Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Problem-Solving Before Instruction (PS-I): A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities
Published on: September 11, 2021
Development of mastery during adolescence: the role of family problem-solving
Katherine Jewsbury Conger1, Shannon Tierney Williams, Wendy M Little
1Human and Community Development, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. kjconger@ucdavis.edu
Abstract:
A sense of mastery is an important component of psychological health and wellbeing across the life-span; however relatively little is known about the development of mastery during childhood and adolescence. Utilizing prospective, longitudinal data from 444 adolescent sibling pairs and their parents, our conceptual model proposes that family socioeconomic status (SES) in the form of parental education promotes effective family problem-solving, which, in turn, fosters adolescent mastery. Results show: (1) a significant increase in mastery for younger and older siblings, (2) parental education promoted effective problem-solving between parents and adolescents and between siblings but not between the parents themselves, and (3) all forms of effective family problem-solving predicted greater adolescent mastery. Parental education had a direct effect on adolescent mastery as well as the hypothesized indirect effect through problem-solving effectiveness, suggesting both a social structural and social process influence on the development of mastery during adolescence.
Related Concept Videos
Cognitive Development During Adolescence
Sources of Self-Esteem I: Family Experience
Erikson's Theory on Socioemotional Development during Adolescence
Erikson's Theory on Socioemotional Development during Childhood
The first four of Erikson's eight psychosocial stages...
Relationship with Other Adult Family Members and Siblings
Social Foundations of Self II: The Generalized Other
