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Girls are more likely to engage in rumination, associated with the development of mental health problems, as well as report higher levels of friendship quality, hypothesized to protect against these disorders. The current study examined whether co-rumination may drive simultaneous increases in rumination and changes in friendship quality among adolescents. The project included 360 participants (43% boys), ages 9.8 to 15.8 years, and analyses revealed that co-rumination mediated the link between female sex and both rumination and negative friendship quality. There was also a bidirectional relation between co-rumination and positive friendship quality. These findings highlight several pathways by which co-rumination mediates the relation between sex and both maladaptive (i.e. rumination, negative friendship quality) and adaptive (i.e. positive friendship quality) outcomes.

Adolescence is a vulnerable period for the development of depressive disorders. Recent research has demonstrated the importance of distress tolerance in the onset and maintenance of depression during adulthood; however, little is known about its role in predicting depressive symptoms among adolescents. The current study examines the effect of distress tolerance and co-occurring negative life events on the developmental trajectory of depressive symptoms from middle to late adolescence. Our sample included 117 adolescent boys and girls (44.4% female, 54.6% White). Participants were, on average, 16 years old at baseline (SD = 0.90) and completed self-report inventories of negative life events and depressive symptoms; distress tolerance was assessed using a behavioral measure. Utilizing a latent growth curve approach, we found a significant interaction between distress tolerance and negative life events in predicting increases in depressive symptoms over time. Follow-up analyses suggest that negative life events were associated with greater increases in depressive symptoms over time for adolescents with lower levels of distress tolerance only. The study highlights the moderating role of distress intolerance in the relation between negative life events and depressive symptoms, and underscores the importance of targeting distress tolerance for treating depression among youth.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented challenging time for parents and adolescents. The present study examines the role of parent work-life conflict on adolescent adjustment (i.e., academic engagement and mental health) and family processes (i.e., parental mental health and parenting) as potential mediators for this association. A total of 692 middle school students (53.2% boys; M age = 13.54 years, SD age = 0.58) and their parents (29.6% fathers and 70.4% mothers; M age = 44.75 years, SD age = 4.14 years) completed an online survey in May 2020 in Beijing, China. Results indicated that many parents (24.6%) experienced work-life conflicts amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings also showed that parent work-life conflict was negatively associated with youth academic engagement and mental health indirectly through parental mental health difficulties and parenting behavior (parental control, autonomy granting, and parental involvement). In addition, parental mental health difficulties had direct and indirect effects on youth adjustment via parenting behaviors, such that parental involvement and autonomy granting predicted greater academic engagement and covitality (co-occurrence of positive traits and positive mental health), whereas the parental control predicted youth mental health difficulties. Our findings extend prior research by examining the pathways linking parental work-life conflict to youth adjustment during COVID-19. Findings are discussed in terms of how to better support families and promote better youth academic engagement and well-being during COVID-19.

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Compared to their school peers, Asian American youth report more internalizing symptoms, peer victimization, and higher rates of suicide, yet they underutilize mental health services at school. This study investigated the feasibility and effectiveness of a culturally responsive parent training program called Parent–Child Connect for Asian American parents at school. Forty‐eight Asian American parents (M age = 42.98; SD age = 5.54, 79.2% female) participated in the parent training program. Parents reported significant increases in positive parenting (parental warmth, Cohen's d = 0.33; reasoning, d = 0.42; and autonomy granting, d = 0.54), and decreases in negative parenting (verbal hostility, d = 0.52; directiveness, d = 0.33; and shaming behavior, d = 0.38) after the intervention. They also reported significant increases in their sense of competence (d = 0.53) and satisfaction in communicating with their children (d = 0.43). Good attendance and high satisfaction from parents suggested high feasibility of the intervention. Fifteen parents attended two focus group interviews 6 weeks after the training. Parents reported improved empathy, parent–child communication, and self‐efficacy, and provided suggestions for future iterations of the training. We discuss how school psychologists can provide parent training and support ethnic minority families at school. Impact Statement: To support Asian American youth and parents, we implemented Parent–Child Connect, a culturally responsive parent training program with Asian American parents at school. Results suggest that it is a feasible and effective parenting intervention for Asian American parents in the school setting.

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