It Takes a Village: Protecting Rural African American Youth in the Context of Racism

Prior research demonstrates negative consequences of racism, however, little is known about community, parenting, and intrapersonal mechanisms that protect youth. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study illuminated linkages between positive and negative contextual influences on rural African American adolescent outcomes. Quantitative results provide support for Structural Ecosystems Theory, in that the influence of discrimination and collective socialization on adolescent outcomes was mediated by racial socialization and positive parenting. Parenting and community influences contributed to adolescent racial identity and self image, which protected against common negative responses to racism; including academic underachievement, succumbing to peer pressure, and aggressive tendencies. Qualitative results indicate that current measures of discrimination may underestimate adolescents’ experiences. Adolescents reported racist experiences in the domains of school, peers, and with the police (males only). Moreover, qualitative findings echoed and expanded quantitative results with respect to the importance of the protective nature of parents and communities.

Trajectories of Peer Social Influences as Long-term Predictors of Drug Use from Early Through Late Adolescence

The present study analyzed the long-term effects of perceived friend use and perceived peer use on adolescents’ own cigarette, alcohol and marijuana use as a series of parallel growth curves that were estimated in two developmental pieces, representing middle and high school (N = 1,040). Data were drawn from a large drug abuse prevention trial, the Midwestern Prevention Project (MPP). Results showed that both perceived peer and friend cigarette use predicted own cigarette use within and across the adolescent years. For own alcohol and marijuana use, peer and friend influences were limited primarily to middle school. The findings suggest that strategies for counteracting peer and friend influences should receive early emphasis in prevention programs that are targeted to middle school. The findings also raise the question of whether cigarette use may represent a symbol of peer group identity that is unlike other drug use, and once formed, may have lasting adverse effects through the adolescent years.

A Multi-mediation Model on the Relations of Bullying,Victimization, Identity,and Family with Adolescent Depressive Symptoms

This study investigated a multi-mediation model of the relationship between bullying behavior, peer victimization, personal identity, and family characteristics to adolescent depressive symptoms in 194 high school students, 12–18 years of age. In the first model, peer victimization mediated the relation between bullying behavior and depressive symptoms. In the second model, personal identity mediated the relation between peer victimization and depressive symptoms. In the final model, the two mediation models were combined. The relative influence of family characteristics on all variables in the two mediation models was studied using structural equation modeling. The results supported both mediation models and confirmed the influence of family characteristics on all variables in the mediation models. This study indicates that victimization by one’s peers has consequences for adolescents’ psychological health when their personal identity is affected. In addition, the study was able to model several processes in which family characteristics were related to adolescent depressive symptoms. Moreover, the final combined model (in which the two mediation models and the influence of family characteristics on all variables were confirmed) explained half of the variance in adolescent depressive symptoms.

School Adjustment in Rural and Urban Communities: Do Students from “Timbuktu” Differ from Their “City Slicker” Peers?

The primary purpose of our study was to explore the effects of rurality on school adjustment and other school-related variables. Using data from 167,738 7th–12th graders located in a national sample of 185 predominantly white communities, multilevel models were estimated for perceived school performance and school liking using a variety of individual-level (e.g., gender, ethnicity, and peer school performance) and community/school-level variables (e.g., school size, rurality, and percentage free/reduced lunch) as predictor variables. Rurality was not significantly related to school adjustment, but rather, the characteristics of individuals living within those communities were. Results also indicated that participation in school and non-school activities, a strength of rural schools, can play a positive role in school adjustment. Given the significant relationships of income and parental education to all of the school-related variables, a key long-term strategy may lie in improving the economic climate of rural areas.

Autonomy,Belongingness, and Engagement in School as Contributors to Adolescent Psychological Well-Being

Self-determination theory emphasizes the importance of school-based autonomy and belongingness to academic achievement and psychological adjustment, and the theory posits a model in which engagement in school mediates the influence of autonomy and belongingness on these outcomes. To date, this model has only been evaluated on academic outcomes. Utilizing short-term longitudinal data (5-month timeframe) from a set of secondary schools in the rural Midwest (N = 283, M age = 15.3, 51.9% male, 86.2% White), we extend the model to include a measure of positive adjustment (i.e., hope). We also find a direct link between peer-related belongingness (i.e., peer support) and positive adjustment that is not mediated by engagement in school. A reciprocal relationship between academic autonomy, teacher-related belongingness (i.e., teacher support) and engagement in learning is supported, but this reciprocal relationship does not extend to peer-related belongingness. The implications of these findings for secondary schools are discussed.

