This study investigated the extent to which adolescent social network positions are associated with the risk of lifetime daily smoking and nicotine dependence (ND), and whether these associations differ by gender. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 6,267), this study estimated multinomial logistic…

This study examines the independent, relative, and additive associations between both parent and peer role models and longitudinal patterns of smoking across adolescence and early adulthood. An analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 10,166) reveals at least four distinct trajectories of smoking…

The goal of the present study was to replicate Burt et al. (2009) and Hou et al. (2013) findings by determining the contribution of peers' deviance to changes in participants' (monozygotic [MZ] twins') self-reported delinquency from mid- to late adolescence while controlling for possible gene-environment correlations (rGE) through the use of the…

Given large variations in the etiology and developmental trajectories of violent and nonviolent delinquency, this study examines whether educational outcomes of violent and nonviolent offenders might differ. In particular, this study attempts to remove environmental influences such as family background and neighborhood effects from the effects of…

Latino youth are the fastest growing group of ethnic minority adolescents in the United States, but their educational needs remain underserved. Although research exploring academic engagement has expanded in recent years, the majority of research examining academic engagement among Latino youth has been cross-sectional. Using data from the…

This longitudinal study of Mexican-American youth and emerging adults examines several ecodevelopmental factors longitudinally predicting high school and college graduation. Data from 1257 Mexican-American youth (including those born in Mexico and whose families are from Mexico) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add…

The educational attainment of siblings is highly correlated. We test for a specific type of peer effect between siblings in educational attainment: genetic nurture. Specifically, we test whether a person's educational attainment is correlated with their sibling's polygenic score (PGS) for educational attainment, controlling for their own PGS for…

The multi-decade growth and spatial dispersion of immigrant families in the United States has shifted the composition of US schools, reshaping the group of peers with whom students age through adolescence. US-born students are more likely to have foreign-born peers and foreign-born students are more likely to be educated outside of enclaves. This…

A paucity of research exists that examines how well hearing-impaired students function in the primary and secondary grades when attending a general education setting. The research that does exists to suggest that issues of poor self-perception, challenges regarding a sense of belonging, and self-image may be amplified for the non-hearing student.…

Evidence suggests that youth progressively experience mental health needs and discover mental health symptoms for the first time in adolescence. Schools have come to the forefront of providing mental health services, as adolescents spend most of their day in the academic setting. The current study aimed to examine individual and school-level…

Youth involved in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems--a specific high-needs population--often experience a host of negative outcomes beyond those experienced by their peers involved in only one (or neither) system. These outcomes include higher rates of homelessness, mental health problems, and joblessness. These "dually…

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth experience high rates of victimization leading to health disparities. Community size and community climate are associated with health outcomes among SGM youth; however, we lack studies that include them as covariates alongside victimization to understand their collective impact on health. This study utilized…

Students' sense of social relatedness at school predicts health and well-being throughout life. However, little is known about whether observed associations reflect unobserved family background factors and whether these associations differ between student-student and student-teacher relationships. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of…

Research suggests that youth with more financial and social resources are more likely to have access to mentorship. Conversely, the rising star hypothesis posits that youth who show promise through their individual successes are more likely to be mentored. Utilizing a nationally representative sample (N = 4,882), we tested whether demographic…

This study investigated the contribution of assimilation, sociodemographic factors, and social supports to depressive symptoms in immigrant adolescents, using Waves I and II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 4,263). Immigrant adolescents reported more risk factors and higher levels of depressive symptoms than native…