Puberty culminates in a dramatic and visually apparent set of changes in each individual. Social and psychological effects of the meaning of these changes are an important component in understanding the significance of puberty for adolescents and their behavior. (CJ)

Results of a study of aggression and friendship involving 315 children, ages 9-12, indicated that friendships of relatively aggressive children were characterized by relatively high levels of intimacy, exclusivity/jealousy, and relational aggression within the friendship context. In contrast, the friendships of overtly aggressive children were…

Instructed preadolescents to "fake bad" on comprehensive neuropsychological testing, then had cases reviewed by 42 clinical neuropsychologists. Ninety-three percent of reviewers diagnosed abnormality, most attributing results to cortical dysfunction; no clinician detected malingering. Results are consistent with other studies exploring…

Identifies several objectives of a student-assistance program that can aid students who wish to keep the group intact and those who wish to withdraw because of personal growth or changes in preferences. Seven consecutive group sessions are outlined in detail, and follow-up procedures are discussed. (NB)

Examined the relationship between anxiety and depression in young adolescents. Self-report measures of anxiety and depression yielded similar information, suggesting that the two are not separate constructs, but rather, a single entity. (GLR)

Examined contention that diverse adolescent problem behaviors reflect single underlying dimension of behavior in 426 preadolescent sixth graders. By using confirmatory factor analyses to test competing models, multiple factor structures were detected, suggesting that earlier findings supporting single factor conceptualization may not be…

Intentionally Inclusive 4-H Club Programs is a pilot project intended to create accessible 4-H environments for people with disabilities. An experiential curriculum for 9-12 year-olds was developed and used in three North Carolina counties. Formative evaluation showed how 4-H staff are raising awareness and involving youth and volunteers with…

Two studies with 9- to 12-year-old children supported the hypothesis that lay theories about the malleability of human traits impact judgments of and behavior toward groups in need of volunteer help. The more children endorsed an incremental view (attributes can change), the more they reported liking, desiring social contact with, and perceiving…

This experimental study explores how 60 primary-age children's (9-11 years old) understanding of rocks was effected by instruction that used the conceptual structure of the rock cycle together with the analogy of aluminium can recycling. Using a combination of probes into children's understanding, including concept maps and semi-structured…

Youth strengths are as important to consider as deficits in understanding developmental outcomes and thus are an important component of psychoeducational assessment. Latino/as are understudied with regard to strength-based constructs, although cultural and socioeconomic factors may be related to differences in Latino/a parents' views of their…

Aim: To describe sports participation in Australian adolescents. Method: Use of time, demographic, pedometer and anthropometric data were collected on a random sample of 2200 9-16 year olds. Results: Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) constituted 29% of all energy expenditure, and sport 58% of MVPA energy expenditure. Sports…

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a review of reviews to identify characteristics of effective sex and relationship education (SRE) interventions and/or programmes in young people to improve sexual health and identify barriers and facilitators for implementation. Six bibliographic databases were searched from 1986 to 2006 for systematic…

There are a wide range of provisions to be considered when catering for the mathematically gifted student(s) in the classroom. These include acceleration, enrichment, differentiation, curriculum compacting, mentorships, and competitions. The focus for this article is specifically on the use of competitions as one provision for the education of…

This study investigated social knowledge in school-age children, aged 8-12 years, with and without language impairment (LI and TD groups). A hypothetical peer conflict task was administered to examine the relationship among prosocial responses and parent/teacher ratings of children's social behaviours. Stimuli included 12 hypothetical peer…

The present research identifies an anomaly in sociocognitive development, whereby younger children (8 and 9 years) outperform their older counterparts (10 and 11 years) in a basic categorization task in which the acknowledgment of racial difference facilitates performance. Though older children exhibit superior performance on a race-neutral…