Kassis, Wassilis

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Kassis
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Wassilis
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Kassis, Wassilis

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  • Vorschaubild
    Publikation
    Analysing and quantifying chronic stress‐associated endogenous steroids in hair samples
    (Wiley, 14.03.2024) Grafinger, Katharina; Kassis, Wassilis; Favre, Céline Anne; Aksoy, Dilan; Gaugler, Stefan [in: Drug Testing and Analysis]
    In previous studies, various steroids have been associated with stress and have therefore been quantified to investigate stress‐related questions. Since the main stress‐related steroid cortisol follows a circadian rhythm, often hair is analysed to quantify this steroid. Further, hair analysis gives the unique possibility of long‐time monitoring by analysing a certain segment of hair, since hair grows on average 1 cm per month. Hair is a difficult matrix due to the complex sample preparation with many steps including washing and grinding, followed by various extraction steps. Additionally, steroids are endogenous and are therefore present in the hair matrix. Hence, no analyte free matrix is available, which is needed for the quantification via external calibrators. To overcome this problem, the so‐called surrogate methods can be used, for which a 13 C 3 labelled or deuterated reference compound of the steroid of interest is used for quantification. In the present study, a surrogate method was developed and fully validated for the quantitative analysis of seven steroids in human hair. Validation experiments showed that the method is further suitable for semi‐quantitative analysis of estradiol. However, it is not suitable for the analysis of androsterone and DHEAS. The method was successfully used to analyse steroids in a comprehensive study of 360 adolescent hair samples, enabling research into stress markers.
    01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
  • Vorschaubild
    Publikation
    Longitudinal negotiation, navigation processes, and school Success in High School. A two-wave latent transition approach
    (Springer, 17.01.2024) Kassis, Wassilis; Dueggeli, Albert; Govaris, Christos; Kassis, Maria; Dittmar, Miriam; Aksoy, Dilan; Favre, Céline Anne [in: Adversity and Resilience Science]
    By combining person-centered analysis with latent transition analysis (LTA) and adapting a navigation and negotiation perspective, we examined the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents’ depression and anxiety levels as well as their adaptation and success in high school. Focusing on the navigation (individual adaptation) and negotiation (social adaptation) factors that contribute to school success, our data from a longitudinal study in Switzerland (wave 1 in autumn 2020, grade eight [n = 315]; wave 2 in spring 2021, grade eight [n = 257]) revealed four patterns: students with high levels in both dimensions (“thriving”), students with low levels in both dimensions (“demanding”), students with low negotiation but moderate to high navigation (“unsupported bloomers”), and students with high negotiation but low navigation (“encouraged non-achievers”). The “thriving” pattern had about three times more students than the “encouraged non-achiever” pattern did and about five times more students with a lower depression/anxiety profile than the “demanding” pattern did. Parental involvement and reading comprehension were identified as crucial factors in students’ academic achievement, with parental involvement being significantly associated with the “unsupported bloomers” pattern, suggesting that parents can compensate for the lack of teacher academic support and recognition and it can contribute to students’ academic success. Adolescents with high navigation and negotiation resources had higher reading comprehension scores compared to those with lower navigation and negotiation resources. Reading comprehension significantly influenced grades in language subjects and mathematics. The study emphasized the importance of individual and social adaptation factors in promoting academic success and personal growth in high school.
    01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
  • Vorschaubild
    Publikation
    On the complex relationship between resilience and hair cortisol levels in adolescence despite parental physical abuse. a fourth wave of resilience research
    (Frontiers Research Foundation, 2024) Kassis, Wassilis; Aksoy, Dilan; Favre, Céline Anne; Arnold, Julia; Gaugler, Stefan; Grafinger, Katharina; Artz, Sibylle; Magnuson, Doug [in: Frontiers in Psychiatry]
    Introduction: To understand the family’s role in adolescents’ mental health development and the connection to neurodevelopmental disorders related to experienced parental physical abuse, we first explored resilience pathways longitudinally and secondly, connected the identified patterns to adolescents’ hair cortisol levels that are rooted in the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis as the main stress response system and connected brain structure alterations. Methods: We analyzed longitudinal online questionnaire data for three consecutive high school years (from seventh to ninth grade) and four survey waves from a representative sample of n = 1609 high school students in Switzerland on violence–resilience pathways. Furthermore, we collected students’ hair samples from a subsample of n = 229 at survey wave 4. About 30% of the participating adolescents had been physically abused by their parents. Out of the overall sample, we drew a subsample of adolescents with parental abuse experiences (survey wave 1 n = 509; survey wave 2 n = 506; survey wave 3 n = 561; survey wave 4 n = 560). Results: Despite the odds, about 20–30% of adolescents who have experienced parental physical abuse escaped the family violence cycle and can be called resilient. By applying a person-oriented analytical approach via latent class and transition analysis, we longitudinally identified and compared four distinct violence–resilience patterns. We identified violence resilience as a multidimensional latent construct, which includes hedonic and eudaimonic protective and risk indicators. Because resilience should not solely be operationalized based on the lack of psychopathology, our latent construct included both feeling good (hedonic indicators such as high levels of self-esteem and low levels of depression/anxiety and dissociation) and doing well (eudaimonic indicators such as high levels of self-determination and self-efficacy as well as low levels of aggression toward peers). Discussion: The present study confirmed that higher cortisol levels significantly relate to the comorbid pattern (internalizing and externalizing symptoms), and further confirmed the presence of lasting alterations in brain structures. In this way, we corroborated the insight that when studying the resilience pathways and trajectories of abused adolescents, biological markers such as hair cortisol significantly enhance and deepen the understanding of the longitudinal mechanisms of psychological markers (e.g., self-determination, self-esteem, self-efficacy) that are commonly applied in questionnaires.
