The present study considered the relation between adolescent gambling behavior and the perceived environment, the component of Jessor and Jessor's (1977) Problem Behavior Theory that assesses the ways that adolescents perceive the attitudes and behaviors of parents and peers. The predominantly African-American sample included 188 sophomores from…

This study purports that parental rejection and warmth are critical to the development of adolescent drug use, and investigates a model that also considers children's vulnerability and deviant peer affiliations. It tests mediation through the proximal risk factor of deviant peers. Poisson growth curve modeling was used to examine participants from…

The authors examined whether gender differences in language achievement were related not only to gender differences in attitudes toward schooling but also to the attitudes toward schooling of peers (i.e., peers in classes and in schools). The authors used multilevel analysis on data compiled from a longitudinal research project in secondary…

The "Handbook of Youth Prevention Science" describes current research and practice in mental health preventive interventions for youth. Traditional prevention research focused on preventing specific disorders, e.g. substance abuse, conduct disorders, or criminality. This produced "silos" of isolated knowledge about the…

This book summarizes the major research findings that show how to substantially increase student achievement. This book draws on a number of investigators who have statistically synthesized many studies. A new education method showing superior results in 90% of the studies concerning it has more credibility than a method that shows results in only…

The consequences of gender social and learning interactions in the classroom are of interest to parents, policy makers, and researchers. However, little is known about gender peer effects in schools and their operational channels. In this paper, we estimate the effects of classroom gender composition on scholastic achievements of boys and girls in…

This paper reports on a study of pupils' views about tackling bullying and discusses the findings in the context of related research on "telling" and other coping strategies. The research was undertaken in two related phases. In the first phase, in-depth focus groups were conducted with pupils in Years 5 and 8 in twelve participating…

This article describes the implementation of an innovative curriculum called Drugs-At-Work (DAW), which was evaluated in three phases. In phase-one, data collected after the third year of the study suggested that the curriculum had a significant impact on the fifth-grade participants, who in turn influenced their sixth-grade classmates the…

We investigated determinants of parental monitoring and the association between parental monitoring and preadolescent sexual risk situations among low-income, African American families living in urban public housing. Preadolescents and their parents or caregivers who participated in a longitudinal study of familial and contextual influences on…

Investigating variables associated with the school success and educational resilience of urban youth of color should be a high priority because of the persistent achievement gap in the United States. The current study examined individual and peer factors' relation to the school engagement of 132 seventh- and eighth-grade students from a diverse…

UNICEF data indicates that Iraqi women have lower rates of breastfeeding than other Middle East countries and that breastfeeding rates are usually even lower among refugee women. This low rate of breastfeeding may be a result of refugee women's lack of public and social support and access to health professionals. This study identifies Iraqi…

DARE is a preventive drug education program intended to combat drug use by students before it commences. The elementary school program is the core curriculum of DARE. It is designed to help those enrolled to develop skills that will allow them to resist the pressures to use substances such as illegal drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Students are taught…

This paper outlines a bully-proofing program that aims to shift power away from the fear of bullies to the "silent majority." The Bully Project is a comprehensive systems approach which changes the attitude and environment of the school. It does this by training the staff to recognize the difference between bully and victim behavior and…

This paper explores the ways in which inner-city students' social, cultural, and political relationships and their thinking and behavior patterns that stem from the range of different situations outside the classroom can shape the classroom roles that they develop with their peers as thinkers and learners of English and writing. It presents a case…

Incidences of aggressive and violent actions in schools have been increasing. The goals of this practicum were to reduce aggressive and violent behavior in a large, comprehensive, public high school and to make students and staff aware of peaceful alternatives to conflicts. Solution strategies included teaching conflict resolution skills in the…