Parenting behaviors have been linked to children's self regulation, but it is less clear how they relate to adolescent psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility is a broad construct that describes an individual's ability to respond appropriately to environmental demands and internal experiences in the service of their goals. We examined…

Self-determination theory proposes that prioritizing intrinsic life goals, such as community involvement, is related to well-being, whereas focusing on extrinsic life goals, such as financial success, is associated with lower well-being and that parenting influences the type of life goals that youth adopt. In a sample of 515 Chinese (56% female,…

Although a bulk of literature shows that perceived social support (PSS) influences academic achievement, the mechanisms through which this effect operates received little empirical attention. The present study examined the multiple mediational effects of motivational beliefs (competence beliefs and subjective value) and emotions (anxiety and…

In this study, we investigated whether parental smoking-specific communication is related to adolescents' friendship-selection processes. Furthermore, we investigated whether adolescents and their best friends influence each other over time, and what role parents play in this process. In the present study we used data from the Family and Health…

Drawing on Agnew's general strain theory, we examined whether depressed mood and anger mediated the effects of sexual abuse on suicidal behavior and delinquency. Participants included 9,113 students attending high schools in Iceland. Structural equation modeling showed that, while controlling for family structure and parental education, being…

Correlates of alcohol use were compared in France, with high prevalence of use; Israel, low prevalence; and the United States, in the middle. In all three countries, significant others--parents and peers--were more powerful predictors than personal attributes. The importance of parents in Israel and peers in the United States was shown. (Author/CM)

This study purports that parental rejection and warmth are critical to the development of adolescent drug use, and investigates a model that also considers children's vulnerability and deviant peer affiliations. It tests mediation through the proximal risk factor of deviant peers. Poisson growth curve modeling was used to examine participants from…

Youth from single-parent families report lower educational aspirations than those from two-parent families. This study explored the influence of background factors (gender, grade, parental education and SES), parental involvement with education, academic self-concept, and peer influences on educational aspirations. The participants were Canadian…

Differences in the emotional reactions of male and female adolescents to their most recent occasion of sexual intercourse were studied with 932 Australian secondary school students. Most reported positive emotions, but females were more likely to report negative emotions. Guilt responses and peer and parental influences are also discussed. (SLD)

Data from 408 males, aged 19 to 21 years, who participated in an 18-year follow-up study of a Danish Prospective Perinatal Cohort were analyzed to assess correlates of family disruption/instability and criminality/delinquency. Age, gender, divorce-related, socioeconomic, and parental influences were assessed. (TJH)

Black Canadians share many aspects of the historical experiences of African Americans, but there are also important differences. One similarity between these two groups is the persistent academic underachievement of Black adolescents. Although this is a subject of widespread concern in both countries, it has received little empirical scrutiny in…

Results from a self-report study of 1,139 Hong Kong secondary school students show that an equation containing peers' deviant behavior, peers' disapproval of deviant behavior, frequency of media exposure, preference for violent and obscene content, imitation of media characters, parents' deviant behavior, and teachers' negative evaluation…

Adolescents in New Zealand (492 boys and 468 girls) completed a 22-item scale concerning their self-perceived strengths. Parent, peer, and school attachment, part-time work, and number of physical activities in which they were involved (NPAs) were central for boys. Girls' strengths were best predicted by parent attachment and NPAs. (TJH)