Reviews literature on effects of early maladjustment on later behavior problems. Discusses development as transactional process in which risk and resilience are central, a cumulative risk model of behavior problems as resulting from a variety of factors, and longitudinal research that focuses on externalizing behaviors. Concludes predictive power…

Seven gifted children (ages 9-14), their families, teachers, and friends were interviewed concerning their adjustment and coping with stress. Patterns which applied to all seven children are described, including: adjustment as process, use of withdrawal or self-initiated timeout, creation of challenges, assertiveness, recognition of achievement,…

This study investigated behavior problems in 66 school-aged physically abused, neglected, and control group children in the Basque Country, Spain. Abused and neglected children had higher subscale scores for social problems, delinquent behavior, and attention problems and showed lower school adjustment. Neglected children appeared more aggressive,…

Psychosocial characteristics of child maltreatment cases labelled as "not serious enough" were studied with 48 cases of suspected physical abuse, 13 of neglect, and 8 of psychological maltreatment identified by teachers, and a nonabused comparison group (n=283). Results indicated poor personal and social adjustment of the children in the…

Examined relations of acute and chronic life stressors and stable social resources to disease-related and psychosocial functioning among adolescents with juvenile rheumatic disease, and the mitigating impact of parental resources. Found that life stressors and social resources were unrelated to disease outcomes. However, adolescents with more risk…

Three studies examined children's ability to differentiate aggression and social withdrawal using attributional constructs. Found that even very young children understand the meaning of responsibility and are capable of using it to act as intuitive judges, weighing the evidence to make inferences about responsibility and then meting out judgments…

Psychosocial differences between 56 adolescent urban school-based clinic users and 108 nonusers were examined, considering the influence of gender. While a number of gender differences were noted, differences between clinic users and nonusers were limited. Nonusers were rated as more socially withdrawn by their peers. (SLD)

This study compared adolescent child molesters (n=31) with non-sex-offending delinquents (n=34) and normal adolescents. Molesters showed significantly more global maladjustment than normals and were more socially anxious and threatened by heterosocial interactions than non-sex-offending delinquents. Results support the hypothesis that social skill…

It is argued that the term "propriospect" is needed to define the private and subjective view of the world and its contents that each person develops through personal experience. The term can serve anthropologists for the constellation of cultural competencies a person achieves. (SLD)

Questionnaires assessed kinship support, psychosocial adjustment, and parenting practices for 125 African-American adolescents. Found that kinship support for adolescents was positively associated with adolescent adjustment and authoritative parenting practices in single- but not two-parent families and that parenting practices mediated the…

A study of 25 British students (ages 11-12) found that children with identified special needs did appear to be potentially at risk of being bullied through their social isolation. The most effective way of avoiding being bullied was to ensure there was someone lower down the pecking order than themselves. (CR)

Examines academic, social, and personal-emotional adjustment, as well as institutional attachment for women (N=198) attending a predominantly white coeducational research university. Significant main effects were found on academic achievement for year in college. Students differed on personal-emotional adjustment by race. Academic adjustment and…

Discusses the importance of stories in introducing migrants to the new societies they enter. Stories allow people to reach out to past generations and provide examples of successful coping in new lives. Stories can be a way to enter another person's world. (SLD)

Used two approaches to examine mothers', adolescents', and observers' discrepancies in perceptions of family interaction in rural, working-class families. Results using the divergent-realities approach support a developmental lifespan perspective positing that developmental tasks influence perception. Results using perceived-inequalities approach…

Estimated the frequency, comorbidity, and psychosocial impairment of depressive disorders from survey of 1,035 German 12- to 17-year-olds. Found that 17.9 percent met the lifetime criteria for depressive disorders, according to DSM-IV criteria; criteria were higher in females than in males. Rates for all disorders increased with age, with…