A Peek Inside the SRA Conference
-Lucy Zheng
The Society for Research on Adolescence recently held their biannual conference in Minneapolis. Not only was the snow incredibly fun to play in (a novel event for a Californian), but there was also plenty of great research to share with the SPSP community. Faculty and graduate students were kind enough to provide us with snippets of their ongoing work!
(Note: This does not represent the entire symposia and/or speakers present at the conference.)
“For whom do well-known risk factors for suicide predict future suicidal behavior? My program of research investigates biological mechanisms of adolescent suicidal ideation and behavior. Recently, my colleagues and I completed a study of 220 adolescent girls at risk for suicidal ideation and behavior. We found that girls with reduced cortisol responses to the Trier Social Stress Task at baseline were at risk for suicidal behavior in the face of higher than usual peer stress across a prospective, 18-month time frame.”
- Adam Bryant Miller, UNC Chapel Hill
“Friend overprotection can be defined as excessive or inappropriate behavior aimed at shielding friends from real or perceived harm or difficulties. In the first empirical study of this novel construct, we found that friend overprotection was positively associated with friendship quality, but also with emotional (e.g., depression, anxiety) and social (e.g., victimization) problems in two samples of young adolescents. Results thus offer preliminary evidence that overprotection is a feature of some adolescent friendships that has both helpful and harmful implications for youth.”
- Rebecca G. Etkin, University at Buffalo, SUNY
“Why do some individuals develop the capacity to effectively regulate their behavior, whereas others have difficulty controlling their impulses and consistently succumb to temptation? Using multi-method longitudinal data spanning ages 10 to 20, we examined how numerous risk and protective factors impact the development of effortful control among youth. Factors from multiple levels (i.e., individual, familial, peer, community, cultural) impacted adolescents' capacities to be self-regulated. Specifically, risk factors were associated with greater decreases in effortful control over time, whereas protective factors were associated with increases in effortful control over time.”
- Olivia E. Atherton, University of California, Davis
“Based on more than 2000 students followed over four years, evidence suggests that parenting changes in response to students’ GPA and these changes are related to decision-making skills and future orientation. Students with higher GPAs in 9th grade had slower declines in identifying with their parents and steep increases in parents’ autonomy granting. In examining the associations between parenting trajectories and outcomes, we found that declines in identification with parents and educational advice across high school was associated with increased decision-making skills and future orientation.”
- Nancy E. Hill, Harvard University
“Most recently, my lab completed an ambitious data collection with over 150 two-caregiver families of adolescents in 9th or 10th grade, in which they completed 21 daily diary surveys. These data allow us to capture some pretty exciting aspects of the daily lives of adolescents. A recent paper tested a within-person mediation model in which within-family variation in interparental conflict is associated with adolescents' appraisals, and in turn, their daily mood and well-being. Although there were six outcomes, one interesting finding was that, on days when interparental conflict was higher than usual, adolescents had a diminished sense of meaning and purpose in life. The mediational models examined cognitive appraisals of interparental conflict (Fosco & Lydon-Staley, in press).”
- Gregory M. Fosco, Pennsylvania State University
Part 2 is coming up next month. Stay tuned!