Explores giftedness from infancy to adolescence within a psychodynamic developmental framework. Gifted development is discussed in terms of drive, ego functions, object relations, and self-experience. Also discussed are the history of giftedness, gifted infants and preschoolers, gifted school-age children, and giftedness in male and female…

Assessments of schools and community agencies with teen pregnancy prevention programs (n=23) in three California counties were conducted using surveys, interviews, and site visits. Best practices identified included youth development programs, Involvement of family and other caring adults, and culturally appropriate and locally relevant…

The multidimensional empathic response patterns of late adolescent undergraduate students (N=153) was examined according to their identity status. Subjects completed self-report measures of empathic response style and identity development. Findings for empathic concern, cognitive empathy, and empathic distress are related to identity status…

Reviews research on adolescent development in the family context. Focuses on how best to characterize normative family relationships during adolescence, especially related to parent-child conflict, and on the effect of variations in parent-child relationships on adolescent development. Argues that there is enough evidence to conclude that…

Analysis of longitudinal data on 658 German adolescents studied from sixth to ninth grade identified four developmental patterns of beliefs about their academic capabilities: steady high, increasing, decreasing, and steady low. Factors influencing patterns included parental involvement/interest, maternal warmth, school grade, school anxiety, and…

Assesses the moral reasoning of Hawaiian youths. Findings challenge C. Gilligan's theoretical proposition that gender differences exist in moral development. Implications for counseling theory, research, and practice are discussed. (Author)

Defines youth development programs and reviews the program evaluation literature. Discusses (1) positive-behavior focused competency/asset enhancing programs, (2) problem-behavior focused competency/asset enhancing programs, and (3) resistance skills-based prevention programs. Includes an appendix of detailed summaries of 15 program evaluations.…

Discusses contemporary theories of adolescence, stressing developmental systems models that integrate individual and contextual levels of analysis. Maintains that adolescence should be studied with multivariate-longitudinal designs, change-sensitive measures, and data analytic strategies capitalizing on triangulation across quantitative and…

Examined 1979-97 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse data to investigate the probabilities of progression through a sequence of stages of substance use. Progression to marijuana and hard drugs was uncommon in people born before World War II. The stages phenomenon emerged with the baby boom and peaked among people born around 1960.…

Offers "framing questions" to help countries and communities create adaptable public policies related to adolescents and youth. Recommends principles for policy development, maintaining that social policy should focus on positive and nonacademic outcomes as well as negative outcomes and academic success, should be firmly connected to…

Profiles programs that provide academic and behavioral interventions, expectations, and support for children and youth, equipping them with the educational and social skills they need to be successful in the least restrictive environment. Describes Project ACHIEVE, The Bertha Abess Children's Center, Inc., and the Rhode Island Training Schools.…

Examines the specificity of marital distress and maternal depressive symptoms as potential mediators of one another in the prediction of adolescent adjustment. Findings show that marital distress mediated effects of maternal depressive symptoms on adolescent externalizing symptoms, and maternal depressive symptomatology mediated effects of marital…

A meta-analysis of 22 studies that provided effect sizes for the change in campers' self-esteem found that campers' self-esteem benefitted from camps that focused on self-enhancement as a working part of the program and philosophy. Campers aged 6 through 10 benefitted more than did older campers. Common factors of camps that focus on…

Reports on school survey of males entering puberty and occurrence of delinquent behaviors. Results show that these students reported a wider range of delinquency, including higher levels of crime and school opposition behaviors. They also reported a greater frequency of particular delinquent acts over a 12-month period. Findings lend support to…

Compared family environments for probability sample of 118 homeless adolescents residing in shelters to matched comparison group of 118 housed adolescents. Found that, after controlling for behavior-disorder effects and alcohol abuse, homeless adolescents experienced more parental maltreatment than housed adolescents, and reported feelings of less…