Youth participation in community-based, structured out-of-school time programs (OST) has been found to promote positive developmental outcomes by providing youth with resources to build interpersonal relationships and essential life skills. The increasing prevalence and multiplicity of youth participation in these activities leads us to expand the…

As American society has become increasingly aware of the plight of sex trafficked American children, attention has shifted from delinquency to victimhood (Mitchell, Finkelhor, & Wolak, 2010) with a corresponding awareness of the trauma that victims endure. This reconceptualization is incomplete without a larger understanding of the…

Theories of positive youth development (PYD) regard such development as bases of both community contributions and lessened likelihood of risk/problem behaviors. Using data from the 4-H Study of PYD, we tested these expectations by examining if PYD in Grade 5 predicted both youth contributions and risk behaviors and depression in Grade 6. Results…

Tested the individual characteristics and deviant peer association theoretical models of friends' influence on the development of delinquency in disruptive boys. Found that moderately disruptive boys with aggressive-disturbing friends were more delinquent at age 13 than other subgroups of moderately disruptive boys. Highly disruptive and…

Research consistently correlates early pubertal timing with problem behaviors. Social and biological processes, which differ among ethnic groups, may also explain the relationship between pubertal timing and delinquency. Interviews with 5,000 boys ages 11 to 17 showed that early pubertal timing predicts nonviolent and violent delinquency for Anglo…

A study explored girls' development and its implication for the psychology of women. From 1986-1990, nearly 100 girls between the ages of 7 and 18 at the Laurel School for Girls in Cleveland, Ohio, were interviewed. Most of the girls were from middle- or upper-middle-class families (80%), although some were scholarship students from working-class…

Examined intraindividual and interindividual differences in self-esteem among 142 rural adolescents during a four-year period encompassing the transition to high school. Cluster analysis identified three distinct, divergent trajectories of self-esteem change from early to middle adolescence: (1) consistently high; (2) small increase; and (3)…

Intended for parents of 10- to 15-year-olds, this book is a guide to mastering the ups and downs of early adolescence. The book draws together the latest information from experts, supported and advised by the National Middle School Association, and insights from surveys of parents, teachers, and the children themselves to cover every facet of the…

This article discusses development during the early adolescent years with a focus on recent research on the biological, cognitive, self-identity, and motivational changes that occur during this time period and the implications of this research for middle school counselors. Peer influences on early adolescents also are discussed, with the issue of…

Noting that young adolescents--around 10 to 15 years of age--undergo significant emotional, social, intellectual, and physical changes, this book serves as a reference for parents, educators, and policymakers concerned with education that meets the unique needs of the student population. The five sections of the book cover the historical and…