Many people believe in the value of outdoor experiential education opportunities such as organized camps for youth, but few instruments have been developed to measure the central youth development outcomes of camp. The purpose of this paper is to present the psychometric properties including the internal consistency and validity of scales designed…

Parentification has been defined as the familial interactional pattern in which children and adolescents are assigned or assume roles and responsibilities normally the province of adults. Two studies were conducted to examine the role that parentification takes in the context of immigration with regard to its impact on adolescent adaptation. In…

This project presents guidelines and resources for dealing effectively and positively with homosexuality in public schools. As the gay rights movement progresses and the civil rights of homosexual persons continue to receive legal affirmation, gays and lesbians who have kept their sexual orientation hidden will become more open about their…

By understanding at-risk youth, resilient youth, and the characteristics and behaviors of each, teachers and school personnel can create effective school connectedness and positive learning environments. This document focuses on resiliency factors in adolescence and how gender differences affect adolescent resiliency. Current research on…

Suburban high school seniors planning to attend universities, as well as parents, high school guidance counselors, and teachers at both the high school and college levels are the intended audience for this guide. It seeks to provide incoming freshmen with "everything you need to know about the first-year college experience" in a lively and…

The "lived reality" of secondary schooling for ten young gay men and the impact of this "reality" upon their emerging sexual identities is explored in this study. Two semi-structured interviews were held with each participant which allowed for the exploration of peer group culture, social and sexual activities, teachers, curriculum, counselors and…

A study explored girls' development and its implication for the psychology of women. From 1986-1990, nearly 100 girls between the ages of 7 and 18 at the Laurel School for Girls in Cleveland, Ohio, were interviewed. Most of the girls were from middle- or upper-middle-class families (80%), although some were scholarship students from working-class…

The Cumberland Valley Girl Scout Council is funded primarily by the United Way of Middle Tennessee. Approximately 5 years ago, the United Way of Middle Tennessee adopted an "outcome-based investment model" whereby agencies receive funding based on their ability to specify and monitor program outcomes based on genuine client and community…

This paper defines "adventure-based intervention,""young people," and "trouble and risk" in light of the therapeutic work done at Bryn Melyn Community (Bala, Wales), a therapeutic treatment center. Bryn Melyn provides intensive individualized therapy to young people, aged 15-18, who are in the care of social services…

A program for improving adolescents' decision-making skills to reduce the number of inappropriate behavioral choices related to wellness is described. The targeted population consisted of seventh and tenth grade students in a rural, middle class community. Data from local law enforcement records and school-based program referrals supported…

This newsletter issue presents articles on the development of youth resiliency through caring relationships with adults, high expectations, engaging activities, and opportunities to make decisions and contributions. Youth development programs and the experiences of teachers, parents, and adolescents are described, organized in five categories:…

Exploration is known to be a precursor of identity achievement and, thus, to a healthy transition to adulthood. This study examined antecedents of exploratory behavior in adolescence and the role of such behavior in identity development. Participants were 933 respondents in a 1991 national survey of German youth, ranging in age from 13 to 19 and…

This study investigated changes in intellectual orientations of 4,124 California high school students who completed the Omnibus Personality Inventory. The three dependent measures of intellectual orientations were Autonomy (which measures independence of thought and judgment), Theoretical Orientation (which reflects an interest in science,…

Following up research by Radway and others on readers of romance novels, a study, employing a reader-response approach, was conducted with 18 female adolescent readers of romances to discover if they perceived and enjoyed the novels in ways appreciably different from other readers. The subjects filled out questionnaires about their romance novel…

"Peer resource" refers to any program that uses children and youth to work with or help other children and youth; programs such as youth service, cooperative learning, peer tutoring, cross-age tutoring, peer helping, peer mediation, peer leadership, and youth involvement. This paper advocates the adoption of a peer resource model of…