Despite research on peer dynamics in mainstream classrooms and in mental health interventions, investigations of peer dynamics in self-contained classrooms for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) are limited. This study examined the influence of classroom behavior norms on individual behavior in a school for students with…

Adolescent intentional and unintentional injury is commonly related to involvement in violence and transportation behaviors. While many risk and promotive factors have been identified, a cumulative assessment of such factors is less common, and this has rarely been undertaken with transportation behaviors. The study involved Australian adolescents…

This study estimates peer effects in diverse friendship networks by friend types. Evidence from friendship networks for 57,351 U.S. high school adolescents demonstrates that adolescents are more likely to make friends with someone of the same immigrant status or ethnicity ('similar friends') than those with different backgrounds ('dissimilar…

Adolescence is a very complex period. Various teen problems haunt when they grow up to become adults. The same teenagers successfully face the challenges of their development so that they are free from a variety of risky behaviors. However, some of them also smoke, consume alcohol, have free sex, commit violence, and use drugs. This research is a…

Heightened attention to bullying in research and in the media has led to a proliferation of school climate surveys that ask students to report their level of involvement in bullying. In this study, the authors reviewed the challenges associated with measuring bullying and the implications they have on the reliability of school climate surveys.…

The aim of this research is to assess the opinions of students in a variety of high schools at different class levels who received disciplinary punishment for violence. The research comprised 35 boys and 10 girls, for a total of 45 students. The data for the research were obtained with semi-structured interviews. The results show that the students…

There has been significant interest in examining the developmental factors that predispose individuals to chronic criminal offending. This body of research has identified some social-environmental risk factors as potentially important. At the same time, the research producing these results has generally failed to employ genetically sensitive…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the effect of a multiple high-risk behaviors prevention program applied comprehensively throughout an entire school-system involving universal, selective, and indicated levels of students at a local private high school during a 4-year period. The prevention program was created based upon the…

A substantial amount of research has suggested that adolescents' attitudes and behaviors are influenced by peers; however, little is known regarding adolescents' individual variability, or susceptibility, to peer influence. In this study, a performance-based index from an experimental paradigm was used to directly measure adolescents'…

This study examined the relationship between risk, assets, and negative health behaviors among a large sample of Hispanic adolescents. Data were collected from over 1,000 Hispanic youth in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 attending school in a moderate size school district in Northwest Arkansas. Logistic regression models examined the variation in the odds…

Researchers have demonstrated that students who had a strong sense of school belonging exhibited greater academic motivation and performance (E. Anderman, 2002; Faircloth & Hamm, 2005), had fewer emotional and behavioral difficulties (Furrer & Skinner, 2003; McMahon, Singh, Garner, & Benhorin; 2004), and were less likely to dropout of…

The current study is a formative evaluation of an integrated, school-based program for urban minority youth transitioning into high school. The design of this pilot project was quasi-experimental in nature, with one freshman physical education class assigned to receive the intervention and one to receive no program or "treatment as usual." The…

Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) is a competency-based approach to intervening with adolescents, particularly within the schools, who are experiencing emotional pain, psychological distress, or behavioral disruption in their personal lives. LSCI is used to help classroom teachers, guidance counselors, administrators, and other school staff to…

Describes a peer culture development program implemented in three Chicago public high schools (N=150), which uses peer influence in group meetings (classes) as means for reduction of adolescent problem behavior. Reports an evaluation study providing generally positive findings showing reduction in destructive or detrimental behavior. (Author/LLL)

The present study considered the relation between adolescent gambling behavior and the perceived environment, the component of Jessor and Jessor's (1977) Problem Behavior Theory that assesses the ways that adolescents perceive the attitudes and behaviors of parents and peers. The predominantly African-American sample included 188 sophomores from…