Abstract
Although family and school experiences play an important role in adolescents’ adjustment during the transition to high school, most prior studies investigated the effects of these experiences in isolation; their joint implications for both adolescents’ concurrent and long-term adjustment outcomes are less clear, and the potential role of individual characteristics within such associations remains understudied. Based on 525 10th graders (Mage = 15.48, SDage = 0.71, 43.6% boys) who participated in a longitudinal study, the present research aimed to identify distinct family and school experience profiles among first-year high school students and examine their associations with adolescents’ internalizing problems and externalizing problems, both concurrently and 18 months later. Latent profile analysis revealed four distinctive profiles: thriving, low resources—moderate family risk, developmental stress—high parental conflicts, and developmental stress—high peer victimization profiles. The other three profiles (vs. the thriving profile) reported significantly higher levels of concurrent internalizing problems; while these differences diminished after 18 months. However, the enduring impacts of these profiles on internalizing problems persisted among adolescents with higher levels of environmental sensitivity. Additionally, adolescents characterized by two developmental stress profiles (vs. the thriving profile) exhibited significantly higher levels of externalizing problems both currently and longitudinally. Findings underscore the importance of identifying at-risk populations among adolescents during the transition to high school by including both family and school experiences when examining environmental influence on their adjustment, as well as the necessity to take individual environmental sensitivity into account when examining these associations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adler, N. E., Epel, E. S., Castellazzo, G., & Ickovics, J. R. (2000). Relationship of subjective and objective social status with psychological and physiological functioning: Preliminary data in healthy, White women. Health Psychology, 19(6), 586. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.19.6.586.
Aldridge, J. M., & McChesney, K. (2018). The relationships between school climate and adolescent mental health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Educational Research, 88, 121–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2018.01.012.
Armsden, G. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16(5), 427–454. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02202939.
Aron, E. N., Aron, A., & Jagiellowicz, J. (2012). Sensory processing sensitivity: A review in the light of the evolution of biological responsivity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 16(3), 262–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.09.029.
Attar-Schwartz, S., Mishna, F., & Khoury-Kassabri, M. (2019). The role of classmates’ social support, peer victimization and gender in externalizing and internalizing behaviors among Canadian youth. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28, 2335–2346. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0852-z.
Barber, B. K., & Olsen, J. A. (2004). Assessing the transitions to middle and high school. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19(1), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558403258113.
Belsky, J., & Pluess, M. (2009). Beyond diathesis stress: Differential susceptibility to environmental influences. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 885. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017376.
Benner, A. D. (2011). The transition to high school: Current knowledge, future directions. Educational Psychology Review, 23, 299–328. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-011-9152-0.
Benson, P. L., Scales, P. C., & Syvertsen, A. K. (2011). The contribution of the developmental assets framework to positive youth development theory and practice. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 41, 197–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-386492-5.00008-7.
Bernasco, E. L., Van der Graaff, J., Meeus, W. H., & Branje, S. (2022). Peer victimization, internalizing problems, and the buffering role of friendship quality: Disaggregating between-and within-person associations. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 51(8), 1653–1666. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-022-01619-z.
Bevilacqua, L., Kelly, Y., Heilmann, A., Priest, N., & Lacey, R. E. (2021). Adverse childhood experiences and trajectories of internalizing, externalizing, and prosocial behaviors from childhood to adolescence. Child Abuse & Neglect, 112, 104890. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104890.
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (1998). The ecology of developmental processes. In W. Damon, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Volume 1: Theoretical models of human development (5th ed., pp. 993–1028). John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Chen, Z., Yang, X., & Li, X. (2009). A trial study of the center for epidemiological studies depression scale in Chinese adolescents. Chinese Journal of Clinical Psychology, 17(4), 443–445. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1000-6729.2010.02.015.
Chen-Gaddini, M. (2012). Chinese mothers and adolescents’ views of authority and autonomy: A study of parent–adolescent conflict in urban and rural China. Child Development, 83(6), 1846–1852. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01823.x.
