Investigated the relationship between participation in school and non-school based extracurricular activities and peer influence on adolescent substance use. Surveys of 3,189 11th graders from 33 midwestern high schools indicated that while school and non-school based extracurricular activities significantly influenced substance use, peer…

Study creates and tests a comprehensive model of adolescent problem drinking. Results indicate that high levels of parental support and a positive school climate in the 8th grade influence the formation of relationships with peers with positive values in the 10th grade that guard against problem-drinking behavior in the 10th grade. (Contains 40…

Female minority students at an urban alternative high school completed interviews regarding perceptions of risk factors for female gang involvement. Peer pressure was the largest influence on female gang involvement. Respondents believed girls might turn to gangs for protection from neighborhood crime, abusive families, and other gangs. Lack of…

Examines school troubles, attitudes, and performance of same-sex attracted youth within the context of four relational domains: family, teacher, social, and peer. Results indicate that each domain plays a role in the negative attitudes about school held by sexual minority youth. However, feelings about teachers play an important role in explaining…

Examines what sociodemographic and criminogenic factors discriminate between inmates in a boot camp for non-violent offenders who commit crimes against persons and other offenders. Stepwise discriminant analysis results are discussed. The intervention implications of the findings are also discussed. (Author/MKA)

Examined predictors of children's moral reasoning development over 4-year period. Found that parental and friend interaction during moral conflict discussions influenced development differently. Minimal moral development was predicted by friends' cognitive challenges to the target child's moral reasoning and by parents' interfering interactions.…

Examines the relationship between loneliness and depression among 6,356 Chinese students from grades 4 through 9. Reports a close relationship between loneliness and depression. Peer-related loneliness and aloneness were more predictive than parent-related, and among primary students loneliness was more predictive of overall depression. Includes…

This study examines the effects of peer groups on community college students' perceptions of general educational gains. Results support the strong relationships between the efforts that students expend in taking advantage of the opportunities provided by their colleges and their perceived gains in learning. (JM)

Adolescents (N=1,198) in Reykjavik, Iceland were followed from ages 15 to 17 to explore their levels of psychosocial maturity in relation to alcohol consumption. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to examine interpersonal understanding, skills, and personal meaning in relation to alcohol use. Adolescents' psychosocial maturity,…

Examines the ways in which two risk factors: negative peer behavior and time spent without an adult, and two protective factors: adolescent resources and parental behavior influence psychological adjustment and grades among adolescents ages 10 to 17 (N=745). Results indicate that negative peer behavior is inversely related to adolescent well…

Social-emotional characteristics and drug use patterns of adolescents who reported having no friends (i.e. isolates) were compared to those of adolescents in drug using and non-drug using peer groups. Adolescents with no drug using peers reported lowest drug use and those with drug-using peers had highest drug use, with isolated adolescents…

Investigated the nature of body image and body change strategies, as well as sociocultural influences on these variables, among a group of 1,266 adolescents. Findings indicated females were less satisfied with their bodies and were more likely to adopt strategies to lose weight, whereas males were likely to adopt strategies to increase weight and…

Examined the perceived role of sociocultural agents (peers, parents, and media) in influencing body dissatisfaction and dietary restraint in adolescent girls. While current body size strongly predicted ideal body size and dissatisfaction, perceived influence of sociocultural agents also had a direct relationship with body ideal and…

Direct instruction was effective in teaching second grade students to identify and report peers' day-to-day prosocial behaviors. Interdependent reinforcement and publicly posted progress feedback procedures were effective in increasing and maintaining these behaviors. Discussion focuses on developing and implementing proactive programs to prevent…

A theoretical framework about protective factors (models protection, controls protection, support protection) and risk factors (models risk, opportunity risk, vulnerability risk) was employed to articulate the content of 4 key contexts of adolescent life--family, peers, school, and neighborhood--in a cross-national study of problem behavior among…