This study examines the relationship between peer, family, and community context risk factors and alcohol use; gender is examined as a potential moderator of these relationships. Hierarchical logistic regressions conducted in a sample of 781 seventh grade students found that normative beliefs about peers' alcohol use emerged as the most consistent…

Analyzing data from a probability sample representative of secondary school students in Singapore (N = 1,599), this study examined the independent impact between the quality of mother-child relationship, the quality of father-child relationship and family conflict on the frequency of drinking and drunkenness, and whether each dyadic parent-child…

Objective: To compare patterns of water pipe and cigarette smoking in an eastern Mediterranean country. Methods: In 2008, 1781 out of 1877 seventh graders enrolled in 19 randomly selected schools in Irbid, Jordan, were surveyed. Results: Experimentation with and current water pipe smoking were more prevalent than cigarette smoking (boys: 38.7% vs…

The study of delinquent peers has remained at the forefront of much criminological research and theorizing. One issue of particular importance involves the factors related to why people associate with and maintain a sustained involvement with delinquent peers. Although efforts have been made to address these questions, relatively little attempt…

Having friends who engage in disruptive behavior in childhood may be a risk factor for childhood tobacco experimentation. This study tested the role of friends' disruptive behavior as a mediator of the effects of a classroom based intervention on children's tobacco experimentation. 433 Children (52% males) were randomly assigned to the Good…

Objective: Risk-taking behavior (eg, alcohol abuse, tobacco usage, misuse of prescription medications) among college students is a widespread problem. This study focused not only on the frequency of risky health behaviors in college students, but also the companions with whom they engaged in such behaviors. Methods: Three hundred and twelve…

This study examines whether expectancies about the impact of not drinking or reducing alcohol use and perceptions of peer alcohol use partially mediated risk incurred by sensation seeking for adolescent alcohol involvement. High school drinkers (N = 3,153) completed a survey assessing substance use, sensation seeking, perceived peer alcohol use,…

Whilst traditional forms of bullying have and continue to receive considerable attention in the literature, research on technology-enabled bullying remains in an embryonic stage and considerable deficits exist in our understanding of the nature, extent, dynamics and consequents of this new form of bullying. Of the limited studies that exist on…

Recent studies conclude that teachers are important for student learning but it remains uncertain what actually determines effective teaching. This study directly peers into the black box of educational production by investigating the relationship between lecture style teaching and student achievement. Based on matched student-teacher data for the…

Problem-focused interventions are considered to be one of the most effective group counseling strategies with adolescents. This article describes a problem-focused group counseling model, Solving Problems Together (SPT), that focuses on working with students who struggle with negative peer pressure. Adapted from the teaching philosophy of…

This study investigated the attitudes of peer tutors who received web conferencing training in preparation for synchronous online tutoring. A quasi-experimental design was employed to evaluate changes in peer tutors' attitudes toward distance learning following participation in an online tutor training program. Peer tutors were found to have: (a)…

Preservice teachers benefit from the knowledge of many groups of people: college faculty, mentor teachers, and peers who are preparing to be teachers. While much research has been done about the contributions of faculty and mentor teachers to the education of preservice teachers, very little has been dedicated to the peer mentoring process, one in…

In recent years there has been an increase in the number of children going to school in England who do not speak English as a first language. We investigate whether this has an impact on the educational outcomes of native English speakers at the end of primary school. We show that the negative correlation observed in the raw data is mainly an…

The transition into high school is a traumatic event in an adolescent's life. Students face several emotional challenges during their high school years as they struggle to gain a sense of self, develop the tools needed to advocate for their own needs, and navigate the demands of a new school. A successful transition into high school has a…

Objective: This study evaluated the ability of delinquent peer affiliation to mediate the effects of multidimensional treatment foster care (MTFC; Chamberlain, 2003) on girls' delinquent behavior. Method: This study used a sample of girls from 2 cohorts (N = 166; M = 15.31 years old at baseline, range 13-17 years; 74% European American, 2% African…