Janousch, Clarissa
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Patterns of students’ well-being in early adolescence: A latent class and two-wave latent transition analysis
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.
Thriving despite parental physical abuse in adolescence. A two-wave latent transition analysis on hedonic and eudaimonic violence-resilience outcome indicators
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.
Resilience profiles across context: A latent profile analysis in a German, Greek, and Swiss sample of adolescents
The present study investigated resilience profiles (based on levels of symptoms of anxiety and depression and five dimensions of protective factors) of 1,160 students from Germany (n = 346, 46.0% females, Mage = 12.77, SDage = 0.78), Greece (n = 439, 54.5% females, Mage = 12.68, SDage = 0.69), and Switzerland (n = 375, 44.5% females, Mage = 12.29, SDage = 0.88) using latent profile analyses. We also checked for measurement invariance and investigated the influence of gender and migration on class membership. A three-profilesolution was found for Switzerland (nonresilient 22.1%, moderately resilient 42.9%, untroubled 34.9%), and a four-profile-solution was the best fitting model for Germany (nonresilient 15.7%, moderately resilient 44.2%, untroubled 27.3%, resilient 12.7%) and Greece (nonresilient 21.0%, moderately resilient 30.8%, untroubled 24.9%, resilient 23.3%). Measurement invariance did not hold across the three countries. Profile differences regarding class membership predictions were detected for Germany and Greece, but none for Switzerland. Results implicate that resilience profiles are highly contextually sensitive, and resilience research findings should not be generalized considering the particularity of contexts, people, and outcomes.
Psychometric properties of the Resilience Scale for Adolescents (READ) and measurement invariance across two different german-speaking samples
The Resilience Scale for Adolescents (READ) is a highly rated scale for measuring protective factors of resilience. Even though the READ has been validated in several different cultural samples, no studies have validated the READ across samples in German from Switzer-land and Germany. The purpose of this study was to explore the con-struct validity of the German READ version in two samples from two different countries and to test the measurement invariance between those two samples. The expected negative correlations between READ and HSCL-25 and the positive correlations between RSE, self-efficacy, and SWL were supported. Furthermore, the results of the measurement invari-ance demonstrated that the originally proposed five-dimensional structure is equal in the German and Swiss samples, and it can be assumed that the same construct was assessed by excluding one item.
Resilience patterns of Swiss adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A latent transition analysis
This study investigated resilience patterns and predictors of these patterns (i.e. gender and migration background) among Swiss early adolescents in times of COVID-19. A total of 317 pupils participated at two time points. We conducted two separate latent class analyses and a latent transition analysis using mental health issues and protective factors as indicators. The results revealed three groups: resilient (high mental health issues, high protective factors), nonresilient (high mental health issues, low protective factors), and untroubled (low mental health issues, high protective factors). The resilient group was the most stable (91% stability), whereas the untroubled was the least stable (69% stability). Boys were more likely to be part of the untroubled group than the other groups at the second time point. Gender at the first time point and migration background at both time points were nonsignificant as predictors. Findings highlight the importance of group-specific research, health promotion, and interventions.
Minority and majority adolescents’ attitudes toward mutual acculturation and its association with psychological adjustment
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.
Identification and comparison of school well-being patterns of migrant and native lower secondary-school students in Greece and Switzerland: A multigroup latent profile analysis approach
We detected three very similar school well-being patterns among migrant and native students for both countries. The highest school well-being pattern for migrant and native students is derived from a combination of low levels of fear/depression and high levels of self-determination, self-efficacy, and self-esteem in conjunction with high levels of life satisfaction, general well-being, and satisfaction with grades at school. Overall, we found that higher levels of social support, as introduced via teacher support and resilience, play a great role in determining the school well-being level that a young person achieves.
