Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Longitudinal Study Of Spirituality, Character Strengths, Subjective Well-Being, And Prosociality In Middle School Adolescents, Ariel Kor, Steven Pirutinsky, Mario Mikulincer, Anat Shoshani, Lisa Miller

Graduate School of Social Work Publications and Research

Using data from 1,352 middle-school Israeli adolescents, the current study examines the interface of spirituality and character strengths and its longitudinal contribution to subjective well-being and prosociality. Participants were approached three times over a 14-months period and completed measures of character strengths, spirituality, subjective well-being (positive emotions, life satisfaction), and prosociality. Findings revealed a fourth-factor structure of character strengths that included the typical tripartite classification of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intellectual strengths together with spirituality emerging as a statistically autonomous factor. Spirituality was stable over time and contributed to higher subjective well-being and prosociality both cross- sectionally and longitudinally. Discussion focuses …

Obesity-Related Behaviors Among Poor Adolescents And Young Adults: Is Social Position Associated With Risk Behaviors?, Miranda Lucia Ritterman Weintraub, Lia C. Fernald, Elizabeth Goodman, Sylvia Guendelman, Nancy E. Adler

This cross-sectional study examines multiple dimensions of social position in relation to obesity-related behaviors in an adolescent and young adult population. In addition to using conventional measures of social position, including parental education and household expenditures, we explore the usefulness of three youth-specific measures of social position – community and society subjective social status and school dropout status. Data are taken from a 2004 house-to-house survey of urban households within the bottom 20th percentile of income distribution within seven states in Mexico. A total of 5,321 Mexican adolescents, aged 12–22 years, provided information on obesity-related behaviors (e.g., diet, physical activity, …

Perceptions Of Social Mobility: Development Of A New Psychosocial Indicator Associated With Adolescent Risk Behaviors, Miranda Lucia Ritterman Weintraub, Lia C. H. Fernald, Nancy Adler, Stefano Bertozzi, S. Leonard Syme

Social class gradients have been explored in adults and children, but not extensively during adolescence. The first objective of this study was to examine the association between adolescent risk behaviors and a new indicator of adolescent relative social position, adolescent “perceived social mobility.” Second, it investigated potential underlying demographic, socioeconomic, and psychosocial determinants of this indicator. Data were taken from the 2004 urban adolescent module of Oportunidades, a cross-sectional study of Mexican adolescents living in poverty. Perceived social mobility was calculated for each subject by taking the difference between their rankings on two 10-rung ladder scales that …