2-038 - Adolescent Social and Emotion Dynamics at Multiple Time Scales and Relations to Psychosocial Adjustment

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Typically-developing adolescents experience increased risk for psychosocial adjustment difficulties (e.g., depression, relationship difficulties; Dahl, 2004). Socioemotional processes associated with such difficulties span multiple time scales—repeating patterns of real-time responses to situational events coalesce into individual differences in adjustment over development (Granic, 2005). Current challenges for research on adolescent adjustment include: (1) capturing the temporal dynamics associated with adjustment, and (2) examining how adolescents function across different contexts using ecologically-valid designs. This symposium consists of three presentations that employ innovative approaches of adolescents in situ to the study of adjustment at three time scales: moments, days, and years.

In Presentation 1, mother-daughter emotion dynamics were examined across positive and negative contexts with a novel emotion elicitation task. Associations between socioemotional flexibility and adjustment were examined at two time scales: within and across emotion contexts. In Presentation 2, daily survey assessments were used to examine adolescents’ emotion dynamics as networks, as an innovative indicator of emotion regulation. This ecologically-valid approach predicted adolescent psychopathology above and beyond standard measures of emotion regulation. Presentation 3 links observed relationship processes in two relationship types over 10 years, highlighting the importance of incorporating multiple social contexts. Specifically, observed coercive dynamics in adolescent peer relationships were examined as a longitudinal predictor of coercion in romantic partnerships. Together, these presentations cover a range of innovative approaches for examining dynamics at multiple time scales. A leading expert in adolescent psychopathology will discuss the theoretical importance of examining dynamics across different time scales and contexts.

Sub Unit

• Social, Emotional, Personality

Chair

• Jessica P. Lougheed, Pennsylvania State University

Discussant

• Sheila E Crowell, University of Utah

Individual Presentations

• Socioemotional Flexibility in Mother-Daughter Dyads: Associations with Psychosocial and Physiological Adjustment - Presenting Author: Jessica P. Lougheed, Pennsylvania State University; Tiffany Tsui, Queen's University; Tom Hollenstein, Queen's University

• Emotion Network Density and Associations with Symptoms of Psychopathology in Adolescents - Presenting Author: David M. Lydon-Staley, Pennsylvania State University; Mengya Xia, Penn State; Gregory Fosco, Penn State

• From Observed Coercive Relationship Talk with Adolescent Friends to Coercion in Adult Romantic Couples - Presenting Author: Charlie Ventura Champion, Arizona State University; Thao Ha, Arizona State University; Thomas J. Dishion, Arizona State University