Showing papers by "Andrew J. Fuligni published in 2013"

A Longitudinal Study of School Belonging and Academic Motivation Across High School

Abstract: This longitudinal study examined how school belonging changes over the years of high school, and how it is associated with academic achievement and motivation. Students from Latin American, Asian, and European backgrounds participated (N = 572; age span = 13.94–19.15 years). In ninth grade, girls' school belonging was higher than boys'. Over the course of high school, however, girls' school belonging declined, whereas boys' remained stable. Within-person longitudinal analyses indicated that years in which students had higher school belonging were also years in which they felt that school was more enjoyable and more useful, above and beyond their actual level of achievement. Results highlight the importance of belonging for maintaining students' academic engagement during the teenage years.

To Study or to Sleep? The Academic Costs of Extra Studying at the Expense of Sleep

Abstract: This longitudinal study examined how nightly variations in adolescents’ study and sleep time are associated with academic problems on the following day. Participants (N = 535, 9th grade Mage = 14.88) completed daily diaries every day for 14 days in 9th, 10th, and 12th grades. Results suggest that regardless of how much a student generally studies each day, if that student sacrifices sleep time to study more than usual, he or she will have more trouble understanding material taught in class and be more likely to struggle on an assignment or test the following day. Because students are increasingly likely to sacrifice sleep time for studying in the latter years of high school, this negative dynamic becomes increasingly prevalent over time.

Meaningful family relationships: Neurocognitive buffers of adolescent risk taking

Abstract: Discordant development of brain regions responsible for cognitive control and reward processing may render adolescents susceptible to risk taking. Identifying ways to reduce this neural imbalance during adolescence can have important implications for risk taking and associated health outcomes. Accordingly, we sought to examine how a key family relationship-family obligation-can reduce this vulnerability. Forty-eight adolescents underwent an fMRI scan during which they completed a risk-taking and cognitive control task. Results suggest that adolescents with greater family obligation values show decreased activation in the ventral striatum when receiving monetary rewards and increased dorsolateral PFC activation during behavioral inhibition. Reduced ventral striatum activation correlated with less real-life risk-taking behavior and enhanced dorsolateral PFC activation correlated with better decision-making skills. Thus, family obligation may decrease reward sensitivity and enhance cognitive control, thereby reducing risk-taking behaviors.

Continuity and Discontinuity in Perceptions of Family Relationships From Adolescence to Young Adulthood

Abstract: The present 8-year longitudinal study examined how multiple aspects of family relationships change across the transition from adolescence (Mage = 15 years) to young adulthood (Mage = 22 years) among 821 individuals. Results showed that there was more discontinuity than continuity in family relationships across this transition. Whereas a normative decline was evident in all measured aspects of family relationships during adolescence, this decline persisted for only a few dimensions of family relationships during young adulthood. Other aspects of family relationships stabilized or rebounded. There was little variation in these trajectories as a function of ethnicity or gender, suggesting that these changes in family relationships are generally normative. Results suggest that the transition to adulthood is a period of significant transformation in family relationships.

Daily School Peer Victimization Experiences Among Mexican-American Adolescents: Associations with Psychosocial, Physical and School Adjustment

Abstract: School bullying incidents, particularly experiences with victimization, are a significant social and health concern among adolescents. The current study extended past research by examining the daily peer victimization experiences of Mexican-American adolescents and examining how chronic (mean-level) and episodic (daily-level) victimization incidents at school are associated with psychosocial, physical and school adjustment. Across a two-week span, 428 ninth and tenth grade Mexican-American students (51 % female) completed brief checklists every night before going to bed. Hierarchical linear model analyses revealed that, at the individual level, Mexican-American adolescents’ who reported more chronic peer victimization incidents across the two-weeks also reported heightened distress and academic problems. After accounting for adolescent’s mean levels of peer victimization, daily victimization incidents were associated with more school adjustment problems (i.e., academic problems, perceived role fulfillment as a good student). Additionally, support was found for the mediation model in which distress accounts for the mean-level association between peer victimization and academic problems. The results from the current study revealed that everyday peer victimization experiences among Mexican-American high school students have negative implications for adolescents’ adjustment, across multiple domains.

Positive Daily Family Interactions Eliminate Gender Differences in Internalizing Symptoms Among Adolescents

Abstract: By the age of 18, girls are more than twice as likely as boys to experience internalizing symptoms. Focusing upon the family, a significant factor for adolescent mental health, we examined how positive and negative daily family interactions relate to gender differences in internalizing symptoms. 681 12th grade students (54 % female) completed diary checklists each night for 2 weeks in which they indicated whether they got along with their family (positive family interactions) and argued with their family (negative family interactions). Results indicate that negative daily family interactions explain, in part, why females experience heightened internalizing symptoms. Yet, even in the face of negative family interactions, positive daily family interactions have salutatory effects, reducing females’ emotional distress and eliminating gender differences in internalizing symptoms at high levels of positive interactions. These findings underscore the importance of positive family interactions for adolescent girls’ mental health.

Adolescents' Daily Assistance to the Family in Response to Maternal Need.

Abstract: Although children's provision of family assistance is a common routine, little is understood about the day-to-day variability that may exist in children's assistance behaviors. Guided by a family systems framework, the current study examined whether Mexican American adolescents' provision of family assistance was contingent on daily maternal need. Adolescents (N = 354, 49% males, Mage = 14.96 years) and their mothers (Mage = 41.55 years) each completed reports on 14 consecutive days. The results indicated that adolescents generally responded to maternal need, being more likely to help their families on days when their mothers worked or felt fatigued. This daily contingency was modified by family and adolescent characteristics, with adolescents thought to generally engage in low levels of assistance (i.e., youngest males and those in families with little economic strain) increasing their help when their mothers were fatigued. In contrast, daily maternal work did not appear to stimulate greater assistance among families with low levels of economic strain.

Another Way Family Can Get in the Head and Under the Skin: The Neurobiology of Helping the Family

Abstract: Families can be both challenging and mean- ingful. Advances in technology have allowed us to gain insight into the impact of family stress on biological and neurological development, but these tools also can be used to understand more deeply the social and cultural meaning of family experiences in the developing child. In this article, we describe a program of research examining the psychological, immunological, and neural correlates of children helping their families. Although difficult at times, such help can provide a sense of belonging and role fulfillment that may shape the neurobiology of the devel- oping child.