The COVID-19 pandemic and the social containment measurements have significantly changed children, adolescents and adult social lives. Changes in the social context may affect more strongly...Show moreThe COVID-19 pandemic and the social containment measurements have significantly changed children, adolescents and adult social lives. Changes in the social context may affect more strongly individuals in their early adolescent's developmental period due to the ongoing shift to a new social environment following the transition to secondary school. This transition includes a major shift in focus from parents to peers. Nevertheless, it is still unclear what caused some early adolescents to be impacted more strongly than others. In the current study, we examined mood in early adolescents during the first and second lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic, where containment measurements in the Netherlands took place. Moreover, the role of emotion regulation and parents and peers attachment on mood was investigated. Adolescents rated their mood (i.e., happy, sad, fear, angry) once a day and reported their emotion regulation perception once a week. Moreover, adolescents reported their experienced attachment to parents and peers one time during baseline measurement. Results showed a decrease in positive mood from the first to the second lockdown and an association between parents and peers attachment to mood during the first lockdown. However, emotion regulation as a protective factor did not associate with mood or parents and peers attachment. Lastly, parents and peers attachment did not moderate the association between mood and emotion regulation. Overall, this study suggests that the mental well-being of early adolescents was affected by the COVID-19 crisis and that social connectedness to parents or peers might influence mood in early adolescents.Show less
Ethnic prejudice is a worldwide problem, starts developing at a young age, and peaks in middle childhood (5-7 years old). Studies indicate that parental ethnic prejudice is associated with children...Show moreEthnic prejudice is a worldwide problem, starts developing at a young age, and peaks in middle childhood (5-7 years old). Studies indicate that parental ethnic prejudice is associated with children’s ethnic prejudice. How parents think and talk about multiculturalism may similarly play a role in the development of children’s ethnic prejudice. In this study with (N = 80) White Dutch mothers and their children, it was examined if there would be a negative relation between maternal views on multiculturalism and children’s ethnic prejudice towards Black and Muslim children and if these relations would be negatively mediated by maternal ethnic-racial socialization. Two separate mediation models (one predicting ethnic prejudice towards Black children, the other predicting ethnic prejudice towards Muslim children) were run using the PROCESS macro for SPSS. No significant relations were found between maternal views on multiculturalism and children’s ethnic prejudice towards either out-groups and maternal ethnic-racial socialization did not mediate these relations. However, most of the directions of the relations are in accordance with this study’s hypotheses. More research is needed and future reseach could use different approaches (e.g., larger sample, child reports of parental views, the views of both parents on multiculturalism, different cohorts existing of younger and older children or a longitudinal design) to gain more knowledge about the role that parents play in the development of their children’s ethnic prejudice. In this way parents could be informed about their role and how they might be able to prevent ethnic prejudice in their children.Show less
Intellectually gifted children are often characterized as prone to perfectionism and fear of failure (Basirion et al., 2014; Chan, 2012; Cross & Cross, 2015; Speirs Neumeister, 2016). However,...Show moreIntellectually gifted children are often characterized as prone to perfectionism and fear of failure (Basirion et al., 2014; Chan, 2012; Cross & Cross, 2015; Speirs Neumeister, 2016). However, research findings on the association between giftedness and perfectionism seem diverging. In addition, no research on fear of failure among specifically gifted pre-adolescents has been conducted yet. Therefore, the current study investigated the possible differences between gifted pre-adolescents aged 10-12 years old and their non-gifted peers on perfectionistic striving (adaptive perfectionism), perfectionistic concern (maladaptive perfectionism) and fear of failure. An innovative aspect of the current study is that perfectionistic striving was measured with both implicit and explicit measurements. We found that (1) gifted and non-gifted pre-adolescents did not differ in the extent to which they strive for perfectionism, neither implicitly nor explicitly, (2) gifted pre-adolescents showed less perfectionistic concern than their non-gifted peers in the form of socially prescribed perfectionism, and (3) gifted and non-gifted pre-adolescents did not differ in the extent to which they showed general fear of failure. Collectively, the findings suggest that gifted preadolescents should not be characterized as vulnerable to fear of failure and perfectionism, both perfectionistic striving and perfectionistic concern. Additionally, our findings emphasize the importance of using both implicit and explicit measures when investigating perfectionism.Show less
Self-esteem is an accumulation of cognitive and emotional self-reflections. Perfectionism and self-esteem in adolescence are associated to later life (mal)adaptive development. Whereas self...Show moreSelf-esteem is an accumulation of cognitive and emotional self-reflections. Perfectionism and self-esteem in adolescence are associated to later life (mal)adaptive development. Whereas self-oriented perfectionists (SOP) aspire to an ideal standard for themselves, socially prescribed perfectionists (SPP) experience pressure from others. While striving traits of SOP (SOP-S) are associated with healthy adjustment, critical SOP (SOP-C) and SPP tendencies have been associated with maladjustment. It remains unclear whether intellectual giftedness, a high cognitive ability level, serves as a risk factor or a protective factor for self-esteem. Nevertheless, subgroups of gifted individuals seem vulnerable to maladaptive perfectionism. Therefore, this study investigated associations between perfectionism and self-esteem through multiple linear regression. SOP-S was assumed to have a positive relationship to self-esteem, whereas SOP-C and SPP, respectively, were predicted to have a negative relationship to self-esteem. Moreover, giftedness was hypothesized to be a moderator for all three relationships. Gifted and nongifted children, ages 10 through 12, completed the Child and Adolescent Perfectionism Scale (CAPS) and the Rosenberg Self- Esteem Scale (RSES). SOP-C was indeed negatively associated with self-esteem. Neither SOP-S or SPP appeared significantly related to self-esteem. No moderation effect of giftedness was found, suggesting a similar effect of SOP-C on self-esteem for gifted and nongifted students. The lack of associations for either SOP-S or SPP with self-esteem was not in line with past literature. The CAPS may have failed to capture the essence the SOP-S dimension and the developmental stage of participants might have influenced their experience of SPP. Future studies should include larger sample sizes and preferably additional measures of perfectionism. Multiple reporters would be beneficial.Show less
