Chris Napolitano, PH.D.

Articles

• Ratner, K. Budesheim*, E. F., Alexander*, C. S., Klein*, R. C., Leinenweber*, S., Zhao*, T. Y., Romero*, O. G., & Napolitano, C. M. (in press). Hurry up and wait: Developmental anxiety during the transition to adulthood. Journal of Family Theory and Review. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., Soto, C. J., Sewell, M. N., Yoon*, H. J., & Roberts, B. W. (in press). Changes in social, emotional, and behavioral skills are associated with changes in high school students’ important outcomes. European Journal of Personality. [DOI]
• Ringwald, W. R., Napolitano, C. M., Roberts, B. W., Sewell, M. S., Soto, C. J., Yoon*, H. J., Wright, A. C. G. (in press). More skill than trait, or more trait than skill? Relations of (mis)matches between personality traits and social, emotional, behavioral skills with adolescent outcomes. European Journal of Personality. [DOI]
• Muradoglu, M., Lassetter, B., Sewell, M. N., Ontai, L., Napolitano, C. M., Dweck, C., Trzesniewski, K., & Cimpian, A. (in press). The structure and motivational significance of early beliefs about ability. Developmental Psychology. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., Duckworth, A. L., & Gross, J. G. (2024). Trait self-control: A process perspective. Current Opinion in Psychology. [DOI]
• Feraco, T., Casali, N., Pellegrino*, G., Soto, C. J., Napolitano, C. M., Caretti, B., & Meneghetti, C. (2024). The Italian behavioral, emotional, and social skills inventory (BESSI-I). Journal of Personality Assessment, 106, 750-764. [DOI]
• Sewell*, M. N., Yoon*, H. J., Lechner, C. M., Napolitano, C. M., Rammstedt, B., Roberts, B. W., & Soto, C. J. (2024). Assessing social, emotional, and behavioral skills in just a few minutes: 96-, 45-, and 20-item short forms of the BESSI. Assessment. [DOI]
• Postigo, A., González-Neuvo, C., García-Fernández, J., García-Cueto, E., Soto, C. J., Napolitano, C. M., Roberts, B.W., & Cuesta, M. (2024). The behavioral, emotional, and social skills inventory (BESSI): A Spanish adaptation and further validation in an adult population. Assessment. [DOI]
• Yoon*, H., Roberts, B. W., Napolitano, C. M., Soto, C. J., & Sewell*, M. N. (2024). Examining SEB skills’ incremental validity over personality traits in predicting academic achievement. PLOS One. [DOI]
• Mylinski, C., Mueller, S., Napolitano, C. M., & Job, V. J. (2023). A backup plan for life? Alternative life paths facilitate disengagement in an action crisis. Motivation and Emotion. [DOI]
• Sewell*, M. S., Napolitano, C., M., Roberts, B. W., Soto, C. J., & Yoon*, H. J. (2023). The social, emotional, and behavioral skill antecedents to adolescent volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Research on Adolescence. [DOI]
• Soto, C. J., Napolitano, C. M., Sewell*, M. S., Yoon*, H., Murano, D., Casillas, A., & Roberts, B. W. (2023). What I do and what I can do: Testing the convergence and incremental validity of social, emotional, and behavioral skills vs. traits for predicting academic success. Journal of Research on Personality. [DOI]
• Hoff*, B. F. & Napolitano, C. M. (2023). Can investing in backup plans harm adolescents’ goal performance? Initial evidence from a quasi-experimental study. Current Psychology. [DOI]
• Elmi*, C.M., Napolitano, C. M., & Freund, A. F. (2023). Shift happens: Shifts in goal orientation during goal pursuit. European Psychologist. [DOI]
• Youn*, J., Napolitano, C. M., Han*, D., Lee*, W., & Rounds, J. (2023). Umma vs. Mom: A meta-analysis of the relations between parental support and children’s career self-efficacy in South Korea and the US. Journal of Vocational Development. [DOI]
• Soto, C. J., Napolitano, C. M., Sewell*, M. S., Yoon*, H., & Roberts, B. W. (2022). Going beyond traits: Social, emotional, and behavioral skills matter for adolescents’ success. Social Psychological and Personality Science. [DOI]
