Studied risk and reckless behavior in 375 emerging adults using self-report measures and a cross-sectional design. Risk behaviors were found to be reliably predicted by sensation seeking, but not by antisocial peer pressure, while the reverse pattern was more true in relation to "reckless" behaviors. (SLD)

Examined peer influence for 1,969 adolescents across 5 risk behaviors: smoking, alcohol consumption, marijuana use, tobacco chewing, and sexual debut. Results show that a random same-sex peer predicts a teen's risk behavior initiation through influence to initiate cigarette and marijuana use, and influence to initiate and stop alcohol and chewing…

Collected data from first 100 subjects in on-going longitudinal study of drug use before and during pregnancy in adolescence. Findings from unmarried pregnant adolescents revealed that, although lifetime prevalence of drug use was relatively high, substance use declined voluntarily and substantially during pregnancy. Prepregnancy drug use…

Provides an overview of the preceding articles in this journal issue. Considers the timing of gender segregation, compatibility between play styles and gender segregation, possible physiological processes underlying gender segregation in play, children's cognitive knowledge about gender, and the consequences of gender segregation. (BAC)

Explores adolescent Satanism as a phenomenon of adolescent developmental issues, most frequently occurring in the context of chemical abuse. Explains what a cult is, reviews history of Church of Satan, identifies characteristics of adolescent Satanism, and provides a case study of 16-year-old male with chemical dependency who becomes involved in…

Responds to arguments presented by Judith Harris's book "The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do" (1998). Maintains that her work should come as a relief to parents, as it encourages a constructive focus on ways parents can influence their children. Contends that Harris's ideas reflect a model in which parents' role matures…

Reports on an analysis through a symbolic interactionist perspective that indicates that hazing occurs because fraternities view it as a necessary component of their initiation rites. Posits that fraternities use systematic manipulation of symbols, social relations, and definitions of situations while reshaping the pledge's "self."…

Describes findings of several studies examining the influence of peer pressure on children and adolescents and what schools can do to help alleviate that pressure, especially among adolescents. (PKP)

Measures religious proscriptiveness through three types of faith groups-proscriptive, moderate, and nonproscriptive. Reports that a significant difference of religious proscriptiveness was found on alcohol use of high school students. Unlike previous findings, the impact of religious proscriptiveness was not significant on binge drinking. Using…

Past research provides conflicting evidence regarding whether aggressive youth have problems in the domain of friendship. The current study tested whether being disliked by peers exacerbates the negative effects of aggression on friendship and whether being perceived as popular by peers mitigates these damaging effects. Participants were 607 …

This paper examines the association of psychosocial factors and long-term drug use behaviors (year-5.5) among adolescents with a substance dependence disorder. One group received treatment with a 12-Step approach (n = 159) and one group was on a waiting list (n = 62). Four psychosocial factors (deviant behavior, peer drug environment,…

Researchers have long been interested in understanding factors affecting student achievement. To contribute new insights to the literature, this study investigated grade-level differences in the relationships of students' perceived academic support (from parents, teachers and peers) to academic achievement directly and also indirectly through…

This paper explores the perceptions of senior high school pupils in Shanghai regarding their motivation towards learning English and their perceived influence on this of important others (parents, teachers and peers). The study is based on 610 questionnaire responses and 64 interviews. The findings indicate that their English learning motivation…

As one form of small group learning, team-based learning's (TBL's) unique sequence of individual and group work with immediate feedback enables and encourages students to engage course content and each other in remarkable ways. Specifically, TBL creates an environment where students can fulfill their human need to belong in the process of…

In the past decade information literacy has received increasing emphasis in K-12 and postsecondary education, yet the information literacy skill levels of high school and college graduates continue to vary considerably. This report compares findings across a subset of data collected in three independent research studies focusing on students'…