Having It All? A Qualitative Examination of Affluent Adolescent Girls’ Perceptions of Stress and Their Quests for Success

Abstract

This study sought to better understand the relationship between affluence and elevated risk for psychosocial distress among adolescent girls. In-depth qualitative interviews at two time points with three cohorts of girls (sixth-, eighth-, and 10th grade; T1 n = 57, T2 n = 58) from two independent girls schools Grades 6 to 12, along with their parents, and their teachers were conducted. Through narrative thematic analysis, four overarching sources of significant stress were identified: (a) pervasive experiences of pressures to perform, (b) narrow constructions of success, (c) peer competition, and (d) misalignments in expectations between some girls and their parents. These pressures were even more heightened among the older girls. Although all of the girls reported experiencing these stressors, those girls who reported a more other-oriented sense of purpose also reported stronger connections with peers and seemed better able to manage the pressures.

Keywords

adolescent girls affluence stress purpose qualitative research

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abeles

(Producer & Co-Director), Congdon

(Co-Director). (2010). Race to nowhere [Motion picture]. USA: Reel Link Films.

Anderson

Leventhal

Dupéré

(2014). Residential mobility and the family context: A developmental approach. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35, 70-78.

Archard

(2011). Peer influence on female student leadership attainment, capacity and development: A staff and student perspective within a girls’ school context. Leading and Managing, 17(1), 1-15.

Bailey

T. R.

Hughes

K. L.

Karp

M. M.

(2011). Inequality in postsecondary education. In Duncan

G. J.

Murnane

R. J.

(Eds.), Whither opportunity? Rising inequality, schools, and children’s life chances (pp. 117-132). New York, NY: Russell Sage.

Bell

D. J.

Foster

S. L.

Mash

E. J.

(2005). Understanding behavioral and emotional problems in girls. In Bell

D. J.

Foster

S. L.

Mash

E. J.

(Eds.), Handbook of behavioral and emotional problems in girls (pp. 1-24). New York, NY: Kluwer.

Braun

Clarke

(2012). Thematic analysis. In Cooper

(Ed.), The handbook of research methods in psychology (pp. 57-71). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Bronfenbrenner

(2005). Ecological systems theory. In Bronfenbrenner

(Ed.), Making human beings human: Bioecological perspectives on human development (pp. 106-173). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Bronk

K. C.

(2012). A grounded theory of the development of noble youth purpose. Journal of Adolescent Research, 27, 78-109.

Bronk

K. C.

Finch

W. H.

(2010). Adolescent characteristics by type of long-term aim in life. Applied Developmental Science, 14, 35-44.

10.

Bronk

K. C.

Hill

P. L.

Lapsley

D. K.

Talib

T. L.

Finch

(2009). Purpose, hope, and life satisfaction in three age groups. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4, 500-510.

11.

Brown

L. M.

(1999). Raising their voices: The politics of girls’ anger. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

12.

Brown

L. M.

Gilligan

(1992). Meeting at the crossroads. New York, NY: Ballantine.

13.

Burrow

A. L.

O’Dell

A. C.

Hill

P. L.

(2010). Profiles of a developmental asset: Youth purpose as a context for hope and well-being. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 1265-1273.

14.

Cribb

V. L.

Haase

A. M.

(2016). Girls feeling good at school: School gender environment, internalization and awareness of socio-cultural attitudes associations with self-esteem in adolescent girls. Journal of Adolescence, 46, 107-114.

15.

Damon

(2008). The path to purpose: How young people find their calling in life. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

16.

Damon

Menon

Bronk

K. C.

(2003). The development of purpose during adolescence. Applied Developmental Science, 7, 119-128.

17.

Demerath

(2009). Producing success: The culture of personal advancement in an American high school. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

18.

Diener

Biswas-Diener

(2008). Happiness: Unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

19.

Erikson

E. H.

(1968). Identity, youth and crisis. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

20.

Greenfield

K. T.

(2013, October). My daughter’s homework is killing me. The Atlantic. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/10/my-daughters-homework-is-killing-me/309514/

21.

Guyer

A. E.

Caouette

J. D.

Lee

C. C.

Ruiz

S. K.

(2014). Will they like me? Adolescents’ emotional responses to peer evaluation. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 38, 155-163. doi:10.1177/0165025413515627

22.

Holmgren

(2014). Steeped in learning: The student experience at all-girls’ schools. Charlottesville, VA: National Coalition of Girls’ Schools.

23.

Johnson

J. M.

(2002). In-depth interviewing. In Gubrium

J. F.

Holstein

J. A.

(Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context and method (pp. 103-119). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

24.

Kena

Aud

Johnson

Wang

Zhang

Rathbun

. . . Kristapovich

(2014). The condition of education 2014 (NCES 2014-083). Washington, DC, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch

25.