Peer status as a potential risk or protective factor. A latent profile analysis on peer status and Its association with internalizing symptoms in adolescents with and without parental physical abuse experience
Research has well established that parental physical abuse experiences can lead to devastating consequences for adolescents, with peer relationships acting as both protective and risk factors. With the person-centered latent profile analysis (LPA), we analyzed questionnaire data from a cross-sectional study in 2020 composed of a sample of 1959 seventh-grade high school students from Switzerland. This study investigated and compared peer-status profiles combining peer acceptance and peer popularity for adolescents with and without parental physical abuse experiences. We conducted a multinomial logistic regression analysis to investigate further depression, anxiety, and dissociation as predictors of profile membership. With LPA, we identified three distinct profiles for adolescents within the subgroup with experiences of parental physical abuse (n = 344), namely liked, liked-popular, and rejected-unpopular. Within the subgroup of adolescents without parental physical abuse experiences (n = 1565), LPA revealed four profiles, namely liked, liked-popular, rejected-unpopular, and average. For adolescents with parental physical abuse experiences, higher levels of dissociation significantly indicated they were more likely to belong to the rejected-unpopular group than belong to the liked group. Anxious students without experiences of parental physical abuse were more likely to belong to the rejected-unpopular and liked profiles than belong to the liked-popular and average profiles. These findings clearly argue for a deeper understanding of the role of parental physical abuse when analyzing the relationship between dissociation and anxiety and peer status. Operationalizing peer status with the four individual dimensions of likeability, rejection, popularity, and unpopularity was valuable in that the role of peer rejection with respect to different internalizing symptoms became apparent.
Internalizing and externalizing symptoms in adolescents with and without experiences of physical parental violence, a latent profile analysis on violence resilience
Questionnaire data from a cross-sectional study on social resilience in adolescence, with a sample of N = 1,974 Swiss seventh grade high school students ages 12–14 (M = 11.76; SD = 0.65) was used to identify and compare violence resilience profiles. Person-centered latent profile analysis (LPA) was applied and allowed for the grouping of adolescents into profiles of internalizing (depression/anxiety, dissociation) and externalizing symptoms (peer aggression, peer victimization, classroom disruption) and differentiation of adolescents with (n = 403) and without (n = 1,571) physical parental violence experiences. Subsequently, a multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to further investigate the sociodemographic predictors of violence resilience profiles. With LPA, we identified four distinct profiles for both adolescent groups (with and without parental physical violence experiences). The results showed three particularly burdened profiles of adolescents, one with higher externalizing and one with higher internalizing symptoms, which did not occur simultaneously to the same extent. Furthermore, the third profile contained adolescents with both elevated internalizing and externalizing symptoms, the comorbid profile. The fourth profile consisted of the majority of adolescents, who exhibited little or no internalizing and externalizing symptoms, the so-called no/low symptomatic profile. A differentiated view of the symptoms can create added value regarding the understanding of violence resilience. Moreover, in the multinomial logistic regression, significant associations were found between the profiles and adolescents’ gender in the group of adolescents with parental physical violence experiences, but none were found in relation to sociocultural status and migration background.
Assessing attitudes towards mutual acculturation in multicultural schools. Conceptualisation and validation of a four-dimensional mutual acculturation attitudes scale
Assessment of acculturation attitudes usually has focused on the importance of two dimensions: first, immigrants’ maintenance of cultural heritage and, second, immigrants’ adoption of the majority culture. Because acculturation is a reciprocal interaction, we extended a bidimensional scale to four dimensions to assess mutual acculturation. Given the importance of the social context for acculturation and schools as a crucial context for immigrant pupils’ acculturation, the scale extension was validated within the context of school. We hypothesised that acculturation attitudes are held not only towards immigrant pupils but also towards native pupils and towards schools’ responsibility to support intercultural contact. The study sample comprised 364 secondary school pupils in Swiss multicultural schools. Using exploratory structural equation modelling, we validated four distinct dimensions of acculturation attitudes: attitudes towards immigrant pupils’ (a) heritage culture maintenance and (b) adoption of the dominant culture and attitudes towards (c) native pupils acquiring cultural knowledge and (d) schools enabling intercultural contact. We conclude that the proposed four-dimensional scale is a valid tool for assessing attitudes towards mutual acculturation within the school context and that acculturation attitudes are held not only towards immigrant pupils but also towards native pupils and schools.