Neighborhood conditions are related to children's externalizing behavior, although few processes that help explain this association have been identified. With data from 189 primarily low-income Anglo and Mexican American families, we tested a stress process model that included 3 potential mediators of this relationship. The results showed that…

Although bullying among Japanese youth is a current major concern, psychosocial influences on bullying are not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to identify the psychosocial factors associated with physical, verbal, and indirect bullying among Japanese adolescents. Junior high school students between seventh and ninth grade (N =…

This paper estimates the effect of students' background characteristics on the academic outcomes of their college roommates. It uses data from four classes of students at Wellesley College, where roommate assignment is credibly random, conditional on student responses to a housing preference form. In linear specifications, there are no peer…

Few studies have examined the predictors of substance use for ethnic minority adolescents. The current longitudinal study investigated whether factors predictive of substance use for Caucasian adolescents were also predictive for African American adolescents. Results indicated which predictors of substance use actually differ across African…

The purpose of this study was to assess the nature of bullying on the school bus. Videotapes were used to identify occurrences of bullying on buses of elementary school students. Incidents were reviewed for forms of bullying, fullness, presence of friends, and severity of acts. Results indicated that approximately two incidents occurred per bus…

This chapter explores the dynamics and processes of peer group influences in learning settings from a social constructivist perspective. A two-tiered model of peer influences is presented, in which environments for learning are linked with mechanisms and processes most likely to underpin student learning. A distinction is drawn between more…

The pressures on young athletes today, many of them brought on or exacerbated by parents, drive young athletes to attain perfection and win by any means necessary. For the young athlete, the challenges of learning how to balance schoolwork, social life, family time, and sports, not to mention other interests they might have, are far more intense…

Studies on the acting white hypothesis--the premise that black students purposefully do poorly in school and on standardized tests because of racialized peer pressure--to explain the black-white achievement gap have not been able to negate the fact that a "burden of acting white" exists for some black students, even though it is not prevalent…

This article discusses two Cornell research studies on the prevalence of self-injury or "cutting" in today's youth, led by Janis Whitlock, and presents historical perspectives on the issue. The first study randomly surveyed 3,069 undergraduate and graduate students at Cornell University and Princeton University. Data showed that 17 percent of the…

This study examined Vygotsky's theoretical notion that play creates the zone of proximal development by investigating the effects of peer interaction within the context of constructive play with blocks. The authors used the Play Observation Scale (Rubin, 1989) to observe 100 four-year-olds in naturalistic settings. Forty-eight children were…

Objective: To explore the perceptions of physical activity and healthy eating among children from two north west of England primary schools, with the ultimate aim of improving healthy lifestyle choices. Design: A qualitative study in which each child participated in two focus groups. Setting: Two primary schools in a deprived ward of Warrington,…

The discrepancies between test-based and teacher-based criteria of high achievement are well-documented for students of all ages. This study seeks to determine whether certain high school students who score high on tests of academic achievement are more likely than others to be nominated for advanced academic programs by their teachers. Using…

Despite the success of many drug and alcohol prevention programs, drug and alcohol use by adolescents continues to be a problem. One important factor in preventing drug and alcohol use may be determining, in a non-intrusive manner, which students are most at risk for drug involvement. In the present study, the predictive relationship between…

Sociological research investigating boys' masculinity performances has commonly recognised the importance of peer group cultures in identity construction. Whilst such work has undoubtedly offered important and useful frameworks for interpreting and understanding boys' behaviour in schools, the article argues that social psychological theories of…

This article discusses some of the findings of research undertaken by the authors with secondary students in the London Borough of Newham. The research was concerned with exploring young people's understanding of cultural harmony and their views on the issues and challenges in creating cultural harmony in their schools and in their lives outside…