Parents and Peers as Social Influences to Deter Antisocial Behavior

Growth curve analyses were used to investigate parents’ and peers’ influence on adolescents’ choice to abstain from antisocial behavior in a community-based sample of 416 early adolescents living in the Southeastern United States. Participants were primarily European American (91%) and 51% were girls. Both parents and peers were important influences on the choice to abstain from antisocial behavior. Over the four-year period adolescents relied increasingly on parents as influences and relied less on peers as influences to deter antisocial behavior. Significant gender differences emerged and suggested that female adolescents relied more on social influences than did male adolescents but that as time progressed male adolescents increased the rate at which they relied on peers. Higher family income was associated with choosing peers as a social influence at wave 1, but no other significant income associations were found. Understanding influences on adolescents’ abstinence choices is important for preventing antisocial behavior.

Parent–Child Relations,Conduct Problems and Cigarette Use in Adolescence: Examining the Role of Genetic and Environmental Factors on Patterns of Behavior

This study investigated genetic and environmental influences on the associations between mother–child relationship quality (warmth and hostility) and adolescent conduct problems and cigarette use. Participants included 601 mothers and adolescent twin pairs (aged 12–17 years). Mothers and adolescents provided separate reports of mother-to-child warmth and hostility. A combined measure of mother and adolescent reported conduct problems was used while adolescents provided reports of their cigarette use. Analyses were conducted using bivariate genetic analyses of correlated factors models and regression analyses of monozygotic twin differences. Genetic influences were found for most ratings of the parent–child relationship, with evidence of gender and/or rater-specificity for some measures. The relationship between mother–child hostility with adolescent conduct problems and cigarette use was influenced by genetic and environmental effects. Evidence was found for shared environment effects on the relationship between mother–child warmth and conduct problems. Examining monozygotic twin differences provided further support for non-shared environmental influence on the relationship between mothers’ expressions of hostility and low warmth and adolescent adjustment. Findings are discussed in relation to the interplay between genetic and environmental effects underlying links between parent–child relations and adolescent behavior problems.

Teachers as Builders of Respectful School Climates: Implications for Adolescent Drug Use Norms and Depressive Symptoms in High School

Positive school climates have been found to have favorable effects on adolescent health risk behaviors and mental health outcomes. However, the mechanisms by which teacher behavior may promote such effects in high schools have not been extensively studied. Based on social control theory and a social developmental-contextual model, it was predicted that by respecting students’ points of view and decision making capabilities, teachers can help build respectful school climates that encourage healthy norms of behavior. Structural equation modeling with a nationally representative sample of 476 youth ages 14–18 supported the model. Adolescents who reported higher teacher support and regard for student perspectives in their high schools were more likely to see their schools as having respectful climates and healthy norms of drug use which was associated with lower levels of personal drug use. Students in such schools also reported greater social belonging and fewer symptoms of depression.

Adolescents’ Experiences of Sexual Assault by Peers: Prevalence and Nature of Victimization Occurring Within and Outside of School

This study examined adolescent peer-on-peer sexual assault victimization occurring within and outside school. The sample consisted of 1,086 7th through 12th grade students, with a mean age of 15. Most of the respondents were White (54%) or Black (45%), and approximately half of respondents were female (54%). A modified version of the Sexual Experiences Survey was used to assess opposite sex sexual victimization in 7th through 12th grade students. Rates of peer sexual assault were high, ranging from 26% of high school boys to 51% of high school girls. School was the most common location of peer sexual victimization. Characteristics of assault varied by location, including type of victimization, victims’ grade level, relationship to the perpetrator, type of coercion, and how upsetting the assault was. Distinctions between sexual assault occurring in and out of school are conceptualized with literature on developmental changes in heterosexual relationships and aggression.

“It Must Be <Emphasis Type="Italic">Me</Emphasis>”: Ethnic Diversity and Attributions for Peer Victimization in Middle School

This study examined the mediating role of self-blaming attributions on peer victimization-maladjustment relations in middle school and the moderating role of classroom ethnic diversity. Latino and African American 6th grade participants (N = 1105, 56% female) were recruited from middle schools in which they were either members of the numerical majority ethnic group, the numerical minority, or one of several ethnic groups in ethnically diverse schools. Peer nomination data were gathered in the Fall of 6th grade to determine which students had reputations as victims of harassment and self-report data on self-blame for peer harassment and the adjustment outcomes of depressive symptoms and feelings of self-worth were gathered in the Spring of 6th grade, approximately 6 months later. A mediational model in which self-blame partly explained the relation between victimization and maladjustment was supported among students from the majority ethnic group in their classroom but not among students from the minority group. The usefulness of including ethnic diversity as an important context variable in studies of peer victimization during early adolescence was discussed.

