Exploring the Experiences of Female Emerging Adult Mentors: Building a Conceptual Model
While mentoring programs are prevalent, limited research focused on the mentors’ experiences exist, particularly during critical periods of development. Using a qualitative, grounded theory approach, this study explores the elements of the mentoring experience for a cohort of late adolescent/emerging adult women in a long-term program. Outcomes described were both personal and work related, as well as relationally and individually focused. In addition, a number of individual, relational, and programmatic challenges, along with associated emotional challenges, were reported. The influence of these challenges on outcom...
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - August 11, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: McGill, J., Adler-Baeder, F., Sollie, D. L., Kerpelman, J. L. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Introduction to the Special Issue on Emerging Adulthood
(Source: Journal of Adolescent Research)
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - August 11, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Suarez-Orozco, C. Tags: Introduction Source Type: research
Supportive Relationships Among Former System Youth With Mental Health Challenges
This study explored the supportive relationships that former system youth (FSY; e.g., foster care) with mental health challenges identified as "key" in making the transition to adulthood. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 59 FSY, ages 18 to 25, with mental health challenges. Participants were asked to reflect on their relationships with a key helper or what the literature defines as a natural mentor, "an adult that has been particularly helpful, or supportive," in this case with their mental health. Seventy-six percent (N = 45) of the participants identified a key helper. Relationship qualities that e...
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - June 9, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Munson, M. R., Brown, S., Spencer, R., Edguer, M., Tracy, E. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Mental Health Literacy and Help-Giving Responses in Irish Adolescents
This study assessed mental health literacy in Irish adolescents (N = 187), and explored participants’ help-giving responses toward hypothetical depressed peers. Participants read five vignettes, each describing an adolescent experiencing a life difficulty; two of the characters met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., DSM-IV) criteria for depression. The majority of participants could not identify depression or potential suicidality, but felt concerned for the depressed characters’ well-being. Most participants stated they would provide help if they were the depressed characters&rsquo...
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - June 9, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Byrne, S., Swords, L., Nixon, E. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Transitioning to Adult Mental Health Services: Perceptions of Adolescents With Emotional and Behavioral Problems
This study is an investigation of the needs and experiences of late adolescents with emotional and/or behavioral problems who accessed mental health services at a local child and adolescent clinic. In general, participants did not appear ready for an institutional transition. Adolescents disclosed their fears, underscoring the importance of supportive relationships, and stated the negative expectations they had concerning adult-focused care. The implementation of clinical supports to increase adolescents’ mental health self-efficacy may promote successful service transitions. (Source: Journal of Adolescent Research)
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - June 9, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Burnham Riosa, P., Preyde, M., Porto, M. L. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
"She Posted It on Facebook": Mexican American Adolescents' Experiences With Technology and Romantic Relationship Conflict
We examined experiences with technology and dating conflict among Mexican American (MA) adolescents (ages 15-17 years) using mixed qualitative methodologies. Focus groups, divided by three levels of acculturation and gender (N = 20), and videotaped observations of couples (N = 34), found that technology (i.e., cell phones, social media) afforded adolescents increased visibility of their partners’ day-to-day peer interactions. Feelings of romantic jealousy resulted in text message harassment and the expectation of immediate technology-facilitated contact. Females were more flirtatious as well as emotionally affected b...
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - June 9, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Rueda, H. A., Lindsay, M., Williams, L. R. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
"It Seems Like No One Cares": Participatory Photo Mapping to Understand Youth Perspectives on Property Vacancy
This article presents findings from a Participatory Photo Mapping (PPM) project designed to understand young people’s perceptions of the neighborhood environment. PPM is an approach that integrates photography, community mapping, and walk-along interviews to learn about people’s lived experience in a spatial context. Ten participants aged 14 to 17 years were recruited from a youth program in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Participants designed neighborhood tours and through their analysis, identified vacant properties as a key concern. They reported that vacant properties affect them personally by facilitating illic...
