Tiina Ojanen

Time Doesn’t Change Everything: The Longitudinal Course of Distress Tolerance and its Relationship with Externalizing and Internalizing Symptoms During Early Adolescence

Although distress tolerance is an emerging construct of empirical interest, we know little about its temporal change, developmental trajectory, and prospective relationships with maladaptive behaviors. The current study examined the developmental trajectory (mean- and individual-level change, and rank-order stability) of distress tolerance in an adolescent sample of boys and girls (N = 277) followed over a four-year period. Next we examined if distress tolerance influenced change in Externalizing (EXT) and Internalizing (INT) symptoms, and if EXT and INT symptoms in turn influenced change in distress tolerance. Finally, we examined if any of these trends differed by gender. Results indicated that distress tolerance is temporally stable, with little mean- or individual-level change. Latent growth models reported that level of distress tolerance is cross-sectionally associated with both EXT and INT symptoms, yet longitudinally, only associated with EXT symptoms. These results suggest that distress tolerance should be a focus of research on etiology and intervention.

Physical and Relational Aggression in Early Adolescence: Associations with Narcissism, Temperament, and Social Goals

This study examined adolescent narcissism, temperament (frustration and affiliation), and social goals in association with peer-reported physical and relational aggression (N = 384; 12-14 years). Narcissism was positively associated with dominance goals and negatively with closeness goals for peer interaction. Moreover, narcissism was positively associated with physical aggression via dominance goals for boys, and with relational aggression via dominance goals for both genders. Temperamental frustration and affiliation were both positively associated with relational aggression, but also interacted in their associations with this variable; affiliation was positively associated with relational aggression only at high levels of frustration. Supporting and extending existing research, the present findings suggest that adolescent personality and social goals are meaningfully associated with physical and relational aggression in the peer context.

Social goals, aggression, peer preference, and popularity: longitudinal links during middle school

Social goals are associated with behaviors and adjustment among peers. However, it remains unclear whether goals predict adolescent social development. We examined prospective associations among goals, physical and relational aggression, social preference, and popularity during middle school (N = 384 participants, ages 12-14 years). Agentic (status, power) goals predicted increased relational aggression and communal (closeness) goals predicted decreased physical aggression. Popularity predicted increases and preference predicted decreases in both forms of aggression. Goals moderated longitudinal links between aggression and popularity: Aggression predicted increases in popularity and vice versa for youth with higher agentic goals, and popularity predicted increases in physical aggression for youth with higher agentic and lower communal goals. Implications for research on social goals, aggression, and popularity are discussed.

Overt and relational victimization and adolescent friendships : Selection, de-selection, and social influence

This study examined friendship selection and social influence in overt and relational victimization during middle school (N = 504; 12–14 years) using longitudinal social network analysis. Relational victimization was related to undesirability as a friend (i.e., receiving fewer friendship nominations from peers) and to selecting friends who experienced similar levels of relational victimization. Overt victimization was related to being less active in nominating peers as friends and showed maintenance of friendship ties in one friendship network, but termination or de-selection of friendships in another. Social influence was observed for both forms of victimization. The findings provide evidence for both friendship selection and social influence in victimization, suggest that victimized youth may have friendship difficulties, and underline the need to consider overt and relational victimization separately to understand the development of victimization.

Agentic and Communal Goals in Early Adulthood: Associations with Narcissism, Empathy, and Perceptions of Self and Others

This study examined social goals of interpersonal agency (status, power) and communion (affiliation, closeness) in association with narcissism, empathy, and generalized perceptions of self and others in two studies of undergraduates. In Study 1 (N = 504) as well as Study 2 (N = 225), narcissism was positively and empathy negatively associated with agentic goals, whereas self-esteem, empathy, and generalized perception of others were positively related to communal goals. Longitudinal analysis in Study 2 indicated that narcissism predicted increases in agentic goals, whereas a positive perception of others was associated with increases in communal goals. The findings are discussed in light of theoretical and practical implications for the study of social goals, interpersonal agency and communion, and the development of social motivation.

