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Ahmed SP, Piera Pi-Sunyer B, Moses-Payne ME, Goddings AL, Speyer LG, Kuyken W, Dalgleish T, Blakemore SJ. The role of self-referential and social processing in the relationship between pubertal status and difficulties in mental health and emotion regulation in adolescent girls in the UK. Dev Sci 2024:e13503. [PMID: 38576154 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
Adolescence is marked by the onset of puberty, which is associated with an increase in mental health difficulties, particularly in girls. Social and self-referential processes also develop during this period: adolescents become more aware of others' perspectives, and judgements about themselves become less favourable. In the current study, data from 119 girls (from London, UK) aged 9-16 years were collected at two-time points (between 2019 and 2021) to investigate the relationship between puberty and difficulties in mental health and emotion regulation, as well as the role of self-referential and social processing in this relationship. Structural equation modelling showed that advanced pubertal status predicted greater mental health and emotion regulation difficulties, including depression and anxiety, rumination and overall difficulties in emotion regulation, and in mental health and behaviour. Advanced pubertal status also predicted greater perspective-taking abilities and negative self-schemas. Exploratory analyses showed that negative self-schemas mediated the relationships between puberty and rumination, overall emotion regulation difficulties, and depression (although these effects were small and would not survive correction for multiple comparisons). The results suggest that advanced pubertal status is associated with higher mental health and emotion regulation problems during adolescence and that negative self-schemas may play a role in this association. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: This study investigates the relationship between puberty, mental health, emotion regulation difficulties, and social and self-referential processing in girls aged 9-16 years. Advanced pubertal status was associated with worse mental health and greater emotion regulation difficulties, better perspective-taking abilities and negative self-schemas. Negative self-schemas may play a role in the relationships between advanced pubertal status and depression, and advanced pubertal status and emotion regulation difficulties, including rumination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saz P Ahmed
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | | | | | - Anne-Lise Goddings
- Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Lydia G Speyer
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Willem Kuyken
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Tim Dalgleish
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Piera Pi-Sunyer B, Andrews JL, Orben A, Speyer LG, Blakemore SJ. The relationship between perceived income inequality, adverse mental health and interpersonal difficulties in UK adolescents. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2023; 64:417-425. [PMID: 36377042 PMCID: PMC10100326 DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.13719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Adolescence is a period of life when young people increasingly define themselves through peer comparison and are vulnerable to developing mental health problems. In the current study, we investigated whether the subjective experience of economic disadvantage among friends is associated with social difficulties and poorer mental health in early adolescence. METHODS We used latent change score modelling (LCSM) on data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, collected at ages 11 and 14 (N = 12,995). Each LCSM modelled the mean of an outcome related to mental health and interpersonal difficulties at age 11 (including self-esteem, well-being, emotional difficulties, peer problems, bullying, victimisation and externalising difficulties), the change of the outcome from ages 11 to 14 and its predictors, including perceived income inequality among friends (i.e. perceiving oneself as belonging to a poorer family than the families of one's friends). RESULTS Perceived income inequality predicted adverse mental health and a range of interpersonal difficulties during adolescence, even when controlling for objective family income. Follow-up analyses highlighted that, at 11 years, young people who perceived themselves as belonging to poorer families than their friends reported worse well-being, self-esteem, internalising problems, externalising problems and victimisation at the same age (relative to those who perceived themselves as richer than or equal to their friends, or who did not know). Longitudinal analyses suggested that victimisation decreased from ages 11 to 14 to a greater extent for adolescents who perceived themselves as poorer than other adolescents. CONCLUSIONS The salience of economic inequalities in proximal social environments (e.g. among friends) in early adolescence could further amplify the negative effects of economic disadvantage on mental health and behavioural difficulties during this period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blanca Piera Pi-Sunyer
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jack L Andrews
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.,School of Psychology, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Amy Orben
- MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Lydia G Speyer
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
