Administered Washington University Sentence Completion Test, Rest Defining Issues Test, and moral judgment interview of reasons for choosing abortion to unmarried females (ages 12-14, 17-19, 23-25). Found clear developmental differences between youngest and two older groups on ego development and principled moral reasoning; no major differences…

Examined structural equation model for depressed mood for three samples of boys (n=317) from at-risk families. Model accounted for from 51 percent to 68 percent of variance in criterion construct. Hypothesized negative path coefficients from good peer relations construct to depressed mood construct were significant; path from academic skills…

Rated gender boundary violation and maintenance of 47 preadolescents participating in a summer day camp. Found that children who violated gender boundaries tended to be unpopular with peers; and children who maintained boundaries were judged by camp counselors to be more competent socially than children who violated boundaries. (MDM)

Examines recent research on cultural and gender differences among early adolescents, focusing on friendship patterns, identity development, social expectations, self-esteem, learning styles, health concerns, achievement aspirations, and sex role attitudes and behaviors. Young adolescents benefit when middle-level educators provide opportunities…

Examined how younger and older adolescents differed in their value judgments of historically important events. Subjects (n=154) between the ages of 11 and 27 listed 10 most important events to United States since 1900. Three most frequently cited events were World Wars I and II and Vietnam. Age was much better predictor of value judgments than…

Examined the hypotheses that intimacy of friendship is more integral to socioemotional adjustment during adolescence than during preadolescence, and that competence in close relationship skills is more important during adolescence than preadolescence. Findings suggest the importance of the ability to establish close friendships increases during…

Measured degree of career certainty, involvement in career planning, and level of academic aspiration of gifted students (n=161) several times. Found no main effects for sex; interaction of sex and age produced significant results. Girls were more certain than boys about their talents and career plans in elementary school but not in junior high…

Compares the responses of 10- and 11-year olds with those of 12- to 17-year olds in a national telephone survey of youth (N=2,000) concerning victimization and victimization prevention education. Younger children disclosed fewer sensitive kinds of victimization, but their rates for assaults were equivalent to the older children. (Author/MKA)

Advocates early intervention to prevent high-risk behaviors among upper-elementary school students. Discusses changes experienced by preadolescents and implications for their learning and future adjustment. Reviews brief intervention packages and describes an alternative approach involving embedding a prevention program into daily classroom…

A family process model was used to link mothers' and fathers' psychological functioning to sibling relationship quality in a sample of 9- to 12-year-old African American youth (N=85) living in the rural Southeastern United States. Better parental psychological functioning was linked to more supportive relationships in the family, and youth in…

The first of three articles that develop a framework for county-based prevention-resource-allocation algorithms based on the aggravated need for substance-abuse-prevention services estimated at the county level. Algorithm development is based on (1) statewide student drug survey, and (2) a set of social indicators routinely published by agencies…

Examined the degree to which affect regulation in the family as a whole would be linked to a particular quality of marital relationships--individuation. Found that individuated marital systems were associated with more positive affective tone, better conflict resolution, greater optimization of individual development within family relationships,…

Evaluated emotional expressiveness, empathy, and prosocial behavior in 9-, and 13-year-olds. As expected, emotional expressiveness, emotional insight, and role taking were strong predictors of latent empathy. Boys' empathy was a strong predictor of prosocial behavior, whereas girls' empathy was related to prosocial behaviors with friends but not…

Parents of 16 children (ages 10 to 14) with learning disabilities were interviewed about their perceptions of the quality of friendship of their children. Mothers sometimes disagreed that child-nominated friends were truly friends and often attributed their children's problems with friendships to social immaturity or social-skills deficits.…

Studied the relative contribution to and function of general risk factors for mental disorders and compensatory, vulnerability, and protective factors in a sample of 1,110 preadolescents and adolescents in Switzerland. Identified general risk factors for both sexes and general compensatory factors, which included self-esteem and acceptance by…