Although it is likely that plans to attend a 4-year college are made much earlier than the last 2 years of high school, few researchers have assessed the pre-high school factors that influence high school performance and course-enrollment decisions, which, in turn, affect college attendance. The data presented in this article were collected as…

The third wave of the Overcoming the Odds longitudinal study involves data about individual and ecological developmental assets and thriving among African American male adolescents in inner-city Detroit gangs (N = 43) or in youth development, community-based organizations (CBO; N = 50). Both groups had comparable levels of either low or high…

Relationships among the Big Five personality factors (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism), career interests, and career self-efficacy (using Holland's realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional types for both of the latter) were examined. Among a sample of 147 college students,…

The present study evaluates the discriminating ability and psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Draw-A-Person Questionnaire (DAPQ). The DAPQ is an instrument that uses both free-response and fixed-response methodologies and has been recently translated into Spanish. A group of 60 psychiatric patients of Latin American origin is…

This study examined the validity of using stories to appraise career dispositions and problems associated with career adaptability. Premedical students (63 women, 37 men) wrote narratives about Thematic Apperception Test cards (TAT) and responded to the Strong Interest Inventory (SII). Independent raters identified identical career adaptability…

The author provides a reaction to the proposed strength-based counseling model for at-risk youth. The Major Contribution initiates a dialogue about how to define strengths and how to operationalize a strength-based model of counseling. Discussing how this model adapts to adolescents by capitalizing on this developmental stage's uniqueness would…

School achievement and even intelligence have been linked to personality styles. Extroversion (the desire to be surrounded by people) and introversion (the desire to be alone in a quiet area) are two of these styles. More students and teachers tend to be extroverted, so this style is more prominent in schools. Extroverts and introverts have almost…

Sex offenders have been shown to possess a number of consistent characteristics such as lack of empathic responding, distorted cognitions, a sense of entitlement, and lack of self-esteem. Though these constructs have been given considerable attention in the literature, little attention has been paid to what role intrapsychic conflict may play in…

Studies on academic motivation from the perspective of goal orientation have been plentiful in recent years. Nonetheless, the conceptual and empirical approach is not uniform, evolving from normative conceptions toward other multidimensional ones. This paper analyzes the classic and reformulated versions of this theory, looking at assumptions,…

A persuasive case is presented by Ringeisen, Henderson, and Hoagwood (2003) for the significance of school contexts in child development and the potential for improving child mental health and achievement through more sophisticated, integrative, multilevel, and multidisciplinary models of how schools and children change. This perspective reflects…

While the existing research consistently points to the effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in treating borderline personality disorder, little qualitative research has been conducted to ascertain the reasons for its success, especially from the perspective of those undergoing the treatment. Our qualitative investigation was…

This study assessed the hypothesis that the response time to an item increases as the positions of the item and the respondent on the continuum of the trait that is measured draw closer together. This hypothesis has previously been stated by several authors, but so far it does not seem to have been empirically assessed in a rigorous way. A…

In this article, the author discusses the Student in Good Standing Contract (SGS), a program designed to help the students at Ocean Township High School in Monmouth County, New Jersey renew themselves, rebuild their self-confidence, and commit to learning. Once a student is identified as violating the school disciplinary policy and is suspended…

From the author's perspective, self-determination is characteristic of all humans regardless of their capabilities, disabilities, or idiosyncrasies. It is evident when they act on their circumstances to get what they need or want and when they persist in those pursuits until situations change in the right direction for them. It is accurately…

The influence of three components of temperament (activity level, impulsivity, and soothability) on children's friendships was investigated. Children (40 girls, 35 boys) aged 43 to 69 months responded to a sociometric interview and teachers provided temperament ratings. The probability of children choosing particular classmates as friends was…