The authors propose that peer relationships should be included in a life history perspective on adolescent problem behavior. Longitudinal analyses were used to examine deviant peer clustering as the mediating link between attenuated family ties, peer marginalization, and social disadvantage in early adolescence and sexual promiscuity in middle…

When the author's 25-year-old daughter Anna applied for a job as a secretary at a charter public school in the Rio Bravo neighborhood of Albuquerque, the principal thought she was overqualified for the job with her degree from St. John's College in Santa Fe. The principal instead asked her to take over for a teacher who was quitting her 6th grade…

This study examined a typology of adaptive and maladaptive behaviors of 2,552 ethnically diverse early adolescents who attended sixth grade in public schools and lived in disadvantaged communities. Behavioral adjustment of adolescents was measured by teacher ratings using the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC). Although typologies of…

We examined the influence of income source within the context of persistent poverty on children's disruptive classroom behavior at age 12 and whether these associations were mediated by maternal supervision at ages 10 and 11. Using a subsample (N = 1,112) from the Quebec Longitudinal Study, we coded four economic circumstances indicating…

A dynamic cascade model of development of serious adolescent violence was proposed and tested through prospective inquiry with 754 children (50% male; 43% African American) from 27 schools at 4 geographic sites followed annually from kindergarten through Grade 11 (ages 5-18). Self, parent, teacher, peer, observer, and administrative reports…