Youth sociopolitical action, which encompasses a broad range of behaviors to dismantle systems of oppression, is increasingly taking place on social media and digital platforms. This study presents the development and validation of a 15-item Sociopolitical Action Scale for Social Media (SASSM) through three sequential studies: in Study I, a scale was developed based on interviews with 20 young digital activists (=19, 35% cis-gender women, 90% youth of color). In Study II, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) identified a unidimensional scale using a sample of 809 youth (M=17, 55.7% cis-gender women, 60.1% youth of color). In Study III, an EFA and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were used to confirm the factor structure of a slightly modified set of items with a new sample of 820 youth (=17, 45.9% cis-gender women, 53.9% youth of color). Measurement invariance testing was conducted by age, gender, racial and ethnic background, and immigrant identity, confirming full configural and metric invariance, and full or partial scalar invariance. The SASSM can further research on youths' efforts to challenge oppression and injustice online.

Adolescents get insufficient sleep, adversely affecting health. Mind-body integrative health interventions for adolescents have been shown to reduce stress, a barrier to good sleep. This scoping review aimed to synthesize mind-body integrative health interventions for adolescents, how interventions were implemented, who was reached. A systematic search of four online databases was conducted. Randomized, quasi-experimental, and single-group designs with participants ages 10-24 years were included. Twelve studies covering 10 interventions using mindfulness, qigong, aromatherapy, or yoga were identified. Participants were predominantly female; only one study reported participants' race or ethnicity (81% non-Hispanic white). Most (n=6) interventions were delivered in groups, and half reported significant improvements in subjective sleep quality. Mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy were the most commonly used modalities, with reported impact on sleep outcomes measured objectively. The two interventions that found statistically significant, moderate improvements in objectively-measured sleep onset latency and sleep efficiency were of higher intensity and used mindfulness. Four interventions were self-directed; participants in these struggled with adherence; significant impacts on sleep were not found. While findings were mixed, stemming in part from the quality of the underlying studies, this review identified several promising features of interventions, including using mindfulness, ensuring sufficient intervention dose, and targeting interventions towards adolescents with poor sleep at baseline (rather than a general population of adolescents). The findings suggests that sleep interventions for adolescents may improve psychological well-being as an intermediate effect, as sleep improvements were observed mostly among participants with poor sleep quality or anxiety symptoms at baseline. This review identified several gaps in the literature. Despite documented racial and ethnic disparities in sleep quality among adolescents, published evidence of mind-body integrative health-based sleep interventions among Black and Latinx adolescents is lacking. None of the studies in this review assessed developmental stage or age differences, despite documented differences in sleep across age groups of adolescents. These two gaps in the evidence should be addressed in future intervention research.

Gender inequitable attitudes are associated with violence perpetration and poor sexual health. There is limited diversity in U.S. samples used to validate gender attitudes measurements. This study assessed a 13-item gender equitable attitudes scale's validity among a sample of predominantly Black adolescent boys (n = 866; mean age = 15.5, range = 13-19 years) and examined associations with sexual health behaviors. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses tested construct validity. Logistic mixed-effects models were used to explore associations between gender equitable attitudes, adolescent relationship abuse, pornography use, and condom use behaviors; linear mixed-effects models explored associations between gender equitable attitudes and condom negotiation self-efficacy. By pooling data from two other gender transformative programs, Sisterhood 2.0 (n = 246, 13-19-year-old females (mean age = 15.2), 73.6% Black/African American) and Coaching Boys into Men Middle School (n = 958, 11-14-year-old males-6th grade: 10.4%, 7th grade: 36.5%, 8th grade: 53.1-56.6% white), measurement invariance was assessed across Black (n = 400) and white (n = 298) race and male (n = 429) and female (n = 246) gender. A three-factor 11-item scale showed construct validity among a sample of Black adolescent boys, weak factorial invariance across Black and white race, and configural invariance across male and female gender. Gender equitable attitudes were associated with less adolescent relationship abuse, higher condom negotiation self-efficacy, and less pornography use. These findings demonstrate some variability in measurements of gender equitable attitudes by race and gender. Targeting harmful gender norms may help prevent adolescent relationship abuse and improve sexual health behaviors.

