How Influential are Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on Youths?: Analyzing the Immediate and Lagged Effect of ACEs on Deviant Behaviors

Although the effect of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on antisocial behaviors is well established in the literature, limited research, if any, has analyzed the effect that ACEs have on behaviors at two different times. Limited research also has analyzed the effect that specific ACEs have on deviant behaviors after statistically controlling for respondents' protective factors. This study expands the literature in this area by analyzing in a sample of 555 adolescents the immediate and lagged effect that individual ACEs, and exposure to a number of ACEs, have on three deviant behaviors after controlling for respondents' protective factors not previously examined in ACEs studies. Results obtained from multivariate logistic regression models revealed that stealing things was predicted by being hit hard, being sexually molested, and having lived with a depressed or suicidal individual; and receiving threats over the internet predicted physical fights. Only being hit hard and living with an alcoholic had a lagged effect on smoking marijuana. Results also showed that the protective factors of school connection, anger management skills, and parental supervision reduced the effect of ACEs on the behaviors analyzed. Research, theory, and policy implications are discussed.

A mixed-methods study of resilience and return to school among adolescent mothers in South Africa

ABSTRACTUp to two-thirds of South African adolescent mothers drop out of school, which increases their HIV risk and other poor health outcomes. Despite variability in adolescent mothers' schooling trajectories, we have a limited understanding of their re-enrollment in school following the life-changing circumstance of childbirth. In this paper, we draw on qualitative interviews (n = 16) and quantitative surveys (n = 109) with adolescent mothers (aged 14-19) who had recently given birth to describe how access to individual and social resources contributes to their resilience following childbirth and thus affects their ability to re-enroll in school. Nearly all the adolescent mothers in our study expressed a desire to return to school, and most of their families also emotionally supported adolescent mothers in these goals. Despite mothers' high hopes and familial emotional support, only half of the adolescent mothers re-enrolled in the first six months following childbirth. Adolescent mothers' re-entry trajectories were strongly affected by institutional support and by family members' provision of instrumental support. To a lesser extent, support from partners and peers also played a role in re-enrollment. Multilevel interventions to maximise resilience following the onset of early motherhood may facilitate return to school and positively influence adolescent mothers' health and well-being.

School Connectedness, Academic Self-Efficacy, and Academic Performance: Mediating Role of Hope

The present study explored the effects of school connectedness and academic self-efficacy beliefs on academic performance among male and female high school students. It was hypothesized that hope would mediate the effects of school connectedness and academic self-efficacy beliefs on academic performance. The statistical population of the study included all high school students in a city of Iran, from whom 500 individuals were selected as the study sample using multistage random sampling. To collect the required data, three questionnaires - i.e., academic self-efficacy subscale from the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scale by Midgley et al., Children's Hope Scale by Snyder et al., and Brown and Evans' School Connectedness Scale - were used. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was also applied to evaluate the proposed model, and the results indicated the statistical significance of all the path coefficients between the variables. The model showed the positive and significant relation of school connectedness, academic self-efficacy beliefs, and hope with academic performance and the relation of school connectedness and academic self-efficacy beliefs with hope. The fit indices showed that the model was well-fitted. Furthermore, the significance of all the indirect relationships was also confirmed. We concluded that, the high levels of school connectedness and academic self-efficacy are associated with high academic performance and hope seems to be an important mediator of these relationships.

The Role of Future Time Perspective, Body Awareness, and Social Connectedness in the Relationship Between Self-efficacy and Resilience

Defined as the successful adaptation to dynamic environments, resilience is considered a cornerstone of mental health. However, with the underpinnings of resilience not yet fully understood, this manuscript tests the potential contribution of self-efficacy and embeddedness on resilience (explored through validated measures of future time perspective, body awareness, and social connectedness). The convenience sample of 18-to-77-year-old adults included 297 individuals, of which 36 were men and 171 were female. Participants completed online surveys composed of fifty-two questions in total, measuring self-efficacy, resilience, social connectedness, FTP, and body awareness. Resilience was positively related to self-efficacy, future time perspective, and social connectedness—but not to body awareness—and self-efficacy was positively associated with indices of embeddedness. Considering these correlations, and that only self-efficacy significantly predicted resilience, an exploratory model was proposed to test whether embeddedness directly predicted self-efficacy, and whether self-efficacy directly predicted resilience. Structural Equation Modelling suggested a good fit of this model, elucidating the interplay of psychological mechanisms underlying resilience. Thus, we identify potential variables of interest for clinical interventions aimed at increasing resilience and self-efficacy. Theoretical implications and future research are suggested based on these findings.

Time Perspective Constructs in Albanian and Italian Adolescents: Exploratory Analyses

Time perspective is an important correlate of developmental outcomes in adolescence, and research has highlighted the importance of assessing the past, the present, and the future. However, there are few instruments that assess all three time periods. In the current study, we examined the responses of Italian and Albanian adolescents on the time frequency, time orientation, time relation, and time attitude subscales of the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory. Participants consisted of two samples of adolescents-246 Italians and 312 Albanians-who completed translated versions of the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory. Italian and Albanian adolescents had similar responses to time frequency and time attitudes but differed in time orientation and time relation. Additionally, psychometric evidence supported the internal consistency and structural validity of scores on five of the six time attitude subscales-Past Positive, Past Negative, Present Positive, Present Negative, and Future Positive-but provided less support for Future Negative subscale scores. Time attitude scores showed strong invariance across countries. Comparisons of time attitude mean scores in this study with time attitude means in samples from Germany, Japan, Italy, New Zealand, Turkey, and the United States revealed similarities and differences. Finally, time constructs did not have substantial associations with risky behaviors or seatbelt use. The findings suggest that the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory can be used in cross-cultural research on time perspective and may help us understand adolescents in these contexts.

