Rutger C. M. E. Engels

Keeping Secrets From Parents: Advantages and Disadvantages of Secrecy in Adolescence

Traditional views regard secrecy as problematic, and associated research among adults almost exclusively focuses on its physical and psychological disadvantages for the secret-keeper. Contrary to this negative view on secrecy, this paper proposes that secrecy may have developmental functions that bear particular importance in the period of adolescence. Specifically, it should be associated with adolescents feeling of emotional autonomy. A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the links between secrecy and psychosocial well-being and emotional autonomy among 227 younger (12–13 years) and older (16–18 years) adolescents. Results showed that keeping secrets from parents is associated with physical and psychological disadvantages in adolescence. Confirming the prediction, however, secrecy was also related to adolescents emotional autonomy. The theoretical and empirical implications of our findings are discussed in the context of adolescent development.

Course, Co-Occurrence, and Longitudinal Associations of Emotional Disturbance and Delinquency from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: A Six-Year Three-Wave Study

Three questions were examined in this study: (a) What is the course of emotional disturbance and delinquency during adolescence and young adulthood? (b) To what extent do emotional disturbance and delinquency co-occur during adolescence and young adulthood? and (c) What are the longitudinal associations between emotional disturbance and delinquency in different age and gender categories during adolescence and young adulthood? Data were used from a national sample of 1,302 adolescents and young adults, who participated in a 6-year 3-wave longitudinal study. Findings showed an increase of emotional disturbance and delinquency from early to midadolescence, after which emotional disturbance stabilized and delinquency declined into young adulthood. A significant but relatively weak co-occurrence of emotional disturbance and delinquency was found. Multigroup LISREL analyses demonstrated that a stability model with no cross-lagged relations fit best for the total sample, and across age and gender categories. Thus, co-occurrence of emotional disturbance and delinquency during adolescence and young adulthood seems to result from associated but separate psychopathological processes. The strong stability of internalizing and externalizing behavior suggests that prevention efforts should be aimed at children and young adolescents.

Influences of risk behaviors on the quality of peer relations in adolescence

The majority of young people experiment with alcohol use, smoking, drug use, and delinquency. In order to understand why adolescents are engaged in potential risk behaviors, it is important to look at the functions of these behaviors for adolescents social and personal functioning. In this study, we examined whether substance use, transgressive behavior, and delinquency are related to the quality of peer relations. Univariate analyses of data of a study on five hundred eight 12–18-year-olds showed that substance use and transgressive behavior are positively related to both the quantity (chumship, size of network, and time spent with peers) and the quality (attachment, support, acceptance, and competence) of peer relations. The association with peer relations were less straightforward for adolescent delinquency. Hierarchical regression analyses, however, showed that when the associations of quantitative aspects of peer relations are controlled for, no additional effects of substance use and transgressive behavior emerged. This suggests that social functions of risk behaviors may be understood as providing the opportunity to intensify contacts with peers or initiate new relations that, in turn, may be related to peer relations in a positive sense.

A neurofeedback video game (MindLight) to prevent anxiety in children

BackgroundChildhood anxiety is a global mental health concern. Interventions are needed that are effective, but also cost less, are more accessible and engage children long enough to build emotional resilience skills through practice. MethodsThe present randomized controlled study aimed to examine the prevention effects of a neurofeedback video game, MindLight, developed based on evidence-based practices with anxious youth. Over 750 children (7-13 years old) in elementary schools were screened for elevated anxiety; 136 selected children were randomly assigned to play Mindlight or a control game. Self- and parent-reported anxiety was assessed at pre-, post-intervention and 3-month follow up. Results/conclusionsIntent-to-treat analyses revealed an overall significant reduction in child- and parent-reported anxiety, but the magnitude of improvements did not differ between conditions. Future research comparing MindLight to cognitive-behavioral interventions is suggested, as well as testing a range of specific (e.g., exposure) and non-specific (e.g., expectations, motivation) therapeutic factors as mediators of outcomes.