Although it is one of the core cultural values of Asian American families and an influential determinant of youth development, familism remains under-studied among Asian Americans and, despite crucial within-group heterogeneity, lacks subgroup specificity. This study describes the ways in which two major Asian American subgroups of youth, i.e., Filipino Americans and Korean Americans, maintain traditional familism. Specifically, this study constructed six self-report subscales of familism utilizing underused and new survey items and tested their psychometric properties. Using data collected from Filipino American (=150) and Korean American (=188) adolescents living in a Midwest metropolitan area, the measures were examined for validity and reliability for each group and, when appropriate, for measurement invariance across the groups. The main findings are that the finalized scales demonstrated solid reliability and validity (e.g., content and construct) in each group and some invariance and that core traditions, in the form of familism values and behaviors, persevere among second-generation Asian Americans, although familism was more evident among Filipino American youth than in Korean American youth. In both groups, subdomains of familism were not as discrete as found among their parents, who were predominantly foreign-born first-generation immigrants. The finalized familism scales were associated differently with several correlates including acculturation variables and youth outcomes. The findings are discussed with a call for further empirical research of diverse ethnic groups and immigrant generations to more accurately account for how family process interacts with cultural origin and acculturation.

School engagement researchers have historically focused on academic engagement or academic-related activities. Although academic engagement is vital to adolescents' educational success, school is a complex developmental context in which adolescents also engage in social interactions while exploring their interests and developing competencies. In this article, school engagement is re-conceptualized as a multi-contextual construct that includes both academic and social contexts of school. The authors begin by describing how the characteristics of these contexts provide the opportunities and resources for adolescents to engage in academic learning and social interactions throughout school. Motivational theories are then used as an operational framework for understanding how adolescents become engaged in school, which is followed by a discussion about how adolescents' academic and social engagement interact to shape their academic achievement. The article concludes with implications for practice and future research.

Long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) has gained attention as a promising strategy for preventing unintended adolescent pregnancies in the United States. However, LARC use among adolescents at risk for pregnancy remains low compared to women in their 20s. The purpose of the current study was to synthesize the empirical literature published between 2010 and 2018 identifying the facilitators of and barriers to adolescents' (< age 20) LARC use in the United States. Thirty quantitative and qualitative studies were included in the current systematic review. The facilitators of and barriers to adolescent LARC use fell within five themes: LARC method characteristics, individual characteristics, social networks, healthcare systems, and historical time and geographical region. Barriers to adolescent LARC use largely echoed those identified in previous research noting the barriers to LARC use among young adult women (e.g., provider concerns with placing IUDs for nulliparous women, common adverse side effects associated with some LARC methods). However, qualitative studies identified adolescents' mothers as central figures in helping adolescents successfully obtain the LARC methods they desired. Conversely, adolescents' partners seemed to only play a minor role in adolescents' contraceptive decisions. Findings within the reviewed studies also suggested some subpopulations of adolescents may be experiencing pressure to initiate LARC use or have less ability to have their LARC device removed if they wish to discontinue use. Adolescent health practitioners and clinicians should consider the unique social-environmental influences of adolescents' contraceptive access and behaviors to best meet adolescents' contraceptive needs and desires.

Social media have become a new context for adolescent identity development. However, it is challenging to build a thorough understanding of how social media and identity development are related because studies refer to different facets of social media engagement and use diverse concepts related to identity. This review synthesizes research on the relationships between quantity and quality of social media use and different dimensions of identity development, including identity exploration and commitment, self-concept clarity, and identity distress. The search conducted across four databases yielded 4,467 records, of which 32 studies were included in the analysis, comprising 19,658 adolescents with a mean age of 16.43 years ( = 1.81) and an age range of eight to 26 years. Active participation in social media, rather than the amount of time spent on it, was associated with more identity exploration. Authenticity on social media, not idealized self-presentation, correlated with higher self-concept clarity. Additionally, adolescents who engaged in comparisons on social media demonstrated higher levels of identity exploration and identity distress. Overall, it seems to matter more for identity development what young people do on social media than how much time they spend on it.

