Educators and parents have been concerned about insufficient sleep time among adolescents, which could seriously compromise their learning and development. Altering school schedule to a later start time has been proposed to be a viable measure to address the problem and practiced in some schools and districts. Despite its significance and high…

This study examined the relations among activity participation, expressive identity, and wellness in a sample of 115 high school students. Results indicated that most adolescents identify several activities as self-defining. Within-person variation in identity scores across self-selected activities was substantially greater than between-person…

This study investigated the influence of loneliness and relationships with parents and friends on the psychological well-being or adolescent malaise. Data were collected via two questionnaires (LLCA--Marcoen, Goossens & Caes, 1987; TRI--Bracken, 1996) from a sample of 330 Italian adolescents, males and females, aged between 11 and 19. As…

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…

Inconsistent findings exist on the effects of young adult-parent relationships on developmental status transitions into adulthood. Such transitions in turn predicted less conflicted and closer young adult-parent relationships. But systematic investigations of reciprocal effects between developmental transitions and young adult-parent relationships…

The media are dominated by images of women as sex objects whose value is based on their appearance. These portrayals can potentially limit girls' self-perceptions and influence their attitudes regarding the importance of appearance. However, relatively little is known about how African American adolescent girls are affected by these images. Using…

In the Russian Federation, a growing emphasis on individualism and a profusion of educational options create challenges and opportunities for adolescents making the transition to secondary school. To investigate Russian students' perspectives during this important developmental period, we conducted two open-ended interviews with 32 ninth graders…

Perinatal HIV infection in the US continues to evolve from a fatal pediatric illness to a chronic medical condition of childhood and adolescence. Although navigating this period is influenced by multi-leveled deprivations commonly experienced by low-income minority families, HIV alters the timing and experience of developmental milestones for many…

This study was conducted to examine the timing of adolescent transitions. Its first aim was to investigate the hypothesis that cumulated family adversities during childhood would predict earlier transitions in domains such as behavioral autonomy and friendship formation during adolescence. Subjects (N=1,631) were adolescents between the ages of 13…

This document, the second of three volumes in the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment's "Adolescent Health" series, provides background information on aspects of adolescents' lives and examines the effectiveness of prevention and treatment interventions. Chapter 1, an introduction to this two-part document, provides a summary…

This study examined the sources of funds for nonprofit agencies which provide youth development services. It tapped multiple sources, including reports compiled about their affiliates' revenue by the national headquarters of youth-serving agencies; studies of seven communities conducted by The Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies…

Each generation of adolescents is exposed to a wider array of stressors and environmental deficits. Use, abuse, and dependence on alcohol and other drugs greatly impairs youths' ability to develop fully, and exacerbates and compounds other biopsychosocial problems. Physiologically, the onset of secondary sex characteristics, the growth spurt,…