Adolescents lead enormously complicated social lives. Many youth find it difficult to keep track of their own relationships with friends and romantic interests. For the investigator, the task is exponentially more complex because overlapping and interlocking relationships and networks must be disentangled, dissected, and diagrammed. This special…

We examined longitudinal associations between individual leisure activities (television viewing, video viewing, computer games, listening to music, board games, musical instrument playing, reading, arts, crafts, socializing, clubs or scouts, sports, outdoor activities) and being overweight using logistic regression and latent class analysis in a…

This study examined the linkages among girls' best friendships and romantic relationships and accounted for the level of dating involvement as a moderating variable. Social exchange and Sullivan's socioemotional theories served as guides in this process. Questionnaires were administered to 446 girls aged 15-19 years. Results showed that: (a)…

The vigilance levels of a group of 59 students were assessed in the daytime (9:00-11:00 a.m.) and again early Sunday morning (2:30-5:00 a.m.), and were then compared. Data were collected at the students' schools. The differences in performance impairment associated with different Saturday night social activities and the effect of alcohol…

Results indicated going steady among high school sophomores was associated with lower self-esteem. Lowest scores were held by girls who had gone steady in the past and were still going steady. For boys the difference in self-esteem between those who were going steady and those who were not was unrelated to their past dating practices. (BF)

Gathered data on arcade use in adolescents (n=460). "Regular" arcade visitors varied sufficiently from the more "casual" visitors in their orientation to, and experience in, arcades. Regular visitors were more likely to score positively on indices screening for addiction. Raises questions about children's access to potentially…

We investigated how adolescents' and parents' future beliefs, i.e. their goals and probability estimations (regarding future career, social and family life) were (1) structured, (2) interrelated, and (3) whether adolescents' perceived family interaction mediated parents' and adolescents' beliefs, among 239 11--16-year olds and 197 parents. Using…