Research implemented by Luthar and colleagues over the past decade has revealed serious levels of maladjustment among youth growing up in affluent and upwardly mobile communities across the country. Contrary to what was previously believed, these youth often fare much worse on measures of both internalizing and externalizing problems when compared to their inner-city counterparts (Luthar, Barkin & Crossman, 2013). In an attempt to differentiate affluent youth with levels of maladjustment from their peers who are more well adjusted, the present study examines the relationship between internalizing problems and goal-setting, with analyses separated by gender. In a culture where there is such a focus on extrinsic goals, is it possible that goal-setting influences feelings of anxiety and depression? Multiple regression analyses were conducted with two goal-setting measures predicting to various internalizing dimensions of the Youth Self Report (Achenbach & Rescorla). The sample included 252 senior year high school students participating in the New England Study on Suburban Youth (NESSY). Statistically significant results supported our hypothesis that a higher ratio of extrinsic goals would predict to internalizing problems, for both males and females. Future research that implements an experimental design would be beneficial in understanding more fully whether changing one's goals and values decreases internalizing problems.

The purpose of this study was to examine if certain child demographics and risk modifiers of the child (i.e., anxiety sensitivity, depressive symptoms, anxiety control, and social competence) predict program response to a Child Anxiety Indicated Prevention and Early Intervention protocol (Pina, Zerr, Villalta, & Gonzales, 2012). This anxiety protocol focused on cognitive behavioral techniques (e.g., systematic and gradual exposure) that used culturally responsive implementation strategies (Pina, Villalta, & Zerr, 2009). The current study aims to investigate specific predictors of program response to this anxiety protocol. First, it was of interest to determine if child demographics and risk modifiers of the child at baseline would predict program response to the early anxiety intervention protocol. Second, it was of interest to see if an interaction with one of the four risk modifiers at baseline and sex or protocol condition would predict program response to the early anxiety intervention protocol. This study included 88 youth (59.14% Hispanic/Latino and 40.9% Caucasian) who were recruited through referrals from public schools and randomized to one of two protocol conditions (i.e., child-only or the child-plus-parent protocol), which had varying levels of mothers’ participation within the Child Anxiety Indicated Prevention and Early Intervention protocol (Pina et al., 2012). Participants ranged from 6 to 17 years of age (M = 10.36, SD = 2.73), and 48.9% were boys. The four risk modifiers were assessed using the Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI; Silverman, Fleisig, Rabian, & Peterson, 1991), Children's Depression Inventory (CDI; Kovacs, 1981), Anxiety Control Questionnaire for Children-Short Form (ACQ-C-S; Weems, 2005), and Social Competence scale from the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Resorla, 2001). Program response was measured by pre-to-posttest changes in anxiety outcomes. Regarding the first aim, each of the four risk modifiers was related to pre-to-posttest changes in program response outcomes. Regarding the second aim for interactions between each of the four focal predictors, sex and protocol condition emerged as moderators. These results have potential implications for clinicians and researchers interested in understanding why some children might experience more or less change when participating in an early intervention protocol for anxiety.

Given the major investment young people make in earning and maintaining a peer reputation, our goal in this study was to explore the association between dimensions of negative and positive peer reputation in middle school and adjustment several years later, by the end of high school, among upper middle class youth. Prior research has shown negative reputations such as aggressive-disruptive and sensitive-isolated to be associated with maladjustment later in life, whereas reputations like popular and prosocial-leader have been related to positive future outcomes. However, there are contrary findings that reveal a more complex relationship between peer reputation and adjustment, showing certain “negative” reputations to be tied with better outcomes in some domains and the converse in others. Using a sample of middle school students, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to test a four-factor model of the Revised Class Play, a peer report measure on peer reputations. CFA findings supported the four-factor model with the following reputations: popular, prosocial, aggressive, and isolated. Structural equation models were used to predict 12th grade adjustment outcomes (academic achievement, psychopathology, substance use) from middle school peer reputation. Prosocial reputation in middle school was connected to higher academic achievement and fewer externalizing symptoms in 12th grade. Both prosocial and isolated peer reputation were negatively associated with alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use, whereas a popular reputation was related to higher levels of alcohol use. Middle school reputation did not predict internalizing symptoms in 12th grade. Findings are discussed in terms of adaptive and maladaptive adjustment outcomes associated with each peer reputation and implications for future research.

The primary goal of this study was to investigate whether youth from an affluent community showed elevated rates of substance use and associated problems in young adulthood relative to national norms. The secondary goal was to determine if parents’ “containment,” or stringent disciplinary action, of adolescent substance use as measured in Grade 12 could help predict substance use in senior year of college, over and above other parenting factors. The final goal was to assess trends of substance use over time for stability based on categories of participants’ overall levels of use in Grade 12, (low, medium, high). Results indicated that substance use remained elevated into young adulthood, relative to national norms, consistent with extant research involving upper middle class youth. In regression analyses, high parents’ containment was associated with low substance use in senior year of college; however, the inclusion of Grade12 use as a covariate reduced this association with containment such that it was no longer statistically significant. Such results suggest a mediated effect, with Grade 12 substance use mediating the effects of Grade 12 Containment on college senior year substance use. Finally, upper middle class youth were found to remain in their relative substance use group (low, medium, high) as determined at Grade 12 through all four years of college. Taken together, these results emphasized the importance of high school substance use behaviors as a notable risk factor for problematic substance use over time.