Adam J. Hoffman

Much of what is known about the psychological and developmental experiences of LGBTQ+ youth of color comes from a deficit‐based perspective, seeking to identify what they lack, rather than what assets they hold. The current study takes a strengths‐based perspective and examines positive, developmentally relevant assets among LGBTQ+ youth of color and how these assets interact to shape well‐being. More specifically, the study assesses the relationship between LGBTQ+ microaffirmations and well‐being and the potential moderating role of LGBTQ+ identity in that relationship. In the study, 156 LGBTQ+ youth of color aged 13–26 ( M _age = 20.32 years, SD = 2.27; 16 men/cis men/male, 32 women/cis women/female, 25 transgender men, 25 transgender women, 49 nonbinary/gender nonconforming, 9 unsure or other gender identity) were recruited from LGBTQ+ youth‐serving organizations in New York State and completed surveys in the summer of 2024. Significant positive correlations were observed between LGBTQ+ microaffirmations and psychological, emotional, and social well‐being. Furthermore, LGBTQ+ centrality and private regard moderated the relationship between LGBTQ+ microaffirmations and well‐being outcomes. Associations were generally significant at average and high levels of centrality and private regard, although the association with social well‐being was significant only at high levels of private regard. LGBTQ+ public regard was not a significant moderator. Results shed new light on two promotive resilience assets that LGBTQ+ youth of color possess and highlight the important synergistic relationship between LGBTQ+ microaffirmations and identity, and their association with well‐being.

Although adolescence is theorized to be a critical period for identity development, little is known about how gender identity, specifically gender centrality and private regard, develops among adolescents. The current study assessed trajectories of gender centrality and private regard across five waves of data from Grade 9 through Grade 10 among cisgender adolescents from the United States ( M _age = 14.1 years; N = 374; SD = 0.41, 139 boys and 235 girls). Additionally, the study explored how gender centrality, private regard, and their development were related to later psychological and social well‐being. Initial levels of gender centrality and private regard did not differ by gender. However, boys showed declines in their levels of gender centrality and private regard, whereas girls remained stable. For girls, higher initial levels of gender centrality and private regard were associated with greater psychological and social well‐being. Additionally, increases in positive regard were associated with increased psychological well‐being one year later. Boys' gender identity was unrelated to their well‐being. Findings underscore the importance of assessing gender identity as a developmental construct among middle adolescents and the implications that gender identity can have on the well‐being of adolescents.

Introduction: Given the marked rise in the number of adolescents openly identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ), there are more opportunities for peer interactions and friendships between cisgender heterosexual and LGBTQ adolescents. Yet, little is known about the development of cisgender heterosexual adolescents' openness toward engaging with LGBTQ individuals and how this relates to their own well‐being. The present study seeks to address these gaps. Methods: This study examined the developmental trajectory of LGBTQ other group orientation (openness and willingness to engage with LGBTQ individuals) and its effect on the psychological and social well‐being of cisgender heterosexual adolescents from Grade 9 through Grade 10, measured across five time points. The sample consisted of 287 cisgender heterosexual adolescents (M _age = 14.07, SD = 0.42; 43.90% boys, 56.10% girls) from the United States. Results and Conclusion: Results revealed small increases in LGBTQ other group orientation over time, suggesting that participants developed a more positive orientation toward LGBTQ peers as they transitioned through their first year and a half of high school. Furthermore, increases in LGBTQ other group orientation were positively associated with increases in social well‐being but not psychological well‐being. These findings indicate that increased LGBTQ other group orientation can contribute to enhanced social well‐being for cisgender heterosexual adolescents, highlighting the importance of fostering inclusive environments that promote positive intergroup relations.

Anxiety often rises after the transition to high school, yet little is known about how these changes occur for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) adolescents who face unique minority stressors. This study examined longitudinal differences in anxiety trajectories between LGBTQ and cisgender heterosexual adolescents and evaluated whether self-esteem served as a protective factor. Participants were 367 adolescents (M_age = 14.05 years; 60.5% cisgender girls; 46.6% White, 18.8% Black, 17.4% Asian, 5.7% Arab/Middle Eastern/North African, 5.2% Multiracial, 3.5% Hispanic/Latinx; 22% [n = 80] LGBTQ, 78% [n = 287] cisgender heterosexual) from 38 Michigan high schools. Anxiety symptoms (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7) and self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale) were assessed across five waves during ninth and tenth grade. Multiple-group latent curve modeling evaluated group differences and self-esteem's predictive role. LGBTQ adolescents entered high school with significantly higher anxiety symptoms than their cisgender heterosexual peers. Although their symptoms declined over time, they remained significantly higher than those of cisgender heterosexual adolescents, whose anxiety levels were stable. Higher initial self-esteem predicted lower initial anxiety for both groups; however, decreases in anxiety over time emerged only among LGBTQ adolescents with self-esteem at least 1 SD above the group mean. Self-esteem emerges as a critical protective factor against the development of anxiety symptoms. Given heightened anxiety symptoms for LGBTQ adolescents following the transition to high school, interventions bolstering self-esteem may be especially beneficial for reducing anxiety in this population.

