Young children are being fast tracked at early age because of pressures from parents, schools, society, and media. One result is troubled teenagers who experience stress of these pressures without having adult means to cope with them. Time spent with parents and in play activities are activities that help children to gain security, happiness, and…

Home economics curriculum for middle schools should be based on development of self-forming individuals as family members, on the needs and characteristics of early adolescents, and on the practical problems faced by early adolescents in the process of growth and development. (SK)

Implemented Success in School program which focuses on dropout prevention with fifth-grade students (N=37). Self-reports indicated students saw themselves in a more positive light and were able to predict future successes for themselves. Recommends school programs that help students improve their self-esteem as strategy to reduce ultimate dropout…

Investigates the behavioral development of 157 children of 7-15 years who were reared in children's villages. Results indicate that the proportion of behavior problems of children reared in monoparental foster care is equivalent to those of children reared in working-class families. (RJC)

Finds that 44 seventh graders in an American Indian boarding school responded successfully to about half the scenarios on the modified Decision Making Instrument, had similar success rates for scenarios with health or social foci, but showed different patterns of error for health and social decisions. Contains 19 references. (SV)

Describes the sixth Annual (1988) National Indian Youth Leadership Camp, an 8-day cooperative leadership experience for 40 Indian seventh and eighth graders. Discusses staff, funding, program philosophy, outdoor activities, seminar content and values, and program evaluation. (SV)

Argues that the tobacco industry deliberately uses advertising to influence young people to experiment with tobacco. Advertisements in sports, entertainment and sex-oriented magazines, outdoor advertising, and promotions in youth-oriented movies are all intended to influence young people. Lists actions individuals can take to reduce the influence…

Examined whether Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) could discriminate between learning disabled and normal preadolescents. Tested 43 learning disabled (LD) students and 20 students without learning disabilities. Results indicated that the Achievement score relative to the Mental Processing Composite score was the only measure to…

Interview responses of 72 fifth-, eighth-, and eleventh-graders revealed developmental changes in the scope and nature of perceived peer influence and in the extent to which peer group reactions have an impact on self-evaluations. Developmental changes in the apparent reference-group functions of peer groups for adolescent identity formation are…

Examined social-cognitive processes of aggressive and nonaggressive boys (n=296) at preadolescent and early adolescent age levels. Found that wide range of social-cognitive processes was distorted and deficient for violent and moderately aggressive boys and that different types of social cognition contributed unique variance in discriminating…

Hearing-impaired and normal hearing children in 2 age groups (5-6 years and 9-12 years) were observed for possible differences in their perception and production of intonation. Results indicated that imitation of intonation carried on nonsense syllables was not affected by age. Hearing-impaired subjects scored much lower than controls in imitating…

Studied 4- to 10-year-olds' familiarity judgments of peers. Found that, contrary to adults, external facial features were key. Also found that the switch to adult recognition pattern takes place after the ninth year. (ETB)

Investigated the role of talk in peer collaborations using a computer-based scientific reasoning task. Analysis of children's talk showed that talk dyads produced more talk overall and more interpretive types of talks than talk-alone subjects. Results suggest the importance of peer collaborations as a social context that supports interpretive…

Questionnaires assessing perceived competence, perceived control, competitive trait anxiety, and motivational orientation were completed by 108 boys. Additionally, 12 coaches were observed for 2 games in order to record coaching behaviors during competition. The model tested showed that both coaching behaviors and children's trait anxiety causally…

Investigated joint factor structure of Differential Abilities Scale and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised for 115 children. Compared theoretically supportable models (Spearman's General factor; Wechsler's Verbal, Performance, and Freedom from Distractibility factors; Elliott's verbal, nonverbal, spatial, and diagnostic perspective)…