    01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
  • Vorschaubild
    Publikation
    Exploring parenting styles patterns and children’s socio-emotional skills
    (MDPI, 29.06.2023) Vasiou, Aikaterini; Kassis, Wassilis; Krasanaki, Anastasia; Aksoy, Dilan; Favre, Céline Anne; Tantaros, Spyridon [in: Children]
    In this study, we adopted parenting styles as a multidimensional and latent construct that includes different aspects of parenting, rather than solely focusing on a single parenting style. In a Web-based survey with 1203 Greek parents, we identified parenting styles and their SDQ reports on their children. According to our results by Latent Profile Analysis, we must use a more complex approach concerning parenting styles. We identified a “Highly Authoritative style” profile with high levels of authoritative, low levels of authoritarian and middle levels of permissive parenting styles. We additionally identified a profile called “Relaxed Authoritative style”, with still high but lower levels of authoritative style, low but slightly heightened levels of authoritarian style, and middle levels of permissive style. A further profile, named “Permissive Focused Authoritative style”, had a mix of high levels of authoritative, moderate levels of permissive, and elevated levels of authoritarian parenting styles. Finally, in a profile named “Inconsistent Parenting style”, we identified parents with a blend of still high, but the lowest of all four levels of authoritative and highest levels of permissive and authoritarian parenting styles. When combining the four identified parenting patterns with the SDQ results, we identified the “highly authoritative parenting style” profile to be the least connected to internalizing or externalizing problems of the respective children.
    01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
  • Vorschaubild
    Publikation
    Social and individual factors predicting students’ resilience. A multigroup structural equation model
    (MDPI, 2023) Kassis, Wassilis; Vasiou, Aikaterini; Govaris, Christos; Favre, Céline Anne; Aksoy, Dilan; Graf, Ulrike [in: Education Sciences]
    We investigated students’ resilience predictors during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a two-wave longitudinal sample (n = 713) of students from Greece, Germany, and Switzerland (eighth grade in autumn 2020 and ninth grade in autumn 2021), we determined which social and individual predictors longitudinally predicted resilience before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We identified the high likelihood of individual factors (self-esteem, self-efficacy) fostering resilience by social factors (teacher, parents, and social resources). Multigroup structural equation modeling analyses demonstrated that the adolescent population was best typified by two growth trajectory classes: a low-anxiety class characterized by a low initial level of depression/anxiety and a high-anxiety class characterized by a higher initial level of depression/anxiety. The model was gender-, migration-, and country-invariant. Overall, the model showed that teachers overlook adolescents with high anxiety or depression levels, but parents support them more. These findings highlight the necessity to pay attention to students’ depression or anxiety symptoms and to satisfy their basic psychological needs, as vital prerequisites for their meaningful, coherent engagement in modern societies despite the odds.
    01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
  • Vorschaubild
    Publikation
    Individual and social predictors of Greek early adolescents’ self-determination. A longitudinal structural equation analysis
    (Hellenic Psychological Society, 2023) Kassis, Wassilis; Vasiou, Aikaterini; Govaris, Christos; Rietz, Christian; Graf, Ulrike [in: Psychology: the Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society]
    Given that early adolescence is a dynamic and vulnerable developmental period, it is important to examine factors that promote adolescents’ individual development and, more specifically, the satisfaction of psychological needs within the framework of self-determination theory. In a two-wave longitudinal sample (N = 218) of Greek adolescents (eighth grade in autumn 2020 and ninth grade in autumn 2021), we used structural equation modeling to determine which individual and social factors longitudinally predict autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The examination of these psychological needs is regarded as a necessary step in designing school-based prevention and intervention programs for adolescents. Individual factors, such as self-esteem, self-efficacy, and depression or anxiety, foster self-determination through social factors, such as recognition and support from teacher and parents, and social resources. Adolescents with a migration background showed lower levels of social factors. The model was gender invariant and indicated that social agents (teachers and parents) and social resources predict a very large proportion of variance in early adolescents’ individual development. These findings support the view that early adolescents’ development depends on social factors through the satisfaction of psychological needs.
