In this study, 171 older adolescents completed a risk-taking inventory to measure risk involvement. Results showed that perceived risks affected risk-taking more significantly than did perceived benefits. Higher sensation seeking tendencies were affiliated with more risk-taking. Locus of control was not related to risk-taking. (Contains 38…

Surveyed the incidence of casino gambling by adolescents. Results indicated that 64 percent of the students at one Atlantic City high school had gambled at the casinos. The dangers of shaping compulsive gambling behavior through societal acceptance of legalized gambling are discussed. (Author/BL)

Discusses four types of adolescent hypocritical behavior: (1) pretending to be what one is not; (2) pretending not to be what one is; (3) talking negatively about peers in their absence and positively in their presence; (4) behaving and speaking in whatever manners are in one's interests. (Author/DB)

Presents relationship maturity, developmental conception of intimacy, as unifying conceptual framework for understanding intimate involvement of adolescence as part of major developmental process. Examines specific context of intimacy in adolescence, role of gender in intimacy development, interplay of identity and intimacy development, and…

Analyzed differences in outlook and orientation between pre-identity-formation adolescent and post-identity-formation adult. Extends Erikson's notion of personal identity by examining implications of making commitments in areas of work, family life, religion, and political ideology for ego development in adulthood. Critical psychological…

Describes general developmental struggles of gay and lesbian adolescents as delineated in recent research. Focuses on three developmental areas: the consolidation of sexual identity and the effects of both parental and peer relationships on gay adolescents' development. Notes weaknesses in current research and theory, and offers suggestions which…

Reviews the literature from two distinct disciplines, developmental psychology and literature, reflecting the emergence of adolescence as a recognized stage in human development. Describes both cognitive and stage theories of adolescence and medieval concerns as well as twentieth century interest. (JAC)

Investigates the sexual attitudes and experience in adolescence of 242 individuals who graduated from the same high school over a 50-year period. Overall findings suggest a significant change in sexual attitudes and experiences when comparing the class of 1950 to the class of 1975 and 2000. (Contains 21 references and 4 tables.) (GCP)

The prominence of sport in American secondary school curriculum owes much to 19th-century child development theories, the most prominent of which, Von Baer's Law, held that youth passed through the same developmental gradations ontogenetically that the human race passed through phylogenetically; youth repeated in their development approximately…

Investigated relationship between occult participation, substance abuse, and level of self-esteem among 25 clinical (alcohol or drug treatment) and 25 nonclinical adolescents. Results indicated that adolescent substance abuse and occult participation were significantly related. Found significant differences between high versus low occult groups…

Examines factors contributing to and determining adolescent drinking disorders, synthesizing ideas from Fromm-Reishmann, Fromm, and Erikson. Discusses ideas within the framework of Freud's speculative postulation of the "oceanic feeling." Addresses empirically oriented treatment of concrete features exhibited in adolescent alcoholism. (Author/BH)

Contends that, with childhood predispositions, developmental tasks of adolescence influence degree and course of homosexuality. Notes different types of homosexuality that emerge in adolescence which are influenced by different psychodynamic conditions in each stage of adolescence. Changing developmental roles in relation to individuation, object…

Investigates the motivational needs of adolescent volunteers (N=255) in a variety of volunteer settings. While there were similarities between the motivations of adolescent and older volunteers, some important differences were found. The findings are explored in the context of the adolescent development stage, and implications are discussed.…

Relates resistance in adolescents to individual developmental issues and social context. Suggests viewing resistance as having a positive and protective function and working with the resistance rather than in opposition to it. A continuum of types of adolescent resistance is proposed with several specific interventional strategies for deactivating…

Investigated differences between male and female offender and nonoffender youths (N=117) in social perspective-taking. Subjects completed the Defining Issues Test three times--as self, teacher, and police officer. Results indicated 14- and 15-year-old offenders and nonoffenders do not differ in perspective-taking ability across three social roles.…