Clarifies the relationship between sexual communication and sexual behavior by examining the multiple components of sexual messages in a community sample of 248 black and white women. Results confirmed predictions concerning differential interpretations of messages. Ethnicity emerged as a strong mediating variable. Implications of the specific…

In a study of 418 12th graders, canonical correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between conflictual and emotional independence and two dimensions of career indecision: developmental and generalized. No relationship between psychological separation from parents and career indecision was found. (SK)

Comparison of German data on second-generation immigrants' educational attainment and those of similarly aged natives showed that foreign-born parents' schooling played no role in children's educational choices. For Germans, educational achievement of parents, especially fathers, influences children's schooling. (SK)

Surveyed adolescents and their parents regarding the effects of 10 youth developmental assets on adolescent tobacco use. Results highlighted a strong relationship between having any of nine assets and not smoking. Important assets included having adult, parental, and peer role models; family communication; good use of time; religion; effective…

A study of 933 German adolescents showed that identity achievers displayed the most exploratory behavior, those in identity diffusion the least. Parent behavior had strong, direct impact on childhood exploration. The breadth of childhood exploration was the strongest predictor of adolescent exploration. (SK)

To be sure, growing up the child of a school superintendent has its upsides. There are certain perks, such as never having to worry when you forget your lunch money and having your parent hand you your high school diploma. But there is plenty of pressure, both internally and externally, to act just right so as never to draw undue attention to the…

On an overcast Sunday afternoon April 2005, a crowd of teenagers and their families file through the front gates of Great America theme park, located along a boulevard in the polished suburban circuitry of Silicon Valley. Emerging briskly from this migration of bodies onto the steps of the park auditorium, flanked by his mother and father, is a…

In 1993, the UK Economic and Social Research Council funded the Parental and School Choice Interaction (PACSI) Study into the marketisation of education, conducted by the author along with Philip Woods and Ron Glatter of the Open University. The findings from the PACSI study highlighted the localised and complex nature of markets in education and…

An important issue for understanding early cognition is why very young children's real-world representations do not get confused by pretense events. One possible source of information for children is the pretender's behaviors. Pretender behaviors may vary systematically across real and pretend scenarios, perhaps signaling to toddlers to interpret…

In attachment research, there has been a growing interest in how adults conceptualize their relationships with their own parents as well as in the transmission of attachment status from parent to child and the variables that influence that transmission. The primary goal of the present study was to examine the transmission of attachment from deaf…

Using data from the first 2 phases of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care, the authors examine the links between maternal employment in the first 12 months of life and cognitive, social, and emotional outcomes for children at age 3, at age 4.5, and in first grade. Drawing on theory and prior research from developmental psychology as well as…

Low levels of physical activity among adolescent girls are a cause for concern. Examining girls' physical activity perceptions and motivations through in-depth qualitative research allows for greater understanding of the reasons behind their physical activity-related choices. Forty-seven girls aged 14 to 16 years participated in exploratory focus…

The present study describes the depressive symptomatology of 393 parents of prekindergarten children and assesses ethnic differences in the depression scores of these parents and their differential consequences for children's social competence. Data are drawn from the National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) classroom study, a…

This paper addresses the extent to which there is an intergenerational transmission of mental health and subjective well-being within families. Specifically it asks whether parents' own mental distress influences their child's life satisfaction, and vice versa. Whilst the evidence on daily contagion of stress and strain between members of the same…

Although the use of loans to finance postsecondary educational expenses seems commonplace, the emphasis of the U.S. financial aid system on loans may limit college opportunity for individuals who are unwilling or unable to incur this type of debt. This study uses data from descriptive case studies of 15 high schools to examine four guiding…