Nantje Otterpohl

Cross-Lagged Relations Among Parenting, Children's Emotion Regulation, and Psychosocial Adjustment in Early Adolescence

Numerous studies have reported substantive correlations between indicators of parenting, childrens emotion regulation (ER), and childrens psychosocial adjustment. However, studies on underlying mechanisms are scarce. Particularly in early adolescence, it is still unclear whether relations between parenting and ER are caused by adolescent behavior, by parent behavior, or by reciprocal processes. Moreover, it is unclear whether ER can be seen as an antecedent or a consequence of psychosocial adjustment. The aim of this study was to examine predictive relations among parenting and adolescents’ ER, and adolescents’ ER and psychosocial adjustment, respectively. We collected longitudinal, multiple informant data at two measurement occasions (Grade 6, Grade 7). All told, 1,100 adolescents (10–14 years) and their parents filled out questionnaires assessing responsiveness and psychological control, adolescents’ anger regulation, and adolescents’ problem and prosocial behavior. Cross-lagged analyses revealed reciprocal effects between parenting, ER, and adjustment for the parent and boys’, but not for the girls’, report. Moreover, relations were different for adolescents with versus without clinically elevated symptoms of psychopathology. Our findings support the assumption that reciprocal relations between parenting, ER, and psychosocial adjustment are likely to persist until early adolescence. Nevertheless, the moderating role of gender and psychopathology should be taken into account. Possible reasons for the different findings, and practical implications, are discussed.

Structure of Contingent Self-Esteem: Global, Domain-Specific, or Hierarchical Construct?

Contingent Self-Esteem (CSE) has been conceptualized in two different ways in the literature. Some theorists have emphasized that self-esteem may be generally dependent on external outcomes, while others have argued that people’s self-esteem is contingent on experiences related to specific domains (e.g., academic performance). However, relying on a particular definition of CSE may lead to different consequences for both research and practice. In this article, we sought to clarify whether contingent self-esteem represents a global, domain-specific, or hierarchically organized construct. Three large samples of German college students responded to two popular contingent self-esteem instruments and various validity measures. Findings from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses clearly favored a domain-specific model over unidimensional and hierarchical models. Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses in Study 3 indicated that participants’ depression and other important life outcomes could be better predicted by domain-specific facets than by global scores of contingent self-esteem. Compared to previous research, our findings provide a more thorough empirical and conceptual basis for favoring a domain-specific approach to contingent self-esteem. Implications for both research and practice are discussed.

Exploring the Interplay of Adaptive and Maladaptive Strategies Prevalence and Functionality of Anger Regulation Profiles in Early Adolescence

In emotion regulation research, it is common to distinguish adaptive from maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. However, little is known about their interactional impact (compensational or interfering effects) on adolescents’ adjustment. We collected longitudinal, multiple informant questionnaire data from N = 608 adolescents and their parents to examine the prevalence of adolescents’ anger regulation profiles using latent profile analysis. We identified five anger regulation profiles—an adaptive, a maladaptive, a low, a medium, and an undefined profile. The first three profiles could be replicated 1 year later, as could one additional multiple and another undefined profile. Findings supported the assumption that adaptive strategies compensate for the negative impact of maladaptive strategies, yielding negative psychosocial consequences, particularly for the maladaptive profiles. Moreover, different profiles were divergently related to adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing problems concurrently and over time. Results highlight the importance of considering both adaptive and maladaptive anger regulation strategies in prevention and psychotherapy.