This report highlights two studies that are part of the Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). The Rochester Youth Development Study and the Pittsburgh Youth Study have tracked a sample of urban males through their teenage years. These studies…

Examined links between parental knowledge and adolescent delinquent behavior for correlated rates of developmental change and reciprocal associations from age 14 to 18. Found that parent knowledge was negatively correlated with delinquent behaviors at age 14 and knowledge increases over time were negatively correlated with increases in…

Used a bio-psychosocial approach to examine predictors of onset of sexual intercourse among adolescents interviewed at ages 13-14, 16-17, and 22-23 years. Found that for girls, always-married parents and less dating alone predicted later first intercourse. Earlier timing of first intercourse for boys was related to associating with peers with…

Uses data from a nationally representative longitudinal sample to examine the relationship of marijuana use by high school seniors to occupational attainment ten years later. Analyses were conducted separately by gender, with and without controlling for other variables. Results indicate that the influence of marijuana use on occupational…

Reports findings on changes in adolescent-crowd orientations using national data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988. Categorizes high school students into five prototypical peer-crowd orientations at tenth and twelfth grade. Illuminates the change in students' peer crowd orientation by examining individual and relationship…

Examined orientation of high school students' peer groups to formal (school-oriented) and informal (peer-oriented) reward systems. Investigated factors that influence change in peer-group orientation over time, and demonstrated how changes by the individual and changes in peer-group orientation predicted change in ego identity. Demonstrated how…

Studied interrelationships between dating patterns and trajectories of psychosocial functioning over a year in middle adolescents. Found that increasing casual dating was associated with rising problem behaviors and improved close friendship quality; pathways culminating in steady relationships were accompanied by increasing friendship discord,…

Noting that the dynamics of interaction in the coparenting setting, the mother-father-child triad, may change substantially during the transition to adolescence and that there is a need for an observational tool that describes both the verbal and nonverbal aspects of triadic dynamics, this study examined the Coding System for Family Triads (CST),…

Used a person-centered analytic strategy with data from Youth Development Study to describe configurations of time use through the high school years. Found that students highly engaged in multiple domains tended to remain so across grade. Students focused on one or two domains frequently changed commitments, school plans, grade point average,…

Examined for 2 years behavior development in 200 Dutch juveniles with serious behavioral difficulties admitted for residential treatment. Found juveniles finishing treatment as planned developed comparably to Dutch adolescents in general population; those leaving prematurely had further developmental difficulties. Noted treatment features…

Used panel study of representative community sample to compare volunteer and nonvolunteer adolescents and identify effects of volunteerism on development. Found that volunteers had higher educational plans and aspirations, grade point averages, academic self-esteem, and intrinsic motivation toward school work than did nonvolunteers. Volunteerism…

Examined the genetic and environmental contributions to the predictive association between parenting and adolescent adjustment in identical and fraternal twins, and full, half, and genetically unrelated siblings in nondivorced and stepfamilies. Found that cross-lagged associations between parental conflict-negativity and adolescent antisocial…

This longitudinal study examined relations between sociometric status and school adjustment among middle school students. Findings indicated that sixth-grade sociometric status predicted eighth-grade adjustment when controlling for initial adjustment. Compared to average status students, controversial status students had lower classroom grades,…

This study examined the reciprocal influence between parenting style and parental involvement in schooling practices and adolescent autonomy over a 2-year period. Participating in the study were 872 adolescents with a mean age of 14.5 years at Time 1 and attending 5 French-speaking public high schools in Quebec, Canada. From the initial cohort,…

This study examined relations among characteristics at ages 3 and 10 years and delinquent behavior at age 10. Findings indicated that race and gender were significant predictors of delinquent behavior at age 10, as were temperament, IQ, and emotional instability at age 3. Psychological status, perceived peer substance use, IQ, and temperament at…