This study of a cohort of 451 adolescents examined associations between trajectories of problem behaviors and the timing of entry into work, marriage, and parenthood. We used data from 12 assessments across adolescence, through emerging adulthood and into young adulthood. We employed 2-phase mixed-effects models to estimate growth in substance use…

We investigated the degree to which parent positive personality characteristics in terms of conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability predict similar adolescent personality traits over time, as well as the role played by positive parenting in this process. Mothers and fathers of 451 White adolescents (52% female, mean age = 13.59…

This study examined the role of adolescent perceptions of parental behavior and disrupted parenting in the continuity of antisocial behavior across generations. Participants included 430 adolescents and their biological parents assessed during the period from the 9th to 12th grades (9th grade age in years: M=15.09, SD=0.43). Structural equation…

Examined relationships between adolescent emotional and behavioral problems and late adolescent personality in a longitudinal study. Found that psychological distress and behavioral problems experienced during adolescent years of 7th to 10th grade are significantly related to personality structure during the final year of high school. (JPB)

Hypothesized that parenting exhibits either a compensatory or buffering effect on age-related increases in adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems. Collected data for five years from mothers, fathers, and adolescent children. Found significant gender differences in growth trajectories of externalizing and internalizing problems.…

This longitudinal study examined reciprocal growth in negative emotions between parents and adolescents, and their potential influence on the development of social relationships during early adulthood. Findings showed that both parents' and adolescents' initial levels of negative emotion toward each other predicted the rate of growth and rate of…

Examined role of pubertal and social transitions in emergence of gender differences in depressive symptoms. Found that differences emerged during eighth grade. Seventh-grade pubertal status related to depressive symptoms. Recent stressful life events related to increased depressive symptoms. Early-maturing girls with higher levels of initial…

Examines whether differences between adolescent adjustment problems in divorced families and intact families can be explained by parental conflicts and parents' level of involvement. Determined the quality of mother's parenting and father's involvement explained the association between divorce and boys' externalizing problems; the quality of…

Adolescent girls and their parents and a sibling completed questionnaires that measured several family variables and were observed interacting. Found that family economic pressures led to parents' depression, marital conflict, and disrupted parenting. Parents' depressed mood and disrupted child-rearing practices affected girls' adjustment. (BC)

Examined relation between puberty and adjustment problems in 7th through 10th-grade males. Found that, compared with less physically developed peers, more physically developed boys in grade 7 manifested more externalized hostile feelings and internalized distress in grades 8-10. Pubertal timing related to distress and hostility, even when…

Research findings on the early precursors of substance use and related adjustment difficulties have led to interest in developmental models to explain problem behavior. This paper examines five major themes that characterize the relationship among social context, individual disposition, and syndromes of problem behaviors that include substance use…

Based on the rural life experiences of Iowa children who grew up during the great farm crisis of the 1980s, this book focuses on successful adolescent development and its links to the social resources of families with ties to the land. In 1989, the Iowa Youth and Families Project began a panel study of 451 two-parent families in north central…

In Iowa in the 1980s, dreams of prosperity were suddenly replaced by economic nightmares as plummeting land values generated economic decline and dislocation in rural communities and individual lives. This book examines the experience of over 400 Iowa families who lived through the Great Farm Crisis and now face an uncertain future. Interviewed as…