A multisystem model for understanding stress and adaptation in ethnically and racially diverse youth.

Contemporary biological and contextually based theoretical frameworks have conceptualized how stress exposure may influence adaptation in youth. However, nearly all of this scholarship neglects the role of specific contextual features and/or biological processes that are involved in ethnic-racial minority youth's responses and adaptation to sociocultural stressors. Drawing on the theoretical principles of the developmental psychopathology framework and contemporary models of stress and adaptation, this article proposes a new multisystem model that explains how multiple levels and systems within and outside of individual youth influence their sociocultural adaptation. We provide empirical evidence to support components of this multisystem model. We propose that research based on our new theoretical framework will capture the sociocultural experiences of ethnic-racial minority youth by centering processes that are relevant to their lived experiences, coping, and adjustment. In doing so, this model will inform psychosocial interventions focused on promoting healthy adaptation among ethnic and racial diverse youth. Finally, we offer recommendations to guide future research on stress and adaptation among ethnic and racial diverse youth, in particular, and developmental psychopathology more broadly.

Reclaiming the past and transforming our future: Introduction to the special issue on foundational contributions of Black scholars in psychology.

The contributions of Black scholars to psychology have been erased or marginalized within mainstream, U.S.-centered psychology. As such, psychologists and trainees have little exposure to strengths-based theories and schools of thought that center and humanize the experiences of people of African descent. This special issue intervenes on anti-Black racism at the epistemic level by curating a review of foundational contributions by diverse Black scholars in psychology and related fields. The special issue is organized around five integrative and overlapping themes: (a) Black scholars who have written on topics related to race, racism, and racial identity; (b) schools of thought that embody decolonial, liberation, and African psychologies and the scholars writing within these traditions; (c) scholars who have created new theories and approaches to conceptualizing the mental health of Black children, youth, and families; (d) Black scholars adopting an intersectional lens to research and practice; and (e) Black scholars creating spaces within existing organizations to theorize about and research the experiences of people of African descent. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The compounded effect of the dual pandemic on ethnic-racial minority adolescents' mental health and psychosocial well-being.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. youth faced various stressors that affected their schooling experiences, social relationships, family dynamics, and communities. These stressors negatively impacted youths' mental health. Compared to White youths, ethnic-racial minority youths were disproportionately affected by COVID-19-related health disparities and experienced elevated worry and stress. In particular, Black and Asian American youths faced the compounded effects of a dual pandemic due to their navigation of both COVID-19-related stressors and increased exposure to racial discrimination and racial injustice, which worsened their mental health outcomes. However, protective processes such as social support, ethnic-racial identity, and ethnic-racial socialization emerged as mechanisms that attenuated the effects of COVID-related stressors on ethnic-racial youths' mental health and promoted their positive adaptation and psychosocial well-being.

Ethnic-racial socialization, family climate, and anxiety among African American and Latinx emerging adults.

Ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) is an essential strategy that families of color utilize to discuss race, racism, and promote ethnic-racial pride. These strategies are necessary to help youth navigate a racialized world, particularly in emerging adulthood as youth transition away from home. There are mixed findings about the psychological benefits of messages focused on racial barriers, which raise questions about whether certain ERS messages may elicit anxiety symptoms and if there are conditions (e.g., family climate) under which ERS messages are most beneficial. Further, the interplay between ERS and family climate may vary across ethnic-racial groups. Thus, the present study examined the associations between ERS (i.e., cultural socialization, preparation for bias, promotion of mistrust) and anxiety symptoms, and whether the moderating effects of family climate (i.e., cohesion, conflict) varied for 142 African American (AA; 83% women) and 275 Latinx (LX; 70.5% women) college students (M = 18.89, SD = 1.06). Cultural socialization and family cohesion were negatively associated with anxiety symptoms, while promotion of mistrust and family conflict were positively associated with anxiety symptoms. Preparation for bias was not associated with anxiety symptoms. For both AA and LX youth who reported high family cohesion, cultural socialization was associated with lower anxiety symptoms. Additionally, among AA youth who reported high levels of family conflict, cultural socialization was associated with lower levels of anxiety symptoms. The findings have important implications for understanding the unique and interactive effects of ERS and family climate on anxiety symptoms for AA and LX emerging adults. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Conceptual, methodological, and measurement factors that disqualify use of measurement invariance techniques to detect informant discrepancies in youth mental health assessments.