Cultural psychology has raised awareness of religiosity, spirituality, and secularism in people's psychological lives. This article takes a cultural-developmental approach by examining the development of religiosity, spirituality, and secularism among culturally diverse adolescents. At the outset, an explanation is provided as to why the valid study of peoples' psychological lives necessitates taking culture into account, and of key implications for theory and methodology. Throughout research on adolescent religiosity, spirituality, and secularism is described, including studies on conceptions of God, afterlife beliefs, the development of an Ethic of Divinity in moral reasoning, recent increases in spirituality and secularism, and the impact of globalization on worldviews and religiously-based puberty rituals. While the focus is on adolescents, the article includes relevant research with children and emerging adults. Concrete future research directions are proposed, including a call to address the extent to which effects of religion on adolescents are dependent on culture and globalization.

Understanding how child and adolescent health is influenced by fluctuations in socioeconomic status has important public health and policy implications, as children are often subjected to both micro and macro-level socioeconomic events. This study provides the first systematic review to date on the relationship between changes in household or parental socioeconomic status and subsequent child and adolescent health outcomes. Eighty articles were identified for inclusion in this review, examining 85 different socioeconomic exposures in five categories: Income (n = 64), Employment (n = 14), Socioeconomic Mobility (n = 3), Education (n = 2), and Food Insecurity (n = 2). The health outcomes analyzed by these eighty articles were separated into eight discrete categories, with many articles examining outcomes in more than one category: Anthropometric Measurements (n = 21), Cognition and Development (n = 15), Dental Health (n = 3), Health Behaviours (n = 9), Mental Health (n = 12), Overall Parent/Guardian Assessed health (n = 6); Physical Health Outcomes (n = 11), and Socio-Emotional Behaviour (n = 30). Several consistent patterns emerged in the literature, such as a link between increased income and improved, or decreased income and deteriorating, cognition, dental health, and physical health. The results of this review suggest a need to replicate current studies in diverse geographies to expand generalizability and clarify regional patterns. There should also be an effort to go beyond income, and employment, to assess the relationship between less frequently studied socioeconomic exposures and child health outcomes.

Adolescence is a developmentally sensitive period for emotion regulation with potentially lifelong implications for mental health and well-being. Although substantial empirical research has addressed this topic, the literature is fragmented across subdisciplines, and an overarching theoretical framework is lacking. The first step toward constructing a unifying framework is identifying relevant phenomena. This systematic review of 6305 articles used text mining to identify phenomena relevant to adolescents' emotion regulation. First, a baseline was established of relevant phenomena discussed in theory and recent narrative reviews. Then, article keywords and abstracts were analyzed using text mining, examining term frequency as an indicator of relevance and term co-occurrence as an indicator of association. The results reflected themes commonly featured in theory and narrative reviews, such as socialization and neurocognitive development, but also identified undertheorized themes, such as developmental disorders, physical health, external stressors, structural disadvantage, substance use, identity and moral development, and sexual development. The findings illustrate how text mining systematic reviews, a novel approach, may complement narrative reviews. Future theoretical work might integrate these undertheorized themes into an overarching framework, and empirical research might consider them as promising areas for future research, or as potential confounders in research on adolescents' emotion regulation.

Rural adolescents are transitioning to adulthood in the context of growing disparities. To advance research on the social, behavioral, and contextual factors that influence rural young adult development, this study conducted a scoping review. The review sought to identify how researchers defined rural and how/which theories guided their work; how they integrated the rural context into the research design and methods; and how they used variables, concepts, and outcomes to measure rural experiences. Included articles were published between January 2009 and November 2020, included young adults ages 18-29, measured adult role achievement and/or behavioral health outcomes and reported on these outcomes for young adults, and focused on a rural sample within the United States. A systematic search of four databases resulted in 25 empirical articles for the inductive, qualitative analysis. Most studies used atheoretical approaches focusing on outcomes related to adult social roles, substance use, and mental health. Five themes emerged focused on the definitions of rural, the level of integration into the research design and method, and variables salient to the rural experience. These results reveal that future research should clearly define the rural context and better integrate the rural context into the conceptualization, design, methods, and implications of the empirical research.

This editorial introduces the special issue on . First, a case is made for the importance of the special issue, focusing on the utility of diverse approaches in providing a richer understanding of the phenomena of interest. Second, a summary is given of the six target pieces in the special issue. These target articles were written by scholars from six disciplines doing work relevant to adolescent religious and spiritual development: developmental psychology, sociology, cultural psychology, social and personality psychology, cognitive psychology, and developmental neuroscience. It is hoped that this special issue strengthens the quality of scholarship in this research area, encourages interdisciplinary work, and enriches our understanding of adolescent religious and spiritual development.

