Study assessed the role of children's aggression and three indices of social competence (peer-preferred behaviors, teacher-preferred behaviors, school adjustment) in students' perceived relationships with their teachers among elementary school students. Poor school adjustment, particularly for boys, was associated with more negatively perceived…

Eating disorders among teens and younger children have reached epidemic levels. The school's primary role in helping students who may have eating disorders is referring them to specialists. Schools can also help students learn good eating habits and designate a resource person to serve as a liaison with community medical and mental health…

Examines the reciprocal nature of contributions made by 36 pairs of English infant school peers as they worked in classroom task groups. Indicates that year two children were significantly more responsive and demonstrated a great capacity for extended reciprocal interaction. Discusses the relational findings that children develop the ability to…

This multivariate panel study examines longer-term effects of a prevention program on trajectories of alcohol misuse and related risk factors. Analyses showed susceptibility, exposure, and alcohol misuse increased mostly linearly across adolescence and covaried positively within and across time, arguing that they exist in a mutually reinforcing…

The effectiveness of a peer imitation intervention with three preschool children with autism and one with developmental delays was studied. Results indicated participants increased peer imitation behaviors in small group and free play settings. Increases were also seen in social behavior and in levels of nonsocial engagement. (Contains…

Examined the role of regard for parents in Singapore adolescents' psychosocial competence, as indicated by self-esteem and susceptibility to antisocial peer pressure. Found that regard for parents was positively related to self-esteem and negatively associated with antisocial susceptibility. Regard for parents moderated the relation between…

Presents a case study that follows one high school's peer conflict mediation efforts to reduce violence. Over 8 years, suspensions for fighting decreased dramatically, verbal confrontations between students decreased somewhat, and the general atmosphere on campus grew more relaxed, with students relating better to one another and the school…

Describes an assignment in which senior psychology majors write letters of advice to incoming psychology freshmen. Provides a course context and focuses on the representative results and student evaluations of the assignment. Discusses the different purposes the letters have served. (CMK)

Discusses conflict as a normal part of young children's social development. Examines the teacher's role in children's conflict, classroom conflict outcomes, and the use of peer mediation programs and peace education in elementary and secondary schools. Describes the impact of the Fussbuster Program on Head Start children with high levels of…

The purpose of this study was to determine the rationale behind football game day attire and to establish whether organizational identification, perceived organizational prestige, and game day participation influenced clothing choice. By identifying the game day clothing habits of female college students attending Division I-A schools throughout…

The areas considered in this chapter have to do with the aims of family socialization, the nature of influence, linking multiple sources of influence, and the range of families and contexts used as a basis for accounts of socialization. In each area, moving beyond restrictive assumptions opens up new ways of thinking and new research questions.

This study tested a culturally informed model of academic well-being for 278 Latino youth. We examined detrimental effects of discriminatory experiences and protective effects of social support on self-reported academic outcomes. Models specified main and buffering effects of social support and compared contributions of support provided by…

Successful peer helping or peer group treatment interventions for at-risk youth engage the curative power of some primary child development strategies. Coaching at-risk adolescents to help others has been a primary therapeutic tool in peer helping programs for over 50 years. High and moderate risk youth can benefit greatly from programs that…

Associations among six different domains of self-esteem (peers, school, family, sports/athletics, body image, and global self-worth) and risk behaviors related to substance use and suicidality were investigated in a sample of South African adolescents. Students enrolled in Grades 8 and 11 at independent secondary schools in Cape Town (N = 116)…

This paper reviews how cascading levels of contextual influences, starting with family factors and extending to neighborhood and school factors, can affect children's behavioral and emotional development. The ability of contextual factors to trigger or to attenuate children's underlying temperament and biological risk factors is emphasized.…