• Sewell*, M. N., Soto, C. J., Napolitano, C. M., Yoon*, H. & Roberts, B. W. (2022). Survey data of social, emotional, and behavioral skills among seven independent samples. Data in Brief. [DOI]
• Lechner, C. M., Knopf, T., Napolitano, C. M., Rammstedt, B., Roberts, B. W., Soto, C. J., & Spengler, M. (2022). The Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Skills Inventory (BESSI): Psychometric properties of a German-language adaption, temporal stabilities of the skills, and associations with personality and intelligence. Journal of Intelligence, 10(3), 63. [DOI]
• Soto, C. J.f, Napolitano, C. M.f., Sewell*, M. N., Yoon*, H., & Roberts, B. W. (2022). An integrative framework for conceptualizing and assessing social, emotional, and behavioral skills: The BESSI. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., Kern, J. L., & Freund, A. M. (2022). The backup planning scale (BUPS): A self-reported measure of a person’s tendency to develop, reserve, and use backup plans. Journal of Personality Assessment, 104(4), 496-508. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., Sewell*, M. N., Soto, C. J., Yoon*, H., & Roberts, B. W. (2021). Social, emotional, and behavioral skills: An integrative model of the skills associated with success during adolescence and across the life span. Frontiers in Education, 6, 679561. [DOI]
• Hoff, K.A., van Egdom, D., Napolitano, C. M., Hanna, L., & Rounds, J. (2021). Dream jobs and employment realities: Linking adolescents’ career aspirations to labor demands and automation risks. Journal of Career Assessment. [DOI]
• Soto, C. J., Napolitano, C. M., & Roberts, B. W. (2021). Taking skills seriously: Toward an integrative model and agenda for social, emotional, and behavioral skills. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 30(1), 26-33. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., Hoff*, K., Wee*, C. J. M., Tu*, N. & Rounds, J. (2020). Great expectations: Adolescents’ intentional self-regulation predicts occupational aspiration and expectation consistency. Journal of Vocational Behavior. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M. & Freund, A. M. (2019). Adding life to one’s added years: Self-regulatory balancing of life domains across old age. Commentary on “The life course cube: A tool for studying lives” by L. Bernardi, J. Huinink, and R. Settersten. Advances in Life Course Research, 41. [DOI]
• Tomasik, M. J., Napolitano, C. M., & Moser, U. (2018). Trajectories of academic performance across compulsory schooling and thriving in young adulthood. Child Development. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., & Job, V. (2018). Assessing the implicit theories of willpower for strenuous mental activities scale: Multigroup, across-gender, and cross-cultural measurement invariance and convergent and divergent validity. Psychological Assessment, 30, 1049-1064. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M. (2018). Serendipity as an example topic for a new four-tiered approach to the study of self-regulation. Research in Human Development, 15, 265-279. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., & Freund, A. M. (2017). First evidence for the backup plan paradox. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 146, 1189-1203. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., & Freund, A. M. (2016). On the use and usefulness of backup plans. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11, 56-73. [DOI]
• Geldhof, G. J., Bowers, E. P., Gestsdottir, S., Napolitano, C. M., & Lerner, R. M. (2015). Self-regulation across adolescence: Exploring the structure of selection, optimization, and compensation. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 25, 214-228. [DOI]
• Geldhof, G. J., Bowers E. P., Boyd, M., Mueller, M. K., Napolitano, C. M., Schmid Callina, K., Lerner, J. V., & Lerner, R. M. (2014). Creation of short and very short measures of the five Cs of positive youth development. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 24, 163-178. [DOI]
