Alcohol use is three times greater among Indian youth than among adolescents in general. Research suggests that an adolescent's decisions concerning substance abuse may be tied to self-esteem and to peer associations and activities. This booklet examines three types of programs that have been successful in building positive self-concepts and peer…

"Peer resource" refers to any program that uses children and youth to work with or help other children and youth; programs such as youth service, cooperative learning, peer tutoring, cross-age tutoring, peer helping, peer mediation, peer leadership, and youth involvement. This paper advocates the adoption of a peer resource model of…

This document presents the teacher's guide for an experimental research and demonstration project which focuses on the prevention of drug abuse among youth through self-management and resistance training. The major purpose of the curriculum described in this document is to prevent and reduce the incidence of habitual cigarette smoking and of…

This report discusses an empirical investigation of the social networks of German children in their first 5 years of life; particular attention is given to the frequency and the function of the child's social contacts with persons in his or her social environment. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire from 1033 families residing in 18…

This paper examines the process of educational achievement for a birth cohort of Baltimore children who were followed prospectively during their first grade year. The analysis, which employed a social-psychological model of the early schooling process, identified some of the personal, interpersonal, and situational factors that influence cognitive…

Students with personal-social problems report seeking help from friends and relatives first, as compared to faculty, clergy, and counseling centers. To investigate the subsequent referrals friends might provide, 28 college freshmen, 14 male and 14 female, rated 16 problem descriptions on a 0-9 point scale according to the likelihood that they…

To provide a theoretical base for investigating the influence of inferential error on group decision making, current literature on both inferential error and decision making is reviewed and applied to the Watergate incident. Although groups tend to make fewer inferential errors because members' inferences are generally not biased in the same…

The role of women's college peer groups in aiding women to continue along or in encouraging them to drop out of certain career paths was investigated. During an ethnographic phase, freshmen were interviewed; during the survey phase a survey instrument was administered to sophomores. Respondents were from predominately black Bradford University…

This study explored adolescent age and gender differences in patterns of emotional self-disclosure to parents and friends. An additional purpose was to describe how familial and individual developmental characteristics influence patterns of adolescent emotional disclosure. The sample consisted of 174 junior high school students between 12 and 15…

Efforts in higher education to use students as teachers (peer teaching), thus providing them with the benefits traditionally enjoyed by professors are described. Four sections focus on the following: (1) peer teaching and the psychological basis for its benefits (cognitive level, affective level, and peer learning); (2) types of peer teaching used…

This document presents a review of the research on experiences outside of the classroom that may affect student achievement during the high school years, focusing specifically on the areas of family influences, peer influences, part-time employment of students, and student participation in extracurricular activities. It reports on studies of…

This factsheet examines alcohol use among college students. It explains how to identify problem drinking, discussing negative consequences of drinking, excessive consumption and intoxication, and reasons for drinking. Correlates of problem drinking are described in the areas of personality and gender; peer, family, and environmental influences are…

Although it has become commonplace in our society for children to take care of themselves for periods of time every day while their parents work, not much is known about the adequacy or effects of these self-care arrangements. Recent studies have reached very different conclusions regarding academic performance, social skills, self-esteem, school…

Thirty four-year-olds and 30 five-year-olds participated in a study of social influences on computer activity. During a first session children were individually pretested for general cognitive level and alphabet and number skills; during a second session they were given individual training on the computer; during third and fourth sessions half of…

This literature review addresses the prevalance of drug use and abuse among college athletes and the reasons for such abuse. Among reasons cited are status, peer pressure, boredom, and performance enhancement. Possible interventions that may prevent illegal drug use are also discussed, including educating coaches and trainers to help athletes,…