Investigated interrelationships among global self-concept, life events, positive subjective well being, negative affect, and life satisfaction in high school students (N=92). Results demonstrated that life events contributed significant variance to predictions of positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction, over that of global…

Highly recommends Rutter et al.'s work as an important review of the major research findings on adolescent problem behavior. Describes the structure of the book, summarizing each chapter. Cites as the strength of the book its concern with interdisciplinary explanations, historical trends, and international variations. (SD)

Discusses similarities and differences in the marketing of higher education and other services, especially in regard to marketing to high school students. Considers the importance of the college choice decision, the adolescent's competence to choose wisely in light of promotional efforts, family influences, and the question of what higher…

Examined friendships that are emotionally passionate yet lack sexual activity among 18- to 25-year-old sexual-minority women. Found that passionate friendships contained more characteristics of romantic friendships than conventional friendships. Same-sex passionate friendships were initiated at earlier ages than same-sex conventional friendships,…

Treatment of sexually abusive youth was initially patterned after treatment of adult sex offenders. Article discusses the important differences in understanding the developmental progression and in treatment approaches that have evolved. Supports developmental perspective for treatment of youth which views abusive sexuality as evidence of deviant…

Examined interrelations between hopelessness, loneliness, self-esteem, and personality in delinquent and nondelinquent adolescents in Russia. Found that delinquents differed from controls on most variables. Loneliness and hopelessness were highly interrelated and correlated with harm avoidance, and inversely correlated with self- directedness.…

Established normative data on the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS) (A. Petersen and others, 1988) of two population-based birth cohorts of Finnish twin boys and girls assessed at ages 11-12 and 14 years (complete data for 664 boys and 681 girls). Also reports longitudinal analyses of the associations between pubertal development and substance use.…

The nature of early adolescent social cognition as characterized by the theory of adolescent egocentrism was investigated, through three studies, by examining age differences in judgments of hypothetical peer conversations. Findings do not support the notion that adolescents believe others are attentive to and critical of their every move, or that…

Discusses the effects of violence on today's children and adolescents, focusing on: risk factors for violence (age, gender, and personal characteristics); family violence; violence beyond the family (in the media, in the community, and among peers); effects of exposure to violence related to school functioning, emotional stability, and orientation…

Recent advances in statistical techniques for longitudinal data analysis have provided increased capabilities for elucidating individual differences in trajectories of change in child behaviours and abilities. However, most techniques still assume that there is a single underlying distribution with respect to changes over time, about which…

Although reports calling for middle level schooling reform first appeared in the mid-1970s, change has been slow to come. In Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century (1989), the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development outlined eight essential elements of middle level education. Drawing from the Carnegie Council's…

Healthy adolescents (79 girls, 66 boys), ages 9-17, completed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; A. Bechara, A. R. Damasio, H. Damasio, & S. W. Anderson, 1994) as well as working memory (digit span) and behavioral inhibition (go/no-go) tasks. Cross-sectional age-related changes were seen on all 3 tasks. Gender differences were seen in IGT deck…

New research reveals that media use may contribute to shaping not only adolescents' developing beliefs about gender, race, sexuality, and beauty ideals but also their brains and biology.

Although research on friendship reveals the significance of friendship for children, questions about friendship and development remain unanswered. It is argued that the study of friendship would benefit from a return to basic questions about what friendship is, how it is measured, and how it varies across people and contexts.

Neuroscience and developmental psychology can give useful insight into adolescent behavior that is believed to be the result of the interplay between body chemistry, brain development and cognitive growth. The new findings offer guidance to educators on how to channel adolescent energy into healthy directions.