Adolescent Loneliness and Social Skills: Agreement and Discrepancies Between Self-, Meta-, and Peer-Evaluations

Lonely adolescents report that they have poor social skills, but it is unknown whether this is due to an accurate perception of a social skills deficit, or a biased negative perception. This is an important distinction, as actual social skills deficits require different treatments than biased negative perceptions. In this study, we compared self-reported social skills evaluations with peer-reported social skills and meta-evaluations of social skills (i.e., adolescents’ perceptions of how they believe their classmates evaluate them). Based on the social skills view, we expected negative relations between loneliness and these three forms of social skills evaluations. Based on the bias view, we expected lonely adolescents to have more negative self- and meta-evaluations compared to peer-evaluations of social skills. Participants were 1342 adolescents (48.64xa0% male, Magexa0=xa013.95, SDxa0=xa0.54). All classmates rated each other in a round-robin design to obtain peer-evaluations. Self- and meta-evaluations were obtained using self-reports. Data were analyzed using polynomial regression analyses and response surface modeling. The results indicated that, when self-, peer- and meta-evaluations were similar, a greater sense of loneliness was related to poorer social skills. Loneliness was also related to larger discrepancies between self- and peer-evaluations of loneliness, but not related to the direction of these discrepancies. Thus, for some lonely adolescents, loneliness may be related to an actual social skills deficit, whereas for others a biased negative perception of one’s own social skills or a mismatch with the environment may be related to their loneliness. This implies that different mechanisms may underlie loneliness, which has implications for interventions.

The role of general parenting and cannabis-specific parenting practices in adolescent cannabis and other illicit drug use

AIMSnTo investigate general and cannabis-specific parenting practices in relation to adolescent cannabis and other illicit drug use.nnnMETHODSnData were derived from the Dutch National School Survey on Substance Use among students (N=3209; aged 12-16 years) and one of their parents in 2011.nnnRESULTSnLogistic regression analyses revealed that 1) parental cannabis use was significantly related to more adolescent lifetime and recent cannabis use, and 2) restrictive cannabis-specific parental rules were associated with less adolescent recent cannabis and lifetime use of other illicit drugs, even when controlled for sociodemographic factors, general parenting, adolescent tobacco use, and tobacco-specific parenting. In addition, no significant interaction was observed between parental cannabis use and cannabis-specific rules in their relation to adolescent cannabis and other illicit drug use, indicating that cannabis rules are evenly associated with adolescent drug use for families with and without parental cannabis experience.nnnCONCLUSIONSnIn addition to general parenting practices, restrictive cannabis-specific rules are related to lower adolescent cannabis and other illicit drug rates. Parents who ever used cannabis have children with a higher prevalence of cannabis use. However, their restrictive cannabis-specific rules are equally related to a lower chance of adolescent cannabis use.

Effectiveness of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Based Indicated Prevention Program for Children with Elevated Anxiety Levels: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Childhood anxiety is a problem not only because of its negative consequences on the well-being of children but also because of its adverse effects on society and its role in mental disorders later in life. Adequate prevention might be the key in tackling this problem. The effectiveness of Coping Cat, as an indicated CBT-based prevention program in Dutch primary school children, was assessed by means of a randomized controlled trial. In total, 141 children aged 7–13 with elevated levels of anxiety and their mothers were included and randomly assigned to an intervention group and a waiting list control group. After screening, all participants completed baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up assessments. The results showed that Coping Cat, as an indicated prevention program, reduces children’s self-reported anxiety symptoms, with Cohen’s effect size d of 0.66 at the 3-month follow-up. A moderating effect was found for baseline anxiety level; specifically, children with high levels of baseline anxiety who received the Coping Cat program had lower anxiety levels at follow-up compared to children with high levels of anxiety in the control condition. No moderating effects of gender or age were found. An unexpected decline in anxiety levels from screening to pre-assessment was found in both groups, and this decline was stronger in the experimental group. These promising results warrant the implementation of Coping Cat as an indicated prevention program.

