https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/110 Fri, 15 May 2026 12:07:42 GMT 2026-05-15T12:07:42Z https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6343 Precursors of young adults' world beliefs across cultures: A machine learning approach Jennifer E Lansford, Andrea Bizzego, Julio Daniel Bermúdez Chinea, Gianluca Esposito, W Andrew Rothenberg, Jeremy DW Clifton, Dario Bacchini, Lei Chang, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Laura Di Giunta, Kenneth A Dodge, Sevtap Gurdal, Daranee Junla, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Ann T Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Laurence Steinberg, Marc H Bornstein, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong, Liane Peña Alampay, Suha M Al-Hassan Primal world beliefs (“primals”) capture individuals' basic understanding of what sort of world this is and are strongly associated with a wide range of behaviors and outcomes, yet we have little understanding of how primals come to be. This study used a data-driven machine learning approach to examine what individual, parenting, family, and cultural factors in childhood best predict young adults' beliefs that the world is Abundant, Alive, Enticing, Good, Hierarchical, Progressing, and Safe, contributing a long-term longitudinal perspective to the nascent work in developmental science on primal world beliefs (“primals”). Participants included 770 young adults from eight countries (Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, United States). During childhood, participants and parents reported on 76 factors available as potential predictors of primals. Factors at individual, parenting, family, and cultural levels all had some predictive value in relation to specific primals, but no single factor or cluster of factors was predictive of all primals. Developmental pathways to perceiving the world as Abundant, Alive, Enticing, Good, Hierarchical, Progressing, and Safe are not uniform. The current data-driven approach successfully unearthed several promising leads for developmentalists to probe in further research. The article can be accessed in full via:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0193397325001054#preview-section-abstract Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6343 2025-09-01T00:00:00Z https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6341 Predictors of Young Adults' Primal World Beliefs in Eight Countries Jennifer E Lansford, Laura Gorla, W Andrew Rothenberg, Marc H Bornstein, Lei Chang, Jeremy DW Clifton, Kirby Deater‐Deckard, Laura Di Giunta, Kenneth A Dodge, Sevtap Gurdal, Daranee Junla, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Ann T Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Laurence Steinberg, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong, Liane Peña Alampay, Suha M Al‐Hassan, Dario Bacchini Primal world beliefs (“primals”) capture understanding of general characteristics of the world, such as whether the world is Good and Enticing. Children (N = 1215, 50% girls), mothers, and fathers from Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and United States reported neighborhood danger, socioeconomic status, parental warmth, harsh par enting, psychological control, and autonomy granting from ages 8 to 16 years. At age 22 years, original child participants re ported their primal world beliefs. Parental warmth during childhood and adolescence significantly predicted Good, Safe, and Enticing world beliefs, but other experiences were only weakly related to primals. We did not find that primals are strongly related to intuitive aspects of the materiality of childhood experiences, which suggests future directions for understanding the origins of primals https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.14233 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6341 2025-04-23T00:00:00Z https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6340 Prosocial behavior and school performance in the transition to adolescence: A multicultural study Flavia Cirimele, Concetta Pastorelli, Marc H Bornstein, Antonio Zuffianò, Chiara Remondi, Maria Gerbino, Dario Bacchini, Laura Di Giunta, Paul Oburu, Ann T Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Laurence Steinberg, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong, Liane Peña Alampay, Suha M Al-Hassan, Lei Chang, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Kenneth A Dodge, Sevtap Gurdal, Daranee Junla, Jennifer E Lansford The present study explored the bidirectional longitudinal associations between prosocial behavior and school performance during adolescence in six countries (Colombia, Italy, Jordan, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States). A total sample of 884 adolescents (T1: Mage ¼10.34years, SD¼0.69) reported their prosocial behavior, while adolescents’ mothers (N¼871) and fathers (N¼773) reported their children’s school performance over three-time points covering the transition to adolescence (from ages 10 to 16). A Random- Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model, controlling for countries’ Human Development Index, child gender, and family SES, showed that adolescents with high levels of prosocial behavior also have high school performance on a stable basis over time. Moreover, being more pro social than usual is positively associated with higher-than-expected school performance at each time point. The implications of the interplay between prosocial behavior and school performance during the transition to adolescence in multicultural contexts are discussed. Applied Developmental Science. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2025.2498747 Fri, 02 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6340 2025-05-02T00:00:00Z https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6339 Rubbing off on each other: Applying a developmental science perspective to variance in primal world beliefs by family and culture Natasha Duell, Jennifer E Lansford, W Andrew Rothenberg, Liane Peña Alampay, Suha M Al‐Hassan, Dario Bacchini, Marc H Bornstein, Lei Chang, Kirby Deater‐Deckard, Laura Di Giunta, Kenneth A Dodge, Sevtap Gurdal, Daranee Junla, Qin Liu, Qian Long, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Ann T Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong, Laurence Steinberg Primals are beliefs about the world’s character (e.g. good, safe, enticing, or alive) that are associated with well-being and behavioral patterns. But primals’ developmental origins remain mysterious, hampering theoretical understanding and clinical efforts to change pri mals. This preregistered study of 905 families from 11 cultural groups adopts bioecological theory to examine (1) variance in primals accounted for by individual, family, and cultural differences, (2) concordance in primals within families, and (3) mean differences in primals across cultures. Results indicate most variance in primals is attributable to individual differ ences, but significant variance also emerges due to family and cultural differences. Positive correlations between mothers’ and fathers’ primals suggest assortative mating, and positive correlations between parents’ and children’s primals suggest intergenerational transmission. Findings shed light on primals’ mysterious origins: humans do appear to somehow “rub off on each other.” Clarifying this interchange can help equip clinicians to leverage primals to improve wellbeing To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2025.2501050 Wed, 07 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6339 2025-05-07T00:00:00Z https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6338 Positive risk taking across the world Natasha Duell, Jennifer E Lansford, W Andrew Rothenberg, Liane Peña Alampay, Suha M Al‐Hassan, Dario Bacchini, Marc H Bornstein, Lei Chang, Kirby Deater‐Deckard, Laura Di Giunta, Kenneth A Dodge, Sevtap Gurdal, Daranee Junla, Qin Liu, Qian Long, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Ann T Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong, Laurence Steinberg Around the world, adolescence is characterized by increased risk taking. Much research has focused on negative risk taking, but there is growing recognition of positive risk tak ing, which can benefit adolescent development. So far, research on positive risk taking has been limited to Western samples. This study examined a self- report scale of positive risk taking with a sample of 962 adolescents (Mage = 18.51 years) from nine diverse coun tries: China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States of America. There were three aims: (1) Examine the measurement invari ance of positive risk taking across countries, (2) examine whether positive and negative risk taking are distinct constructs, and (3) compare positive risk taking endorsement and perceptions of its safety and benefits across countries and sex. Results indicated that the 14- item positive risk- taking scale was invariant across all nine countries. Evidence also suggested that positive and negative risk taking were distinct constructs. Endorsement of positive risk taking varied significantly across all countries, with adolescents from China and Jordan exhibiting the lowest endorsement. Although positive risk taking was generally perceived as safe and beneficial, adolescents from Asian countries perceived positive risk taking to be less safe and beneficial than their peers from other countries. Together, findings from this study offer evidence of a promising positive risk- taking measure for cross- national use. Future research directions for identifying cultural fac tors that can help explain cross- national differences in positive risk taking are discussed. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.70021 Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6338 2025-06-01T00:00:00Z https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6337 Physical activity and two‐year change in adolescent well‐being in nine countries Christina Bertrand, Laurence Steinberg, Natasha Duell, Laura Di Giunta, Kenneth A Dodge, Sevtap Gurdal, Daranee Junla, Jennifer E Lansford, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Ann T Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Marc H Bornstein, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong, Liane Peña Alampay, Suha M Al‐Hassan, Dario Bacchini, Lei Chang, Kirby Deater‐Deckard The benefits of physical activity (PA) for well- being are well known; however, studies examining longitudinal effects across diverse international samples in late adolescence are limited. This study advances prior work by combining a partial longitudinal design with a multinational sample to assess the predictive effect of PA on biennial change in older adolescents' well- being, while testing for sex differences. The sample included 903 adolescents (50.4% female) from nine countries, who completed The European Health and Behavior Survey at age 16 and the EPOCH Measure of Adolescent Well- Being at ages 16 and 18. Multilevel modeling estimated the average impact of PA on change in well- being, controlling for baseline well- being. To further interrogate the findings, an additional analysis tested the effect using relative difference scores of well- being to pro vide a direct measure of simple change. Meta- analytic techniques then captured the de gree of cross- country consistency in the estimated effect. Results indicated that more PA at age 16 significantly predicted greater EPOCH well- being at age 18, controlling for prior well- being at age 16, and that adolescent sex did not moderate this effect. The rela tive difference score analysis confirmed these results. The meta- analysis revealed no sig nificant heterogeneity in the predictive effect across countries. Findings extend previous research by demonstrating the cross- cultural consistency of PA benefits during a critical developmental transition period. They suggest that PA is a modifiable behavior that can be utilized globally to enhance adolescent well- being, though individual differences and context- specific factors should be considered in public health policies and interventions. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.70035 Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6337 2025-06-01T00:00:00Z https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6336 A Longitudinal Study of Adolescent‐to‐Young Adult Executive Function Development in Seven Countries Ann Folker, Christina Bertrand, Yelim Hong, Laurence Steinberg, Natasha Duell, Lei Chang, Laura Di Giunta, Kenneth A Dodge, Sevtap Gurdal, Daranee Junla, Jennifer E Lansford, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Ann T Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Marc H Bornstein, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong, Liane Peña Alampay, Suha M Al‐Hassan, Dario Bacchini, Kirby Deater‐Deckard Executive functioning (EF) is an important developing self-regulatory process that has implications for academic, social, and emotional outcomes. Most work in EF has focused on childhood, and less has examined the development of EF throughout adolescence and into emerging adulthood. The present study assessed longitudinal trajectories of EF from ages 10 to 21 in a diverse, international sample. 1093 adolescents (50.3% female) from eight locations in seven countries completed computerized EF tasks (Stroop, Tower of London [ToL], Working Memory [WM]) at ages 10, 14, 17, and 21. Latent growth curve models were estimated to understand the average performance at age 10 and the change in performance over time for each task. Meta-analytic techniques were used to assess the heterogeneity in estimates between study sites. On average, EF task performance improved across adolescence into young adulthood with substantial between-site heterogeneity. Additionally, significant individual differences in EF task performance at age 10 and change in EF task performance over time characterized the full sample. EF improves throughout adolescence into young adulthood, making it a potentially important time for intervention to improve self-regulation. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.70040 Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6336 2025-07-01T00:00:00Z https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6236 Parenting Risk and Protective Factors in the Development of Conduct Problems in Seven Countries Jennifer E Lansford, Jennifer Godwin, W Andrew Rothenberg, Liane P Alampay, Suha M Al-Hassan, Dario Bacchini, Marc H Bornstein, Lei Chang, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Laura Di Giunta, Kenneth A Dodge, Sevtap Gurdal, Daranee Junla, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Ann T Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Laurence Steinberg, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong This study advances the understanding of risk and protective factors in trajectories of conduct problems in adolescence in seven countries that differ widely on a number of sociodemographic factors as well as norms related to adolescent behavior. Youth- and parent-report data from 988 adolescents in seven countries (Colombia, Italy, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the USA) who were followed longitudinally from ages 10 to 18 (yielding 6872 total data points) were subject to latent class growth analysis. A 4-class model provided the best fit to the data: Late Starters, Alcohol Experimenters, Mid-Adolescent Starters, and Pervasive Risk Takers. The probability of membership in each class differed by country in ways that were generally consistent with country-specific norms and expectations regarding adolescent behavior. Positive parenting was associated with a lower likelihood of adolescents’ membership in the Pervasive Risk Takers class, whereas psychological control, monitoring/behavioral control, and autonomy granting were associated with a higher likelihood of membership in the Pervasive Risk Takers class. Associations between parenting and membership in the other classes suggest that some risk taking during adolescence is normative even when parenting is positive. The article can be accessed in full via:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11121-024-01743-1 Tue, 07 Nov 0024 00:00:00 GMT https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6236 0024-11-07T00:00:00Z https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6212 Psychological, socioeconomic burdens and coping mechanisms of caregivers of children with bronchoasthma in Kakamega County, Kenya Mwangi, Lucy Ruth .W; Aduda, Dickens .S. Omondi; Mbagaya, Catherine .V Childhood bronchoasthma consistently pose diverse caregiving burdens yet, magnitude of these and coping mechanisms adopted by caregivers are infrequently assessed during routine care only focused on index patients Sat, 04 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6212 2023-11-04T00:00:00Z https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6201 Stress Among the Undergraduate Students in Public Universities in Kenya Onderi, Peter Omae; Moracha, Samson N.O; Opondo, Christine Mwajuma; Omare, Justine Momanyi Stress is an emotional feeling of tension. Stress is the body's reaction to a challenge or demand. The arising struggles of life in developing countries of the world has led to the increase of stress in instructions of higher learning. The purpose of this study is to find out the major causes of stress amongst students of higher learning in public universities in Kenya. The study investigated the causes of stress. The study sample consisted of undergraduate students from public universities. Based on the study findings university students face a lot of stress. The stressors are academic stress, financial stress, relationships, family conflicts, and uncertain future. The study recommended constant guidance and counseling for the students, parents, and guardians. DOI: 10.4018/979-8-3693-4417-0.ch009 Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT https://repository.maseno.ac.ke/handle/123456789/6201 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z