To heal, grow, and thrive: Engaging Indigenous paradigms and perspectives in developmental science.

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.

Longitudinal effects of peer victimization on adolescents' future educational and work expectations: Depressive symptoms as a mechanism.

Leveraging six waves of data, this study examined the effects of ninth-grade peer victimization on adolescents' future work and education expectations 2 years later, testing depressive symptoms as a mechanism. Participants (N = 388, M = 14.05; 61% female, 35% male, 3% non-binary, trans, or other gender; 46% White, 19% Black, 17% Asian, 6% AMENA, 6% Multiracial, 6% other race) completed surveys from ninth through 11th grade.

The promise of an identity-based self-affirmation intervention in protecting against self-esteem declines at the high school transition.

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 ( = 388; = 14.05; 60.

The relations between growth mindset, motivational beliefs, and career interest in math intensive fields in informal STEM youth programs.

Past research has shown that growth mindset and motivational beliefs have an important role in math and science career interest in adolescence. Drawing on situated expectancy-value theory (SEVT), this study extends these findings by investigating the role of parental motivational beliefs (e.g.

Children's and adolescents' evaluations of wealth-related STEM inequality.

The fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are rife with inequalities and under-representation that have their roots in childhood. While researchers have focused on gender and race/ethnicity as two key dimensions of inequality, less attention has been paid to wealth. To this end, and drawing from the Social Reasoning Development approach, we examined children's and adolescents' perceptions of STEM ability and access to opportunities as a function of wealth, as well as their desire to rectify such inequalities.

Developmental Trajectories of Adolescents' Math Motivation: The Role of Mindset and Perceptions of Informal STEM Learning Site Inclusivity.

Motivation is a key factor in engagement, achievement, and career choices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). While existing research has focused on student motivation toward math in formal school programs, new work is needed that focuses on motivation for those involved in informal STEM programs. Specifically, the role of math mindset and perceived inclusivity of informal STEM sites (to those of varying gender and ethnic backgrounds) on longitudinal trajectories of adolescents' math motivation has not been explored.

Daily Fluctuations in Adolescents' Perceived Friend Dominance and Friendship Clout: Associations with Mood and the Moderating Role of Anxiety.

Emerging evidence suggests that whereas occupying high peer status promotes adolescents' well-being, feeling dominated by friends confers psychological costs. However, little is known about day-to-day power dynamics of adolescents' friendships or their acute affective consequences. This 14-day intensive longitudinal study introduced novel daily assessments of friend dominance and friendship clout, examined their associations with mood, and tested anxiety as a moderator.

Reciprocal Associations Between Science Efficacy, STEM Identity and Scientist Career Interest Among Adolescent Girls within the Context of Informal Science Learning.

Limited research has explored the longitudinal pathway to youth career interests via identity and efficacy together. This study examined the longitudinal associations between science efficacy, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) identity, and scientist career interest among girls who are historically considered as an underrepresented group among scientists. The sample included 308 girls (M  = 15.

Preparing the Next Generation for STEM: Adolescent Profiles Encompassing Math and Science Motivation and Interpersonal Skills and Their Associations With Identity and Belonging.

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workers need both motivation and interpersonal skills in STEM disciplines. The aims of the study were to identify clusters of adolescents who vary in math and science motivation and interpersonal skills and to explore what factors are related to membership in a high math and science motivation and interpersonal skills cluster. Participants included 467 adolescents (312 female;  = 15.

The importance of trust in the relation between COVID-19 information from social media and well-being among adolescents and young adults.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, young people have been exposed to distressing content about COVID-19 without knowing whether they can trust such content. This indicates a need to examine the effects of social media use on mental health and well-being. Existing research provides an inconsistent impression of such effects.

The Power Dynamics of Friendship: Between- and Within- Person Associations among Friend Dominance, Self-Esteem, and Adolescent Internalizing Symptoms.

Although forming close, egalitarian peer relationships is a central developmental task of adolescence, little is known about the psychological consequences of power imbalances in adolescents' friendships. The current study investigated whether there are psychological costs of feeling subordinate to friends by examining longitudinal associations between adolescents' perceived friend dominance and internalizing symptoms. Across one year, five waves of survey data were collected from 388 adolescents (M = 14.

Interest, Mindsets and Engagement: Longitudinal Relations in Science Orientations for Adolescents in Informal Science Programs.

Little is known about the factors that influence engagement for adolescents participating in informal youth science programs. This study examined longitudinal reciprocal associations between adolescents' science engagement, interest, and growth mindset. Participants were adolescents (M = 15.

Gender Stereotypes and Peer Selection in STEM Domains Among Children and Adolescents.

Gender stereotypes are harmful for girls' enrollment and performance in science and mathematics. So far, less is known about children's and adolescents' stereotypes regarding technology and engineering. In the current study, participants' ( = 1,206, girls  = 623; 5-17-years-old,  = 8.