Ciarrochi, J., Morin, A. J., Sahdra, B. K., Litalien, D., & Parker, P. D. (2017). A longitudinal person-centered perspective on youth social support: Relations with psychological wellbeing. Developmental Psychology, 53(6), 1154. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000315.
Cohen, J., McCabe, E. M., Michelli, N. M., & Pickeral, T. (2009). School climate: Research, policy, practice, and teacher education. Teachers College Record, 111(1), 180–213. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146810911100108.
Collins, W. A., & Laursen, B. (2004). Changing relationships, changing youth: Interpersonal contexts of adolescent development. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 24(1), 55–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431603260882.
Cotter, K. L., Wu, Q., & Smokowski, P. R. (2016). Longitudinal risk and protective factors associated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms among male and female adolescents. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 47, 472–485. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-015-0580-9.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01.
Dykstra, V. W., Willoughby, T., & Evans, A. D. (2020). A longitudinal examination of the relation between lie-telling, secrecy, parent–child relationship quality, and depressive symptoms in late-childhood and adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49, 438–448. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01183-z.
Eccles, J. S., Lord, S. E., & Roeser, R. W. (1996). Round holes, square pegs, rocky roads, and sore feet: The impact of stage–environment fit on young adolescents’ experiences in schools and families. In D. Cicchetti, & S. L. Toth (Eds.), Adolescence: Opportunities and challenges (pp. 47–92). University of Rochester Press.
Fang, X., Zhang, J., Xu, J., & Yang, A. (2004). Adolescent-mother discrepancies in perceptions of parental conflict and adolescent problem behaviors. Journal of Psychological Science, 27(1), 21–25. https://doi.org/10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.2004.01.006.
Geiser, C. (2012). Data analysis with Mplus. The Guilford Press.
Graham, J. W., Olchowski, A. E., & Gilreath, T. D. (2007). How many imputations are really needed? Some practical clarifications of multiple imputation theory. Prevention Science, 8(3), 206–213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-007-0070-9.
Jiang, M. M., & Gao, K. (2022). The influence of academic pressure on adolescents’ problem behavior: Chain mediating effects of self-control, parent–child conflict, and subjective well-being. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 954330. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.954330.
Lansford, J. E., Rothenberg, W. A., Riley, J., Uribe Tirado, L. M., Yotanyamaneewong, S., Alampay, L. P., & Steinberg, L. (2021). Longitudinal trajectories of four domains of parenting in relation to adolescent age and puberty in nine countries. Child Development, 92(4), e493–e512. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13526.
Lester, L., & Cross, D. (2015). The relationship between school climate and mental and emotional wellbeing over the transition from primary to secondary school. Psychology of Well-Being, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13612-015-0037-8.
Li, X., Zou, H., & Wang, L. (2009). A comparative study on school adjustment between migrant children in public schools and those in migrant worker children’s schools. Chinese Special Education, 9, 81–86.
Lionetti, F., Spinelli, M., Moscardino, U., Ponzetti, S., Garito, M. C., Dellagiulia, A., Aureli, T., Fasolo, M., & Pluess, M. (2023). The interplay between parenting and environmental sensitivity in the prediction of children’s externalizing and internalizing behaviors during COVID-19. Development and Psychopathology, 35(3), 1390–1403. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421001309.
Liu, Y., & Lu, Z. (2011). The Chinese high school student’s stress in the school and academic achievement. Educational Psychology, 31(1), 27–35.
Lupien, S. J., McEwen, B. S., Gunnar, M. R., & Heim, C. (2009). Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behavior and cognition. Nature Reviews, 10, 434–445. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2639.
Marchante, M., Coelho, V. A., & Romão, A. M. (2022). The influence of school climate in bullying and victimization behaviors during middle school transition. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 71, 102111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2022.102111.
