Examining Character Structure and Function Across Childhood and Adolescence

Character strengths are an integral component of positive youth development that can promote flourishing. Developmental principles posit constructs become increasingly complex with age, yet this process has not been examined with character. Using a socioeconomically and ethnically diverse sample of 2,467 youth ages 9–19, bifactor models were estimated across elementary, middle, and high school-age groups to examine age differences in character structure and function. With successive age, a greater number of specific character strength factors were identified, suggesting character structure becomes more differentiated across adolescence. Results linking character bifactor models to indicators of positive functioning also supported differentiation in character function across ages. Findings point to the need for theoretical and empirical considerations of character structure and function across development.     

Knowledge and processes that predict proficiency in digital literacy

Proficiency in digital literacy refers to the ability to read and write using online sources, and includes the ability to select sources relevant to the task, synthesize information into a coherent message, and communicate the message with an audience. The present study examines the determinants of digital literacy proficiency by asking 150 students who had 50 min of access to the Internet and a word processor to produce a research report on whether or not their college should require all students to own a laptop computer. The resulting essay received a holistic rating from 1 to 5. Concerning knowledge underlying digital literacy, the major predictors of digital literacy proficiency (as measured by essay rating) were academic experience (undergraduate versus graduate status) and domain knowledge (based on a questionnaire), rather than technical knowledge about how to use computers (based on a questionnaire). Concerning processing during the task, the major predictors of digital literacy proficiency were integrating processes (such as number of unique sources, citations, or supporting details) rather than search processes (such as number of actions, web pages, websites, links, or search terms). In short, proficiency in digital literacy depended mainly on academic experience rather than technical experience, and on how learners organize and integrate the information they find rather than on how much information they peruse. Findings from this study suggest that the basic tenets of good scholarship apply to digital media.     

Variability in Parenting Self-Efficacy Across Prudential Adolescent Behaviors

Objective. Extant research examining the predictors and outcomes of parenting self-efficacy has predominantly focused on families with young children. Adolescence is a time of increased autonomy during which parents may be uncertain about their abilities to influence their adolescents’ risk-taking behavior. Design. Parents’ (N = 145 mothers and 53 fathers) confidence in their parenting abilities across prudential adolescent behaviors was investigated, including alcohol consumption, cyber activities, eating behaviors, and problem peer associations. Additionally, we explored how adolescents’ (N = 161, M_age = 14.4 years, 60% female) reports of their engagement in those behaviors were associated with parents’ perceptions of their ability to impact their adolescents’ behavior (i.e., self-efficacy). Results. Mixed-model analysis of variance revealed that mothers and fathers felt most efficacious in reducing their adolescents’ engagement in problematic cyber activities and least efficacious regarding alcohol consumption. Bivariate correlations indicated multiple negative associations between adolescents’ engagement in prudential behaviors and both mothers’ and fathers’ behavior-specific parenting self-efficacy. Conclusions. Results suggest that parents with adolescents have varying levels of confidence in their ability to parent different types of prudential adolescent behaviors. Additionally, for multiple behavior categories, mothers’ and fathers’ behavior-specific parenting self-efficacy was negatively associated with adolescent engagement in corresponding behaviors, such that increased adolescent engagement was related to lower levels of behavior-specific parenting self-efficacy.     

Audience orientations toward new media

The proliferation of new communication technologies over the last 2 decades has increased opportunities for audience activity by offering more choices and greater control aver the communication process for media consumers. However, extant research on the degree of user activity with new media portrays conflicting views of audience members as more active or more passive. This study attempts to sort out this issue by exploring audience activity levels among users of new and traditional media, as indicated by instrumental or ritualized orientations toward media use. Results indicate that new communication technologies are motivated by both instrumental and ritualized motives, but are used more instrumentally than traditional channels, particularly among older users.     

Assessing collaborative computing: development of the Collaborative-Computing Observation Instrument (C-COI)

This paper describes the development, validation, and uses of the Collaborative Computing Observation Instrument (C-COI), a web-based analysis instrument that classifies individual and/or collaborative behaviors of students during computing problem-solving (e.g. coding, programming). The C-COI analyzes data gathered through video and audio screen recording software that captures students’ computer screens as they program, and their conversations with their peers or adults. The instrument allows researchers to organize and quantify these data to track behavioral patterns that could be further analyzed for deeper understanding of persistence and/or collaborative interactions. The article provides a rationale for the C-COI including the development of a theoretical framework for measuring collaborative interactions in computer-mediated environments. This theoretical framework relied on the computer-supported collaborative learning literature related to adaptive help seeking, the joint problem-solving space in which collaborative computing occurs, and conversations related to outcomes and products of computational activities. Instrument development and validation also included ongoing advisory board feedback from experts in computer science, collaborative learning, and K-12 computing as well as classroom observations to test out the constructs in the C-COI. These processes resulted in an instrument with rigorous validation procedures and a high inter-rater reliability.     

African American late adolescents' relationships with parents: developmental transitions and longitudinal patterns

Five-year longitudinal patterns and the influence of developmental transitions on 76 middle-class African American late adolescents' (M=18.43 years) relationships with parents were examined. Late adolescents were closer to mothers than to fathers. Controlling for age, late adolescent females who had left home reported less negative relationships with mothers than did adolescents living at home or in transition to leaving home, and late adolescent females living at home reported more intense conflicts with parents 3 years earlier than did boys living at home and girls living away. Earlier attachment led to more attached and supportive relationships with both parents and less negative interactions with mothers in late adolescence. Stable father presence also influenced more positive relationships with fathers.     

Interrupting the Pathway From Discrimination to Black Adolescents’ Psychosocial Outcomes: The Contribution of Parental Racial Worries and Racial Socialization Competency

Racial discrimination can lead to psychosocial problems for Black adolescents, including internalization (e.g., depression) and externalization (e.g., conduct problems). Black parents (N = 186; M_age = 42.9) of adolescents (ages 10–18) were assessed to investigate how parental worries and racial socialization competency (i.e., confidence, skills, and stress) contribute to the association between parental discrimination experiences and their adolescents’ psychosocial problems. Mediation analyses indicated that the total direct models with discrimination, worries, and problems had good fit, and that the addition of worry mediated the discrimination-problems association. Furthermore, racial socialization competency moderated the association between worry and problems, wherein greater competency was associated with less impact of worry on problems. Findings illuminate potential intervention targets for buffering discrimination’s influence on adolescents’ psychosocial functioning.     

Improving preschool classroom processes: Preliminary findings from a randomized trial implemented in Head Start settings

A primary aim of the Chicago School Readiness Project was to improve teachers’ emotionally supportive classroom practices in Head Start-funded preschool settings. Using a clustered randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, the Chicago School Readiness Project randomly assigned a treatment versus control condition to 18 Head Start sites, which included 35 classrooms led by 94 teachers who served 602 children. Teachers in the treatment condition were invited to participate in behavior management training and their classrooms were visited weekly by mental health consultants who “coached” teachers as they implemented behavior management strategies. Estimation of hierarchical linear models revealed that the multi-component intervention provided statistically significant benefits: Head Start classrooms randomized to the treatment condition were found to have statistically significantly higher levels of positive classroom climate, teacher sensitivity, and behavior management than were classrooms in the control condition (with effect sizes ranging from d = 0.52 to 0.89). Discussion of these findings reflects on policy implications and future research.