When an elementary school's most disruptive students were invited to write an advice column about school-related and personal problems, the students were not only genuinely helpful, but also felt better about themselves and began to solve their own problems. (CB)

Four programs, two for preservice graduate students and two for inservice teachers, in which teachers were encouraged to analyze their teaching with a partner, are presented. The sessions to support teacher partnerships, how new patterns of teaching were demonstrated, and the extent to which teachers conducted cooperative projects are described.…

Positive Peer Culture is a treatment intervention for troubled youth. The author examines the face validity of this model and reviews research concerned with the effectiveness of cooperative learning structures. Uses of the model and some directions for future evaluations of peer programs are discussed. (Author/CH)

Describes the student mediator program developed at the William E. Ferron Elementary School (Nevada). Since the program began, the number of discipline problems referred to the principal has declined. Includes a sidebar outlining the steps used for orientation of mediators. (MD)

Article critically reviews the research literature on peer modeling among children as a function of model attributes. Conditions under which perceived similarity causes behavioral change are discussed. (RB)

Capacity of infant monkeys to mount an antibody response to viral challenge was evaluated after monkeys' removal from their mothers in several social and physical environments. Results indicated that trauma of separation was reduced when infants were familiar with the separation environment or familiar social companions were available. (PCB)

Surveyed over 700 12-year-olds and their parents concerning their attitudes toward the ensuing teenage years. Their reponses support in large measure the developmental tasks expounded by Robert Havighurst: the need to achieve independence, their concern with social relationships, and the acceptance of physical appearance. Parents' concerns about…

Evaluated the effectiveness of a multicomponent program designed to enhance the maintenance of weight loss in moderately obese clients (N=43). Results of 15- and 21-month follow-up assessments revealed that the multicomponent program significantly enhanced the maintenance of weight loss. (LLL)

Investigated the extent to which alcoholic beverages are consumed by high school teenagers (N=622) in rural communities of middle Tennessee. Results showed that about 63 percent of the subjects do drink alcoholic beverages, and that most of the drinking is done in the company of friends. (LLL)

Presents data from a longitudinal study, based on a sample of 632 Aberdeen school children (ages 11-16), on the development of peer and parental influences during adolescence. Reports that parental influence substantially diminished, but it was not replaced by peer influence: deference to parents remained strong over time. (KH)

Surveyed fraternity members from 41 colleges to examine drinking patterns among college students. Results showed 90 percent of college students reported drinking at social gatherings. Beer was the most popular beverage and grain alcohol the least popular. (JAC)

Reviews several key variables associated with problem behavior in general and drug abuse in particular. Proposes a theoretical approach both to the development of problem behavior and to ways of preventing it. Provides a conceptual rationale for the importance of peer-oriented prevention programs. (CMG)

A common practice in the fields of education, mental health, and juvenile justice is to segregate problem youths in groups with deviant peers. Assignments of this sort, which concentrate deviant youths, may facilitate deviant peer influence and lead to perverse outcomes. This possibility adds to the list of arguments in support of "mainstreaming"…

Empirical analysis of peer effects on student achievement has been open to question because of the difficulties of separating peer effects from other confounding influences. While most econometric attention has been directed at issues of simultaneous determination of peer interactions, this paper argues that issues of omitted and mismeasured…

Of the factors examined, only grade level was significant, with conformity to peer pressure highest in the second and third grades. (DP)