Search Results (27)

Flourishing in children is an indicator of positive development in the areas of emotional, social, and cognitive development. Using a recent dataset from the US National Survey of Children’s Health, this study investigates the association between access to a quality healthcare system and flourishing indicators in school-aged children with autism. The outcome variable describes the proportion of children aged 6–17 with autism meeting the flourishing criteria, which include measures related to learning, resilience, and self-regulation. The main independent variable includes six core indicators for school-aged children and adolescents, which assess whether the family feels like a partner in their child’s care, the child has a medical home, receives regular medical and dental preventive care, has adequate insurance, has no unmet needs or barriers to accessing services, and has prepared for transition to adult healthcare. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the relationships between various independent variables and the outcome of interest. The results show that children with autism who receive comprehensive and coordinated care are more likely to flourish compared to those without such care for five of these six indicators, while controlling for sex, race, parental education, household income, self-reported autism severity, general health status, and the number of adverse childhood experiences. Children with autism are more likely to flourish when their families and healthcare providers work together effectively. Addressing gaps in the quality care system is essential for developing holistic approaches that empower children with autism to thrive and reach their full potential. Supportive health policies and effective coordination between families and healthcare providers are crucial for fostering the flourishing of children with autism, ensuring comprehensive, individualized, and continuous care. Full article

Background/Objectives: This study addresses the significance of mental health concerns by examining the intergenerational transmission of mental health between parents and adolescents. It investigates the serial mediating effects of family resilience, adolescents’ adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and their ability to flourish in the transmission of mental health from parents to adolescents, with a focus on sex differences. Methods: This study used a sample of 54,434 adolescents aged 12–17 from the 2016–2020 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). Mothers reported on their mental health status and family resilience, and adolescents’ ACEs, flourishing, and mental health problems including depression and anxiety. Serial mediation models were used to assess the hypotheses. Results: The findings revealed that better parental mental health status was associated with fewer mental health problems in adolescents, with significant sex differences observed in these associations. Specifically, in both maternal and paternal models, better parental mental health was linked to higher family resilience, which was associated with fewer ACEs, greater flourishing, and ultimately fewer adolescent mental health problems. Furthermore, maternal mental health had a stronger association with daughters’ mental health, while paternal mental health more strongly influenced sons’. Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of targeted prevention and clinical interventions to disrupt the intergenerational transmission of mental health issues. Full article

In response to the increase in adolescent mental health problems, related intervention research has flourished. This study examined 2258 mental health intervention studies captured by the Web of Science, focusing on their distribution, interdisciplinary collaboration, and emerging trends, using bibliometric analysis. Our findings revealed a rise in studies and enhanced collaboration across disciplines, with studies from the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom showing high academic output, intellectual impact, and strong scientific partnerships. However, there is a noticeable Western-centrism in the research. Identifying current trends and key areas of focus offers valuable insights for future practices in child and adolescent mental health. Full article

Online teaching and learning has had a presence in K12 public education since the 1990s. Following the COVID-19 global pandemic, there has been a surge in online learning and an increase in research surrounding the role of online teaching and learning within the K12 context. However, while the inclusion of online pedagogies flourishes throughout middle-grade educational settings, there is limited contemporary research that speaks specifically to effective online instruction of young adolescent learners. This scoping review examines the existing body of literature pertaining to online pedagogies within the middle grades in an effort to map the current trends, gaps, and overall state of research pertaining to national and international middle-level online pedagogy. Researchers screened research and pedagogically centered peer-reviewed articles published between 2013 and 2024. The reviewed articles were charted according to standardized details—e.g., author(s), publication year, research purpose, study location, participant demographics, methodology, and outcomes—to identify themes relevant to online pedagogical approaches, national or international contextual considerations, connection to the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) characteristics, and more. The findings speak to trends and gaps within middle-grade online pedagogical research with recommendations for additional examination of research and pedagogy specific to middle-grade online teaching and learning. Full article

