Surveyed 596 fifth through seventh graders regarding their cigarette and alcohol behaviors, attitudes, knowledge. Approximately one third of the students were experimental users of these substances. Pro-smoking and pro-drinking attitudes were directly related to use. Knowledge about smoking and drinking were inversely related to use. (JAC)

Presents a survey of 52 black female lawyers in New York City. Focuses on the sociocultural factors that affected career choice, career entry, and establishment within the White, male-dominated profession. These included family background, work history, self-efficacy and esteem, social conciousness, attitudes toward motherhood and marriage, and…

Support for the confluence model of intellectual development has come from analyses of family size-birth order means of large aggregate data sets. Analyses of individual scores do not substantiate the confluence model, as explained variance is markedly reduced. The study of family interaction variables utilizing longitudinal data is recommended.…

A study of Black families with children of various reading ability levels found that low-income Black families can promote good reading if they use certain practices that foster reading achievement in children. These practices include lavishing praise, teaching responsibility, and having in the house tradebooks related to children's interests. (GC)

This article presents data comparing the ability of psychiatric patients and their relatives to predict the posthospital adjustment of the patient. The study focuses on the comparison of the accuracies of patients' and relatives' expectations over a six month period beginning just prior to the patient's release. (SJL)

Over the past decade, considerable legal and policy discussion has emerged about sexual activity between young teens and older individuals. This discussion has been prompted by the growing awareness of the personal and societal costs of this activity. Sex between young teens and older individuals is linked with risky sexual behaviors that could…

This study explored the relationships between adult economic outcomes and three key factors during adolescence: schooling, family background, and county of residence. The empirical analysis was based on data covering the period from 1979-1996. Data came from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The study examined a sample of people ages…

Recent research suggests that working men experience as much work-family conflict as women do. More men are doing housework and childcare, and feel that family is as important as their work. An attempt was made to determine how college seniors view their potential for managing work-family conflict. College students (N=324) attending a private…

This study examined the effects of full-time employment, marriage, and parenthood on the re-enrollment in college of individuals who stopped attending college before completing a degree. Data were obtained from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS-72), focusing on the initial 7 years of the tracking period, from…

This paper focuses on shedding light on three aspects--or faces--of alcoholism. The paper, in an interview format, presents the perspectives of the recovering alcoholic, a mother of the recovering alcoholic, and the adult child of an alcoholic. It also provides brief medical definitions of the various types of alcoholism. The paper points out that…

To help educators deal with "bullying" problems, intervention strategies are presented in this handbook. It focuses on the insidious day-to-day teasing and harassment typical of bullying and serves as a resource for addressing "bully/victim" problems during the pre-adolescent and adolescent years. Research has shown that the middle-school years…

This paper discusses family systems theory and advances a communicative model of family functioning that is process orientated and encourages children to develop self-control. Family systems theory postulates that each member of a family has an impact on the behaviors of other family members, and that children's behavior is influenced by their…

This study used data from a random sample of African American families living in poor urban communities to examine: how well socialization, supervision, and marital transition hypotheses explained the relationship between family structure and the probability of sexual debut and pregnancy for African American adolescents in disadvantaged…

The earliest years, for one individual growing up on the coast of Ecuador representing one of the few English-speaking inhabitants, sowed the seeds of cultural literacy. Spanish and English were taught simultaneously and religion took on a large role. The Bible was taught by parents, who also read aloud, sang songs, and told stories to the…