Behavioral Psychology Research Papers/Topics

How adolescents’ lives were disrupted over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal investigation in 12 cultural groups in 9 nations from March 2020 to July 2022

Abstract/Overview It is unclear how much adolescents’ lives were disrupted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic or what risk factors predicted such disruption. To answer these questions, 1,080 adolescents in 9 nations were surveyed 5 times from March 2020 to July 2022. Rates of adolescent COVID-19 life disruption were stable and high. Adolescents who, compared to their peers, lived in nations with higher national COVID-19 death rates, lived in nations with less stringent COVID-19 mitigation st...

Adolescent Positivity and Future Orientation, Parental Psychological Control, and Young Adult Internalising Behaviours during COVID-19 in Nine Countries

Abstract/Overview The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many young adults’ lives educationally, economically, and personally. This study investigated associations between COVID-19-related disruption and perception of increases in internalising symptoms among young adults and whether these associations were moderated by earlier measures of adolescent positivity and future orientation and parental psychological control. Participants included 1329 adolescents at Time 1, and 810 of those participant...

Influence of Parent-Adolescent Communication on Adolescent Peer Relations and Gender Implications

Abstract/Overview This study was conceptualized against a backdrop of Kenya’s a troubled secondary school system; characterized by incidences of students’ unrests, drug abuse, examination cheating, school dropouts and other forms of indiscipline. Although literature points to the role of parent adolescent relations in development of behavioural problems in adolescent period, the government of Kenya has not linked the problem situation in schools to parent-adolescent relations. This study...

Effect of cognitive behaviour therapy on depressive symptoms among HIV-infected outpatients in Kenya

Abstract/Overview Timely diagnosis and treatment of depression among persons living with HIV (PLWH) in sub-Saharan Africa which is home to about 70% of global HIV infection is disproportionately low. In Kenya, the effect of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for depression has scarcely been established through a study. Hence, we conducted an experimental study to test the effectiveness of CBT for depression among PLWH attending outpatient clinics in western Kenya. The intervention was a 2-hou...

Associations Between Perceived Material Deprivation, Parents’ Discipline Practices, and Children’s Behavior Problems: An International Perspective

Abstract/Overview This study investigated the association between perceived material deprivation, children’s behavior problems, and parents’ disciplinary practices. The sample included 1,418 8- to 12-year-old children and their parents in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Multilevel mixed- and fixed-effects regression models found that, even when income remained stable, perceived material deprivation w associated with childre...

Longitudinal associations between mothers’ and fathers’ anger/ irritability expressiveness, harsh parenting, and adolescents’ socioemotional functioning in nine countries

Abstract/Overview The present study examined parents’ self-efficacy about anger regulation and irritability as predictors of harsh parenting and adolescent children’s irritability (i.e., mediators), which in turn were examined as predictors of adolescents’ externalizing and internalizing problems. Mothers, fathers, and adolescents (N = 1,298 families) from 12 cultural groups in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and United States) were...

Effects of Parental Warmth and Behavioral Control on Adolescent Externalizing and Internalizing Trajectories Across Cultures

Abstract/Overview We investigated the effects of parental warmth and behavioral control on externalizing and internalizing symptom trajectories from ages 8 to 14 in 1,298 adolescents from 12 cultural groups. We did not find that single universal trajectories characterized adolescent externalizing and internalizing symptoms across cultures, but instead found significant heterogeneity in starting points and rates of change in both externalizing and internalizing symptoms across cultures. Some ...

Pre-pandemic psychological and behavioral predictors of responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in nine countries

Abstract/Overview Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents (N = 1,330; Mages = 15 and 16; 50% female), mothers, and fathers from nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, United States) reported on adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing problems, adolescents completed a lab-based task to assess tendency for risk-taking, and adolescents reported on their well-being. During the pandemic, participants (Mage = 20) reported on changes in thei...

Dyadic coping, parental warmth, and adolescent externalizing behavior in four countries

Abstract/Overview This study examined parental warmth as a mediator of relations between mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of dyadic coping and adolescent externalizing outcomes. Data from 472 adolescents, mothers, and fathers were collected over a three-year period from families in China, Kenya, Sweden, and Thailand. For mothers in all four sites and fathers in three sites, better parental dyadic coping at youth age 13 years predicted higher levels of parental warmth at youth age 14 yea...

Personality as a Predictor of Involvement in Risky Sexual Behaviour: A Study Conducted Among Students in Secondary Schools in Nyakach Sub-county Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract/Overview Risky sexual behaviour is a common habit among young people in the world, but its relation with personality has not been explored exhaustively, especially in Kenya. The purpose of the study was to establish the relationship between personality sub-types and involvement in risky sexual behaviour among secondary school students in Nyakach Sub-county using a Correlational research design. A multistage random sampling was used to determine sample size of 46 schools (88%) and 39...

Extraversion and Involvement in Risky Sexual Behaviour Among Students in Secondary Schools in Nyakach Sub-county Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract/Overview Risky sexual behaviour is a common habit among young people in the world, but its relation with extraversion has not been explored exhaustively, especially in Kenya. The study aimed at establishing relationship between extraversion and involvement in risky sexual behaviour among students in secondary schools in Nyakach Sub-county using a Correlational research design. A multistage random sampling was used to determine a sample size of 46 schools (88%) and 390 students (22%)...

Psychoticism as a Correlate of Involvement in Risky Sexual Behavior Among Students in Secondary Schools in Nyakach Sub-County Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract/Overview Risky sexual Behavior is a common habit among young people in the world, but its relation with Psychoticism has not been explored exhaustively, especially in Kenya. The study aimed at establishing correlation between Psychoticism and involvement in risky sexual Behavior among students in secondary schools in Nyakach Sub-county using a Correlational research design. A multistage random sampling was used to determine a sample size of 46 schools (88%) and 390 students (22%). D...

Moderating effects of age gender and orphan hood on Social Exclusion and Sexual risk-taking Behaviors associated with HIV/AIDS among youth in Bondo District, Kenya

Abstract/Overview Numerous studies on adolescents have explored factors associated with sexual risk-taking behaviors among youth. However, few studies have examined the link between social exclusion of youth in social and sexual matters and sexual risk-taking behaviors associated with HIV/AIDS infection. This study was carried out using cross sectional design among 365 students randomly selected in secondary school in Bondo District, Kenya in order to determine the link between social exclus...

Childrearing violence and child adjustment after exposure to Kenyan post-election violence.

Abstract/Overview This study examines parents' and children's exposure to short-term political violence and the relation between childrearing violence and child adjustment following widespread violence that erupted in Kisumu, Kenya after the disputed presidential election in December 2007.

Neighborhood danger, parental monitoring, harsh parenting, and child aggression in nine countries

Abstract/Overview Exposure to neighborhood danger during childhood has negative effects that permeate multiple dimensions of childhood. The current study examined whether mothers’, fathers’, and children’s perceptions of neighborhood danger are related to child aggression, whether parental monitoring moderates this relation, and whether harsh parenting mediates this relation. Interviews were conducted with a sample of 1293 children (age M = 10.68, SD = 0.66; 51% girls) and their mother...


1 - 15 Of 19 Results