Background: Children who are exposed to HIV in utero but are uninfected (HIV-exposed uninfected or HEU) are at higher risk of neurodevelopmental delays compared to children born to persons without HIV. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have revealed differences in grey matter volumes, cerebral perfusion, and white matter changes in these children. However, MRI is costly and not widely available in areas with high HIV prevalence, like Botswana, where more than 15% of children are HEU. To address this, we explored the use of brain ultrasound, conducted by trained study nurses, as a safe, less costly, and accurate alternative method for assessing differences relating to HIV exposure status in the brain structures of neonates. Methods: Brain ultrasounds of newborns in the Following Longitudinal Outcomes to Understand, Report, Intervene and Sustain Health for Infants, Children, Adolescents who are HIV Exposed Uninfected (FLOURISH) observational study—comprising 35 HEU newborns and 24 HIV-unexposed (HU) newborns—were performed by study nurses and evaluated by a pediatric radiologist for quality and structural abnormalities, such as calcifications, cysts, and hemorrhages. Two radiologists measured extra-axial cerebrospinal fluid spaces, ventricles, and the corpus callosum. Results: Ultrasound studies of 59 newborns (59% boys; median gestational age 38.4 weeks) were completed. All studies were of diagnostic quality, with 90.2% rated as being of good or excellent quality. Structural abnormalities were rare (10.2% incidence) and did not differ by HIV exposure group. Corpus callosum length was shorter in HEU infants compared to HU infants (45.7 mm vs. 47.3 mm; p = 0.03). Other ventricular and corpus callosum measurements showed no significant variations. Conclusions: Brain ultrasounds conducted by study nurses are feasible and reveal differences in corpus callosum length between HEU and HU infants. The benefits of easier training, lower cost, and rapid deployment make ultrasound a promising screening tool in resource-limited settings. Full article

Scholars have documented positive and negative relationships between adolescents’ critical consciousness and mental health. This study aims to clarify the role of friendship networks contributing to these associations. Using egocentric network data from a nationwide adolescent sample (N = 984, 55.0% female, 23.9% nonbinary, 72.7% non-white), regression analyses examined whether adolescents’ psychological distress and flourishing were predicted by their friend group’s average critical consciousness and the difference between adolescents and their friends on critical consciousness dimensions (sociopolitical action, critical agency, and critical reflection), accounting for network and demographic covariates. Higher friend group critical consciousness positively predicted flourishing, and higher friend group sociopolitical action negatively predicted psychological distress. Adolescents who participated in sociopolitical action more frequently than their friends had higher psychological distress and lower flourishing. Those with higher agency than their friends had lower flourishing. At the individual level, adolescents’ sociopolitical action predicted higher psychological distress and flourishing, critical agency predicted higher flourishing, and critical reflection predicted higher psychological distress and lower flourishing. Adolescent mental health is uniquely related to their friends’ critical consciousness. Findings highlight the utility of social network analyses for understanding social mechanisms that underlie relationships between critical consciousness and mental health. Full article

Maternal health represents an important predictor of child development; yet it often goes unnoticed during pediatric visits. Previous work suggests that mental state affects parenting. The relationship between infant exposure to maternal depressive symptoms suggests conflicting findings on physical growth. Body mass index (BMI) has not been rigorously examined across development. Using a prospective-longitudinal birth cohort of 2120 infants (50.7% boys), we estimated the prospective relationship between symptoms of maternal depressive symptoms at 5 months postpartum and later BMI in typically developing children. We hypothesized that maternal depressive symptom severity would predict later BMI through to adolescence. Mothers self-reported depressive symptoms at 5 months. Child BMI was measured by a trained research assistant at ages 6, 8, 10, 13, and 15 years. We estimated a series of sex-stratified regressions in which BMI was linearly regressed on maternal symptoms, while controlling for potential pre-existing/concurrent individual and family confounding factors. Boys born to mothers with more severe depressive symptoms at age 5 months had a significantly lower BMI than other boys at subsequent ages. There were no such associations observed for girls. Maternal depressive symptoms were prospectively associated with later BMI for sons and not daughters, predicting risk of faltering in growth through to adolescence. Health practitioners should routinely assess maternal psychological functioning during pediatric visits to optimize parent and child flourishment. Full article

