Examined individual differences in friendship characteristics and their cross-sectional and longitudinal interrelations with adolescent problems. Assessed four salient friendship characteristics: reciprocity of relations, overt hostility, covert hostility, and self-disclosure. Suggests that adolescent problem behaviors have a more potent…

Determined whether there are developmental precursors to accidents and resulting physical impairment. Data collected at ages 8 and 14 (147 males and 142 females) were related to the number of types of accidents and impairment by the age of 27. Accidents and impairment were most frequent among individuals whose behavior had been characterized by…

Findings suggest that social difficulties that are present as late as three years of age in some low-birthweight children are related to the type and severity of early medical complications. In spite of severe neonatal medical risk, high-risk and low-birthweight children showed many similarities in their social development to low-risk and…

Compared adjustment scores among adolescents who differ in both emotional autonomy and perceptions of parental support. Found that, although adolescents who scored high in both emotional autonomy and relationship support reported more internal distress and behavior problems than less autonomous adolescents, they had higher levels of psychological…

Studied sexual activity, substance use, and assault among Black children from first grade through age 17. Adolescents with multiple problems differed from others in behavior and parental supervision. Males who only engaged in sexual activity or who had no problems were similar; but females in the same categories differed in family origins. (BC)

Explored the antecedents and consequences of attachment disorganization among 157 participants in a prospective longitudinal study from 24 months to 19 years. Found that infant history of attachment disorganization was correlated with consequent variables related to: mother-child relationship quality at 24 and 42 months; child behavior problems in…

Examined relationship between social support and appraisal of life events in predicting adaptive, externalizing, and internalizing behavior in 265 seven- to 13-year-olds. Found support for both the main effects and moderator models of the association between life events and global social support. Gender differences were found. Appraisal of life…

Examined precursors and correlates of sexual intercourse patterns among 10th- and 11th-graders. The transition to onset of sexual intercourse was associated with increases in delinquency and slower increases in school grades. Earlier onset and a more persistent pattern of sexual intercourse were associated with more childhood problem behaviors,…

Examined whether associations between marital discord and trajectories of adolescent depression and delinquency varied as a function of intrapersonal attributes. Found that difficult temperament potentiated effects of marital discord on adjustment trajectories. Heightened perceived family support protected adolescents from adverse marital discord…

Explored relations between additive and cumulative representations of contextual risk, caregiver emotionality, child adaptability, and teacher reports of problem behaviors of 6- and 7-year-olds from economically disadvantaged families. Found evidence that the relation for cumulative risk may be moderated by caregiver negative emotionality and…

Investigated relations among parenting, sibling relationship, peer group, and adolescents' externalizing behaviors. Found that contributions of parental negativity, parental monitoring, and sibling negativity to adolescents' externalizing behaviors operated directly and also indirectly through deviant peer associations. Relationships varied as a…

A 4-wave longitudinal design was used to examine protective links from child competence to behavioral problems in first- (M=10.97 years) and second- (M=8.27 years) born rural African American children. At 1-year intervals, teachers assessed child behavioral problems, mothers reported their psychological functioning, and both mothers and children…

A longitudinal model of parent academic involvement, behavioral problems, achievement, and aspirations was examined for 463 adolescents, followed from 7th (approximately 12 years old) through 11th (approximately 16 years old) grades. Parent academic involvement in 7th grade was negatively related to 8th-grade behavioral problems and positively…

Using data from 5,070 youth ages 11 to 18 years old who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, concurrent and longitudinal associations among cumulative risk, protective factors, and youth maladjustment were examined. Cumulative risk was associated with concurrent conduct problems and depressed mood. For conduct…

In a 3-wave longitudinal study (with assessments 2 years apart) involving 186 early adolescents (M ages of approximately 9.3, 11.4, and 13.4), the hypothesis that parental warmth/positive expressivity predicts children's effortful control (EC) (a temperamental characteristic contributing to emotion regulation) 2 years later, which in turn predicts…