%0 Journal Article
%T Longitudinal Associations Between Humor Styles and Psychosocial Adjustment in Adolescence
%A Claire Louise Fox
%A Simon Christopher Hunter
%A Sian Emily Jones
%J -
%D 2016
%R 10.5964/ejop.v12i3.1065
%X This study assessed the concurrent and prospective associations between psychosocial adjustment and four humor styles, two of which are adaptive (affiliative, self-enhancing) and two maladaptive (aggressive, self-defeating). Participants were 1,234 adolescents (52% female) aged 11-13 years, drawn from six secondary schools in England. Self-reports of psychosocial adjustment (loneliness, depressive symptomatology, and self-esteem) and humor styles were collected at two time points (fall and summer). In cross-lagged panel analyses, self-defeating humor was associated with an increase in both depressive symptoms and loneliness, and with a decrease in self-esteem. In addition, depressive symptoms predicted an increase in the use of self-defeating humor over time, indicating that these may represent a problematic spiral of thoughts and behaviors. Self-esteem was associated with an increase in the use of affiliative humor over the school year but not vice-versa. These results inform our understanding of the ways in which humor is associated with psychosocial adjustment in adolescence
%K [humor
%K psychosocial adjustment
%K depression
%K loneliness
%K self-esteem
%K adolescence]
%U https://ejop.psychopen.eu/index.php/ejop/article/view/1065