in BPD samples. As a betweenperson mean-level approach was used in the current study, future longitudinal studies are needed to substantiate if betweenperson age difference generalize to within-person changes

Disentangling the effects of peer status and peer victimization on perceived physical health in adolescence

Introduction: Although exposure to peer victimization during adolescence has been linked to poorer (perceived) physical health, little is known about how multiple peer stressors may independently and conjointly be related with adolescent physical health outcomes. The current study investigated the unique, interactive, and cumulative effects of peer victimization and two types of peer status (i.e., peer preference and peer popularity) on adolescent perceived physical health, while separating between- and within-person effects. Methods: Two hundred and thirty-three adolescents (Mage = 12.7 years; 47.2% females) enrolled in two secondary schools in the Netherlands completed self-report measures and sociometric nominations of peer status four times, every 6 months, during the first 2 years of secondary school. Results: Multilevel analysis showed that adolescents who reported higher levels of peer victimization than their peers also reported more perceived physical health problems. Moreover, when adolescents were exposed to higher levels of peer victimization (as compared with their own average levels), they also reported poorer perceived physical health (as compared with their own average levels). No main or interactive effects of peer status were found and the effect of a cumulative peer stress score emerged to be driven by peer victimization. Conclusions: Findings revealed both between- and within-person effects of peer victimization on perceived physical health, suggesting that peer victimization may be the most salient peer stressor to affect physical health outcomes in adolescence

The “why” and “how” of narcissism:A process model of narcissistic status pursuit

We propose a self-regulation model of grandiose narcissism. This model illustrates an interconnected set of processes through which narcissists (i.e., individuals with relatively high levels of grandiose narcissism) pursue social status in their moment-by-moment transactions with their environments. The model shows that narcissists select situations that afford status. Narcissists vigilantly attend to cues related to the status they and others have in these situations and, on the basis of these perceived cues, appraise whether they can elevate their status or reduce the status of others. Narcissists engage in self-promotion (admiration pathway) or other-derogation (rivalry pathway) in accordance with these appraisals. Each pathway has unique consequences for how narcissists are perceived by others, thus shaping their social status over time. The model demonstrates how narcissism manifests itself as a stable and consistent cluster of behaviors in pursuit of social status and how it develops and maintains itself over time. More broadly, the model might offer useful insights for future process models of other personality traits

Personality maturation around the world:A cross-cultural examination of Social-Investment Theory

During early adulthood, individuals from different cultures across the world tend to become more agreeable, more conscientious, and less neurotic. Two leading theories offer different explanations for these pervasive age trends: Five-factor theory proposes that personality maturation is largely determined by genetic factors, whereas social-investment theory proposes that personality maturation in early adulthood is largely the result of normative life transitions to adult roles. In the research reported here, we conducted the first systematic cross-cultural test of these theories using data from a large Internet-based sample of young adults from 62 nations (N = 884,328). We found strong evidence for universal personality maturation from early to middle adulthood, yet there were significant cultural differences in age effects on personality traits. Consistent with social-investment theory, results showed that cultures with an earlier onset of adult-role responsibilities were marked by earlier personality maturation. Keywords: personality development, Big Five, social investment, culture, adult development, cross-cultural differences, personalit

Back to the Drawing Board: A Descriptive Study on Potential Indicators of Giftedness in Human Figure Drawings of Children Aged 4 to 6 Years

This study described exceptional items in human figure drawings (HFDs) which have been discussed as possible expressions of intellectual giftedness. The aim was to serve as a first step in the development of a screener for HFDs that can be used as part of the identification process of gifted children. We examined the frequency of occurrence of 158 items in HFDs of 206 children aged 4 to 6 years (17 potentially gifted). Fine details and additions to the human figure turned out to be exceptional, especially in drawings of 4-year-olds. Several exceptional items were drawn more frequently or exclusively by potentially gifted children. Descriptively, exceptionality in drawings of potentially gifted children was most visible in HFDs of 4-year-olds, and tended to become less visible with age. Further research with larger samples is required to draw solid conclusions about HFDs of gifted children

Parent–adolescent interaction quality and adolescent affect: An experience sampling study on effect heterogeneity

Person–environment interactions might ultimately drive longer term development. This experience sampling study (Data collection: 2019/20 the Netherlands) assessed short-term linkages between parent–adolescent interaction quality and affect during 2281 interactions of 124 adolescents (Mage = 15.80, SDage= 1.69, 59% girls, 92% Dutch, Education: 25% low, 31% middle, 35% high, 9% other). Adolescents reported on parent–adolescent interaction quality (i.e., warmth and conflict) and momentary positive and negative affect five to six times a day, for 14 days. Preregistered dynamic structural equation models (DSEM) revealed within-family associations between parent–adolescent interaction quality and adolescent affect (concurrently: r = −.22 to.39; lagged effects: ß = −.17 to.15). These effects varied significantly between families. These findings stress the need for more person-specific research on parenting processes

Universal ingredients to parenting teens: parental warmth and autonomy support promote adolescent well-being in most families

Even though each adolescent is unique, some ingredients for development may still be universal. According to Self-Determination Theory, every adolescent’s well-being should benefit when parents provide warmth and autonomy. To rigorously test this idea that each family has similar mechanisms, we followed 159 Dutch parent-adolescent dyads (parent: Mage = 45.34, 79% mothers; adolescent: Mage = 13.31, 62% female) for more than three months, and collected 100 consecutive daily reports of parental warmth, autonomy support, positive and negative affect. Positive effects of parental warmth and autonomy support upon well-being were found in 91–98% of the families. Preregistered analysis of 14,546 daily reports confirmed that effects of parenting differed in strength (i.e., some adolescents benefited more than others), but were universal in their direction (i.e., in fewer than 1% of families effects were in an unexpected direction). Albeit stronger with child-reported parenting, similar patterns were found with parent-reports. Adolescents who benefited most from need-supportive parenting in daily life were characterized by higher overall sensitivity to environmental influences. Whereas recent work suggests that each child and each family have unique developmental mechanisms, this study suggests that need-supportive parenting promotes adolescent well-being in most families

A Process × Domain Assessment of Narcissism: The Domain-Specific Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire

Research on grandiose narcissism distinguishes between self-promotional processes (i.e., narcissistic admiration) and other-derogative processes (i.e., narcissistic rivalry; Back et al., 2013). Moreover, research has begun to assess and investigate narcissistic manifestations in different domains (e.g., communal narcissism). To integrate these two lines of research, we developed the Domain-Specific Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire (D-NARQ), a 72-item narcissism questionnaire that contains a self-promotional process scale (narcissistic admiration) and an other-derogatory process scale (narcissistic rivalry) for four domains: intellectual ability, social dominance, communal care, and physical attractiveness. We investigated the psychometric properties of the D-NARQ in a large online study (N = 1,635). Model fit statistics were largely in line with the theorized factor structure. The D-NARQ scales had good to very good measurement precision, and their correlations with established narcissism scales, the Big Five personality traits, and comparative self-evaluations largely supported their convergent and discriminant validity