• Geldhof, G. J., Bowers E. P., Mueller, M. K., Napolitano, C. M., Schmid Callina, K., & Lerner, R. M. (2014). Longitudinal analysis of a very short measure of positive youth development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 933-949. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., Bowers, E. P., Arbeit, M. L., Chase, P., Geldhof, J. G., Lerner, J. V., & Lerner, R. M. (2014). The GPS to Success growth grids: Measurement properties of a tool to promote intentional self-regulation in mentoring programs. Applied Developmental Science, 18, 46-58. [DOI]
• Bowers, E. P., Napolitano, C. M., Arbeit, M. L., Chase, P., Glickman, S., Lerner, J., & Lerner, R. M. (2013). On a pathway to thriving: Evaluating the effectiveness of tools to promote positive development and intentional self-regulation in youth. Journal of Youth Development, 8, 5-31. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M. (2013). More than just a simple twist of fate: Serendipitous relations in developmental science. Human Development, 56, 291-318. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., Mueller, M. K., & Callina, K. S. (2013). Comparing alternate approaches to calculating reliability for dichotomous data: The sample case of adolescent selection, optimization, and compensation. Applied Developmental Science, 17, 148-151. [DOI]
• Bowers, E. P., Geldhof, G. J., Schmid, K. L., Napolitano, C. M., Minor, K., & Lerner, J. V. (2021). Relationships with important nonparental adults and positive youth development: An examination of youth self-regulatory strengths as mediators. Research in Human Development, 9, 298-316. [DOI]
• Lerner, R. M., Lerner, J. V., Lewin-Bizan, S., Bowers, E., Boyd, M. J., Mueller, M. K., Schmid, K. L., & Napolitano. C. M. (2011). Positive youth development: Processes, programs, and problematics. Journal of Youth Development, 6, 40-64. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M. (2011). “MXing” it up: How African adolescents may affect social change through mobile phone usage. New Directions in Youth Development, 141, 105-113. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., Bowers, E. P., Gestsdóttir, S., Depping, M., von Eye, A., & Chase, P. (2011). The role of parenting and intentional self-regulation in Positive Youth Development: Taking a person-centered approach. Journal of Adolescence, 34, 1137-1149. [DOI]
• Schmid, K. L., Phelps, E., Kiely, M., Napolitano, C. M., Boyd, M. J., & Lerner, R. M. (2011). The role of adolescents’ hopeful futures in predicting positive and negative outcomes: Findings from the 4-H study of positive youth development. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6, 45-56. [DOI]
• Gestsdottir, S., Bowers, E., von Eye, A., Napolitano, C. M., Lerner, R. M. (2010). Intentional self regulation in middle adolescence: The emerging role of loss-based selection in positive youth development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 764-782. [DOI]

Invited Chapters

• Napolitano, C. M., Elmi*, C., Yoon*, H. J., Sewell*, M. S., & Roberts, B. W. Self-regulation and character development. (2024). The Multidisciplinary Handbook of Character Development. Routledge. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., Callina, K. S., Mueller, M. K., Budesheim*, E., Zarkada*. S., & Sewell, M. S. (2023). The history of the study of adolescence. The Encyclopedia of Adolescence, 2nd Edition. Elsevier. [DOI]
• Baay, P. E., Napolitano, C. M., & Schipper*, M. J. (2021). It wasn’t sheer luck after all: Opportunity and preparation predict chance events in school-to-work transitions. In E. A. Marshall and J. Symonds (Eds.) Young adult development at the school-to-work transition: International pathways and processes. Oxford University Press. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., & Freund, A. M. (2019). The model of selection, optimization, and compensation. In D. Gu & M. E. Dupre (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging (p. 109). Springer, Cham. [DOI]
