Runaway and homeless youth often have a constellation of background behavioral, emotional, and familial problems that contribute to stress and maladaptive behaviors, which, in turn, can lead to self-harming and suicidal behaviors. The current study examined the roles of stress and maladaptive behaviors as mediators between demographic and…

Both substance use and obesity are prevalent among youth. As youth age, substance use rates increase and over the past three decades, obesity rates among youth have tripled. While these two factors have both short- and long-term health impacts, little research has explored how substance use and obesity among youth may be related. This study…

Adolescent alcohol involvement is associated with numerous negative outcomes, but also appears to have positive correlates, including subjective well-being. Additional research is needed to understand these paradoxical findings. The current study examines alcohol use, adverse alcohol-related (and other substance-related) consequences, and…

Ethnic and American identity were studied as predictors of self-esteem for 372 Latino, 232 African American, and 65 White high school students. For all groups, ethnic identity was a significant predictor of self-esteem, although it accounted for a relatively small portion of the variance. (SLD)

Whether models of parenting competence derived from studies of adult mothers are descriptive of adolescent mothers. Fifty-eight adolescent mothers from an alternative high school were studied. Results suggest that determinants of adolescent parenting competence are patterned differently than adult models predict. (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…