Camp counselors in training (CIT) are usually adolescents. CIT programs must support teens through their developmental changes and provide opportunities to practice activity and life skills in a safe environment. Developmental tasks teens face are identified and elements of a strong CIT program are discussed. Sidebars present teen trends and…

Youth development moves beyond risk reduction by turning a narrow negative focus on at-risk factors into positive action strategies. Critical components of youth development are providing positive ways for young people to meet their needs and building competencies. Physical, social, cognitive, vocational, and moral competence are described, and…

Established and novel multivariate methods were used to examine informants' rankings of 73 motives/causes for truancy. Five main relatively homogeneous clusters of motives/causes emerged, two covering a previously recognized pattern of parent-condoned truancy, and three related to recognized syndromes of adolescent delinquency. It was suggested…

Investigated hypothesis that individuals evaluate self-worth differently across relational contexts while holding perceptions of global self-worth. Found that adolescents' self-worth perceptions varied across contexts. Support in a given context was more highly correlated with relational self-worth in the corresponding context than in other…

Offers a brief overview of the historical development of the middle school, looking at traditional school organization of the 19th century, junior high schools, as part of the effort to meet the developmental needs of young adolescents. (SR)

Examined relative contributions of genetic and environmental influences to the covariation between sibling relationships and mother/adolescent relationships in 719 same-sex sibling pairs of varying degrees of genetic relatedness. Found that the overlapping effects of shared environment on the two relationship subsystems explained most of the…

Maintains that the findings of the Utrecht Study of Adolescent Development are consistent with theoretical expectations and previous research outcomes. Uses the Utrecht data to analyze hypothesized age differences in patterns of intraindividual identity status change. Discusses possible explanations for the partial failure to confirm this aspect…

Utilizing longitudinal, 3-wave data collected from multiple informants (fathers, mothers, and target children) in 374 families, the potential effects of sibling relationships on adolescent development across early and middle adolescence were investigated. Adolescents who perceived their sibling relationships more positively at Time 1 tended to…

In understanding delinquency in adolescence the key theoretical papers on the role of oedipal resolution and superego development remain essential and are summarized. To this we need to add our knowledge of trauma and of developmental deficit if we are to offer appropriate strategies for young delinquents and to be able to select those for whom…

This study assesses if correspondence existed between concepts scholars use to discuss positive youth development (PYD) and terms used by practitioners, parents, and youth to discuss exemplary PYD, or thriving. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of 173 interviews about the meaning of thriving found no significant commonality between the terms…

Many statistical models have been used to study human development. The multidimensional scaling (MDS) method has been an under-utilised technique in psychological and educational research for studying such phenomena. In this paper, MDS profile analysis was used to examine adolescent mood change patterns over a 1-week period. This method is used to…

This study examines religious identity development of pupils at Dutch schools for secondary education (mean age 16.4). With the help of a theoretical conceptualization of "religious identity development" empirical research is carried out. Main question is whether differences in terms of religious commitment and exploration between pupils…

Peer relations are perceived to be more strongly related to family relationships for Israeli Arab and Druze adolescents than for Israeli Jewish adolescents growing up in a neighboring but socioculturally different society. However, when family relations are poor, Jewish adolescents draw greater support from peers than do Arab and Druze adolescents.

This paper investigates how the learning environments and family dynamics differ if households have a child with a disability or a parent with a disability. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, results indicate that children with disabilities experience similar learning environments as other children, but have somewhat…

Using daily diary methodology, 67 Mexican American adolescents completed measures assessing daily stressors experienced, specific coping strategies employed with reference to these stressors, and indices of psychological health over 5 consecutive days. With respect to coping usage, adolescents reported they most often used planning and least often…