Studied risk and reckless behavior in 375 emerging adults using self-report measures and a cross-sectional design. Risk behaviors were found to be reliably predicted by sensation seeking, but not by antisocial peer pressure, while the reverse pattern was more true in relation to "reckless" behaviors. (SLD)

Studied whether pubertal timing by self-report (SR), parent report (PR), or physical examination predicted the same aspects of adjustment and behavior problems. Findings for 52 girls, 56 boys, and their parents show that pubertal timing by SR and PR did not always provide the same level of prediction as did physical examination. (SLD)

Studied personality, temperament, and behavioral factors as predictors of the development of eating disorders in 726 girls and 698 boys in junior high school when the 3-to-4-year study began. Discusses negative affect/attitudes as a generalized psychopathology vulnerability factor for disordered eating. (SLD)

Data from the primary caretakers of 20,505 children in the National Incidence Study of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Throwaway Children illustrate the influence of parents' own childhood running-away experiences on their children's behavior. The importance of intergenerational transmission factors is illustrated. (SLD)

To assess the predictive importance of recklessness in suicidality, 155 college students completed measures of experience, depression, and suicide ideation. Results indicated that recklessness was not a component of suicidality among these nonclinical older adolescents, although it might be in younger adolescents and clinical samples. (SLD)

Factors related to risky driving and drinking/driving decisions were explored by presenting vignettes to 135 older adolescents, aged 17 to 24. Analyses reveal that alcohol-related behaviors, attitudes toward the acceptability of drinking, and previous drinking and drinking/driving experiences were all significant predictors of decisions about…

Studied the roles of demographic, school, nonschool, and personality factors in predicting the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs and maintenance of this use. Findings for 425 Scottish secondary school students show different predictive factors. Discusses implications of the findings for decreasing the prevalence of substance use. (SLD)

Predictors of school dropout and their stability over time were studied in 791 white French-speaking Canadian students aged 12 to 16 years in 1974 and 791 similar students in 1985 through self-administered questionnaires. School, family, behavioral, social, and personality variables predicted dropping out in both samples, and these predictors were…

Predictors of adolescent behavior that could reduce the risk of their contracting HIV were studied with 230 8th graders, 106 11th and 12th graders, and 156 college students. Regression analyses suggest that the best predictor of some risky behavior is attitude toward risky behavior, while predictors of other behaviors vary by sample group. (SLD)