Promoting Diverse Youth's Career Development through Informal Science Learning: The Role of Inclusivity and Belonging.

Little research has examined the associations between perceived inclusivity within informal science learning sites, youth program belonging and perceptions of program career preparation. This study explored relations between these factors at three timepoints (T1 = start of program, T2 = 3 months and T3 = 12 months after start). Participants were a diverse sample of 209 adolescents participating in STEM youth programs within informal science learning sites situated in the United States and United Kingdom (70% females: M  = 15.

On shaky grounds: Peer victimization predicts friendship instability across the ninth grade school year.

Introduction: Although prior research has considered how friendship quality or quantity influence peer victimization risk and vice versa, considerably less is known about how friendship instability (i.e., high levels of friend turnover) and peer victimization may be related to each other across time.

Belonging in diverse contexts: Sociability among same-ethnic and cross-ethnic peers.

Ethnically and racially diverse schools provide students opportunities to socially interact with both same- and cross-ethnic peers that can shape their sense of belonging within a school. This study investigates the extent to which same- or cross-ethnic friends influence feelings of school belonging in two large, diverse U.S.

Investigating the relation between ethnic-racial identity and classroom engagement among Cherokee adolescents: Cultural socialization as a moderator.

Objective: Ethnic-racial identity is an important factor that can promote classroom engagement among ethnic-racial minority adolescents. However, the relationship between ethnic-racial identity and academic engagement remains severely understudied among Native American youth, who report some of the lowest levels of classroom engagement among ethnic-racial minority youth in the United States. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the relation between ethnic-racial identity and classroom engagement among Cherokee youth.

Peer victimization, schooling format, and adolescent internalizing symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: Between- and within-person associations across ninth grade.

The current longitudinal study examined how between-person (BP) differences and within-person (WP) fluctuations in adolescents' peer victimization and schooling format across ninth grade related to changes in their internalizing symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were 388 adolescents (61% female; = 14.02) who completed three online surveys, administered 3 months apart, from November 2020 to May 2021.

Assessing adolescents' critical health literacy: How is trust in government leadership associated with knowledge of COVID-19?

This study explored relations between COVID-19 news source, trust in COVID-19 information source, and COVID-19 health literacy in 194 STEM-oriented adolescents and young adults from the US and the UK. Analyses suggest that adolescents use both traditional news (e.g.

Science and Math Interest and Gender Stereotypes: The Role of Educator Gender in Informal Science Learning Sites.

Interest in science and math plays an important role in encouraging STEM motivation and career aspirations. This interest decreases for girls between late childhood and adolescence. Relatedly, positive mentoring experiences with female teachers can protect girls against losing interest.

Longitudinal relations between skin tone and self-esteem in African American girls.

We examined developmental changes in self-esteem from late childhood to late adolescence in African American girls ( = 124), comparing skin tone groups. Girls completed a measure of self-esteem when they were in Grades 5, 7, 10, and 12, and in Grade 12 their skin tone was rated on a 3-point scale (1 = 2 = 3 = Girls with lighter skin reported higher self-esteem than dark and medium-toned girls in Grades 5 and 7, and their self-esteem remained high across the seven years of the study. The self-esteem of dark- and medium-skinned girls increased in high school such that at Grade 12, medium-skinned girls had higher self-esteem than dark-skinned girls, who did not differ from light-skinned girls.

Learning hand in hand: Engaging in research-practice partnerships to advance developmental science.

Developmental science research often involves research questions developed by academic teams, which are tested within community or educational settings. In this piece, we outline the importance of research-practice partnerships, which involve both research and practice-based partners collaborating at each stage of the research process. We articulate challenges and benefits of these partnerships for developmental science research, identify relevant research frameworks that may inform these partnerships, and provide an example of an ongoing research-practice partnership.

The Relations and Role of Social Competencies and Belonging with Math and Science Interest and Efficacy for Adolescents in Informal STEM Programs.

Adolescence represents a developmental period of waning academic motivation, particularly in STEM domains. To combat this, better understanding the factors that might foster STEM motivation and interest is of importance. Social factors like social competencies and feelings of belonging become increasingly important in adolescence.

Interest and learning in informal science learning sites: Differences in experiences with different types of educators.

This study explored topic interest, perceived learning and actual recall of exhibit content in 979 children and adolescents and 1,184 adults who visited informal science learning sites and interacted with an adult or youth educator or just the exhibit itself as part of family visits to the sites. Children in early childhood reported greater topic interest and perceived learning, but actually recalled less content, than participants in middle childhood or adolescence. Youth visitors reported greater interest after interacting with a youth educator than just the exhibit, and perceived that they learn more if they interact with an educator (youth or adult).