This 2-year longitudinal study examines the relations between math and science interest, STEM identity, and perceptions of STEM barriers in 280 (68% female; M _age = 15.27) adolescents in the United States and the United Kingdom. Structural equation models indicated that higher math interest at time 1 was positively associated with overall STEM identity at time 2, and greater STEM identity at time 2 was related to fewer perceptions of barriers to STEM at time 3. Surprisingly, science interest, gender-STEM identity, and racial-ethnic STEM identity were not associated with perceptions of STEM barriers. Results underscore the foundational role of math interest and STEM identity and in support of adolescents’ persistence in STEM pursuits.

Although maintaining stable friendships is an important developmental task for adolescents, there is limited understanding of whether adolescents' friendships vary from day to day and predict changes in emotional well-being. Therefore, the current daily diary study aimed to characterize the day-to-day consistency of adolescents' close friendships and investigate whether feeling close to the same friends from 1 day to the next (daily friend continuity) predicted daily mood. Fourteen consecutive days of friendship nominations and mood assessments were collected from 195 11^th-grade students (M_age = 16.48; SD_age = 0.53; 66% female). Variability statistics (intraclass correlations, root mean square of successive differences) indicated considerable fluctuations in the consistency of friendship closeness as perceived by adolescents across 2 weeks. Results from multilevel models demonstrated that greater friend continuity was associated with greater positive mood, but not negative mood, at both the within- and between-person level. The findings reveal inconsistency in whom adolescents feel closest over 2 weeks and suggest that maintaining closeness with the same friends from 1 day to the next bolsters adolescents' short-term emotional well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Given the paucity of research on ethnic-racial stereotypes from the child’s perspective, we explored the content of Cherokee adolescents’ perceptions of stereotypes about Native Americans, as well as grade-level and school-type differences in the frequency of stereotype reports. The sample comprised 212 Cherokee adolescents ( M _age = 12.7 years; Grades 6–8) enrolled in a tribal middle school or one of two public middle schools. Adolescents were asked to list stereotypes they knew existed about Native Americans. Content analysis of stereotypes revealed 19 prevalent themes, with the three most common being practice of rituals and traditions, financial privilege because of tribal payments, and substance use. Eighth graders reported more stereotypes than sixth or seventh graders. Public school students reported more stereotypes than adolescents in the tribal middle school. Results provided nuanced information about Native youths’ stereotype awareness and highlight the importance of contextual factors such as school type and specific tribal practices.

Anxiety symptoms following the transition to high school are a challenge faced by many adolescents, yet few studies have examined its longitudinal development—especially among LGBTQ adolescents who face unique minority stressors. This study used multiple-group latent curve modeling to assess anxiety symptom trajectories in a sample of 367 high school students (Mage = 14.05 years; 22% [n = 79] LGBTQ, 78% [n = 288] cisgender heterosexual) over five waves during 9th and 10th grade. Results indicated that LGBTQ adolescents entered high school with significantly higher anxiety symptom levels than their cisgender heterosexual peers but experienced a significant linear decline in anxiety symptoms over time. In contrast, anxiety symptoms remained stable for cisgender heterosexual adolescents. Additionally, for both groups, initial levels of self-esteem predicted lower initial anxiety symptoms and steeper declines in anxiety symptoms; however, its association with later anxiety symptoms weakened for LGBTQ adolescents. These findings suggest that LGBTQ adolescents experience significantly higher levels of anxiety symptoms compared to their cisgender heterosexual peers as they transition through the first years of high school but that these increased levels of anxiety symptoms can be mitigated by the bolstering of a more robust self-esteem.

A focus on positive child development among Indigenous children has largely been absent from developmental science. In this special section of Child Development, we sought to address continuing inequity in representation and valuing Indigenous knowledge and voices by soliciting articles that identified cultural and strengths-based factors Indigenous children, youth, and families cultivate and leverage to promote positive development. In this introduction to the special section, we provide an overview of the four empirical articles included, with attention to the ways these articles advance Indigenous paradigms and methodologies by focusing on the unique histories and strengths of four distinct Indigenous communities. We end with a discussion of how to promote continued growth and inclusiveness in developmental science with Indigenous communities.

Given the importance of self-esteem for promoting adolescents' social, psychological, and academic adjustment and the growing importance of social identities during adolescence, this five-wave study examined whether an identity-based self-affirmation intervention attenuated declines in adolescent self-esteem following the high school transition. A sample of ninth graders in the United States (N = 388; M_age = 14.05; 60.6% female; 35.8% male; 3.6% nonbinary, trans, or identifying with another gender; 46% White, 19% Black, 17% Asian, 6% Arab, Middle Eastern, North African, 6% Biracial/Multiethnic, 3% Latinx/Hispanic, and 3% another race/ethnicity) was recruited for the study. Following completion of a baseline online survey assessing self-esteem, participants were assigned to one of three conditions and corresponding writing exercises: identity-based self-affirmation, values-based self-affirmation, or control. Participants completed the same writing exercise during the first three waves of the study, and they completed measures of self-esteem at all five waves. Results indicated that participants in the self-affirmation conditions, but not the control condition, were protected from declining self-esteem across 1 year. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).