“Always Use Protection”: Communication Boys Receive About Sex From Parents,Peers, and the Media

Although parents are often thought to be the primary communicators of sexual information, studies have found that many adolescent boys report receiving little or no parental communication about sex. Instead, boys report learning about sex mostly from their peers and the media. However, little is known about the content of these communications, from any source. Using a sample of 286 male undergraduates, this study employed a mixed-method approach to examine the amount and content of sex-related communication boys received from their parents, peers, and the media. Results indicated that adolescent boys report receiving less sexual communication from their parents than from peers and the media. In terms of content, parental messages focused on abstinence and contraception while peer and media messages were significantly more sex-positive. Analyses of ethnic group variation showed that African American adolescents reported receiving the most parental communication and Asian American boys reported the least, with further variability in the content of the messages. Findings also document considerable diversity of message content, both within and across source, highlighting the utility of comparative and multi-method approaches.

Family Transitions and Later Delinquency and Drug Use

Changes in the family structure can be very disruptive to adolescents who live in those families. This article examines the impact of the number of family transitions on delinquent and drug-using behavior. Specifically, the effect of family transitions is hypothesized to be mediated by problems within the family, school, and peer settings. A sample of 646 boys (73%) and girls (27%) taken from a longitudinal panel study of high-risk adolescents are used to examine these hypotheses. For girls, little support is found for the direct or the indirect effect of family transitions on delinquent behavior or drug use. For boys, however, both forms of problem behavior are influenced by family transitions directly and indirectly through changes in, and problems with, peer associations. The findings suggest that during times of family turmoil, the friendship network of adolescent male children is also disrupted, leading to an increase in associations with delinquent others and, in turn, an increase in problematic behaviors.

Parental Smoking-specific Communication,Adolescents’ Smoking Behavior and Friendship Selection

In this study, we investigated whether parental smoking-specific communication is related to adolescents’ friendship-selection processes. Furthermore, we investigated whether adolescents and their best friends influence each other over time, and what role parents play in this process. In the present study we used data from the Family and Health project in which at baseline 428 full families participated. In this 2-year, three-wave longitudinal study data were available from fathers, mothers, early adolescents (aged M = 13.4 years, SD = .50), and middle adolescents (aged M = 15.2 years, SD = .60). The majority of the participating adolescents were of Dutch origin (>95%). There was an almost equal distribution of boys and girls, and adolescents with lower, middle, and higher educational levels were equally represented. Analyses were conducted by means of Structural Equation Modeling. Results demonstrate that a high quality of the smoking-specific communication is related to a lower likelihood of adolescent smoking, whereas the frequency is positively associated with adolescent smoking. Both the quality and frequency of parental smoking-specific communication were related to adolescents’ selective affiliation with (non-)smoking friends. The findings suggest that parental smoking-specific communication is associated with adolescent smoking directly but also indirectly by influencing the friends the adolescents will associate with.

Adolescents’ Educational Outcomes: Racial and Ethnic Variations in Peer Network Importance

Little attention has been paid to the role of peer social capital in the school context, especially as a predictor of adolescents’ academic outcomes. This study uses a nationally representative (N = 13,738, female = 51%), longitudinal sample and multilevel models to examine how peer networks impact educational achievement and attainment. Results reveal that, in addition to those factors typically associated with academic outcomes (e.g., school composition), two individual-level peer network measures, SES and heterogeneity, had significant effects. Although educational attainment was generally worse in low SES schools, for all ethnic groups higher attainment was associated with attending schools with higher concentrations of minority students. At the individual level, however, membership in integrated peer networks was negatively related to high school graduation for Asians, Latinos, and non-Hispanic whites, and to GPA for Asians and Latinos, as only African-American achievement increased in more racially/ethnically heterogeneous peer networks. Our results suggest that co-ethnic and co-racial peer friendship networks should not be viewed as obstacles to the educational accomplishments of today’s youth. In fact, in many cases the opposite was true, as results generally support the ethnic social capital hypothesis while providing little corroboration for oppositional culture theory. Results also suggest that co-racial and co-ethnic ties may mediate the negative effects of school choice, or more specifically of between-school socioeconomic segregation. Consequently, we conclude that school policies aimed at socioeconomic desegregation are likely to beneficially affect the academic outcomes of all race/ethnic groups.

Protective and Risk Factors Associated with Adolescent Boys’ Early Sexual Debut and Risky Sexual Behaviors

Protective and risk factors associated with rates of early sexual debut and risky sexual behaviors for a sample of low-income adolescent boys were examined using bioecological theory framed by a resiliency perspective. Protective processes examined include a close mother–son and father–son relationship, parental monitoring and family routines, as well as the adolescent boy’s academic achievement, expectations, and school recognition. The risk factors assessed were delinquent behaviors, if the adolescent was born to a teenage mother, family structure, monthly family income, risky neighborhood environments, family of origin welfare receipt, and maternal education. Waves one (1999) and two (2001) of Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study were used (N = 528; Wave 1 ages 10–14 years). Associations between early sexual debut and risky sexual behaviors with individual, family, school, and neighborhood protective and risk factors were addressed through a series of d-probit and Ordinary Least Squares multiple regression techniques. When protective and risk factors were addressed independently, academic achievement and parental monitoring protected adolescent boys from early sexual debut and risky sexual behaviors while drug and alcohol use and school problems placed them at risk for these behaviors. However, when the model is assessed together, early parental monitoring and academic achievement were shown to protect boys’ early sexual debut and risky sexual behaviors by reducing their delinquent behaviors, specifically early drug and alcohol use and school problems.

