Used two path models to examine the influence of ethnic identity and intergroup contact on adolescents' attitudes toward other ethnic groups: (1) ethnic identity increases with age and predicts positive in-group attitudes which contribute to positive out-group attitudes; and (2) diversity outside school leads to more out-group interaction in…

This study assessed how schools, neighborhoods, nuclear families, and friendship groups jointly contribute to positive change during early adolescence. Analyses showed that the four context indices modestly intercorrelated at the individual student level, but clustered more tightly at the school and neighborhood levels. Joint influence of all four…

Examined age differences in 9- to 15-year-olds' experiences with families and friends, and by themselves. Amount of time spent with family decreased with age. Affect with family became less positive through seventh grade; affect with friends became more favorable with age; affect when alone did not vary. (BC)

Developed and validated Parents of Adolescents Separation Anxiety Scale with parents of sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders, and college freshmen and seniors. Factor analyses supported two subscales: Anxiety about Adolescent Distancing (AAD) and Comfort with Secure Base Role (CSBR); both showed distinctive change patterns with child age.…

Examined adolescents' peer structures and the quality of their friendships as antecedents of romantic relationships among 180 high schoolers followed from grade 9 through 11. Found that small groups of close friends predicted other-sex peer networks that, in turn, predicted the emergence of future romantic relationships. Found indirect effects for…

Two studies of adolescents in England and Russia examined the effects of prolonged instruction on students' development of abstract deductive reasoning and understanding of logical necessity in algebraic and verbal reasoning. Results indicated that prolonged instruction emphasizing the metalevel of algebraic deduction contributed to enhanced…

Examines the development of, and interrelations among, three types of autonomy during the transition from childhood into adolescence: emotional autonomy in relationships with parents, resistance to peer pressure, and the subjective sense of self-reliance. (HOD)

Event history analysis, spanning grades 7 through 12, was used to test a developmental model of the timing of first sexual intercourse among boys at risk for delinquency. As predicted, antisocial/delinquent behavior and substance use along with early physical maturity and parental transitions predicted early onset of sexual intercourse. Anxiety…

A series of meta-analyses identified changes in parent-child conflict during adolescence and moderating factors. Results of age meta-analyses indicated that conflict rate and total conflict declined from early to mid adolescence and from mid to late adolescence; conflict affect increased from early to mid-adolescence. Puberty meta-analyses…

Adolescent adjustment measures may be related to each other and to the social environment in various ways. Are these relationships similar in genetic and environmental sources of covariation, or different? A multivariate behaviorgenetic analysis was made of 6 adjustment and 3 treatment composites from the study Nonshared Environment in Adolescent…

Analyzed correlates of social problem solving in 63 2-parent families with a preadolescent. Structured interviews were held when child was about 9.5 years old, and again 2 years later. Found a substantial decline in the quality of family problem solving during preadolescence associated with changes in the participation and affective behavior of…

Forty-two families with children in transition to early and mid-adolescence were interviewed in a follow-up study of parent-child agreement in beliefs concerning the child, and of children's awareness of parental beliefs. Results indicate increases in accuracy of prediction of parental beliefs by children between the ages of 10 and 13. (RJC)

Examined the emergence of theory-motivated reasoning biases when early and middle adolescents evaluated evidence either congruent or incongruent to their theories of social class or religion. Found that higher order scientific reasoning was used to reject theory-incongruent evidence; judgmental heuristics were used to evaluate theory-congruent…

This study treated a key relationship in the developmental ecology of adolescence, friendships, as multidimensional and context specific. First, it examined 4 characteristics of friends (academic achievement, alcohol use, emotional distress, and extracurricular participation) as independent factors and as components in holistic friendship group…

Examined links between parental knowledge and adolescent delinquent behavior for correlated rates of developmental change and reciprocal associations from age 14 to 18. Found that parent knowledge was negatively correlated with delinquent behaviors at age 14 and knowledge increases over time were negatively correlated with increases in…