Electronic mentoring (e-mentoring), the integration of digital technology in mentoring relationships, has recently grown in popularity; however, the effectiveness of e-mentoring in addressing youth health has not been synthesized to date. The current study synthesizes the literature on e-mentoring to affect the health and well-being of youth (10-24 years) through a systematic review and evidence quality assessment. A total of 833 records were identified, of which 14 met eligibility criteria (published in English since 1995, targeted youth health and/or youth with health issues, and communication was entirely digital or combined with in-person interaction). The results showed that the majority of health-focused e-mentoring studies were conducted with young people with existing health conditions rather than on the use of e-mentoring to promote overall health and wellness. The included programs focused largely on bringing mentoring to youth subpopulations that may be challenged by in-person models. Quality assessments of the included studies showed that the strength of the evidence is mediocre. The findings suggest that e-mentoring has the potential to reach youth with unique health concerns and to promote independent management of health conditions as youth transition to adulthood; however, more rigorous evaluation of e-mentoring programs with larger sample sizes is needed.

Hopefulness is arguably of central importance to the recovery of youth with major or complex youth depression, yet it is unclear how hopefulness can best be enhanced in treatment. A narrative synthesis of published and grey literature was combined with new insights from a youth lived-experience panel (N = 15), focusing on to what extent and how specific psychological therapies and standard mental health care scaffold hopefulness as applied to depression among 14-25-year-olds. Thirty-one studies of variable quality were included in this review; thirteen were qualitative, thirteen quantitative, and five used mixed methods. Hopefulness is an important active ingredient of psychotherapies and standard mental health care in youth depression. Evidence suggests talking and activity therapies have moderate to large effects on hopefulness and that hopefulness can be enhanced in standard mental health care. However, varying intervention effects suggest a marked degree of uncertainty. Hopefulness is best scaffolded by a positive relational environment in which there is support for identifying and pursuing personally valued goals and engaging in meaningful activity. Animated (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4690PdTGec) and graphical summaries (https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27024.84487) are available.

Social capital provides young people with a web of supportive relationships that can be leveraged in pursuit of education, career, and life goals. Organized activities, an umbrella term for extracurricular activities, after-school programs, and youth development programs, are important developmental contexts for building social capital. The purpose of this study was to illuminate the developmental pathway through which social capital development occurs in organized activities. A qualitative meta-synthesis was conducted using 33 articles that met inclusion criteria across five databases (e.g., ERIC, PsycINFO) between June 2022 and May 2023. Thematic analysis was used to identify malleable organized activity features that act as levers for social capital promotion. Seven thematically aligned features were identified, including (1) organizational partnerships, (2) organizational supporting structures, (3) relationally strong climate, (4) staff mindsets and skills, (5) youth mindsets and skills, (6) increased social capital opportunities, and (7) increased social capital activation. These seven themes were used to construct an empirically-grounded model that posits a process through which organized activities support youth social capital development. Implications for intentionally strengthening organized activities' capacity to support youth social capital are discussed.

Migration may lead to changing power dynamics between parents and children in families. Children may change their behavior in order to exercise agency to respond to migration of family members or themselves. This systematic review seeks to understand how children exercise agency within families in the context of migration. The authors searched ten databases to collect English-written articles published in academic journals in or after 2010. The studies were coded to generate a quality indicator. 65 Articles with moderate and strong quality were included in this review, including 41 qualitative studies, 16 quantitative studies, and 8 mixed-methods studies. Children and adolescents with demographically and culturally diverse backgrounds were analyzed in these studies. The systematic review shows that children have different levels of behavioral agency in the migration decision-making process; they also exercise agency in different aspects of family life. For example, left-behind children exercise agency in care provision and information nondisclosure, and migrant children in media and language brokering. Children's behavioral agency is place-specific. Adults working with children need to pay more attention to children's behavioral agency in order to support children's healthy development and facilitate their adaptation in the context of migration.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers around the world have made efforts to assess its impact on youth mental health; however, the breadth of this topic has impeded a clear assessment of pandemic outcomes. This study aimed to address this gap by reviewing changes in youth (age ≤ 25) mental health, psychological wellbeing, substance use, and the use or delivery of relevant services during the pandemic. PubMed and Embase were searched in May 2021 to conduct a rapid review of the literature. The results encompass 156 primary publications and are reported using a narrative synthesis. Studies of mental health (n = 122) and psychological wellbeing (n = 28) generally indicated poor outcomes in many settings. Publications regarding substance use (n = 41) noted overall declines or unchanged patterns. Studies of service delivery (n = 12) indicated a generally positive reception for helplines and telehealth, although some youth experienced difficulties accessing services. The findings indicate negative impacts of the pandemic on youth mental health, with mixed results for substance use. Services must support marginalized youth who lack access to telehealth.