A Potential Avenue for Academic Success: Hope Predicts an Achievement-Oriented Psychosocial Profile in African American Adolescents

In a sample of 117 African American students, we examined how well hope predicts five psychosocial variables—school belonging, academic self-concept, goal valuation, attitude toward teachers, and academic motivation/self-regulation—that altogether make up an achievement-oriented psychosocial profile. Results indicated that, after controlling for demographics and previous achievement, the subscales of hope accounted for a meaningful portion of all five psychosocial variables, ranging from 17.2% to 29.9%. The agency subscale of hope was a significant predictor of all five psychosocial variables, while pathways was only a significant predictor of goal valuation and academic self-concept. Given that several quick and effective universal hope interventions have been developed, these results suggest that hope may be a promising avenue to improve the achievement-related outcomes of African American students as well as aid in mitigating the achievement gap.

Using the Adolescent Time Inventory—Time Attitudes (ATI-TA) to assess time attitudes in Italian adolescents and young adults: Psychometric properties and validity

Time attitudes (TA) are evaluative feelings toward the past, present and future. Given the role of TA in psychological and behavioral outcomes, the aim of this study was to analyze the adequacy of the Adolescent Time Inventory—Time Attitudes (ATI-TA) scale among adolescents and young adults in Italy. The scale was administered to 638 students in order to test its psychometric properties and validity. The analyses confirmed the adequacy of the six-factor model and the reliability of the subscales. Additionally, the measurement invariance of the scale across genders and age groups (between adolescents up to the age of 18, and young adults above 18) was demonstrated. Specifically, gender invariance reached the level of equivalence of error variances/covariances, and the same level was partially reached for invariance across age groups. Evidence of the validity of the scale was also provided by obtaining significant correlations between the subscales, and self-esteem and strategic learning. Taken together, these results support the suitability of the ATI-TA to be used for research and clinical purposes.

Father Involvement and Young, Rural African American Men's Engagement in Substance Misuse and Multiple Sexual Partnerships

This study was designed to examine the associations of biological father and social father involvement during childhood with African American young men's development and engagement in risk behaviors. With a sample of 505 young men living in the rural South of the United States, a dual mediation model was tested in which retrospective reports of involvement from biological fathers and social fathers were linked to young men's substance misuse and multiple sexual partnerships through men's relational schemas and future expectations. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that levels of involvement from biological fathers and social fathers predicted young men's relational schemas; only biological fathers' involvement predicted future expectations. In turn, future expectations predicted levels of substance misuse, and negative relational schemas predicted multiple sexual partnerships. Biological fathers' involvement evinced significant indirect associations with young men's substance misuse and multiple sexual partnerships through both schemas and expectations; social fathers' involvement exhibited an indirect association with multiple sexual partnerships through relational schemas. Findings highlight the unique influences of biological fathers and social fathers on multiple domains of African American young men's psychosocial development that subsequently render young men more or less likely to engage in risk behaviors.

Beliefs in the future as a positive youth development construct: a conceptual review

Beliefs in the future are an internalization of hope and optimism about future outcomes. This paper reviews and compares several theories of hope and optimism and highlights the features constituting beliefs in the future. This paper points out that beliefs in the future include a series of goal-directed thoughts and motivation, such as setting up valued and attainable goals, planning pathways, and maintaining self-confidence and mastery, so as to keep adolescents engaged in the pursuit of goals. This kind of personal mastery, together with sociocultural values, family, school, and peers are the antecedents leading to beliefs in the future, which is related to adolescents' well-being and positive development. In order to cultivate adolescents' beliefs in the future, enabling their ability to manipulate goal-directed thoughts and motivation and providing a supportive environment including their family, school, peers, and the society are recommended.

Introducing English and German Versions of the Adolescent Time Attitude Scale

In this study, the authors report on the development of English and German versions of the Adolescent Time Attitude Scale (ATAS). The ATAS consists of six subscales assessing Past Positive, Past Negative, Present Positive, Present Negative, Future Positive, and Future Negative time attitudes. The authors describe the development of the scales and present data on the reliability and structural validity of ATAS scores in samples of American ( N = 300) and German ( N = 316) adolescents. Internal consistency estimates for scores on the English and German versions of the ATAS were in the .70 to .80 range. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a six-factor structure yielded the best fit for scores and that the scores were invariant across samples.

Friendships and suicidality among Mexican American adolescent girls and boys

Friendship factors have been implicated in adolescent suicidality, but this relationship has not been verified across ethnicities. This study examined suicidality and friendship problems (i.e., social isolation, poor friendship quality, friends' school disconnection, and friends' delinquency) among Mexican American adolescents, an understudied, vulnerable group in terms of suicidality. Three hundred thirty-eight community adolescents, two-thirds of whom were educationally at-risk, participated in the study. Suicidal ideation and behavior rates were high, particularly among girls. Friends' school disconnectedness increased girls' odds for suicidal ideation by 13%. This association was even greater for girls in good academic standing. Friendship problems were not associated with suicidality in boys. Ethnic identity was a minor factor in suicidal ideation, and only for girls. These findings confirm, among Mexican American adolescents, the role of gender in the relationship between friendship and suicidality.