    01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
  • Vorschaubild
    Publikation
    Patterns of students’ well-being in early adolescence: A latent class and two-wave latent transition analysis
    (Public Library of Science, 01.12.2022) Kassis, Wassilis; Janousch, Clarissa; Sidler, Petra; Aksoy, Dilan; Favre, Céline Anne; Ertanir, Beyhan; Nazari, Nabi [in: PLOS ONE]
    Adolescence is a developmental stage with high risks in terms of psychological challenges and adjustments related to subjective well-being. Thus far, the findings reported a general decrease in school-related well-being over time. We considered well-being a multidimensional and latent construct that included both feeling good and functioning well at the individual level, and focused on the interplay between hedonic and eudemonic factors. Data of = 377 high school students in Switzerland were used by conducting an online longitudinal study with two waves. Baseline data was gathered in autumn 2019 and the subsequent time point occurred 1 year later (2020; grades seven and eight). By applying a person-oriented analytical approach via latent class and latent transition analyses, we were able to identify and compare longitudinally three distinct well-being patterns and the respective trajectories. Regarding the distribution of the well-being patterns for both waves, significant changes over time were identified: particularly from wave 1 to wave 2, where there was an increase for the low and high well-being patterns, yet a decrease for the middle pattern. Comparing the stability of the respective patterns over time, the high well-being level showed the highest stability of all identified patterns. Multinomial logistic regression of covariates to the identified latent status membership established for both waves showed low but significant effects of socio-demographic variables. At wave 1, having a migration background was associated with a significant increase of being in a low versus high well-being level pattern. At wave 2, being female was associated with a significant increase of being in a low versus high and in a middle versus high well-being pattern.
    01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
  • Vorschaubild
    Publikation
    Thriving despite parental physical abuse in adolescence. A two-wave latent transition analysis on hedonic and eudaimonic violence-resilience outcome indicators
    (MDPI, 13.04.2022) Kassis, Wassilis; Aksoy, Dilan; Favre, Céline Anne; Janousch, Clarissa; Artz, Sibylle [in: Children]
    Internationally, about 25% of all children experience physical abuse by their parents. Despite the numerous odds against them, about 30% of adolescents who have experienced even the most serious forms of physical abuse by their parents escape the vicious family violence cycle. In this study, we analyzed longitudinally the data from a sample of N = 1767 seventh-grade high school students in Switzerland on physical abuse by their parents. We did this by conducting an online questionnaire twice within the school year. We found that in our sample, about 30% of the participating adolescents’ parents had physically abused them. We considered violence resilience a multi-systemic construct that included the absence of psychopathology on one hand and both forms of well-being (psychological and subjective) on the other. Our latent construct included both feeling good (hedonic indicators, such as high levels of self-esteem and low levels of depression/anxiety and dissociation) and doing well (eudaimonic indicators, such as high levels of self-determination and self-efficacy as well as low levels of aggression toward peers). By applying a person-oriented analytical approach via latent transition analysis with a sub-sample of students who experienced physical abuse (nw2 = 523), we identified and compared longitudinally four distinct violence-resilience patterns and their respective trajectories. By applying to the field of resilience, one of the most compelling insights of well-being research (Deci & Ryan, 2001), we identified violence resilience as a complex, multidimensional latent construct that concerns hedonic and eudaimonic well-being and is not solely based on terms of psychopathology.
    01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
  • Vorschaubild
    Publikation
    Minority and majority adolescents’ attitudes toward mutual acculturation and its association with psychological adjustment
    (Springer, 06.04.2022) Sidler, Petra; Baysu, Gülseli; Kassis, Wassilis; Janousch, Clarissa; Chouvati, Raia; Govaris, Christos; Graf, Ulrike; Rietz, Christian [in: Journal of Youth and Adolescence]
    Although acculturation is considered a mutual process, no measure assesses attitudes toward mutual acculturation. Through a novel four-dimensional measurement, this study addresses this research gap by assessing attitudes toward minority and majority acculturation and its relation to psychological adjustment for immigrant-background minority and non-immigrant majority adolescents in public secondary schools in three European countries: in Germany (n = 346, 46% female, Mage = 12.78 years, range 11–16), Greece (n = 439, 56% female, Mage = 12.29 years, range 11–20), and Switzerland (n = 375, 47% female, Mage = 12.67 years, range 11–15). Latent profile analyses led to three distinct acculturation profiles in all three countries: strong and mild mutual integration profiles, where both migrant and majority students are expected to integrate, and a third profile assuming lower responsibility upon the majority. Additionally, those in the strong- and mild-integration profiles reported stronger psychological adjustment than those assuming lower responsibility upon the majority, which held for all students in Switzerland and mostly for those without a migration background in Germany. The findings demonstrate the importance of a mutual acculturation framework for future research. Moreover, as most adolescents fit in with one of the mutual integration patterns, findings stress that no matter their migration background, adolescents favor mutual integration including the expectation on schools to enhance intercultural contact.
    01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
  • Vorschaubild
    Publikation
    Understanding school success of migrant students. An international perspective
    (MDPI, 11.02.2022) Makarova, Elena; Kassis, Wassilis
    The aim of this book is to empirically identify the school success pathways of migrants for policy actions in schools and communities, in order to tackle barriers to migrant students’ school success. These resilience pathways highlight differences in individual and social risks and identify protective factors for young migrants, to help them overcome obstacles linked to discrimination and low educational outcomes. It presents international empirical research comparing and explaining school success factors for migrant students in various countries, namely Germany, Greece, Russia, and Switzerland.
    03 - Sammelband