On page 1 of his classic text, Millsap (2011) states, "Measurement invariance is built on the notion that a measuring device should function the same way across varied conditions, so long as those varied conditions are irrelevant [emphasis added] to the attribute being measured." By construction, measurement invariance techniques require not only detecting varied conditions but also ruling out that these conditions inform our understanding of measured domains (i.e., conditions that do not contain domain-relevant information). In fact, measurement invariance techniques possess great utility when theory and research inform their application to specific, varied conditions (e.g., cultural, ethnic, or racial background of test respondents) that, if not detected, introduce measurement biases, and, thus, depress measurement validity (e.g., academic achievement and intelligence). Yet, we see emerging bodies of work where scholars have "put the cart before the horse" when it comes to measurement invariance, and they apply these techniques to varied conditions that, in fact, may reflect domain-relevant information. These bodies of work highlight a larger problem in measurement that likely cuts across many areas of scholarship. In one such area, youth mental health, researchers commonly encounter a set of conditions that nullify the use of measurement invariance, namely discrepancies between survey reports completed by multiple informants, such as parents, teachers, and youth themselves (i.e., informant discrepancies). In this paper, we provide an overview of conceptual, methodological, and measurement factors that should prevent researchers from applying measurement invariance techniques to detect informant discrepancies. Along the way, we cite evidence from the last 15 years indicating that informant discrepancies reflect domain-relevant information. We also apply this evidence to recent uses of measurement invariance techniques in youth mental health. Based on prior evidence, we highlight the implications of applying these techniques to multi-informant data, when the informant discrepancies observed within these data might reflect domain-relevant information. We close by calling for a moratorium on applying measurement invariance techniques to detect informant discrepancies in youth mental health assessments. In doing so, we describe how the state of the science would need to fundamentally "flip" to justify applying these techniques to detect informant discrepancies in this area of work.

Father-child attachment in Black families: risk and protective processes.

Theoretical and empirical work on Black fathering has been grounded in a deficit perspective. Scholarship has focused on absenteeism and incarceration of Black fathers, neglecting their positive roles as well as the structural inequalities and challenges Black fathers face. This paper highlights the significance of positive fathering in Black youth development, with a focus on the protective influences of attachment relationships. Structural and proximal processes that may support or undermine this relationship are delineated, as well as how theory and methods on attachment can be extended to support research on Black families and youth development. Culturally and contextually grounded research on Black fathering may lead to refinement in theory and measurement of attachment. Advancing research on father-child relationships in Black families requires greater attention to processes that promote positive fathering and strengthen father-child attachment bonds, particularly in the context of structural racism.

Lifetime stressors, hair cortisol, and executive function: Age-related associations in childhood.

Extant research is mixed regarding the relations among lifetime exposure to stressors, adrenocortical activity, and executive function (EF), particularly in children. Aggregate measures of adrenocortical activity like hair cortisol concentration (HCC), timing of stress exposure, and age at assessment may clarify these associations. This cross-sectional study examined the association among parent-reported exposure to stressors, hair cortisol concentration (HCC), and children's EF via a tablet task in a community sample (n = 318, 52.5% female) of children across a wide age range (4-13 years, M = 9.4, SD = 2.3). Path analyses revealed that parent-reported child lifetime exposure to stressors, but not past-year stressful life events, negatively predicted HCC. There was also a marginally significant moderation by age such that HCC was associated negatively with EF for younger children (age < 9.7 years) but not older children. HCC did not significantly mediate the association between lifetime exposure to stressors and EF. Findings are consistent with the proposition that chronically high cortisol production has a neurotoxic effect on brain regions supporting EF. However, lifetime exposure to stressors predicted relatively lower cumulative cortisol production, consistent with a stress inoculation effect in this normative-risk sample.

