Used data from Iowa Youth and Families Project to examine parental influences on ninth and tenth graders' community activities. Found that although both parental modeling and parental reinforcement made significant differences in the extracurricular activity involvement of their children, parental reinforcement was most consequential when parents…

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…

Examined the relationship between attachment cognitions and social support in a community sample of 129 late-adolescent women. Found that attachment cognitions representing greater security in close relationships were associated with higher levels of perceived and enacted social support. Differences between subjects reporting secure and insecure…

Introduces this special journal issue on adolescent transition to university. Notes that increased attention to this transition stems from influences of extending schooling on traditional adolescent experiences. Describes the articles as focusing on particular aspects of a risk and protective resources framework. Expresses hope that articles will…

Case studies in the National Camp Evaluation Project and National Inclusive Camp Practices project used interviews with counselors and parents about camper's growth to yield qualitative data for camp program evaluation. The importance, methods, and benefits of case studies are described. Sidebars give examples of comments on perceived camper…

This longitudinal study examined reciprocal growth in negative emotions between parents and adolescents, and their potential influence on the development of social relationships during early adulthood. Findings showed that both parents' and adolescents' initial levels of negative emotion toward each other predicted the rate of growth and rate of…

Examined relationship between parenting style and adolescent functioning among African American adolescent girls and their mothers living in impoverished neighborhoods. Found that teens whose mothers were disengaged (low on both parental warmth and supervision/monitoring) had the most negative outcomes related to externalizing and internalizing…

Examined role of pubertal and social transitions in emergence of gender differences in depressive symptoms. Found that differences emerged during eighth grade. Seventh-grade pubertal status related to depressive symptoms. Recent stressful life events related to increased depressive symptoms. Early-maturing girls with higher levels of initial…

Examined peer relations of young people from nuclear families, step families, and single-parent families. Findings suggest peer relations were affected by parental separation only to a minor extent as compared to, e.g. gender- or age-specific effects. A central aspect of friendship quality, however, namely admiration by friends, clearly suffered…

A theoretical framework is proposed for studying minority young men's involvement with their babies that combines the integrative model of minority youth development and a life course developmental perspective with Lamb's revised four-factor model of father involvement. This framework posits a relationship between demographic and family background…

This study treated a key relationship in the developmental ecology of adolescence, friendships, as multidimensional and context specific. First, it examined 4 characteristics of friends (academic achievement, alcohol use, emotional distress, and extracurricular participation) as independent factors and as components in holistic friendship group…

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.

Movies are a pervasive cultural influence on the lives of young men and women. One only has to utter the words, "double secret probation" to a college audience to understand the extent of this influence. Yet the large body of research in film does not draw on higher education research. We explore how college choice and adolescent development…

Purpose: To examine concordance between two self-reported measures of puberty: Sexual Maturation Scale (SMS) and Pubertal Development Scale (PDS) and their acceptability to adolescents. Methods: Participants of a school-based study in grades 5, 7 and 9 were classified into one of 5 pubertal stages using each method. Results: 2864 students (age…

For the first time ever, Citizen Through Sports Alliance (CTSA) convened a panel of youth sports experts from across the country to evaluate youth sports in the United States and articulate its successes and failures. The panel evaluated only community-based youth sports programs, focusing on those that serve children ages 6 to 14. The panel is…