Increased smartphone use has been linked to a number of mental health problems, but little is known about whether limiting smartphone use could reduce mental health problems. In this intervention...Show moreIncreased smartphone use has been linked to a number of mental health problems, but little is known about whether limiting smartphone use could reduce mental health problems. In this intervention study among students, the relationship between change in smartphone use and change in depressive symptoms and burnout symptoms was investigated. We also investigated whether this relationship was mediated or moderated by self-esteem. Among 50 Dutch students (94% female, mean age = 19.4 years, SD = 1.4) a questionnaire was administered about smartphone use, depressive symptoms (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale), burnout symptoms (Utrechtse Burnout Scale), and self-esteem (Rosenberg Selfesteem Scale), after which they were either assigned to the intervention group or control group. The intervention group was given five tips to limit their smartphone use and the control group was told they would start the intervention in two weeks and could continue using their phone as usual. Two weeks later, all participants completed the same questionnaires again and were debriefed about the experiment. Our intervention did not lead to a decrease in smartphone use in the intervention group compared to the control group. The intervention did also not lead to a decrease in depressive symptoms or burnout symptoms and there was no significant relationship between change in smartphone use and change in depressive or burnout symptoms, hence we were not able to perform a mediation analysis. Self-esteem was also not a moderator in these relationships. In conclusion, our intervention on smartphone use does not lead to a decrease in smartphone use, neither does this lead to a decrease in mental health problems such as depression and burnout. However, this might be due to the lack of power and that we had less participants than anticipated, because of COVID-19.Show less
This study explores the effects of multidimensional empathy, specifically perspective taking and empathic concern in gifted early adolescents. This research was initiated in order to study whether...Show moreThis study explores the effects of multidimensional empathy, specifically perspective taking and empathic concern in gifted early adolescents. This research was initiated in order to study whether gifted early adolescents would develop higher perspective taking and empathic concern levels based on their cognitive abilities compared to non-gifted early adolescents, such that a higher score on empathic concern and perspective taking in the Interpersonal Reactivity Index was expected for gifted early adolescents. A sample of 41 gifted (n=27) and non-gifted (n=15) aged 9 to 12 participated. No significant differences were found on empathic concern and perspective taking for gifted early adolescents compared to non-gifted early adolescents which leads to the conclusion that gifted and non-gifted early adolescents may be more similar then previously depicted in research.Show less
The aim of the current study was to examine the association between self-concept clarity and difficulties with study choice, and examine if general indecisiveness (partially) mediates this...Show moreThe aim of the current study was to examine the association between self-concept clarity and difficulties with study choice, and examine if general indecisiveness (partially) mediates this relationship. Participants (N = 48, aged 14-20) filled in online questionnaires on self-concept clarity (SCC), general indecisiveness and difficulties with study choice (CDDQ). Regression analyses showed: (1) a positive association between self-concept clarity and difficulties with study choice; (2) a positive association between self-concept clarity and general indecisiveness; (3) a positive association between general indecisiveness and difficulties with study choice; (4) general indecisiveness fully mediated the relationship between self-concept clarity and difficulties with study choice. This implies that general indecisiveness is the most important factor in this mediation model, which is important to know for being able to help students in their decision-making process. Probably the way the constructs were measured plays a large role in explaining our results. Repeating this research with a larger sample in the future is recommended and if this leads to the same results, it is important to further investigate the differences on self-concept clarity and difficulties with study choice between educational groups.Show less
The study aimed to examine attachment as a determinant factor for the formation of self-concept positivity and empathy during adolescence. Attachment refers to the quality of relationship with a...Show moreThe study aimed to examine attachment as a determinant factor for the formation of self-concept positivity and empathy during adolescence. Attachment refers to the quality of relationship with a primary caregiver in the beginning of life and it affects an individual’s emotional and physical development throughout lifespan. It consists of two core dimensions, anxiety and avoidance. Attachment has been found to affect the formation of self-concept positivity, meaning how positive one perceives his own self and the formation of empathy, meaning the ability to experience someone else’s emotions. Yet, research regarding how those concepts are linked during adolescence is scarce. We expected that higher scores in attachment anxiety lead to lower scores both on self-concept positivity and empathy. Likewise, we expected that higher scores in attachment avoidance would again lead to lower scores in both dimensions. Lastly, we investigated potential interaction effects among the variables. The sample consisted of 160 adolescents between 11 and 21 years old. To assess their level of self-concept positivity, participants performed an fMRI examination. Their attachment type was measured by the ‘Experience in Close Relationships’ questionnaire and their levels of empathy were assessed by the ‘Interpersonal Reactivity Index’. The data was analysed by the statistical program IBM SPSS 25. The results suggested that attachment anxiety and avoidance were not related to the levels of self-concept positivity during adolescence. However, both of them were found to be negatively related to the levels of empathy. Finally, the results revealed no interaction effect.Show less