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - April 10, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Teixeira, S. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
What Do Citizens Have to Do? Parents' and Adolescents' Messages About Civic Duty
The current study examined demographic and civic behavior correlates of observed messages concerning civic duty coded from dyadic, semi-structured interactions between 160 adolescents (M age = 14.42, range = 12-18) and their parents (144 mothers, 52 fathers). Anecdotal statements are provided to illustrate the eight themes that emerged within parent-adolescent civic discussion. Three themes concerned community and political involvement—community service, voting, and other standard political involvement (e.g., keeping up with current events)—and five themes concerned informal civic duties—b...
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - April 10, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Oosterhoff, B., Metzger, A., Babskie, E. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
"Girls Have More of an Educational Brain": A Qualitative Exploration of the Gender Gap in Educational Attainment Among Black Bermudian Adolescents
This study contributes to our understanding of the higher drop-out rates among men of African descent and points to the important role that gender stereotypes and school-based adults play in determining educational identity and attainment. (Source: Journal of Adolescent Research)
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - April 10, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Jethwani, M. M. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Resilience Building Among Adolescents From National Guard Families: Applying a Developmental Contextual Model
This study explored the development of resilience in 30 adolescents from National Guard families that had been deployed. Using thematic analysis, we found that military-connected adolescents are affected by events in settings far beyond their control—political and civil upheavals in foreign lands, military cultural values, societal perception of the military and of wars, and communities’ responses to military families. When comfort was not offered by familiar social and school networks, these adolescents had only their families to which they could turn. The extent to which adolescents can depend on parents for ...
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - April 10, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Baptist, J., Barros, P., Cafferky, B., Johannes, E. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Exploring Home-School Value Conflicts: Implications for Academic Achievement and Well-Being Among Latino First-Generation College Students
U.S. colleges place a high value on the fulfillment of academic obligations by their students. The academic achievement of each individual student is the institutional priority; this is an individualistic frame of reference. However, many Latino first-generation college students have been raised to prioritize family obligations; their home socialization is collectivistic. Our exploratory study investigated how Latino first-generation college students experience home-school value conflict between family obligation and individual academic achievement during their transition to college. A group interview followed the prompt o...
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - April 10, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Vasquez-Salgado, Y., Greenfield, P. M., Burgos-Cienfuegos, R. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Call for Papers
(Source: Journal of Adolescent Research)
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - February 6, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Suarez-Orozco, C. Tags: Announcement Source Type: research
Coping With Confinement: Adolescents' Experiences With Parental Incarceration
Theory and research suggest that parental incarceration is often a significant source of stress for children and adolescents. Understanding how young people navigate the stressors of parental incarceration can shed important light on well-being and inform intervention efforts, but little research exists on the coping strategies that young people use during and after a parent’s incarceration. Through in-depth interviews, this study explores how adolescents (n = 10) cope with parental incarceration. Results suggest that most adolescents use some combination of three strategies: deidentification from the incarcerated pa...
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - February 6, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Johnson, E. I., Easterling, B. A. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
"My Culture Helps Me Make Good Decisions": Cultural Adaptation of Sudanese Refugee Emerging Adults
The last two decades have witnessed growing research on the experiences of children and youth after migration or resettlement. However, nearly all of this research focuses on children and youth who arrived in the country with their parents. We know little of the unique experiences of refugee youngsters who came to this country without parental company. How do they negotiate the different cultures in the absence of parents? In this article, we draw on in-depth interview data with 19 Sudanese emerging adults who came to the United States as unaccompanied refugee minors to examine issues of acculturation and adaptation. Our f...
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - February 6, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Qin, D. B., Saltarelli, A., Rana, M., Bates, L., Lee, J. A., Johnson, D. J. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Ethnic Majority and Minority Youths' Ascription of Responsibility for Solving Current Social Issues: Links to Civic Participation
The study examined current social issues that adolescents and young adults from majority and minority groups consider to be pressing issues in society, such as the environment, racism, and unemployment. Fourteen focus groups were conducted with majority (Czech) and minority (Roma and Ukrainian) participants (15-26 years of age). The issues were discussed with an emphasis on where the participants believed the responsibility lay for finding a solution. Responses could be classified into three categories: ascribing responsibility only to the self, only to others (e.g., to the government), or to both. We used the data from th...
Source: Journal of Adolescent Research - February 6, 2015 Category: Child Development Authors: Scott, Z., Šerek, J. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