March-Llanes, J., Marqués-Feixa, L., Mezquita, L., Fañanás, L., & Moya-Higueras, J. (2017). Stressful life events during adolescence and risk for externalizing and internalizing psychopathology: A meta-analysis. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 26(12), 1409–1422. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-017-0996-9.
Marsh, H. W., Lüdtke, O., Trautwein, U., & Morin, A. J. S. (2009). Latent profile analysis of academic self-concept dimensions: Synergy of person- and variable-centered approaches to the internal/external frame of reference model. Structural Equation Modeling, 16, 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705510902751010.
Mastrotheodoros, S., Canário, C., Cristina Gugliandolo, M., Merkas, M., & Keijsers, L. (2020). Family functioning and adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems: Disentangling between-, and within-family associations. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49, 804–817. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01094-z.
Modecki, K. L., Zimmer‐Gembeck, M. J., & Guerra, N. (2017). Emotion regulation, coping, and decision making: three linked skills for preventing externalizing problems in adolescence. Child Development, 88(2), 417–426. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12734.
Monachino, C., Splett, J. W., Shen, Z., Cornett, S., Halliday, C. A., & Weist, M. D. (2021). Patterns and pathways of peer victimization across the transition to middle school. School Psychology Review, 50(2–3), 420–440. https://doi.org/10.1080/2372966X.2021.1904792.
Morris, A. S., Silk, J. S., Steinberg, L., Myers, S. S., & Robinson, L. R. (2007). The role of the family context in the development of emotion regulation. Social Development, 16(2), 361–388. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00389.x.
Moura, O., dos Santos, R. A., Rocha, M., & Matos, P. M. (2010). Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale (CPIC): Factor structure and invariance across adolescents and emerging adults. International Journal of Testing, 10(4), 364–382. https://doi.org/10.1080/15305058.2010.487964.
Mustillo, S. A., Dorsey, S., & Farmer, E. M. (2005). Quality of relationships between youth and community service providers: Reliability and validity of the trusting relationship questionnaire. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 14, 577–590. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-005-7189-8.
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2012). Mplus user’s guide (7th ed.). Muthén & Muthén.
Newman, R. S. (2000). Social influences on the development of children’s adaptive help seeking: The role of parents, teachers, and peers. Developmental Review, 20(3), 350–404. https://doi.org/10.1006/drev.1999.0502.
Nocentini, A., Menesini, E., & Pluess, M. (2018). The personality trait of environmental sensitivity predicts children’s positive response to school-based antibullying intervention. Clinical Psychological Science, 6(6), 848–859. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618782.
Nylund-Gibson, K., & Choi, A. Y. (2018). Ten frequently asked questions about latent class analysis. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 4(4), 440. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000176.
Pluess, M., Assary, E., Lionetti, F., Lester, K. J., Krapohl, E., Aron, E. N., & Aron, A. (2018). Environmental sensitivity in children: Development of the highly sensitive child scale and identification of sensitivity groups. Developmental Psychology, 54(1), 51–70. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000406.
Rudolph, K. D. (2021). Understanding peer relationships during childhood and adolescence through the lens of social motivation. In J. E. Andrew (Ed.), Advances in motivation science (Vol. 8, pp. 105–151). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.adms.2020.08.001.
Sanders, R. A. (2013). Adolescent psychosocial, social, and cognitive development. Pediatrics in Review, 34(8), 354–358. https://doi.org/10.1542/pir.34-8-354.
Schwartz-Mette, R. A., Shankman, J., Dueweke, A. R., Borowski, S., & Rose, A. J. (2020). Relations of friendship experiences with depressive symptoms and loneliness in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 146(8), 664. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000239.
Shek, D. T., Lee, T. Y., Britta, ΜL., & Chow, J. (2006). Perceived parental control and psychological well-being in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 18(3), 535–546. https://doi.org/10.1515/IJAMH.2006.18.3.535.
Spear, L. P. (2009). Heightened stress responsivity and emotional reactivity during pubertal maturation: Implications for psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 87–97. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579409000066.
