Investigated whether three types of family decision making on adolescent adjustment were moderated by ethnicity and/or community. Found that, for joint and unilateral youth decision making, community context interacted with ethnicity in three patterns of influence, refuting the notion that ethnic differences in the influence of parental strictness…

This longitudinal study examined change in 220 adolescents' daily range of emotional states between early and late adolescence. Findings showed that emotional states became less positive across early adolescence; this downward change in average emotions ceased in grade 10. The greatest relative instability was during early adolescence; stability…

Examined the relationship between students' stress and social support in junior high school and the same students' psychological distress and school performance two years later. Stress and support variables predicted subsequent psychological distress. Stresses, but not supports, predicted subsequent school performance. (BC)

Used a person-centered analytic strategy with data from Youth Development Study to describe configurations of time use through the high school years. Found that students highly engaged in multiple domains tended to remain so across grade. Students focused on one or two domains frequently changed commitments, school plans, grade point average,…

Seventy-seven adolescents in 2-parent families and their parents were observed in a revealed-differences interaction task when the adolescents were age 14, and the adolescents' ego development and self-esteem were assessed at both age 14 and 16. Adolescents' displays of autonomy and relatedness were strongly related to concurrent measures of ego…

Assessed differences in masculinity, femininity, and sex role attitudes in adolescent girls and boys, and the relation of pubertal timing to intensification of those attitudes. Found that sex differences in masculinity and sex role attitudes increased with age. Pubertal timing was unrelated to masculinity, femininity, and sex role attitudes. (BC)

Examined technical and adaptive competence in coping among 97 African-American adolescents with learning disabilities. Findings indicated that short-term, reactive, technical competence was a better predictor of feelings of efficacy, and longer-term, developmental adaptive competence was a better predictor of behavioral problems. Gender subsample…

Compared adopted and nonadopted adolescents across variety of measures. Found that adopted adolescents were at higher risk in all domains examined, including school achievement and problems, psychological well-being, and physical health. Effect sizes for group differences were larger for males, younger or older adolescents, Hispanics or Asians,…

Examined relations among parenting dimensions and adolescents' occupational aspirations related to academics and sports. Found that parents' values predicted youths' values directly in the academic domain. Fathers' behaviors mediated the relation between parents' and youths' sports values. Identification was directly related to adolescents'…

Examined attitudes toward family obligations in American tenth and twelfth graders from Filipino, Chinese, Mexican, Central and South American, and European backgrounds. Found that even within a society emphasizing adolescent autonomy and independence, youths from families with collectivistic traditions retain their parents' familial values and…

Developmental trajectories of personal and collective self-concept were examined among American Indian adolescents. Personal self-concept (self-esteem) and collective self-concept (American Indian identity, Euro-American identity, community-mindedness) were assessed 6 times over 3 years in 4 cohorts of adolescents from 3 American Indian cultural…

Examined whether differentiating processes existed for 7 composite indices of positive and negative adolescent adjustment in 720 sibling pairs. Found that siblings born 1 year apart at Time 1 were more similar to each other than were siblings born 2 years apart, suggesting that shared environmental influences counteract sibling differentiation…

Of 4,100 adolescents, those who characterized their parents as authoritative scored highest on psychosocial competence and lowest on behavioral dysfunction. The reverse was true for neglected adolescents. Adolescents from authoritarian homes scored high on obedience but low on self-perception. Adolescents from indulgent homes evidenced…

Examined influence of perceived self-efficacy for affect regulation with older adolescents. Found that self-efficacy to regulate affect related to high efficacy to manage academic development, resist social pressures for antisocial activities, and engage with empathy in others' emotional experiences. Perceived self-efficacy for affect regulation…

A sample of 183 third through sixth grade students were administered the Revised Class Play (RCP). Seven years later, these children and their parents completed a questionnaire measuring the students' behavioral symptoms and social, athletic, and academic competence. The RCP scores were related to adolescent competence and psychopathology. (BC)