Discusses the need to provide information on sexuality and AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) to children and young adults and provides in-depth reviews of appropriate resource materials. Abstinence and sexual responsibility are discussed; school curriculum resources are described; and resources for teachers are reviewed. (LRW)

Describes objectives of the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health multisite intervention study which develops behavioral school health education plans. It targets third through fifth graders, stressing cardiovascular health behaviors (e.g., eating habits, physical activity, and smoking). Curricula, school environmental change, and…

Data concerning children's adjustment indicated that (1) the quality of marital relationships was related to the quality of parent-child relationships; (2) authoritative parenting correlated with high levels of children's social and scholastic competence; and (3) the quality of sibling relationships correlated with children's social competence and…

Data from a longitudinal study of adolescent development of approximately 2,300 sixth and seventh graders (the Michigan Study of Adolescent Life Transitions) provide a basis for the hypothesis that optimal developmental outcomes should result from an environment that gradually reduces adult control as the child's desire for autonomy increases.…

Summarizes research on middle level schools and students that contributes to ongoing debates concerning grade span, school size, grouping of students, departmentalization, curriculum, instruction, advisory groups, interdisciplinary teaming, school-transition activities, extra-help programs, and student evaluation practices in the middle grades.…

Explored pathways of influence linking parenting practices, child perceptions of their parents and peers, and social adjustment. Found parenting practices were related to peer- reported social behavior, peer dislike, and child social problem solving. Children's perceptions of parenting experiences were related to their social problem solving and…

This cross-sectional study explored whether participation, from early childhood, in play involving different cognitive abilities predicts visuo-spatial achievement at ages 9, 12, and 15. Based on parental assessment, prior and present practice of spatial manipulation play was found to be consistently more frequent in boys than in girls; the…

Background: Individual differences in depressive symptoms have been linked with social skill deficits in adults and children, yet empirical studies on adolescents are lacking. The present research examines age and gender differences in nonverbal behaviour between mildly depressed and nondepressed (pre-) adolescents during conversations with an…

We examined children's behavioral coping in response to an "in vivo" peer rejection manipulation. Participants (N = 186) ranging between 10 and 13 years of age, played a computer game based on the television show "Survivor" and were randomized to either peer rejection (i.e., being voted out of the game) or non-rejection control. During a five-min.…

Objective: To examine sex differences in correlates of disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) in preadolescent children using indicators of a wide range of well-established risk factors for DBDs and outcomes 3 years after initial assessment. Method: Analyses were based on data for 5- to 10-year-olds (n = 5,913) from the British Child and Adolescent…

Early onset of at-risk behaviors has been recognized as an important predictor of severity of negative outcomes during adolescence, but little is known about rural children's involvement in such behaviors and related variables. In two rural Midwest counties with high concentrations of child poverty, a survey of 162 predominantly Caucasian fifth-…

The middle school concept was devised to counteract the tendency of junior high school programs to mimic those of the high school at the expense of addressing the developmental needs of students who are in the process of physical maturation. This book on curriculum design focuses on the importance of the middle school and understanding…

This monograph examines early adolescence as a developmental period and explains the physical, psychosocial, and cognitive characteristics of 10- to 14-year-olds. The monograph also discusses how middle schools can provide developmentally appropriate educational experiences. Chapter 1 of the monograph explores early adolescence as a developmental…

This study investigated whether alcohol use by public school students differs in its relationship to other variables when analyzed on the individual level versus the aggregated group level. The study presents a model and a set of analytic techniques for studying the ways that school and individual variables relate to adolescent alcohol abuse.…

The central question of this study was: could interventions of an affective nature be consistently applied in a controlled manner over a sufficient period of time to assure multi-dimensional growth in pre-adolescents that could be measured by a battery of instruments? The subjects of the study were two school principals, students from grades 2, 4,…