Keeping middle school students focused and engaged in the classroom is a challenge amid the physical, intellectual, emotional, and social changes that young people experience during this phase of their lives. Youth aged 11 to 13 years are characterized by a growing desire to think and act independently while at the same time caring about being…

This study investigated the impact of social stress on symptoms of psychopathology at the entry into adolescence (111 girls, Mage = 11.84, SD = 0.77). We examined whether peer stress and pubertal timing were associated with internalizing distress and aggression, and whether responses to stress and cortisol reactivity mediated or moderated these…

Public health research has been dominated by the biomedical model, which does not appear to be appropriate for studying public health variables across different populations. For example, when comparing the Hispanic American (HA) and African American (AA) population in the U.S., there are similarities on several demographic and public health…

With the passing of Joseph D. Noshpitz, the field of troubled youth lost a distinguished leader. A founding member of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Noshpitz leaves a legacy of pivotal publications. Describes Noshpitz's contributions and shares one of his classic and once-censored articles on sexuality in children.…

Lethal intergroup conflict has been part of the human experience ever since our species emerged on the African savannah. Modern evolutionary thinking suggests that children's development could have evolved a variety of responses to it, some of which are highlighted upon considering, from the field of behavioural ecology, life-history theory and,…

The connection between pubertal stage and the development and depressive symptoms among females is investigated. Findings reveal that advancing pubertal stage presents greater risks for the beginning and persistence of depressive symptoms among females. The impacts of social adversity on the persistence of symptoms for female depression.

Objectives: To examine the relationship between puberty, sedentary behaviors, and psychosocial influences with intention for physical activity (PA) and PA. Methods: Low-income, overweight African American girls (n=72) completed 5 questionnaires that assessed PA, sedentary behaviors, and psychosocial influences. Puberty was assessed using Tanner…

Learners who begin to acquire a second language (L2) in a naturalistic environment after puberty are thought to be constrained by biological age factors and to have greater difficulty obtaining native-like L2. However, the extant literature suggests that L2 acquisition may be positively affected by post-maturational factors, such as acculturation.…

Much contemporary research has demonstrated the multiple ways that sleep is important for child and adolescent development. This article reviews that research with an emphasis on how sleep parameters are related to school adjustment and achievement. Five areas of sleep research are reviewed to discern implications for practice with children using…

The relationship between morningness/eveningness (M/E) and morning-to-afternoon cortisol ratio, pubertal timing, and antisocial behavior was examined in 111 girls and boys ages 8 to 13 years. Cortisol levels showed a significant increase after awakening and declined thereafter (p less than .05). Eveningness was related to a composite measure of…

The age of female puberty appears to have decreased in the United States and western countries as child health and nutrition have improved and obesity has become more prevalent. Also, environmental contaminants, particularly endocrine disruptors, may also play a role in lowering the age of puberty. Puberty at an early age increases the risk of…

An accumulating body of literature has shown a link between early pubertal maturation and internalizing problems, particularly among girls. Our knowledge is, however, limited with regard to what accounts for this association. Based on a hypothesis that early maturing girls have heightened stress sensitivity that increases the risk of internalizing…

A comparison of parent and adolescent subjects' ratings of the adolescent subjects' pubertal stage with a nurse practitioner's ratings indicated that adolescent and parent ratings of pubertal development can be used when precise assessment is not required. For questions requiring absolute accuracy, ratings by trained health care personnel are…

The relations between intactness of the parental unit (e.g., father absent at age 14) and pubertal timing in both men and women were examined in a US national probability sample. In both men and women, an absent father at age 14 predicted an earlier age of puberty (e.g., early menarche or voice change). There was little evidence that an absent…

This study examined genetic and environmental effects on individual variation in pubertal timing using two national samples of siblings from the Nonshared Environment of Adolescent Development (NEAD) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). In each sample, female and male siblings with different degrees of genetic…