Used the theory of planned behavior in a sample of 15- and 16-year-old students (N=285), to create a comprehensive model for predictors of adolescent smoking. Students with lower conduct/morality self-efficacy had more positive attitudes toward smoking. Discusses results in terms of potential interventions to discourage adolescent smoking. (RJM)

Identifies developmental, social skill, and problem behavior subdomains that best predict academic achievement and grade promotion or retention in the early school years. Tests of 184 students at the end of kindergarten and then one year later indicate that social skills assessment should be included in kindergarten screening packages. (RJM)

A study of 10 high-risk (of child physical abuse) and 10 demographically similar low-risk Spanish mother-child dyads investigated interactional patterns in the home. High-risk mothers made fewer neutral approaches to their children, displayed more negative behaviors toward their children, and made more indiscriminate responses to their children's…

Examined relationships among drinking norms, peer alcohol use, alcohol availability, drinking location, alcohol consumption, and drinking-related problems among young adult drinkers (N=3,095). Results show that drinking norms and peer alcohol use influenced alcohol consumption and drinking consequences. Drinking in public contributed to alcohol…

The MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (a parent-report measure of vocabulary and syntax) was administered to 103 children (mean age 103 months) who participated in a study of temporal resolution as infants. Children who had performed above the median on the temporal resolution task demonstrated better later language development than…

Two studies compared the relative effectiveness of a developmentally based language facilitation program, a direct language facilitation program, or a combined developmental/direct program for 52 preschool children with disabilities. Both studies indicated that no program was better overall. Differential effects of the interventions could be…

The demographic and psychological variables associated with seeking help in coping with emotional problems in early and middle adolescence from parents, friends, and professionals were studied with 221 adolescents. Differential patterns of predictor variables emerged for each helping resource and for both genders. (SLD)

Textual properties of documents were analyzed to identify predictive variables for various document qualities by means of statistical and linguistic methods. A collection of 1000 documents was created, and each document was judged in terms of nine document qualities (accuracy, reliability, objectivity, depth, author/producer credibility,…

Tests the Primary Socialization Hypothesis of deviant behavior in examining drug use in a sample of adolescents participating in a federally sponsored program for disadvantaged youth. The theory holds that peer, family, and schools are the principal agents in instilling pro-social norms in adolescents. As predicted by the theory, family and school…

Evaluates a social development model of psychosocial predictors of drug use in Anglo and Hispanic children and adolescents. Structural equation models reveal that patterns and predictors of drug use are distinct for each sub-group, by age and ethnicity. Later drug use was primarily associated with prior use, exposure to parental and peer models of…

This study with 45 institutionalized individuals with mental retardation and self injurious behavior (SIB) calculated conditional probability using sequential analysis techniques. It found that successive episodes of self-injury were sequentially dependent and this association was not related to frequency or rate of occurrence. The best predictor…

Examined relative influence of parenting behaviors (support, behavioral control, and psychological control) and deviant peers on trajectories of externalizing and internalizing problems in early adolescence. Found that parents' firm behavioral control seemed to halt the upward trajectory in externalizing problems among adolescents with deviant…

This study assessed 3- to 17-year-olds' memory and suggestibility in the context of ongoing child maltreatment investigations. Results from 189 subjects indicated that general psychopathology, short-term memory, and intellectual ability predicted facets of children's memory performance. Older compared to young children evinced fewer memory errors…

Explores links between father involvement at age 7 and emotional and behavioral problems at age 16, and between father involvement at age 16 and psychological distress at age 33. Father involvement at age 7 protected against psychological maladjustment in adolescents from non-intact families, and father involvement at age 16 protected against…

Reports a cross-sectional investigation of the link between community violence exposure and academic difficulties for 237 urban elementary school children. Analyses indicated that community violence exposure was associated with poor academic performance. These relations appear to be mediated by symptoms of depression and disruptive behavior.…