Pediatric chronic pain is an important public health issue given its notable impact on numerous domains of living. Pediatric chronic pain is also often comorbid with emotional, developmental, or behavioral conditions, which can lead to more severe negative outcomes and an even greater reduction in positive outcomes compared to those without comorbidities. Flourishing is a positive outcome that chronic pain status has been shown to impact. Flourishing in children aged 6–17 years living with chronic pain, as well as those with chronic pain and comorbidities, was explored using data from the 2018/2019 National Survey of Child Health. Chronic pain occurred in 4.0% of our sample, and the prevalence of chronic pain plus comorbidities was 3.9%. There were significant associations between the chronic pain condition status and all demographic variables (sex, age, race/ethnicity, poverty level, parental education, and health insurance status). The results of the hierarchical logistic regression found that the chronic pain condition status significantly predicted flourishing. Children with chronic pain were 2.33 times less likely to flourish, and children with chronic pain plus an emotional, developmental, or behavioral comorbidity were 13 times less likely to flourish than their typical peers. Given their significantly lower likelihood of flourishing, there is an urgent need for interventions targeted at children experiencing chronic pain and mental health comorbidities. Full article

Self-control is the ability to control thoughts, emotions, and impulses to pursuit of long-term goals. Adolescents with high self-control experience higher flourishing levels. The latter refers to the fulfillment of needs for competence, relationship, and self-acceptance, as well as the possession of psychological capital such as flow and commitment. High levels of self-control also seem to be linked to a positive relationship with parents, which is crucial in adolescent flourishing. However, few studies investigated the association between flourishing, self-control, and perceived parenting in adolescence. The aim of this study was to investigate how the ability to exert self-control and the need to perceive and preserve a responsive relationship with parents would facilitate adolescents’ experience of higher flourishing levels. The relationships among self-control, adolescents’ perception of some paternal and maternal dimensions (closeness, communication, and parents’ peer approval), and flourishing were analyzed in a sample of 335 Italian adolescents. Self-control was positively correlated with flourishing and the adolescent’s perception of maternal and paternal dimensions. The PROCESS model showed that perceived maternal and paternal dimensions mediate the relationship between self-control and flourishing. These findings show the importance of self-control and parenting dimensions in promoting flourishing during adolescence. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent stay-at-home orders limited adolescents’ ability to connect with friends in person, leading adolescents to rely on digital forms of communication to interact with friends. The present study (N = 168 adolescents ages 11–20, 51.40% female) examined the types of digital communication adolescents used to connect with friends during the pandemic stay-at-home orders and how each form of digital communication related to adolescents’ emotional adjustment. The results showed texting to be the most common way adolescents connected with friends. Boys were more likely than girls to talk with friends through social gaming. Synchronous forms of communication (i.e., texting, video calls, and social gaming) were associated with reduced loneliness and depressive symptoms and higher flourishing. Connecting with friends by posting or responding on social media was not associated with adolescent well-being. These results suggest that forms of digital communication that allowed adolescents to talk with friends in real time were particularly important for adolescents’ emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Full article

Flourishing is defined as an optimal state of functioning in which individuals pursue their goals and aspirations. Hence, flourishing seems to be a protective factor for career transitions in adolescence. This study aimed to analyze the predicting role of self-esteem, courage, and the four career adaptability dimensions, i.e., concern, control, curiosity, and confidence, on flourishing. The sample consisted of 221 Italian adolescents attending the last year of middle school. The preliminary analyses showed gender differences in courage and flourishing, reporting females higher scores than males on both variables. The SEM path model showed that courage, self-esteem, and confidence predict flourishing, and suggested that confidence partially mediates the relationship between courage, self-esteem, and flourishing. Findings have also permitted us to draw practical implications for interventions in adolescence. Full article