The Interplay of Early Adolescents’ Depressive Symptoms,Aggression and Perceived Parental Rejection: A Four-Year Community Study

This study of early adolescents from the general population examined the direction of effects adolescents’ depressive symptoms, aggression, and perceived parental rejection have on one another in a longitudinal study. Over a four-year period, data were collected yearly from 940 early adolescents (50.6% boys and 49.4% girls) who completed self-report questionnaires of depressive symptoms, aggressive behaviors, and perceived parental rejection. The longitudinal relationships of adolescent reported depressive symptoms, aggression, and perceived parental rejection were tested in multi-group structural equation models. The findings of this study demonstrate that adolescents’ depressive symptoms, aggression, and perceived parental rejection can be viewed as two unidirectional effects models that work in tandem: adolescents’ depressive symptoms longitudinally predicting perceived parental rejection and, in turn, perceived parental rejection longitudinally predicting adolescents’ aggression. Additionally, the strength of these effects diminished as the adolescents grew older and the effects were similar for both adolescent boys and girls.

Relational Aggression at School: Associations with School Safety and Social Climate

The present study examines how exposure to relational aggression at school is associated with adolescents’ perceptions of, and participation in, a hostile school environment. Participants were 1,335 African American and European American adolescents in grades 7 through 12 (52% female, 49% African American). Results indicate that exposure to relational aggression is associated with several components of adolescents’ perceptions of the school climate. Adolescents exposed to high levels of relational aggression perceived their school to be less safe, and were less pleased with the general social atmosphere at school. Moreover, for males, but not females, exposure to relational aggression was associated with carrying a weapon to school. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed in terms of working toward safer school environments for adolescents.

Victimization and Relational Aggression in Adolescent Romantic Relationships: The Influence of Parental and Peer Behaviors, and Individual Adjustment

Consistent with the view that adolescent relationships are established in the context of important characteristics of their social networks, we examined the effects of adolescents’ experiences of parenting (psychological control and positive monitoring) and of peer aggression and victimization, on their self reports of dating victimization and aggression. We also examined the effects of individual differences in emotional and behavioral problems. We used questionnaire data from a population-based sample of youth 12–18 years old who were in dating relationships (n = 149). Parental monitoring emerged as a protective factor in reducing both dating victimization and relational aggression. Our findings also point to a significant transfer of aggression in peer relationships to relational aggression in dating relationships.

Just Another Club? The Distinctiveness of the Relation Between Religious Service Attendance and Adolescent Psychosocial Adjustment

This study used hierarchical linear modeling to compare longitudinal patterns of adolescent religious service attendance and club attendance, and to contrast the longitudinal relations between adolescent adjustment and religious service versus club attendance. Participants included 1050 students (47% girls) encompassing a school district in Canada, who completed the survey first in grade nine and again in grades 11 and 12. Results demonstrated that patterns of religious service attendance over time were quite different from other clubs. Religious attendance was uniquely associated with several indicators of positive as well as negative adjustment. Club involvement, conversely, was only associated with positive adjustment––particularly for individuals who reported sustained involvement over time. Findings suggest that religious services may provide some unique experiences––both positive and negative––over and above what may be provided in other clubs, and that sustained, rather than sporadic participation in clubs, may be especially important for adolescent adjustment.

Parental Aspirations for Their Children’s Educational Attainment: Relations to Ethnicity,Parental Education,Children’s Academic Performance,and Parental Perceptions of School Climate

This study examined parental aspirations for their children’s educational attainment in relation to ethnicity (African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic), parental education, children’s academic performance, and parental perceptions of the quality and climate of their children’s school with a sample of 13,577 middle and high school parents. All parents had relatively high educational aspirations for their children, and within each ethnic subgroup, parental education and children’s academic performance were significantly and positively related to parental aspirations. However, moderating effects were found such that Caucasian parents with lower levels of education had significantly lower educational aspirations for their children than did parents of other ethnicities with similar low levels of education. Although the strength of the relationship between parental perceptions of school-related factors and parental aspirations for their children’s educational attainment was not strong, it was most predictive of non-Caucasian parental aspirations for their children.