Alcohol use ranks as one of the most prevalent health-risk behaviors among Taiwanese adolescents. Possible selves--personalized future-oriented cognitions about the self--are significant motivators of one's actions, which may potentially influence adolescent drinking behavior. This study aimed to estimate the content domain-specific possible…

Stigmatization of overweight and obese individuals is common in interpersonal relationships. This study investigated longitudinal weight change patterns among Taiwanese adolescents and the relationship of weight change patterns with delayed romantic experience from late adolescence to young adulthood by using a representative panel survey.…

The current study examines whether peer victimization experienced in early adolescence is associated with compromised social functioning 14 years later in young adulthood. The sample involved 1533 young adults (65.1% female, M[subscript age] = 27.06) who had participated in a large research project as middle school students (7th and 8th graders,…

Perceptions of the ecology and middle school transition are examined in relation to interpersonal competence patterns (ICPs) of approximately 3,000 sixth graders (46.2% boys) including 415 students with disabilities from 26 metropolitan schools. Teacher ratings of students' academic competence, externalizing and internalizing behavior, popularity,…

The potential importance of depending on others during adolescence to establish independence in young adulthood was examined across adolescence to emerging adulthood. Participants included 184 teens (46% male; 42% non-White), their mothers, best friends, and romantic partners, assessed at ages 13-14, 18, 21-22, and 25. Path analyses showed that…

In this study, we examine if school physical education (PE) policy initiatives are related to body image among adolescents. Problems with body image often peak during adolescence, and it is important that there are ways of improving body image among youth. This cross-sectional study used data from the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children…

Emotional eating, defined as eating in response to affect, may increase during early adolescence, a time of heightened emotionality and increased prevalence of emotional disorders. We investigated change in emotional eating, while also testing the influence of social-emotional risk factors. Study participants (N = 379, mean age [M[subscript age]]…

This study examined the friendship processes around prosocial and aggressive behaviors and the moderating role of early adolescents' perceived relatedness with teachers. Differences between fifth graders in elementary school and sixth graders in middle school were examined. The sample was from 48 classrooms (N = 879, 51% girls at Wave 1, N = 859,…

This study assessed the effects of a best friend's facial attractiveness on first impressions of medium-attractive children and early adolescents. Younger (N = 114, 48 boys and 66 girls, M[subscript age] = 8.16 years) and older (N = 168, 83 boys and 85 girls, M[subscript age] = 12.32 years) participants rated photos of unknown medium-attractive…

Individuals who aggress against others have been described both as having overall low self-concept and as having high, inflated self-concept. The conceptualization of self-concept as domain specific provides an alternate means to resolving this controversy. In this study, 223 middle school students completed self-report measures assessing…

This exploratory study examined the relationships among individual characteristics, language brokering experiences and attitudes, and multiple dimensions of self-concept among a sample of Latino adolescents. The sample was comprised of 66 Latino students in 6th through 11th grades who were proficient in both Spanish and English. Results from…

Background: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of factors related to self-esteem, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, among 2 cohorts of girls over a period of 4 years, from elementary through middle school. Methods: A multiethnic sample of 656 elementary school girls recruited from 13 schools in Hayward, CA, and Tucson,…

Efforts to identify factors associated with peer acceptance have historically focused on behavioral and social cognitive processes, whereas less empirical attention has focused on the impact of children's other personal attributes and competencies that are not inherently a component of social competence. The current study examined the association…

The purpose of this article is to describe young adolescents' perceptions of romantic relationships, ratings of important romantic partner characteristics, and acceptability of sexual activity with romantic relationships. Fifty-seven eighth-grade participants (average age = 13.8 years) from one urban US public middle school completed an anonymous…

In this longitudinal, observational study of heterosexual interaction at middle school dances we examined the degree to which boys' and girls' groups became more gender integrated over time. The results show groups became more integrated over time with the pattern differing by gender. Boys had a relatively low level of contact with girls over the…