Contemporary societies pose major challenges for adolescents and it is essential to conduct research with them to understand their experiences, identify their needs, and discover solutions to major social problems. Social science, humanities and health-related research into violence, technology, and climate change exemplify vital research endeavours requiring adolescent participation to advance Sustainable Development Goals and enhance individual lived experience and societal flourishing for current and future generations. International and national research ethics guidelines emphasise the necessity to conduct research to advance societal benefit, while upholding principles of autonomy and justice, and promoting participant welfare and avoiding harm. International human rights instruments promote adolescents’ freedom of expression and right to participate in matters affecting them. The rapid generation of robust research findings is essential, but it remains commonly assumed that adolescents cannot provide their own consent to participate in research studies, and the belief that parental consent is required can impede and impair the entire research process. Debate continues about the proper interpretation of legal principles and research ethics guidelines about who may provide consent. Continuing confusion about who must provide consent, and why, impedes the protection of adolescents’ interests and the advancement of society. This article adds to knowledge by providing a multidisciplinary overview of evidence from developmental science, social science, law, human rights, and bioethics about decision-making capacity and entitlements in the context of research participation, and an updated evidence-based analysis of adolescents’ capacity to provide their own consent to participate in social, humanities and health-related research. A conservative application of knowledge from these domains both individually and collectively supports conclusions that adolescents aged 16 are able to provide their own consent to participate in research, and no legal or ethical principle requires the provision of parental consent on their behalf. Practical considerations may support parental involvement in conversations about participation, and some types of research require trauma-informed approaches, but adolescents are developmentally, legally and ethically entitled to make their own decision about whether or not to participate. Full article

(1) Background: In Italy, the components of adolescents’ mental well-being (psychological symptomatology and cognitive perception of life satisfaction) showed different temporal trends, suggesting the adoption of a multidimensional conceptualization. We aimed to assess temporal patterns and provide additional insights into Italian adolescents’ mental well-being in the last decade by adopting the Dual Factor Model; (2) Methods: We used nationally representative samples of Italian students (n = 165,000) aged 11, 13, and 15 years across the three more recent Italian Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) surveys. Two measures of mental well-being were used: life satisfaction (LS, indicator of positive subjective well-being) and psychological health complaints (PHC, indicator of mental illness); (3) Results: Our study showed that the overall sample has been moving from a Complete Mental Health (Flourishing) to an Incomplete Mental Illness (Struggling) condition. Among 13- and 15-year-old girls, a jump from one to the other mental condition was observed in the 2014–2018 and 2010–2014 time periods, respectively; (4) Conclusions: Our findings suggest that Italian adolescents, especially older girls, have been shifting from Complete Mental Health to Incomplete Mental Illness in the last decade. Further research is needed to investigate this breaking up of the connection between psychological symptomatology and cognitive perception of life satisfaction. Full article

Flourishing indicates one’s emotional status and functioning level and is essential for adolescents’ further development. Adolescents’ social media use has been rising, with various potential effects on their development. Therefore, in this study, we shifted the emphasis from a traditional deficit-based approach to a strength-based approach by exploring how social comparison and social media usage influence Chinese adolescents’ flourishing. Altogether, 786 Chinese adolescents aged 12–19 years completed a self-report questionnaire. The results indicate that (1) both social media social comparison of ability (SCA) and social media social comparison of opinion (SCO) have no significant effect on Chinese adolescents’ flourishing; (2) integration into social routine has a positive indirect effect on the relationship between social media social comparison and flourishing; and (3) social integration and emotional connection negatively affect the relationship between social media social comparison and flourishing. These findings highlight the interaction between social media social comparison and social media usage. Furthermore, the results of this study clarify that the potentially harmful effect of social media usage on adolescents’ flourishing is not determined by the frequency or time spent on using social media, but how much adolescents are connected to or invested in social media. Full article

Flourishing is linked with health and well-being in childhood and adulthood. This study applied a promotive factors model to examine how neighborhood assets might benefit child and adolescent flourishing by promoting family resilience. Using data from the combined 2018 and 2019 National Survey of Children’s Health, structural equation models tested direct and indirect relationships between neighborhood physical environment, neighborhood social cohesion, family resilience, and flourishing among 18,396 children and 24,817 adolescents. After controlling for multiple covariates that may influence flourishing, the models supported that higher levels of neighborhood social cohesion were directly associated with higher levels of flourishing adolescents, and indirectly by positive associations with family resilience for both children and adolescents. No indirect effects between neighborhood physical environments and flourishing were supported by the data for either children or adolescents. However, neighborhood physical environments were positively associated with adolescent flourishing. Understanding social environmental factors that strengthen and enhance child and adolescent flourishing are critical toward designing prevention, intervention, and policy efforts that can build on the existing strengths of families and their communities. Full article