Sun, F., Li, H., Guo, Y., & Wei, S. (2023). “Crisis” or “opportunity”: Latent patterns of family, school, community risks and assets on psychological crisis in adolescence. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 55(11), 1827–1844. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.01827.
Van Dijk, R., Van Der Valk, I. E., Deković, M., & Branje, S. (2020). A meta-analysis on interparental conflict, parenting, and child adjustment in divorced families: Examining mediation using meta-analytic structural equation models. Clinical Psychology Review, 79, 101861. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101861.
Vansteenkiste, M., & Ryan, R. M. (2013). On psychological growth and vulnerability: Basic psychological need satisfaction and need frustration as a unifying principle. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 23(3), 263–280. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032359.
Vrolijk, P., Van Lissa, C. J., Branje, S., Meeus, W. H., & Keizer, R. (2023). Within‐family linkages between parental monitoring and adolescents externalizing problems with autonomy support as a moderator. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 33(4), 1179–1195. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12868.
Wang, D., Jiang, Q., Yang, Z., & Choi, J. K. (2021). The longitudinal influences of adverse childhood experiences and positive childhood experiences at family, school, and neighborhood on adolescent depression and anxiety. Journal of Affective Disorders, 292, 542–551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.05.108.
Wang, M. T., & Degol, J. L. (2015). School climate: A review of the construct, measurement, and impact on student outcomes. Educational Psychology Review, 28(2), 315–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9319-1.
White, I. R., Royston, P., & Wood, A. M. (2011). Multiple imputation using chained equations: Issues and guidance for practice. Statistics in Medicine, 30(4), 377–399. https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.4067.
Wickrama, K. A. S., & O’Neal, C. W. (2013). Family of origin, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic attainment: Genotype and intraindividual processes. Journal of Marriage and Family, 75, 75–90. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.01027.x.
Wyller, H. B., Wyller, V. B. B., Crane, C., & Gjelsvik, B. (2017). The relationship between sensory processing sensitivity and psychological distress: A model of underpinning mechanisms and an analysis of therapeutic possibilities. Scandinavian Psychologist, 4, e15. https://doi.org/10.15714/scandpsychol.4.e15.
Yap, M. B. H., & Jorm, A. F. (2015). Parental factors associated with childhood anxiety, depression, and internalizing problems: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 175, 424–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.01.050.
Young, K. S., Sandman, C. F., & Craske, M. G. (2019). Positive and negative emotion regulation in adolescence: Links to anxiety and depression. Brain Sciences, 9(4), 76. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci9040076.
Zarrett, N., & Eccles, J. (2006). The passage to adulthood: Challenges of late adolescence. New Directions for Youth Development, 11, 13–28. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.179.
Zeiders, K. H., Roosa, M. W., Knight, G. P., & Gonzales, N. A. (2013). Mexican American adolescents’ profiles of risk and mental health: A person-centered longitudinal approach. Journal of Adolescence, 36(3), 603–612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.03.014.
Zhang, W., Chen, L., Ji, L., Zhang, L., Chen, G., & Wang, S. (2009). Physical and relational victimization, and children’s emotional adjustment in middle childhood. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 41, 433–443. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1041.2009.00433.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank all the adolescents and teachers who participated or contributed to this project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
J.C. participated in the statistical analysis and interpretation of the data and drafted the manuscript; X.X. participated in the coordination of the study; X.L. participated in the design of the study; Z.S. participated in editing the manuscript; X.F. participated in the coordination of the study; X.M. participated in the design of the study; S.Z. participated in the interpretation of the data and editing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Data Sharing and Declaration
All the data for the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Ethical Approval
The study followed the Ethics Committee’s guidelines and was approved by the school principal of the participating school and the Institutional Review Board of Peking University.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Cao, J., Xu, X., Liu, X. et al. Profiles of Family and School Experiences and Adjustment of Adolescents During the Transition to High School. J. Youth Adolescence (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-024-01997-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-024-01997-6