Interviewed 18 students from six middle schools to determine causes of resiliency in students. Found no significant differences in responses by race or gender, or by urban, rural, or suburban settings. Found that significant relationships with adults and positive use of time contribute to academic success of students from high-risk circumstances.…

Seeks to determine if differences exist in learning styles between developmental "at-risk" college students and college peer-tutors. Finds that through the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), differences existed on the Judging-Perceiving scale. Discusses academic skills related to this scale along with suggestions peer-tutors can use…

Notes that "Loveys," or transitional comfort objects, are an important prop in some children's emotional and intellectual development. Provides developmental information, and describes types of children who typically use loveys, challenges to child care programs when the object comes to school, and how children give up their attachments.…

This chapter explores obstacles to and strategies for developing social justice attitudes and actions with men.

Childhood temperament and family environment have been shown to predict internalizing and externalizing behavior; however, less is known about how temperament and family environment interact to predict changes in problem behavior. We conducted latent growth curve modeling on a sample assessed at ages 5, 7, 10, 14, and 17 (N = 337). Externalizing…

The Circle of Courage identifies four universal needs of all children: Belonging, Mastery, Independence, and Generosity. When these needs are met, children grow and thrive. But when these growth needs are frustrated, multiple problems follow. The Circle of Courage defines problems of youth in terms of strengths and developmental needs. These…

In this study, the authors examined (a) the protective potential of multiple components of ethnic and racial identity and (b) the aspects of an Africentric orientation for moderating psychobehavioral risk and protective factors for drug use among a sample of 333 urban low-income African American young adults. Ethnic and racial identity and…

In a study of adolescents in the 1970s, girls were high in normbreaking if they attended youth recreation centers "and" were heavily involved with peers or boys (Stattin et al., 2003). The present study investigated whether these results could be replicated on a modern sample, and then examined parent-child relationships and personality…

Forty-four children who had been born preterm and their mothers participated in the follow-up study. At 3 and 14 months (corrected age) cognitive development was assessed using the BOS 2-30, the Dutch version of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. The BOS yields measures of mental and motor development. At 7.5 years, intelligence was measured…

In this study we examined the association of optimism and depressive symptoms with self-reported physical symptoms in 241 low-income, inner-city African American women with or without a chronic illness (HIV). Although optimism was not a unique predictor of self-reported physical symptoms over and above depressive symptoms, optimism interacted with…

A continuous assessment and a categorical diagnosis of the presence (i.e., flourishing) and the absence (i.e., languishing) of mental health were proposed and applied to the Midlife in the United States study data, a nationally representative sample of adults between the ages of 25 and 74 years (N = 3,032). Confirmatory factor analyses supported…

In this study, the author examined whether family system functioning was associated with resilience in children exposed to negative environmental stress. In a sample of 55 low-income, urban families, greater differentiation of self among mothers predicted child competence--that is, better verbal and math achievement scores and lower…

Fifth-graders' (N = 162; 93 girls) relationships with parents and friends were examined with respect to their main and interactive effects on psychosocial functioning. Participants reported on parental support, the quality of their best friendships, self-worth, and perceptions of social competence. Peers reported on aggression, shyness and…

Since the "Brown" decision of 1954, American society has moved from a position of seeing no redeeming value in black culture to acknowledging that African Americans have rich cultures worth celebrating. This article reports the case of Malcolm Moor, an African American teacher who believes it is his responsibility and obligation to nurture…

The topic in the author's mind lately is how activists in the academy can best get their messages across with minimal stress and maximum impact. It is difficult to be an academic activist mainly because the status quo does not want to be challenged. Why is activism important? The answer to this question is obvious and simple: If Natives do not do…