Students (N=200) in grades 4 through 8 and 10 completed questionnaire measuring perceptions of school theft incidence and seriousness, personal responsibility for correcting theft, causal attributions of theft, and perceived consequences of thievery. Main grade effect was observed for personal responsibility and consequences, but represented…

Compared young adults who had experienced parental divorce before school age (n=134), in latency (n=129), and in adolescence (n=71). Found that 24% of boys who had experienced parental divorce in latency were depressive as compared with 9% and 6% in other groups. Among girls, depression was independent of timing of parental divorce. (Author/NB)

Investigated developmental changes in the perceived usefulness of help from the perspective of the person receiving the help. Results indicated a development increase in the perceived usefulness of help across the school-age years. Girls consistently perceived help as being more useful than boys, and girls were generally rated as the most…

Analyzed attitudes of suicidal ideators (n=104) and nonideators (n=104) at elementary, middle, and high school levels. Findings from responses to Student Attitude Measure revealed that ideators' attitudes were significantly more negative than those of nonideators. Some grade level and gender differences were found. (Author/NB)

Hypothesized that audience pressure would prove most detrimental to the skilled performance of adolescents (due to vulnerability to self-awareness) but not of children. Performances of skilled players of video games with and without audience indicated a curvilinear relationship between age and performance change which confirmed the hypothesis.…

Examines the nature and distribution of self-reported depression among a sample of 887 students in Northern Ireland. Findings indicate that 12% of the total sample could be defined as depressed, and approximately 4% reported that they wanted to commit suicide. Significant sex or school form associations were not found, except in one form where a…

Explores feelings of loneliness and fear of intimacy among college students (N=80) as a function of whether or not they were taught to trust strangers during childhood. Results show that those who were taught not to trust strangers had a greater fear of intimacy. Female participants experienced more loneliness than their male counterparts. (MKA)

Twelve focus group discussions on attitudes toward tattoos, health beliefs, and awareness of the long-term consequences of tattooing and stigmatization were conducted with 80 volunteers, 6 to 17 years of age. Attitudes toward tattoos were generally negative, although a more favorable attitude toward small tattoos was discernible among early…

A total of 284 fifth- through eighth-grade children evaluated themselves, their mothers, fathers and families. Children from "happy" families evaluated themselves and their parents significantly more favorably than those from "unhappy" families. Children from intact families evaluated their parents significantly more favorably than those from…

Examines recurrent psychosomatic symptoms and symptom clusters among Israeli school children (n=259). Results of a questionnaire that asked about the frequency of 8 psychosomatic and 8 organic complaints indicated that girls had a higher prevalence than boys for 8 of the symptoms, and that abdominal pain and headache were each reported as an…

Investigates the relationship between anxiety, fear, self-esteem, and coping strategies with children aged 7 to 12 (N=224) in Australia. Specially examines whether these changes were gender specific. Results indicated girls had consistently low levels of self-esteem, while boys showed decreases in anxiety and fear by age 12. By year 12, boys and…

Differentiates between several terms used to refer to the five-year period between ages 9 through 13 (for example, "youth,""pubescence,""puberty," and "preadolescence"). Theories related to preadolescence, including the developmental theories of Piaget, Kohlberg, and Erikson, are briefly discussed, and…

Explored values of children among 163 mothers and their adolescent children and compared these values related to other adolescent characteristics. Results suggested the values of children are similar in adolescents and adults, and a positive relationship was found between values and fertility preferences. (JAC)

Survey of elementary and secondary school students showed an increase in depressive symptoms from the beginning to the end of adolescence. Girls demonstrated a higher level of depression, while boys became less depressed once they entered adolescence. Results demonstrated no fluctuation in global scores on irrationality as a function of age or…

Expanded the curriculum of an assertiveness training program. Found that boys and girls benefited similarly in the cognitive acquisition of assertiveness information from this program. Discusses results in terms of the difference between having stored symbolic information regarding assertive responses and in recognizing appropriate contexts for…