• Freund, A. M., Napolitano, C. M., & Rutt, J. L. (2018). Personality development in Adulthood: A goal perspective In D. P. McAdams, R. L. Shiner, & J. L. Tackett (Eds.) Handbook of Personality Development (pp. 313-327). New York: Guilford Press. [DOI]
• Freund, A.M., Napolitano, C. M., & Knecht, M. (2017). Life-management through selection, optimization, and compensation. In N. A. Pachana (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. Singapore: Springer. [DOI]
• Callina, K. S., Mueller, M. K., Napolitano, C. M., Lerner, J. V., & Lerner, R. M. (2016). Positive youth development: Relational developmental systems approaches to thriving from childhood to adulthood. The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology (3rd ed.). [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., & Freund, A. M. (2016). The model of selection, optimization, and compensation. In S. K. Whitbourne (Ed.) The Encyclopedia of Adulthood and Aging. (pp. 929-934). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. [DOI]
• Geldhof, G. J., Bowers, E. P., Mueller, M. K., Napolitano, C. M., Callina, K. S., Walsh, K. J., Lerner, J. V., & Lerner, R. M. (2015). The Five Cs model of positive youth development. In E. P. Bowers, G. J. Geldhof, S. K. Johnson, L. J. Hilliard, R. M. Hershberg, J. V. Lerner, & R. M. Lerner, (Eds.). Promoting positive youth development: Lessons from the 4-H Study (pp.161-186). Basel, Switzerland: Springer. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M. & Freund, A. M. (2015). Backup plans as a motivational construct. The European Health Psychologist, 17, 89-92. [DOI]
• Lerner, R. M., Napolitano, C. M., Boyd, M., Mueller, M. K., & Schmid, K. (2014). Mentoring and positive youth development. In D. DuBois and M. Karcher (Eds.). Handbook of youth mentoring: Mentoring and positive youth development. (2nd ed., pp. 17-28). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. [DOI]
• Lerner, J. V., Bowers, E. P., Minor, K., Lewin-Bizan, S., Boyd, M. J., Mueller, M. K., Schmid, K. L., Napolitano, C. M., & Lerner, R. M. (2012). Positive youth development: Processes, philosophies, and programs. In R. M. Lerner, M. A., Easterbrooks, & J. Mistry (Eds.), Handbook of Psychology: Developmental Psychology Vol. 6 (pp. 365-392). Editor-in-chief: I. B. Weiner. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. [DOI]
• Lerner, R. M., Boyd, M., Mueller, M. K., Napolitano, C. M., & Schmid, K. (2012). The history of the study of adolescence. In B. Brown, M. Prinstein (Eds.), & R. K. Silbereisen (Volume ed.). Encyclopedia of Adolescence (pp. 109-118). New York, NY: Academic Press. [DOI]
• Lerner, R. M, Wiatrowski, M., Mueller, M. K., Napolitano, C. M., Schmid, K.L., & Prichard, A (2011). A vision for the American juvenile justice system: The positive youth development perspective. In F. Sherman & F. Jacobs (Eds.). Health and Wellbeing in the Juvenile Justice System: Youth in Context (pp. 92-108). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. [DOI]
• Napolitano, C. M., Bowers, E. P., Gestsdóttir, S., & Chase, P. (2011). The development of intentional self-regulation in adolescence: Describing, explaining, and optimizing its link to Positive Youth Development. In R. M. Lerner, J. V. Lerner, & J. B Benson (Eds.) Advances in Child Development and Behavior (41), 19-38. [DOI]
• Lerner, R.M., Abo-Zena, M.M., Boyd, M.J., Fay, K., Issac, S., Kiely, M.K., Napolitano, C.M., & Schmid, K.L. (2010). O desenvolvimento positivo da juventude: perspectivas teóricas contemporâneas. In A.C. Fonseca (Ed.), Crianças e Adolescentes (pp. 69-90). Coimbra: Nova Almedina. [DOI]
• Lerner, R. M., Boyd, M. J., Kiely, M. K., Napolitano, C. M. & Schmid, K. (2010). Applications of developmental systems theory to benefit human development. In K. E. Hood, C. T. Halpern, G. Greenberg, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.) Handbook of developmental systems, behavior and genetics (pp. 663-684). Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell. [DOI]