Examines the relationship between mothers' and adolescents' (N=42) perceptions of one another's behavior and their actual communication behavior during a problem-solving task. Results indicate that adolescents' negative beliefs about their mothers predicted adolescents' negative communication. Suggests that treatment of parent-adolescent conflict…

Analyzed longitudinal survey data for relationship between adolescent sexuality and adolescents' religious affiliation and participation among Detroit area families (N=916). Confirmed previous findings which showed strong correlation between religious involvement and adolescent sexual attitudes and behavior, i.e., religious adolescents had least…

Examined relationship between adolescent sexual intercourse and history of physical abuse, neighborhood monitoring, and adolescent's attachment to school. Findings from 2,108 adolescents suggest that there are many significant risk factors related to whether adolescents are sexually experienced and that importance of some factors vary by gender.…

Examines the specificity of marital distress and maternal depressive symptoms as potential mediators of one another in the prediction of adolescent adjustment. Findings show that marital distress mediated effects of maternal depressive symptoms on adolescent externalizing symptoms, and maternal depressive symptomatology mediated effects of marital…

Certain dimensions of parental behavior (consistency, constraint and support) are hypothesized to be influential in the development of an external as opposed to an internal control orientation. Data show that degree of perceived parental support is related more strongly to internal-external control orientation than are parental consistency and…

Reports on a literature review of adolescent development, family relationships, and the impact of divorce on adolescents. Results reveal that adolescents experience divorce differently than younger children and that a positive parent-adolescent relationship can ameliorate a divorce's negative effects. Identifies major gaps in the literature,…

Examined parent-adolescent communication and dimensions of parent-adolescent interaction that predict parents' self-esteem. Showed that adolescents and parents had similar but distinct perceptions of their relationships; self-perceptions of these relationships, especially self-judgments of communication, were predictive of self-esteem for both…

Using a two-wave panel design, examined antecedents and short-term consequences of teenage marriage, parenting, and school-leaving. Findings showed that while these three role transitions are not greatly related to social origins, academic ability, or performance, dropping-out is more highly linked than the other two. (Author)

Surveyed 404 parents of adolescents to study the relationship between parental control and influence techniques and adolescent behavior. Results suggested that compliance is substantially related to the level of control attempted by the parent, while emotional acceptance is not. Results emphasized the importance of differentiating between…

Examines the independent and joint contributions of three core dimensions of authoritative parenting - acceptance-involvement, strictness-supervision, and psychological autonomy granting - to adolescent adjustment. Findings are discussed with regard to behavior problems, psychosocial development, and academic achievement. Provides evidence that…

Investigated relationship between drug use and sexual activity prior to age 16 using data from 2 youngest birth cohorts (N=2,711) from National Longitudinal Survey of Young Adults. When other important risk factors were controlled, reported prior use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs greatly increased the risk of early…

Examined influence of adolescent development, parent-adolescent relationship, and psychological characteristics of midlife adults on marital satisfaction during transitional period of the family life cycle between childhood and adolescence. Marital satisfaction during the family's adolescent years was negatively influenced by distance in the…

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…

Surveyed over 600 adolescents and their parents to examine adolescent problem behaviors in single-mother families. Results indicate that nonresident father involvement buffers the negative effects of single-mother families for white adolescent males. However, black male adolescents reported fewer problem behaviors when nonresident fathers are…

Examined custodial fathers' engagement activities with minor children using data from heterosexual couples from National Survey of Families and Households. Strongest and most consistent predictors of paternal involvement with children 5-18 years of age were children's characteristics (age, number, biological status, gender composition). (Author/NB)