This booklet is one of two publications designed to assist parents in guiding their preadolescents away from experimentation with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, while enhancing the parent-child relationship. The book is divided into 10 steps: (1) talk with your child about alcohol; (2) learn to really listen to your child; (3) help your child…

This booklet examines the problem of alcohol use among American teenagers. The role that alcohol plays in adult society is presented and its potential danger for causing teenage alcohol addiction is considered. A discussion on why some teenagers abuse alcohol focuses on familial, peer, sociocultural, environmental, personality, and behavioral…

This guide was written for parents of preadolescents and young adolescents to help them teach their children to say "No" to alcohol. Illustrated with numerous black and white photographs and other graphics, the guide presents information about drinking among preadolescents and discusses how parents can drink themselves and, at the same time, teach…

The subject of grade retention has generated substantial theoretical, empirical, and practical attention for almost a century. However, few conclusive statements regarding this widespread practice can be made, and the literature has generated mixed results. Reviews of the literature prompt many questions: Does retaining a child in grade increase…

The conference described in this report was designed to explore fundamentally important aspects of educating 3- through 13-year-old children in a variety of school settings. A total of 250 participants, representing 17 states, attended. This volume provides the text of a conference paper by Melvin D. Levine, M.D., entitled "The Challenge of…

This document presents statistics on the characteristics of first commitments from the California Youth Authority (CYA). Offense categories used in the report include violent offenses, property offenses, narcotic and drug offenses, and others. Several highlights of first commitment characteristics are reported: (1) from 1985 to 1986, CYA…

This experiment investigated how children's self-efficacy and achievement were influenced by their observing peer models learn a cognitive skill. Within this context, the effects of modeled mastery and coping behaviors were explored. The subjects were 72 children aged 8 to 10 who had experienced difficulties learning subtraction with regrouping…

A study of dating behavior by McDaniel was replicated, using a single adult population instead of college undergraduates. The hypothesis stated that recreational dating was associated with peer orientation, low commitment and assertive behavior; that mate selection dating was associated with family orientation, medium commitment and…

This study examined the use of directive speech forms by 46 children 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-years of age as a function of different tasks (play with dolls versus play with colored stickers) and of the presence versus absence of a peer partner. Directive utterances were stimultaneously categorized according to structure, form and the person they…

New statistics indicate that drug use is prevalent among today's youth for reasons of alienation, affluency, a philosophy of experimentation, peer pressure of social acceptance, availability of drugs, and changing values. The solution lies not in punitive measures but in education as a practical approach. Although much is being done toward drug…

A casual path model based on Sutherland's theory was developed and applied to student marijuana use as a specific delinquent act. Two types of differential association were suggested to explain the genesis of marijuana use for the individual. The data tended to lend support to the causal path model. (Author/LPG)

Confined to discussion of heterosexual activities, this article examines adolescent sexual behavior in terms of promiscuity; the search for a sexual behavior code; the impact of the media; and the influence of peer groups, religious identification, and the adult double standard. (JC)

Predictors associated with adolescents' initiation into three cumulative stages of drug use--hard liquor, marihuana, and other illicit drugs--were investigated. The strongest predictors were prior involvement in deviant behavior (hard liquor); peer influence, and adolescent beliefs and values (marihuana); and relationship to parents, and…

Describes a study to assess values of sixth grade children toward their peer groups and to develop an instrument to measure values. Presents the 49-item inventory which resulted from the study. (Author/DB)

Peer cluster theory suggests that the socialization factors that accompany adolescent development interact to produce peer clusters that encourage or discourage drug involvement. Correlations of socialization variables, strength of the family, family sanctions against drug use, religious identification, and school adjustment with drug use confirm…