Reporting back to the community: Findings with Mercer Island students

Demographics

• Middle schoolEthnicity: 72.1% Caucasian, 17.0% Asian,

2.4% Hispanic, .5% African-American, 5.1% Bi-/Multi-racial, 2.6% other

Mothers’ education: 44.1% college degree 36.5% graduate degree

Fathers’ education: 36% with college degree43.7% with graduate degree

Marital status: 81.7% parents currently married

Demographics (Cont’d)

• High schoolEthnicity: 69.7% Caucasian, 15.4% Asian,

2.5% Hispanic, 1.6% African-American, 6.6% Bi-/Multi-racial, 4.2% other

Mothers’ education: 40.5% college degree 41.4% with graduate degree

Fathers’ education: 31.9% college degree

52.3% with graduate degree

Marital status: 72.4% parents currently married

Procedures • Students saw brief videotape

– explaining goals of research

– clarifying that participation in no way required

– assuring anonymity of responses

• Parents sent letters – explaining the study

– providing opportunity to deny consent

• Data collection – participation rates ~ 85%

– in classrooms via paper-and-pen survey

– no personally identifying information asked

– completed surveys sealed in manila envelopes

Substance use

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

8th grade 10th grade 12th grade

Cigarette Use percentages (last year)

norms

Prevalence of Cigarette Use

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%



Mercer Island norms


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%



Mercer Island Suburban School norms


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%



MI girls MI Boys norms

Prevalence of Cigarette Use by Gender

0102030405060708090

100


Alcohol percentages (last year)

norms

Prevalence of Alcohol Use

0102030405060708090

100



Mercer Island norms


0102030405060708090

100





0102030405060708090

100


Alcohol Use percentages (last year)


Prevalence of Alcohol Use by Gender

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%


Marijuana Use percentages (last year)

norms

Prevalence of Marijuana Use

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%



Mercer Island norms


0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%





0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%




Prevalence of Marijuana Use by Gender

Summary• Middle school substance use is below the

national norm• Substance use significantly greater among

high school students– Marijuana use among high-school students is

significantly higher than national norm – Particularly, cigarette and marijuana use is

problematic among high-school boys– Alcohol consumption is similar to the national

norm

PREDICTORS EXAMINED

Parent-child relationship• Closeness: Feelings of trust, open communication

• Involvement: In child’s activities/ interests, eating

dinner together

• Perceived criticism: For “less than perfect” performance

• Monitoring: “Really know”, “Try to know”

ContainmentParents differ in how seriously they react when they discover

types of rule-breaking behaviors among their teenage children. Reactions can range from simply talking about the incident or giving warnings for the future, to revoking privileges that are very important to the person. For each of the following items, please indicate how serious the consequences from your parents would be, if they found out you’d done the behavior in question.

Substance use

Delinquent behavior

Rudeness / unkindness

Academic indolence

PREDICTORS EXAMINED Peer relationships: Quality of close friendships

• Support, respect, trust

• Conflict, disagreements, quarrels

Envy of peers

• Sometimes, even good friends can feel envious or jealous of each other. For each of the following, please indicate how much it would it bother you, or make you feel envious, if your friends …

– had better SAT scores than you– got a very fancy car as a gift from their parents– were better liked by other kids than you

• Academics• Possessions• Popularity

Protective factors associated with low substance use:

High-school students

• Males

– Close parent-child relationship – Perceived consequences for substance use – High parental involvement

Protective factors associated with low substance use:

High-school students

• Females– Perceived consequences for substance use – High parental involvement – Few negative interactions (low conflict) with

closest friends

Internalizing problems

(e.g., depression, anxiety, somatic problems)

40

45

50

55

60

6th grade 7th grade 8th grade 9th grade 10th grade 11th grade 12th grade

Internalizing

T-s

core

s

Norm

Internalizing problems: National norms

40

45

50

55

60


Internalizing

T-s

core

s

Boys Norm

Internalizing Problems relative to national norms

40

45

50

55

60


Internalizing

T-s

core

s

Girls Norm


40

45

50

55

60


Internalizing

T-s

core

s

Boys Girls Norm


Externalizing behaviors

(e.g., delinquent, rule-breaking behaviors)

40

45

50

55

60


Externalizing

T-s

core

s

Norm

Externalizing problems: National norms

40

45

50

55

60


Externalizing

T-s

core

Boys Norm

Externalizing Problems relative to national norms

40

45

50

55

60


Externalizing

T-s

core

Girls Norm


40

45

50

55

60


Externalizing

T-s

core

Boys Girls Norm


0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Norm- 7%

Percent of middle school students with problems “Much Above Average”

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

Boys

Norm


0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Girls

Norm


0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

Boys

Girls

Norm


0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Norm

Percent of high school students with problems “Much Above Average”

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

Boys

Norm


0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

Girls

Norm


0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

Boys

Girls

Norm


Summary of Findings

• Middle school– Average “score” or levels of problems for whole

school are like national levels – But relatively high proportion of boys reported

clinical levels of • anxious/depressed &• thought problems

Summary of Findings

• High school– Average levels of internalizing problems

elevated among MI girls – Average levels of externalizing problems

elevated among MI boys and girls

Summary of Findings

• High school: Proportions with clinical levels of problems– Rule-breaking: high among both boys and girls – Girls: high on all internalizing subscales– Boys: high on anxious/depressed, thought

problems, and attention problems

Factors associated with low internalizing problems

• Males– Close parent-child relationship – High parent involvement – More serious parental consequences for

delinquency – Few negative interactions with closest friends – Low peer envy

Factors associated with low internalizing problems

• Females– Good parent-child relationship– High parental involvement – Few negative interactions with closest friends– Low peer envy

