Examined relationships between adolescents' explanations for unemployment, poverty, and homelessness, and their beliefs about opportunity, reports of family values, and personal aspirations. Found that likelihood of attributing problems to societal causes was positively related to maternal education and average household income in adolescent's…

Examined impact of mood, age, and gender on decision processes in a job-selection task for seventh through twelfth graders and adults. Found that females discarded more information and took longer to decide in negative versus positive or neutral moods. Junior high females were more pessimistic about their chances to obtain their desired job;…

This report summarizes the deliberations, findings, and recommendations of the National Commission on Adolescent Sexual Health. The report defines the characteristics of a sexually healthy adolescent, provides a foundation for understanding the three developmental stages of adolescents (early, middle, and late adolescence), and offers…

This document discusses the question of gender in youth development programs, those structured activities and opportunities sponsored by organizations other than schools and offered outside of school hours. Many of these organizations offer programs for people of all ages but the clear focus of this paper is early adolescence, about ages 10 to 15.…

This paper addresses the effects of developmental changes that occur in the transition from childhood to adolescence on parent-child relationships. The first section considers four theoretical approaches to changes in relationships during the transition to adolescence. Noted especially are perspectives regarding the impetus for changes in…

Data from the National Survey of Children (Waves 1 and 3), a longitudinal survey of 2,000 children who were between the ages of 7 and 11 during the first wave in 1976 and between the ages of 16 and 20 during the third wave in 1987, were analyzed to examine the impact of paternal involvement during childhood as well as the ongoing father-child…

A survey of 612 extremely gifted adolescents attending the Talent Identification Program identified three groups: (1) academically oriented; (2) socially oriented; and (3) highly motivated-gregarious. The tendency among gifted females to be more social and gregarious and better balanced between social and achievement interests than males warrants…

This study investigated six differences in the effects of parents' educational expectations and relationship with parents on 105 young Israeli adolescents. Results showed differences in both aspects of family learning environment, including a negative relation for females and a positive relation for males between realistic expectations and…

As a result of discussions at a 1983 Social Science Research Council meeting, a study group was convened to bring together all the professionals currently examining maturation timing. This interdisciplinary group reports findings in two issues of this journal, and its work is introduced in this paper. (LMO)

Explored the latent structure of adolescent alcohol use and its construct validity. Using data from 2,096 American Indian high school students, a double cross-validation design uncovered a three-dimensional latent structure of adolescent alcohol use: quantity/frequency, negative consequences, and serious problem drinking. These distinct, yet…

Although equal numbers of highly gifted boys and girls are found from early childhood until about age 12, 98% of the preeminent adults are male. This may be because, during preadolescence and adolescence, girls receive societal messages that undermine gifted girls' confidence and motivation. A vigorous campaign is needed to establish gender equity…

Twelve papers on the emergence and maintenance of severe clinical depression and depressive symptoms during adolescence are presented. Topics include parental influences, epidemiological data, depressive and negative affect, hormonal effects, preadolescent symptoms, sex differences, longitudinal studies with rhesus monkeys, suicidal ideation,…

Compares alcohol use among Mexican-American and White non-Hispanic school dropouts, and among students in good academic standing. Results indicate that dropouts are at a higher risk for alcohol use and misuse. Discusses implications in terms of prevalence and prevention. (Author/GCP)

Longitudinal study showed that during 6th and 7th grades boys reported significantly higher levels of self-competence than girls. Boys were less depressed and anxious than girls in 7th grade, but not in 6th grade. Results support the hypothesis that self-competence is partially responsible for the emergence of gender differences in depression and…

Examined psychometric properties of Adolescent Risk-Taking Questionnaire, using 11- to 18-year-olds. Found that the four-factor risk structure was substantiated via confirmatory factor analysis. One week test-retest and internal consistency indices were sound. Older adolescents and boys perceived less risk and reported more risky behaviors than…