Youth experiencing systemic oppression(s) face heightened challenges to wellbeing. Critical consciousness, comprised of reflection, motivation, and action against oppression, may protect wellbeing. Wellbeing here refers to mental, socioemotional, and physical health. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize research on the relationship between critical consciousness and wellbeing among adolescents and young adults (ages 12-29). Five databases (PsycInfo, PsychArticles, ERIC, Sociological Abstracts, and PubMed) were searched systematically using keyword searches and inclusion/exclusion criteria; 29 eligible studies were included. Results demonstrated that the critical consciousness and wellbeing relationship varied by critical consciousness dimension and age. The studies of adolescents most often focused on racial/ethnic marginalization and found critical motivation most strongly associated with better wellbeing. The studies of young adults focused on young adult college students and identified mixed results specifically between activism and mental health. Study methods across age spans were primarily quantitative and cross-sectional. Research on critical consciousness and wellbeing can benefit from studies that consider multiple critical consciousness dimensions, use longitudinal approaches, and include youth experiencing multiple and intersecting systems of privilege and marginalization.

College students have poorer mental health than their peers. Their poorer health conditions seem to be caused by the greater number of stressors to which they are exposed, which can increase the risk of the onset of mental disorders. The pandemic has been an additional stressor that may have further compromised the mental health of college students and changed their lifestyles with important consequences for their well-being. Although research has recognized the impact of COVID-19 on college students, only longitudinal studies can improve knowledge on this topic. This review summarizes the data from 17 longitudinal studies examining changes in mental health and lifestyle among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to improve understanding of the effects of the outbreak on this population. Following PRISMA statements, the following databases were searched PubMed, EBSCO, SCOPUS and Web of Science. The overall sample included 20,108 students. The results show an increase in anxiety, mood disorders, alcohol use, sedentary behavior, and Internet use and a decrease in physical activity. Female students and sexual and gender minority youth reported poorer mental health conditions. Further research is needed to clarify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable subgroups of college students.

Emotion regulation is a powerful predictor of youth mental health and a crucial ingredient of interventions. A growing body of evidence indicates that the beliefs individuals hold about the extent to which emotions are controllable (emotion controllability beliefs) influence both the degree and the ways in which they regulate emotions. A systematic review was conducted that investigated the associations between emotion controllability beliefs and youth anxiety and depression symptoms. The search identified 21 peer-reviewed publications that met the inclusion criteria. Believing that emotions are relatively controllable was associated with fewer anxiety and depression symptoms, in part because these beliefs were associated with more frequent use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies. These findings support theoretical models linking emotion controllability beliefs with anxiety and depression symptoms via emotion regulation strategies that target emotional experience, like reappraisal. Taken together, the review findings demonstrate that emotion controllability beliefs matter for youth mental health. Understanding emotion controllability beliefs is of prime importance for basic science and practice, as it will advance understanding of mental health and provide additional targets for managing symptoms of anxiety and depression in young people.

The increasing prevalence of problematic internet use has heightened concerns about its adverse impact on internet users' mental health. Despite reviews investigating the associations between problematic internet use and mental health outcomes, there is a lack of understanding of various aspects of students' mental health. This study aimed to bridge this gap by providing a more comprehensive overall picture of this issue through a quantitative synthesis based on three-level random-effects meta-analytic models. In total, 223 studies with a cumulative total of 498,167 participants and 512 effect sizes were included in this synthesis. The results showed that problematic internet use was moderately and positively associated with depressive symptoms, anxiety, loneliness, and other mental health outcomes, and negatively related to subjective well-being. Moderator analyses revealed that several study features (i.e., school grade, region, measure of problematic internet use, publication year, and gender) could explain the variations in the findings across individual studies. These research results provide solid evidence for the link between problematic internet use and different mental health outcomes and have implications for future research and interventions on students' problematic internet use.