Layard

Clark

A. E.

Cornaglia

Powdthavee

Vernoit

(2014). What predicts a successful life? A life-course model of well-being (IZA Discussion Paper, No. 7682). Retrieved from http://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/90009/1/dp7682.pdf

26.

Levine

(2006). The price of privilege: How parental pressure and material advantage are creating a generation of disconnected and unhappy kids. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

27.

Liang

Bogat

G. A.

Duffy

(2013). Gender in mentoring relationships. In DuBois

Karcher

(Eds.), Handbook of youth mentoring (2nd ed., pp. 159-174). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

28.

Liang

Brogan

Spencer

Corral

(2007). Youth mentoring relationships across three developmental periods: A qualitative analysis. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 72, 168-182.

29.

Liang

Lund

T. J.

Mousseau

A. M. D.

Spencer

(2016). The mediating role of engagement in mentoring relationships and self-esteem among affluent adolescent girls. Psychology in the Schools, 53(8), 848-860.

30.

Liang

West

(2011). Relational health, alexithymia, and psychological distress in college women: Testing a mediator model. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 81, 246-254.

31.

Liang

White

Mousseau

A. M. D.

Hasse

Knight

Berado

Lund

T. J.

(in press). The four P’s of purpose among College Bound students: People, propensity, passion and pro-social benefits. Journal of Positive Psychology.

32.

Lund

T. J.

Dearing

(2013). Is growing up affluent risky for adolescents or is the problem growing up in an affluent neighborhood? Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23, 274-282.

33.

Luthar

S. S.

Barkin

S. H.

(2012). Are affluent youth truly “at risk”? Vulnerability and resilience across three diverse samples. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 429-449.

34.

Luthar

S. S.

Barkin

S. H.

Crossman

E. J.

(2013). “I can, therefore I must”: Fragility in the upper-middle classes. Development and Psychopathology, 25, 1529-1549.

35.

Luthar

S. S.

Becker

B. E.

(2002). Privileged but pressured? A study of affluent youth. Child Development, 73, 1593-1610.

36.

Luthar

S. S.

D’Avanzo

(1999). Contextual factors in substance use: A study of suburban and inner-city adolescents. Development and Psychopathology, 11, 845-867.

37.

Luthar

S. S.

Goldstein

A. S.

(2008). Substance use and related behaviors among suburban late adolescents: The importance of perceived parent containment. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 591-614.

38.

Lyman

E. L.

Luthar

S. S.

(2014). Further evidence on the “costs of privilege”: Perfectionism in high-achieving youth at socioeconomic extremes. Psychology in the Schools, 51, 913-930.

39.

Miles

M. B.

Huberman

A. M.

Saldana

(2013). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

40.

Miller

J. B.

Stiver

I. P.

(1997). The healing connection. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

41.

Patrick

M. E.

Wightman

Schoeni

R. E.

Schulenberg

J. E.

(2012). Socioeconomic status and substance use among young adults: A comparison across constructs and drugs. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 73, 772-782.

42.

Pérez-Peña

Anderson

(2012, January). As a broader group seeks early admission, rejections rise in the east. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/education/early-admission-applications-rise-as-do-rejections.html

43.

Qin

D. B.

Chang

T. F.

Han

E. J.

Chee

(2012). Conflicts and communication between high-achieving Chinese American adolescents and their parents. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 135, 35-57.

44.

Reardon

(2013, April). No rich child left behind. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/27/no-rich-child-left-behind/

45.

Rudolph

K. D.

(2002). Gender differences in emotional responses to interpersonal stress during adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 30(4), 3-13.

46.

Seidman

I. E.

(1991). Interviewing as qualitative research. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

47.

Sontag

L. M.

Graber

J. A.

Brooks-Gunn

Warren

M. P.

(2008). Coping with social stress: Implications for psychopathology in young adolescent girls. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 1159-1174.

48.

Spencer

Liang

(2009). “She gives me a break from the world”: Formal youth mentoring relationships between adolescent girls and adult women. Journal of Primary Prevention, 30, 109-130.

49.

Twenge

J. M.

Campbell

W. K.

Freeman

E. C.

(2012). Generational differences in young adults’ life goals, concern for others, and civic orientation, 1966-2009. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 1045-1062.

50.

Vaquera

Kao

(2008). Do you like me as much as I like you? Friendship reciprocity and its effects on school outcomes among adolescents. Social Science Research, 37, 55-72.

51.

Way

(1998). Everyday courage: The lives and stories of urban teenagers. New York: New York University Press.

52.

Weissbourd

Jones

Anderson

T. R.

Kahn

Russell

(2014). The children we mean to raise: The real messages adults are sending about values. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Graduate School of Education.

53.

Yancey

A. K.

Grant

Kurosky

Kravitz-Wirtz

Mistry

(2011). Role modeling, risk, and resilience in California adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 48, 36-43.