Examined how support from parents and friends for romantic relationships of young adults affect relationship quality and likelihood that their relationships break up over time. Data from 101 dating couples over 2 years revealed support for positive effect of network support on quality of relationship. Hazard analyses showed that female partner's…

Describes characteristics of immigrant children from the former Soviet Union and implications of these characteristics for U.S. teachers. Considers differences between U.S. and Soviet schools in scheduling practices, bathroom routines, racial composition, meals, languages, clothing, naps, and parent/school relationships. (LB)

Finds a significant relationship between parental modeling and elementary communication apprehension but no significant relationship between elementary communication apprehension and parents' communication apprehension or spousal communication apprehension. (RS)

Assessed alcohol use by 1,190 fourth, fifth, and sixth graders in 4 rural school districts. Found that 596 students drank, but not regularly. Reported drinking increased with grade and age; males drank more than females. Child's attitude toward drinking, family attitudes toward drinking, number of drinking friends, and self-perceived wrongdoing by…

Questionnaire and interview data from 37 high school students suggest that presence of at least one parental figure with whom adolescents could talk openly was associated with lower levels of all substance use (cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, other drugs). Found no evidence that openness with close friend or perceived pressure from friends was…

Compared the effects of instruction using social interaction from a cognitive developmental perspective, and instruction with no peer interaction, on correspondence between sound and symbol as displayed through invented spelling. Children exposed to social interaction made greater gains than those exposed to individual work with teacher modeling.…

Responses from 574 of 827 students in introductory home economics classes identified positive influences in selecting home economics as a major: friends, high school home economics teachers, and home economics faculty. Negative influences were family, other high school teachers, radio advertisements, and campus recruitment. (SK)

High school students (n=41) evaluated 30 activities (smoking, drinking, drug use, sex) on perceived risk and benefit. Adolescents who participated in activity perceived risks to be smaller, better known, and more controllable than did nonparticipants. Participants perceived greater benefits relative to risks, greater peer pressure to participate,…

Used three-wave longitudinal design to examine relationships among emotional restraint, peer drug associations, and gateway drug use among 1,256 middle school students. In reciprocal model, low emotional restraint was significantly related to subsequent increases in gateway drug use among boys. In contrast, peer drug models and peer pressure were…

At 4-year followup on 110 Mexican-American adolescents in a drug abuse prevention program, association with deviant peers was strongly predictive of alcohol and drug use and criminality, whereas parental influences were minor predictors. Low school satisfaction was related to greater drug use, particularly for females. (Author/SV)

This literature review discusses gender differences in psychosocial determinants of adolescent smoking. Studies show that external pressures (e.g., peer and parental smoking) are important for boys and girls, although their influence may be moderated differently by age and type of smoking behavior assessed. Gender-specific components of…

Studies the processes by which organizational newcomers acquire information from their peers. Indicates types of information acquired, channels through which they acquire it, and the relationship between type and channel. Suggests that information acquisition is affected by type of organization, newcomer-peer work interactions, and newcomer…

Colleges are using current students' and their parents' enthusiasm for the institution as an effective recruitment tool. Student contact with prospective students on campus visits, hometown contacts, and parent phone calls to prospective students' parents are useful strategies. Most are volunteers though some students are paid for their time as…

Reports on a study in which 19 doctoral students were interviewed regarding their own self-esteem and their attitudes toward undergraduate student and professors. Finds differences between precandidate and candidate graduate students in all three areas. Asserts that these differences are evidence that doctoral programs encourage a shift away from…

Discusses how a fifth-grade teacher gained a new perspective on the reading habits of a reluctant male reader identified as having a specific learning disability in language. Notes that the student became enchanted with nonfiction, forcing the teacher to reevaluate her value system that placed reading, writing, and speaking above all other forms…