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Affective Development from Middle Childhood to Late Adolescence: Trajectories of Mean-Level Change in Negative and Positive Affect

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Abstract

Adolescence has long been purported to be a period of emotional upheaval, yet relatively little is known regarding normative patterns of change in youth positive and negative affect across the adolescent transition. This study addressed this gap by examining normative patterns of mean-level change in youth positive and negative affect from middle childhood through late adolescence, encompassing the full span of adolescent development. Participants included 665 youth recruited in 3rd, 6th, and 9th grade cohorts (55.0% female; age 9–16 at baseline) who provided self-report ratings of positive and negative affect every 18 months for a period of three years in an accelerated longitudinal cohort design. Multi-level growth curve models revealed that adolescence is characterized by declines in positive affect and non-linear patterns of alternating decreases and increases in negative affect. Patterns of change differed across boys and girls. The findings from this study indicate that adolescence is characterized by normative reductions in positive affect in the context of labile negative affect, with implications for understanding processes of risk and resilience across the adolescent transition.

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Notes

  1. Study procedures received the following Institutional Review Board approvals: Rutgers University Protocol #08-436c, University of Denver Protocol #2008-0810, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Protocol #17-014212, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Protocol #17605.

  2. Complete fit statistics for these sensitivity analyses are tabulated in Supplementary Table S2, and full model results accounting for social difference variables at reported in Supplementary Table S3.

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Funding

The research reported in this article was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health to B.L.H., R01MH077195, and to J.F.Y., R01MH077178. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. DGE – 1746047.

Data Sharing and Declaration

The manuscript’s data will not be deposited, as study participants did not provide consent to have their data publicly shared.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

J.M.G. conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, contributed to the interpretation of the data, and drafted the manuscript; H.M.C. participated in the design, performed statistical analysis, and contributed to the interpretation of the data; D.A.H. participated in the design, assisted with statistical analysis, and contributed to the interpretation of the data; J.F.Y. contributed to acquisition of the data and reviewed manuscript drafts; B.L.H. participated in the design and coordination of the study, contributed to acquisition of the data, and reviewed manuscript drafts. All authors have approved this version to be submitted for publication.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julianne M. Griffith.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical Approval

All study procedures were approved by the institutional review boards at the University of Denver, Rutgers University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from participating caregivers. Assent was obtained from all participating adolescents.

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Griffith, J.M., Clark, H.M., Haraden, D.A. et al. Affective Development from Middle Childhood to Late Adolescence: Trajectories of Mean-Level Change in Negative and Positive Affect. J Youth Adolescence 50, 1550–1563 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01425-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01425-z

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