Factors associated with low externalizing problems

• For both males and females– Good parent-child relationship – High parental involvement– High perceived consequences for substance use – Low negative interactions with closest friends – Low peer envy

Non-suicidal Self-injury (NSSI)

Prevalence

• 29.4% of high school students reported more than one incident of NSSI (compared to 15.9% NESSY)

• Among girls, self-hitting, cutting, and body-picking were most prevalent

• Among boys, self-hitting, body-picking, and self-biting were most prevalent

Predictors of high NSSI: Aspects of family functioning

Perceived parent criticism

feelings of alienation

NSSI frequencyseverity

• For girls, links hold for frequency but not severity • For boys, links hold for both frequency and severity

Complex underlying causes

Family pressures? • in some instances --- as is true in all demographic groups

Peer values• reinforcing rebellious behaviors

Social comparisons• competition for few “Ivy league spots”• competing with “friends” – low intimacy & self-doubt

Schools: Advanced Placement courses • encouraged by schools and by parents

The American Dream: “More is better” • material rewards make for ultimate happiness • acquired through competitive schools and colleges

Gender-specific stressors. Aside from intrapersonal, community-based, and cultural factors that contri-bute to wealth-unhappiness links, there are also somechallenges relatively specific to women in upper- class communities & others more salient for men.

Women’s development in the context of “privilege”

• girls show elevations across multiple domains: internalizing and externalizing

• on average and through pre-teens and adolescence, youth tend to communicate more with mothers than with fathers

• media suggestions of high expectations, guilt, anxiety

“…urged us to be, simultaneously, independent, achievement-oriented, successful, the equal to any man and yet appealing to men, selfless, accommodating, nurturing, the connective tissue that holds all families together, and of course, slim and beautiful. We really were supposed to become some hybrid between Mother Teresa, Donna Shalala, Martha Stewart, and Cindy Crawford”.

Douglas & Michaels, The Mommy Myth, p 325.

…there is something about motherhood that provokes a psychological crisis in privileged women's lives. They suffer from …a "choking cocktail of guilt and anxiety and resentment and regret." They lose their sense of self. They worry about whether their children will turn out okay. And they begin to feel estranged from their husbands who have stimulating professional work.. …. For the author and others, motherhood does not bring the expected joy and fulfillment. On the contrary, it is the source of painful conflict, self-doubt, and existential angst.

Review of Warner, Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety, 2005

Internet-based study of mothers

• oversampling for highly educated mothers of middle- & high schoolers

• N 360, recruiting through PTA and word-of-mouth

• measures of • personal adjustment (e.g.,well-being, depression, substance use)• relationships (e.g., marriage, role restrictions, guilt),

personal authenticity, e.g., “The self” I show to others – my “outer self” – is very much the same as my “inner self”

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

High School College College + MA Doctoral

Mothers' Subjective Well-Being by Education

19.5

20

20.5

21

21.5

22

22.5

23

23.5

24

High School College College + MA Doctoral

Mothers' Personal Authenticity by education

Drug Dependence - MCMI

Ph.D. / MA mothers

College degree mothers

Alcohol Dependence – MCMI

Anxiety BSI

Depression- BSI

Somatization- BSI

Personal authenticity

Mother Incompetence/guilt

Drug Dependence - MCMI

Ph.D. / MA mothers

College degree mothers

Alcohol Dependence – MCMI .38*** .09

Anxiety BSI .33*** .22**

Depression- BSI .42*** .12

Somatization- BSI .38*** .10

Personal authenticity -.31*** -.26**

Mother Incompetence/guilt .23** .16

4. Quality of Marriage by Education

High School College College + MA Adv. Grad

6. Satisfaction with being a Parent by Education

High School College College + MA Adv. Grad

C

Marital status / employment status?

• no difference in major outcomes

• quality of relationships much more significant

CAVEAT TO FINDINGS

• relatively small sample of mothers

• need further multivariate analyses

For mothers: As individuals... and not just "moms"

This national online survey explores the inner lives of mothers.

In developmental research, women are typically considered in terms of their behaviors as mothers - rarely in terms of their own personhood. This survey will explore how you feel about your different roles not only as a mother, but also as a spouse, as a friend, as an individual with various hopes and fears -- and how you cope with the challenge of balancing multiple roles.

Many of the survey questions will inquire about your relationship with your child. If you currently have more than one child in middle or high school, please consider the oldest of these children for this survey.

Your responses will be entirely anonymous. Our interest, in this project, is solely in aggregate or average trends; no one (not even I) will be able to identify any individual mother in terms of her survey responses.

If you would like a copy of the summary results on completion of this survey, please provide your email address.

From one mother to another - many thanks and best regards.

Suniya S. Luthar, Ph.D.Professor of Clinical and Developmental PsychologyTeachers College, Columbia University

http:// www.MomsasPeople.com

momsaspeople

CollaboratorsDoctoral students: Monica Ghalian, Mia Ihm,

Jason Karageorge, Nidhi Khurana, Aparna Sampat, Brian Sherman, Skip Teel, Dana Zelman

Postdoctoral Fellow: Joan Yoo

This research has been supported by theNational Institutes of Health

Reporting back to the community: Findings with Mercer Island students

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