The aim of this scoping review was to map and summarise research relating to school and teacher connectedness, in order to increase current understanding of the ways these terms have been conceptualised in adolescent research. Specifically, this scoping review focuses on the analysis of the actual definitions used and the ways in which school…

Internalizing mental health issues are a significant developmental and clinical concern during adolescence, but rarely identified as a problem among school staff. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examined the associations between adolescent emotional distress, school connectedness, and educational…

Why are transfer students at an increased risk for disengagement and dropout? Previous research suggests that the loss of school-based social relationships play a role. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) are used to analyze what predicts student transfer and what effect this has on students' social…

The present study was designed to test a model of contextual and intrapersonal predictors of adolescent risky sexual behaviors and of sexually transmitted infection diagnoses. Using Waves I and II from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the authors estimated a structural model in which intrapersonal factors such as adolescents'…

Using a framework that emphasizes independent versus interdependent self-construals, this study investigates the relatively low rates of early marriage and cohabitation among Asian Americans compared with Whites. Data from Waves 1 and 3 of Add Health are used to test five hypotheses that focus on family value socialization and other precursors…

Latino adolescents often are less likely to participate in extracurricular activities compared to youth from other ethnic groups. This descriptive study examined the differences in activity participation by family resources and markers of cultural orientation for the four largest Latino ethnic groups in the U.S. Findings were based on secondary…

Although sibling structure influences some aspects of adolescents' well-being, including deviance and educational achievement, little research has explored the association between sibling structure and adolescents' mental health. This study explores how sibling structure (the number of siblings, full versus step- or half-siblings, the relative age…

Recent decades have brought significant social changes in the industrialized West that may influence young adults' attitudes about intimate relationships, including changes in gender expectations and behaviors and changes in sexual attitudes and practices. We used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 14,121) to…

This study examines the links between adolescent family context and coming to see oneself as an adult. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the authors investigate how adolescent family structure, resources, and processes together influence adult identity and whether they do so similarly for men and women. The…

The present study considers the influence of the parent-child relationship on adolescent virginity status using data from two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The authors examine how adolescents' perceptions of the quality of their parent-child relationships--and the varying levels of parental involvement in their…

Prior research has indicated that pubertal development and peer associations are important determinants of adolescent smoking behavior. However, more remains to be learned about "why" these variables matter or how they may be related to one another in ways that lead to the initiation of smoking. Using contractual data from the National…

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health provide modest support for an association between adolescents' expectations for their future health and educational attainment and their risk-taking behaviors involving early sexual intercourse, selling drugs, and weapon use. Noteworthy "school climate" predictors were found,…

This report by the Council of Economic Advisers analyzes key trends in teen behavior, and investigates the role of parents' involvement in their teenagers' lives. The report uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a study of a nationally representative sample of seventh through twelfth graders, to examine the…

This study examined the ability of future certainty--an individual's perception of future stability, operationalized as the likelihood of certain life outcomes--to explain variance in delinquency and school adjustment, while controlling for economic, neighborhood, and family factors, among a cross-sectional sample of 1422 male and 1562 female…