Examined data from adolescents who had completed the 1989 Teenage Attitudes and Practices Survey and who were re-interviewed in 1993 to determine social and environmental factors that influenced their smoking progression. Smoking behavior of best friends and smoking beliefs were consistent and significant factors in predicting progression from…

This article examines the potential impact of adolescent social physique anxiety on behavior and physical activity settings. Offers that an awareness and consideration of the self-presentational sensitivities that adolescents may experience in physical activity settings provide important avenues for understanding and addressing certain types of…

Interviews with 30 extremely overweight nine to ten year old children in the United Kingdom offer perspectives on the challenges they face. Schools can make positive contributions by fostering climates of mutual respect and helping these children develop a positive outlook and sense of self-worth. (Author/MKA)

A four-year study of children (N=306) utilized latent growth curve modeling to examine the quality of parenting as a mediator of the effect of childhood antisocial behavior on adolescent delinquency and friendship choices. No direct association was found between oppositional/defiant behavior during childhood and a trajectory of increasing…

Considers what constitutes learning to write and how children develop the ability. Explores (1) learning from peers; (2) learning from the teacher; and (3) learning about the functions of text. (PA)

Examines the function of substance use as an impression management tactic. Introductory psychology students (n=377) responded to a survey instrument measuring self-monitoring, perceived success in impression management, interaction anxiety, and self-esteem. Results suggest that alcohol use may serve an impression management function. (JPS)

Tests explanatory power of a sociocultural model in predicting bulimic symptomatology in a sample of college women (N=141). High scores on the Bulimia Test were negatively correlated with scores on the cohesion subscale of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale. Pressures to diet from family and friends were also found to be…

In the brain, five modules or systems (emotional, cognitive, physical learning, social, and reflective) wax and wane in influencing our thoughts and behavior. Emotionally, socially, and physically comfortable students attuned to the content being taught learn relatively easily. Focusing solely on cognitive learning is counterproductive. (MLH)

Describes a study that examined the effect of direct experience on traditional aged college students' attitudes, perceptions and intentions toward distance education. Used a repeated measures design, set up to measure before and after effects of direct experience and peer influences on a sample of undergraduates. (Contains 26 references.)…

Explored the role of clothing in expressing individual and collective identity among preadolescent English students. Results found that a relaxed enforcement of school uniforms created space for students to use clothing to gain recognition, generate common bonds, and share interests within peer groups. Clothing and footwear were used as an…

Examined peer intervention in bullying among 58 first through sixth graders, using naturalistic observations on school playgrounds. Found that peers were present during 88 percent of bullying episodes and intervened in 19 percent. Interventions toward the bully were more likely to be aggressive. Interventions toward the victim or the dyad were…

Young female offenders (n=29) and female high school students (n=47) were compared in terms of delinquent behavior and relationships with their best female friend and peer group. Results indicated friendships of delinquent and nondelinquent female adolescents are essentially similar despite higher levels of peer pressure among delinquents. (BF)

Examined whether preschool children's play-partner choices were stable over time and how they influenced behavior. Found that partner preferences were highly sex differentiated and stable over time. Identified two types of consequences of partner choice: a binary effect that influenced differences between the sexes and a social dosage effect that…

Past research suggests that congregating delinquent youth increases their likelihood of problem behavior. We test for analogous peer effects in the drug use and sexual behavior of male (n = 279) and female (n = 435) college students, using data on the characteristics of first-year roommates to whom they were randomly assigned. We find that males…

Taken from a larger study about life in high school classrooms from students' perspectives, this paper discusses how study participants pinpointed individual classrooms as the nerve centers in students' high school experiences. Punctuating the swirls of movement within school days, individual class periods contain clues about how students…