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Dunning D, Ahmed S, Foulkes L, Griffin C, Griffiths K, Leung JT, Parker J, Piera Pi-Sunyer B, Sakhardande A, Bennett M, Haag C, Montero-Marin J, Packman D, Vainre M, Watson P, Kuyken W, Williams JMG, Ukoumunne OC, Blakemore SJ, Dalgleish T. The impact of mindfulness training in early adolescence on affective executive control, and on later mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a randomised controlled trial. Evid Based Ment Health 2022; 25:ebmental-2022-300460. [PMID: 35820991 PMCID: PMC9340025 DOI: 10.1136/ebmental-2022-300460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous research suggests that mindfulness training (MT) appears effective at improving mental health in young people. MT is proposed to work through improving executive control in affectively laden contexts. However, it is unclear whether MT improves such control in young people. MT appears to mitigate mental health difficulties during periods of stress, but any mitigating effects against COVID-related difficulties remain unexamined. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether MT (intervention) versus psychoeducation (Psy-Ed; control), implemented in after-school classes: (1) Improves affective executive control; and/or (2) Mitigates negative mental health impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS A parallel randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted (Registration: https://osf.io/d6y9q/; Funding: Wellcome (WT104908/Z/14/Z, WT107496/Z/15/Z)). 460 students aged 11-16 years were recruited and randomised 1:1 to either MT (N=235) or Psy-Ed (N=225) and assessed preintervention and postintervention on experimental tasks and self-report inventories of affective executive control. The RCT was then extended to evaluate protective functions of MT on mental health assessed after the first UK COVID-19 lockdown. FINDINGS Results provided no evidence that the version of MT used here improved affective executive control after training or mitigated negative consequences on mental health of the COVID-19 pandemic relative to Psy-Ed. No adverse events were reported. CONCLUSIONS There is no evidence that MT improves affective control or downstream mental health of young people during stressful periods. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS We need to identify interventions that can enhance affective control and thereby young people's mental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darren Dunning
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - S Ahmed
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - L Foulkes
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - C Griffin
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - K Griffiths
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - J T Leung
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - J Parker
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | | | - A Sakhardande
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - M Bennett
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - C Haag
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - Jesus Montero-Marin
- Teaching, Research and Innovation Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - D Packman
- College of Medicine and Health, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Maris Vainre
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - P Watson
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - Willem Kuyken
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - J Mark G Williams
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK
| | - Obioha C Ukoumunne
- NIHR CLAHRC South West Peninsula, University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK
| | - Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Tim Dalgleish
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
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Abstract
Adolescence is associated with heightened social influence, especially from peers. This can lead to detrimental decision-making in domains such as risky behavior but may also raise opportunities for prosocial behavior. We used an incentivized charitable-donations task to investigate how people revise decisions after learning about the donations of others and how this is affected by age (N = 220; age range = 11-35 years). Our results showed that the probability of social influence decreased with age within this age range. In addition, whereas previous research has suggested that adults are more likely to conform to the behavior of selfish others than to the behavior of prosocial others, here we observed no evidence of such an asymmetry in midadolescents. We discuss possible interpretations of these findings in relation to the social context of the task, the perceived value of money, and social decision-making across development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Chierchia
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London.,Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge
| | - Blanca Piera Pi-Sunyer
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London
| | - Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London.,Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge
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Chierchia G, Fuhrmann D, Knoll LJ, Pi-Sunyer BP, Sakhardande AL, Blakemore SJ. The matrix reasoning item bank (MaRs-IB): novel, open-access abstract reasoning items for adolescents and adults. R Soc Open Sci 2019; 6:190232. [PMID: 31824684 PMCID: PMC6837216 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.190232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2019] [Accepted: 09/23/2019] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Existing non-verbal ability tests are typically protected by copyright, preventing them from being freely adapted or computerized. Working towards an open science framework, we provide 80 novel, open-access abstract reasoning items, an online implementation and item-level data from 659 participants aged between 11 and 33 years: the matrix reasoning item bank (MaRs-IB). Each MaRs-IB item consists of an incomplete matrix containing abstract shapes. Participants complete the matrices by identifying relationships between the shapes. Our data demonstrate age differences in non-verbal reasoning accuracy, which increased during adolescence and stabilized in early adulthood. There was a slight linear increase in response times with age, resulting in a peak in efficiency (i.e. a measure combining speed and accuracy) in late adolescence. Overall, the data suggest that the MaRs-IB is sensitive to developmental differences in reasoning accuracy. Further psychometric validation is recommended.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriele Chierchia
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | - Delia Fuhrmann
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
- MRC Cognition and Brain Science Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Lisa J. Knoll
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
| | | | - Ashok L. Sakhardande
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
- Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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