Using a sample of individuals (277 males, 315 females) studied since birth in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the present study investigated how early pubertal maturation and school transition alter youth trajectories of social competence during the transition to…

This study examined the effect of parental divorce on the time it took adolescents to initiate their first romantic relationships. Individual differences in temperament and pubertal development and the age of the adolescent at the time of divorce were also taken into account. Hypotheses were tested using event history analysis with a sample of…

This longitudinal study examines individual differences in the tendency to initiate (N = 4,612) and escalate (N = 2,837) smoking when adolescents gain a best friend who smokes. Potential moderating factors include self-esteem, depression, problem behavior, school and family bonds, and household access to cigarettes. In addition to acquiring a…

Adolescents' attachment hierarchies were assessed in a sample of 212 high school and 198 college students. The Important People Interview (IPI) differentiated attachment bonds from other supportive or affiliative relationships and indicated that adolescents show a hierarchical ordering of preferences for multiple attachment figures. Differences in…

Perceived parental knowledge and adolescents' disclosure to parents were predicted from parental warmth and monitoring and adolescents' disclosure, agreement, and beliefs about obligation to obey and parental legitimacy (N = 698 Chilean, Filipino, and U.S. 13-20-year-olds). The correlates of knowledge are similar in all three countries, but the…

This study examined the prediction of different forms of adult aggression in 2 countries from child and adolescent aggression. It was based on 2 longitudinal projects: the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS; N = 196 boys and 173 girls) conducted in Finland and the Columbia County Longitudinal Study (CCLS; N =…

This study examined (a) growth curves of youth participation in sports, performance and fine arts, and youth clubs throughout the high school years and (b) the associations between a series of predictors and the initial participation rates and growth over time. The predictors included individual, friend, and family factors. The moderating effect…

This study examined the associations between lifetime mental disorder, comorbidity, and self-reported postrunaway arrests among 428 (187 males, 241 females) homeless and runaway youth. The analysis examined the pattern of arrests across five lifetime mental disorders (alcohol abuse, drug abuse, conduct disorder, major depressive episode, and…

Adolescence is frequently described as a period of pervasive self-consciousness, but an age-related peak in adolescence is not consistently obtained, and higher self-consciousness in girls is frequently obtained but not predicted by theoretical accounts. Two cohorts of adolescents (N=393), initially assessed at 13 and 15, completed public and…

Individual differences may partly explain how students react to potentially offensive sexual behaviors from peers. This study focused on situational and personal characteristics that may make such behaviors more or less upsetting. Six hundred and thirty two Quebecois high-school students in Grades 8-11 completed questionnaires regarding their…

Examined the personal, situational, and contextual correlates of coping in 315 adolescents. Found that adolescents who used more approach-coping responses were older, more active, and appraised stressful events as controllable and as challenges, whereas adolescents who used more avoidance coping were easily distressed, had more chronic stressors,…

Findings are presented from an ecologically grounded, longitudinal study of 206 urban, ethnic minority adolescents that used hierarchical linear modeling to examine: (1) individual trajectories of change in adolescents' perceptions of general and closest same-sex friendship quality from middle to late adolescence; (2) the effects of gender and…

Investigated associations between ego development and emotion communication in 73 adolescents, 33 of whom were residents of an inpatient psychiatric hospital. Found that enthusiasm, affection, anxiety, and neutrality were directly associated with higher stages of ego development, whereas sadness and anger were inversely correlated with ego…

Examined the nature and correlates of parents' expectations about adolescent sons' behavioral autonomy in a longitudinal study of 81 boys and their families, conducted when the boys were in 6th and 10th grade. Found that fathers' timetables for privileges at preadolescence predicted sons' midadolescent academic and social outcomes four years…

Examined family and individual processes influencing the future expectancies of adolescents from an economically stressed rural community. Found that adolescents' expectancies about adult role transitions diverged from societal norms, with family background and relationships, adolescents' attitudes and behaviors, and educational aspirations…