Co-ruminating, or excessively discussing problems, with friends is proposed to have adjustment trade-offs. Co-rumination is hypothesized to contribute both to positive friendship adjustment and to problematic emotional adjustment. Previous single-assessment research was consistent with this hypothesis, but whether co-rumination is an antecedent of adjustment changes was unknown. A 6-month longitudinal study with middle childhood to midadolescent youths examined whether co-rumination is simultaneously a risk factor (for depression and anxiety) and a protective factor (for friendship problems). For girls, a reciprocal relationship was found in which co-rumination predicted increased depressive and anxiety symptoms and increased positive friendship quality over time, which, in turn, contributed to greater co-rumination. For boys, having depressive and anxiety symptoms and high-quality friendships also predicted increased co-rumination. However, for boys, co-rumination predicted only increasing positive friendship quality and not increasing depression and anxiety. An implication of this research is that some girls at risk for developing internalizing problems may go undetected because they have seemingly supportive friendships.

Relations of overt and relational aggression with perceived popularity among children and early adolescents were examined in 2 studies (Ns = 607 and 1,049). Among older youths, positive concurrent relations found between overt aggression and perceived popularity became nonsignificant when relational aggression was controlled, whereas positive associations found between relational aggression and perceived popularity held when overt aggression was controlled. Aggression and perceived popularity were not positively related for the younger participants. The 2nd study also examined the temporal ordering of these relations over 6 months. For older girls, positive relations between relational aggression and perceived popularity were bidirectional. For older boys, relational aggression did not predict increased perceived popularity, but perceived popularity predicted increased relational aggression. Implications for intervention are discussed.

The current study examined co-rumination (i.e., extensively discussing, rehashing, and speculating about problems) in the context of mother-adolescent relationships. Fifth-, eighth-, and eleventhgraders (N = 516) reported on co-rumination and more normative self-disclosure with mothers, their relationships with mothers, and their own internalizing symptoms. A subset of mothers (N = 200) reported on mother-adolescent co-rumination and self-disclosure. Results from the adolescent-report data indicated greater mother-adolescent co-rumination with daughters than sons and also adjustment trade-offs of mother-adolescent co-rumination. Mother-adolescent co-rumination was related to positive relationship quality but also to enmeshment in the relationship. Whereas the relation with positive relationship quality appeared to be due in part to normative self-disclosure, the relation with enmeshment was unique to co-rumination. Mother-adolescent co-rumination also was related to youth anxiety/depression. The relations with enmeshment and internalizing symptoms were strongest when co-rumination focused on the mothers' problems. Implications of mother-adolescent corumination for promoting appropriate relationship boundaries and youth well-being are discussed.

Although girls disclose to friends about problems more than boys, little is known about processes underlying this sex difference. Four studies (Ns = 526, 567, 769, 154) tested whether middle childhood to mid-adolescent girls and boys differ in how they expect that talking about problems would make them feel. Girls endorsed positive expectations (e.g., expecting to feel cared for, understood) more strongly than boys. Despite common perceptions, boys did not endorse negative expectations such as feeling embarrassed or worried about being made fun of more than girls. Instead, boys were more likely than girls to expect to feel “weird” and like they were wasting time. Sex differences in outcome expectations did help to account for girls’ greater disclosure to friends.

The current research examined co-rumination (extensively discussing, rehashing, and speculating about problems) with mothers and friends. Of interest was exploring whether adolescents who co-ruminate with mothers were especially likely to co-ruminate with friends as well as the interplay among co-rumination with mothers, co-rumination with friends, and anxious/depressed symptoms. Early- to mid-adolescents (N = 393) reported on co-rumination and normative self-disclosure with mothers and friends and on their internalizing symptoms in this cross-sectional study. Co-rumination with mothers (but not normative self-disclosure) was concurrently associated with adolescents' co-rumination with friends. In addition, the relation between co-rumination with mothers and adolescents' anxious/depressed symptoms reported previously (Waller & Rose, 2010) became non-significant when co-rumination with friends was statistically controlled. This suggests that the relation between friendship co-rumination and anxious/depressed symptoms may help explain the relation between mother-child co-rumination and anxious/depressed symptoms. Potential implications for promoting adolescents' well-being are discussed.

This study examines the perspective of judges regarding child custody evaluations by mental health professionals. Ninety-seven judges completed an anonymous survey regarding: a) legal standards and personal biases influencing judicial custody decision-making; b) issues that prompt judges to order custody evaluations; c) expected evaluation procedures and report components; d) parts of the report judges find useful for decision-making; and e) the effect of the evaluation on litigation and judicial decision-making. Findings indicate that judges are most likely to order custody evaluations for allegations regarding sexual or physical abuse or parental unfitness. Judges reported that they expect a comprehensive procedure and find utility in an inclusive report. Survey findings suggest that custody evaluations play a significant role in judicial decision-making; however, judges are hesitant to have mental health professionals testify as to the ultimate custody question.

Little research has examined the association of parents’ friendships with adolescent’s well-being, perhaps because the association was considered too distal. However, developmental theories suggest that contexts in which parents, but not their children, are situated may be related to child development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; 1986). The current work examined associations between the quality of mothers’ own friendships and their adolescent children’s friendship quality and emotional adjustment. Fifth-, eighth-, and eleventh-graders (N = 172) whose mothers’ friendships were characterized by conflict and antagonism reported having friendships that were high in negative friendship qualities as well as elevated internalizing symptoms. These associations held after controlling for mother-child relationship quality, suggesting that mothers’ friendships may have a unique association with adolescents’ adjustment.

Stressful experiences, self-evaluations, and self-standards associated with multiple contexts of development (i.e., school, family, sports/athletics) were investigated as predictors of initiation of sexual activity during the transition to adolescence. A sample of 134 seventh and eighth graders was followed as part of a 4-wave, 2-year longitudinal study. Survival analysis was used to examine measures at Time 1 as predictors of the timing of initiation of sexual activity. Reports of greater stressful experiences and less favorable self-evaluations associated with school as well as weaker self-standards associated with family were significant predictors of less time to initiation of sexual activity. For sports/athletics, however, reports of more positive self-evaluations predicted less time to initiation. Results of mediational analyses indicated that self-evaluations for the school context partially mediated the linkage that stressful experiences relating to this context exhibited with initiation of sexual activity.