U.S. Military Veterans' Health and Well-Being in the First Year After Service.

INTRODUCTION: This study examined the health and well-being of U.S. veterans during the first year after military service and tested several hypotheses regarding differences in veterans' well-being over time, across life domains, and based on sex, military rank, and deployment history. METHODS: A national sample of 9,566 veterans was recruited from a roster of all separating U.S. service members in the fall of 2016. Veterans' status, functioning, and satisfaction with regard to their health, work, and social relationships were assessed within 3 months of separation and then 6 months later. Analyses were completed in 2019. RESULTS: Health concerns were most salient for newly separated veterans, with many veterans reporting that they had chronic physical (53%) or mental (33%) health conditions and were less satisfied with their health than either their work or social relationships. By contrast, most veterans reported relatively high vocational and social well-being and only work functioning demonstrated a notable decline in the first year following separation. Enlisted personnel reported consistently poorer health, vocational, and social outcomes compared with their officer counterparts, whereas war zone-deployed veterans reported more health concerns and women endorsed more mental health concerns compared with their nondeployed and male peers. CONCLUSIONS: Although most newly separated veterans experience high vocational and social well-being as they reintegrate into civilian life, findings point to the need for additional attention to the health of separating service members and bolstered support for enlisted personnel to prevent the development of chronic readjustment challenges within this population.

Prospective associations between trauma, placement disruption, and ethnic-racial identity among newly emancipated foster youth.

INTRODUCTION: Ethnic-racial identity (ERI) is an important developmental process for ethnic-racial minority youth. However, little is known about how adverse life experiences may be related to ERI development. Thus, the current study evaluated prospective associations of emancipated foster youth's histories of childhood maltreatment and foster placement disruption with ERI centrality and ERI private regard, as well as the adaptive implications of ERI. METHOD: Participants were 144 emancipated foster youth (69.4% female) from ethnic-racial minority backgrounds (27.8% Black, 32.6% Latinx, 39.6% multiracial) who participated in a longitudinal study of youth's adaptation to aging out of the US child welfare system. Youth reported on their childhood maltreatment severity and child welfare placement history at wave 1 (Mage_w1 = 19.62, SD = 1.11), and on their ERI centrality, ERI private regard, and socioemotional adjustment (i.e., social support, self-esteem, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction) five years later (Mage_w2 = 24.15). RESULTS: Path analyses revealed that childhood maltreatment severity and placement disruption were associated with lower ERI private regard, but not ERI centrality. Moreover, private regard was associated with better socioemotional adjustment (i.e., higher levels of self-esteem and social support), whereas centrality was related to poorer adjustment (i.e., lower levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction, and higher rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms), and these relations varied by ethnicity-race. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings suggest that efforts to promote positive feelings toward one's ethnic-racial group membership can support ethnic-racial minority foster youth's capacity to negotiate developmental challenges in and beyond the child welfare system.

The unique effects of maternal and paternal depressive symptoms on youth's symptomatology: Moderation by family ethnicity, family structure, and child gender.