Instrumental and reactive functions and overt and relational forms of aggression Developmental trajectories and prospective associations during middle school

This study examined the development of adolescent self-reported instrumental-overt, instrumental-relational, reactive-overt, and reactive-relational aggression during middle school (N = 384; 12–14 years; 53% boys). Growth modeling indicated average increases in instrumental-relational aggression, and decreases in reactive-overt and reactive-instrumental aggression over time. Further, overt and relational aggression driven by reactive reasons (functions) predicted gains in aggression driven by instrumental reasons, and overt form of aggression predicted increases in relational form of aggression across time.

Adolescent resource control Associations with physical and relational aggression, prosocial and withdrawn behaviors, and peer regard

This study examined adolescent coercive and prosocial resource control strategies in relation to various indices of peer-reported behaviors and peer regard (N = 384; 12–14 years). Coercive control was uniquely positively related to physical and relational aggression and peer disliking, and negatively to prosocial behaviors when controlling for prosocial control, which, in turn, was uniquely negatively related to physical aggression and social withdrawal, and positively to prosocial behaviors, peer liking, and popularity. Findings from person-centered analyses augmented these findings, indicating that bi-strategic, coercive, prosocial, typical, and non-controllers exhibit divergent patterns of social adjustment among peers. Implications for the study of adolescent social adjustment are discussed, including increased understanding of adolescent resource control and aggression among peers at school.

Examining the Distinctiveness and the Socio-Emotional Correlates of Anxious-Withdrawal and Unsociability During Early Adolescence in Finland

This study examined the distinctiveness of and the correlates associated with anxious-withdrawal and unsociability during early adolescence in Finland (N = 384; 12-14 years; 53% girls). As expected, confirmatory factor analyses revealed that anxious-withdrawal and unsociability were distinct and moderately positively correlated constructs. Only anxious-withdrawal was found to be related uniquely and positively to fearful temperament, anxious attachment, low self-esteem, and peer victimization. In addition, anxious-withdrawal was found to be more strongly related to negative affect than unsociability, but adolescents reported higher levels of unsociability than anxious-withdrawal. Theoretical and practical implications for the study of social withdrawal during adolescence are discussed.

Associations Among Children's Social Goals, Responses to Peer Conflict, and Teacher-Reported Behavioral and Academic Adjustment at School

This study examined associations among childrens agentic (social influence, status, power) and communal (relationship, affiliation) goals for peer interaction, cognitive and affective responses to hypothetical peer conflict, and teacher-reported achievement and behavior at school (N = 367; M age = 9.9 years). Agentic goals were positively associated with childrens anger and aggressive strategies in peer conflicts, as well as low academic achievement. Communal goals were positively associated with prosocial strategies, sadness, and embarrassment in conflicts, as well as high achievement and fewer teacher reported behavioral difficulties at school. In line with other recent research, the findings underline the importance of considering childrens motives for peer interaction when examining their social and academic adjustment at school.

Motivation and Perceived Control in Early Adolescent Friendships: Relations with Self-, Friend-, and Peer-Reported Adjustment.

Motivation is assumed to influence behaviors via perceived agency over goal pursuits, but empirical research integrating motivation and action-control processes in social development is close to nonexistent. We applied this perspective to the study of early adolescent friendships by examining motivation for and perceived control (ability and effort) over establishing and maintaining friendships in association with adolescents’ emotional adjustment, friend-reported friendship closeness, and peer-reported social adjustment. Participants were 648 early adolescents (12-14 years). As expected, intrinsic friendship motivation was associated with perceived ability and effort in the self as well as positive adjustment, whereas extrinsic motivation was associated with relying on others in friendship tasks and poor adjustment. Motivation was also directly related to adjustment and the observed associations differed by gender. The integrated motivation-action control model was supported in terms of adolescent emotional adjustment and friendship quality.