Which occupation to pursue is one of the more consequential decisions people make and represents a key developmental task. Yet the underlying developmental processes associated with either individual or group differences in occupational choices are still not well understood. This study contributes toward filling this gap, focusing in particular on…

Interest in 21st century skills has brought concomitant interest in ways to teach and measure them. Games hold promise in these areas, but much of their potential has yet to be proven, and there are few examples of how to use the rich data from games to make inferences about players' knowledge, skills, and attributes. This article builds an…

Exposure to peer stress contributes to adolescent depression, yet not all youth experience these effects. Thus, it is important to identify individual differences that shape the consequences of peer stress. This research investigated the interactive contribution of cumulative peer stress during childhood (second-fifth grades) and executive…

This study explores the trajectory of suicidal ideation in childhood and adolescence and identifies its strong predictors. Secondary data obtained from two nationally representative cohorts of South Korean youth were longitudinally analyzed using frequencies, percentages, and discrete time survival analysis. This study revealed an increase in the…

In the inner-city of Washington, D.C., lives a generation of young people for whom violence, discrimination, and poverty are a daily reality. This article describes one youth organization that encourages these young people to voice their hopes and concerns for their community and work to create solutions. The out-of-school-time programming of…

Global self-worth and five domains of self-esteem (scholastic competence, athletic competence, physical appearance, behavioral conduct, social acceptance) were tested for measurement equivalence in a sample of Anglo American, Mexican American, African American, and Native American youth aged 9 through 14 years. The results revealed that global…

Peer nomination procedures were used to explore the development of academic achievement values and their relation to perceptions of barriers to opportunity. A total of 615 boys and girls across 3 grade levels (2nd, 4th, 7th) and 2 ethnic groups (African American, Latino) nominated peers who they admired, respected, and wanted to be like.…

Similarities between adolescents are often the cornerstone of a friendship; yet researchers know little about the similarities in friends' perceptions of the relationship. In the current study, the authors examine similarities in friends' perceived friendship qualities during the transition into early adolescence (n = 77 third graders, 110 fourth…

African American and European American 4th, 6th, and 8th graders rated the competence of rich and poor children in academics (i.e., math, science, reading, writing, school grades, smartness), sports, and music. In contrast to middle school students, 4th graders favored the rich in all 3 domains. Youth of both races reported that the rich were more…