A longitudinal study of negative affect and self-perceived competence in young adolescents.
In a 4-wave, 2-year longitudinal design, the authors obtained measures of negative affect (NA) and self-perceived competence from 220 boys and 216 girls who were 7th graders at the beginning of this study. NA was operationalized as the common dimension underlying self-reports of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and negative emotions. Self-perceived competence consisted of 2 higher order constructs: a well-behaved/good-student factor and an attractive/athletic/popular factor. Structural equation modeling revealed very high stability estimates for all constructs. Nevertheless, self-perceived competence in the attractive/athletic/popular domain predicted changes in NA. Conversely, NA predicted changes in self-perceived competence in the well-behaved/good-student domain. The primacy of NA versus self-cognitions depends, in part, on the type of self-cognitions being examined.
Cole
D A
DA
Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA. cole.1@nd.edu
Peeke
L
L
Dolezal
S
S
Murray
N
N
Canzoniero
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012649:Self Concept; D012928:Social Desirability