Effectiveness of a selective alcohol prevention program targeting personality risk factors : Results of interaction analyses

AIMnTo explore whether specific groups of adolescents (i.e., scoring high on personality risk traits, having a lower education level, or being male) benefit more from the Preventure intervention with regard to curbing their drinking behaviour.nnnDESIGNnA clustered randomized controlled trial, with participants randomly assigned to a 2-session coping skills intervention or a control no-intervention condition.nnnSETTINGnFifteen secondary schools throughout The Netherlands; 7 schools in the intervention and 8 schools in the control condition.nnnPARTICIPANTSn699 adolescents aged 13-15; 343 allocated to the intervention and 356 to the control condition; with drinking experience and elevated scores in either negative thinking, anxiety sensitivity, impulsivity or sensation seeking.nnnMEASUREMENTSnDifferential effectiveness of the Preventure program was examined for the personality traits group, education level and gender on past-month binge drinking (main outcome), binge frequency, alcohol use, alcohol frequency and problem drinking, at 12months post-intervention.nnnINTERVENTION AND COMPARATORnPreventure is a selective school-based alcohol prevention programme targeting personality risk factors. The comparator was a no-intervention control.nnnFINDINGSnIntervention effects were moderated by the personality traits group and by education level. More specifically, significant intervention effects were found on reducing alcohol use within the anxiety sensitivity group (OR=2.14, CI=1.40, 3.29) and reducing binge drinking (OR=1.76, CI=1.38, 2.24) and binge drinking frequency (β=0.24, p=0.04) within the sensation seeking group at 12months post-intervention. Also, lower educated young adolescents reduced binge drinking (OR=1.47, CI=1.14, 1.88), binge drinking frequency (β=0.25, p=0.04), alcohol use (OR=1.32, CI=1.06, 1.65) and alcohol use frequency (β=0.47, p=0.01), but not those in the higher education group. Post hoc latent-growth analyses revealed significant effects on the development of binge drinking (β=-0.19, p=0.02) and binge drinking frequency (β=-0.10, p=0.03) within the SS personality trait.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThe alcohol selective prevention program Preventure appears to have effect on the prevalence of binge drinking and alcohol use among specific groups in young adolescents in the Netherlands, particularly the SS personality trait and lower educated adolescents.

Alcohol-related cognitions in children (aged 2-10) and how they are shaped by parental alcohol use: A systematic review

BACKGROUNDnThis systematic review aims to summarize the evidence of the impact of parental alcohol use on the acquisition of childrens alcohol-related cognitions (alcohol-related knowledge, alcohol-related norms, alcohol expectancies) in the developmental period from age two to ten.nnnMETHODSnA computer-assisted systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, PsychINFO, ERIC, and EMBASE. Overall, 20 out of the 3406 unique articles identified in the first screening were included.nnnRESULTSnThe results revealed that children acquire knowledge about alcohol already at age two and from age four on, they understand its use in adult culture. By the age of four, children have certain alcohol expectancies. The evidence of the impact of parental alcohol use on the acquisition of childrens alcohol-related cognitions is inconsistent so far with studies showing positive and no effects. Unfortunately, the existing evidence is limited because most studies a) were conducted exclusively in the United States and more than two decades ago, b) used cross-sectional study designs, and c) used non-representative samples recruited using convenience sampling strategies.nnnCONCLUSIONSnResearch on childrens alcohol-related cognitions is underdeveloped. To elucidate the conclusions about alcohol involvement in early life, studies with longitudinal study designs need to be conducted among representative samples of children and early adolescents by using age-appropriate measurement tools in a broader cultural context.

The Prospective Associations between Self-Efficacy and Depressive Symptoms from Early to Middle Adolescence: A Cross-Lagged Model

Over the course of adolescence, an increasing number of adolescents experience depression. In order to effectively target depression, identifying risk factors for depressive symptoms is pivotal. Since low levels of self-efficacy were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms in previous studies, the current study investigated the bidirectional and prospective associations between depressive symptoms and academic, social and emotional self-efficacy from early to mid adolescence in a cross-lagged path model. The sample consisted of 1,341 adolescents (47u2009% girls) with a mean age of 14 years, SDu2009=u20090.56. Depressive symptoms and self-efficacy levels were assessed every 6 months over a period of 2.5 years. Depressive symptoms predicted subsequent levels of academic and emotional self-efficacy on all time points, and social self-efficacy on one time point. Self-efficacy did not predict subsequent levels of depressive symptoms. There was no evidence of sex differences in the cross-lagged associations between depressive symptoms and self-efficacy levels. Implications of the findings are discussed.