Drawing on five waves of longitudinal data from 392 families (52% female; mean age of wave 1 [Mage_W1] = 12.89, standard deviation [SD] = .48; Mage_W5 = 21.95, SD = .77; 199 European American and 193 Mexican American families; 217 intact and 175 stepfather families), this study documented transactional relations of mothers' and fathers' depressive symptoms with youth's symptomatology from early adolescence to young adulthood. Trait and time-varying cross-lagged models revealed that both mothers' and fathers' between- and within-person differences in depressive symptoms were associated with youth's internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Whereas each parent's depressive symptoms uniquely contributed to youth's internalizing symptoms, however, only mothers' depressive symptoms influenced youth's externalizing symptoms. Although reciprocal effects of youth's internalizing symptoms on parents' depressive symptoms were not significant, youth's externalizing symptoms predicted changes in mothers' depressive symptoms over time. Moderation analyses revealed distinct transactional patterns by family ethnicity and child gender, but not by family structure. This study revealed dynamic transactions among family members' symptomatology that point to opportune times and targets for intervention efforts aimed at mitigating the negative impact of parents' depressive symptoms on youth's adjustment.

Data Harmonization: Establishing Measurement Invariance across Different Assessments of the Same Construct across Adolescence.

Longitudinal measurement invariance is a major concern for developmental scholars who seek to evaluate the same underlying construct across time. Unfortunately, discontinuities in the expression of various psychological constructs, as well as essential changes in measurement that are necessitated by shifting developmental capacities and practice effects over time, make the task of establishing longitudinal invariance extremely difficult. Drawing on 5 waves of longitudinal data from 392 families (52% female; Mage_W1 = 12.89, SD = .48; Mage_W5 = 21.95, SD = .77; 199 European American and 193 Mexican American families), the current investigation sought to establish measurement invariance across developmentally appropriate changes in measures of depressive symptomatology from early adolescence through early adulthood. Using a combination of item parceling and the common and unique items from 2 assessment instruments for depressive symptoms, the data supported strong factorial invariance in youth's depressive symptoms across 5 waves of measurement. Findings suggest that traditional invariance approaches can be adapted to determine whether the same construct underlies different measurement instruments across time. This analytic strategy can allow researchers and clinicians to use more sophisticated techniques to understand changes in symptomatology regardless of changes in measurement or developmental capacity. Applying this approach to model patterns of depressive symptomatology from early adolescence to early adulthood has important clinical implications for elucidating periods when youth experience elevations in depressive symptoms and heightened needs for intervention services.

Development and Validation of a Tool to Assess Military Veterans' Status, Functioning, and Satisfaction with Key Aspects of their Lives.

BACKGROUND: We developed and validated the Well-Being Inventory (WBI) to address the need for a tool that can provide a comprehensive assessment of key aspects of military veterans' lives. This multidimensional instrument assesses status, functioning, and satisfaction with regard to vocation, finances, health, and social relationships. METHODS: Two large multi-phase studies (Study 1 Ns = 301, 286; Study 2 Ns = 9,566, 7,342) were conducted to develop and validate this tool among military veterans. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analyses supported the proposed factor structure, with separate factors observed for all scales except the health functioning scale, which was best represented as three factors rather than a single factor. Cronbach's alphas were satisfactory, with an average alpha of 0.86. Most WBI measures discriminated among individuals with and without mental health conditions and demonstrated expected declines among those with a new mental health condition. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides initial evidence for the reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change of the WBI. This tool can be used to provide insight into areas in which military veterans would benefit from additional support and inform efforts to promote the well-being of this population. Given its broad focus, it may also prove useful with other civilian populations.

Family Influences on Mexican American Adolescents' Romantic Relationships: Moderation by Gender and Culture.

This study examined prospective associations between the family context and adolescents' romantic relationships as moderated by adolescents' gender and culture among Mexican American families (N = 189). Adolescents at Time 1 (early adolescence) were on average 12.29 years of age (SD = .50) and 54% female. Mothers and fathers reported on family structure and dynamics during early adolescence, and youth reported on their romantic relationship involvement and quality during middle and late adolescence. Results from path analyses indicated that family structure and dynamics (supportive parenting, consistent discipline, parent-adolescent, and interparental conflict) were associated with adolescents' romantic involvement and quality, with differences by adolescents' gender and culture. Findings highlight Mexican American family contexts that contribute uniquely to adolescents' romantic relationships.