Adolescent idolization of pop singers: Causes,expressions, and reliance

The study examines the phenomenon of adolescents' idolization of pop singers. Male and female adolescents from three age groups (ages 10–11, 13–14, and 16–17) were compared with regard to the intensity of idolization, its behavioral manifestations, causes for selecting the idol, and reliance for knowledge on the idol. The results of self-reports indicated that the phenomenon of idolization, expressed especially in worshipping and modeling, is strongest in the youngest age group and decreases in intensity with age. Also, it was found that girls idolize singers more than boys. The youngest age group, especially girls, rely on singers with regard to knowledge concerning personal matters. These findings were explained within the frameworks of gender differences, adolescence characteristics, and youth culture development.This paper was prepared while the first and the third authors were on sabbatical at the Department of Psychology, Maryland University, College Park, Maryland.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Hebrew University, 1974. Research interests include school psychology, social cognition, and media psychology.Received Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh, 1974. Research interests include political psychology, social psychology, and social development.Received Ph.D. in statistics from the Hebrew University, 1976. Research interests concern applied statistics and nonparametric statistics.Received MA in clinical child psychology, Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University.     

Examining Resource and Protective Factors in the Adjustment of Latino Youth in Low Income Families: What Role Does Maternal Acculturation Play?

This longitudinal study examined whether the risk and positive factors contributing to the delinquent behaviors and internalizing problems of 454 Latino adolescents varied across maternal linguistic acculturation and adolescent gender. Although the level of cumulative risk to which the 10-to-14-year old adolescents were exposed did not vary by maternal linguistic acculturation, the factors contributing to their subsequent adjustment 16 months later varied substantially. Multiple regression analyses showed that for boys, maternal monitoring offset cumulative risk effects in the high acculturation group, but was unrelated to adjustment in the low acculturation group. Social competence served a protective function for boys in the high acculturation group, but was detrimental for boys in the low acculturation group and mother-son relationship quality directly predicted more subsequent delinquent behaviors among boys in the low acculturation group. Maternal monitoring was the only positive factor contributing to girls’ adjustment, directly predicting fewer delinquent behaviors for all girls. Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology & Health Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Michigan State University. Research interests focus on the development of problem behaviors in children and adolescents, with a particular focus on externalizing and internalizing problems and alcohol and tobacco use. Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Received her Ed.D. in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University. Research interests focus on parent-child relationships and how they shape children’s development and learning across cultures and ethnic groups Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Texas. Research interests are ecocultural models of risk and resiliency in minority youth and measurement equivalence of risk and resiliency constructs     

Longitudinal Association Between Parenting Practices and Early Sexual Risk Behaviors among Urban African American Adolescents: The Moderating Role of Gender

A sample of 274 African American families, living in impoverished neighborhoods with high HIV rates, participated in a longitudinal study of adolescent sexual development when children were in the 4th or 5th grade. Self-report and observational measures of parental warmth and parental behavioral control were collected from adolescents and parents at Time 1, and youth reported if they had initiated intercourse at Times 1 and 2. Regression analyses suggested that gender moderated associations between parental behavioral control and engagement in adolescent sexual behaviors. More generally, findings suggested that boys reared in low control/high warmth (i.e., permissive) homes and girls reared in high control/low warmth (i.e., authoritarian) homes were particularly at risk for early sexual behaviors. Clinical implications and directions for the future research are discussed.Doctoral Candidate in Clinical Psychology at Loyola University Chicago. Received her B.S. in Psychology and African & African American Studies from Duke University and her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University Chicago. Her major research interests include the role of family and mental health factors in HIV risk exposure among urban African American adolescents.Professor, Department of Psychology, Loyola University Chicago. Received his Ph.D. in 1987 from Virginia Commonwealth University. His major research interests are family relations during adolescence, physical disabilities, pediatric psychology, developmental psychopathology, and statistical applications in psychologyAssociate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Juvenile Research, University of Illinois, Chicago. Received her PhD in Child Psychology from the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota in 1987. Her current research interests include developmental transitions during adolescence, as well as from pre-school to middle childhood, among typically developing children as well as children with special needs     

Sixth Graders’ Conflict Resolution in Role Plays with a Peer,Parent, and Teacher

This study used conflict resolution role play vignettes and self-report surveys of 450 New York City 6th graders to examine associations between adolescents’ conflict resolution efficacy and social skills. Vignettes covered 3 social contexts, conflict with a peer (disagreement over activities), with a parent (raise in allowance), and with a teacher (low grade on report). Effective and ineffective strategies for resolving these conflicts were coded from the videotaped interactions. Adolescents were more often effective in resolving conflict with peers than with parents (χ²(1) = 7.10, p < .01). Strong communication skills cut across interpersonal context as associated with effective resolution. Assertiveness and absence of aggression were associated with effective conflict resolution in vignettes with peers. Assertiveness was also associated with effective conflict resolution in vignettes with parents, however nervousness was unexpectedly found to facilitate conflict resolution in vignettes with parents. Only skills observed within a particular context were associated with effective resolution in that context; self-report skills and cross-context observed skills were not associated with efficacy. Implications for implementation and evaluation of social skills curricula and conflict resolution process are discussed.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the meetings of the Society for Research on Adolescence, New Orleans, LA, April 2002Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2004. Research interests include adolescent social competence and youth development programs.Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Pennsylvania State University in 1991. Research interests include the psychosocial correlates of puberty, stress reactivity, and health compromising behaviors and adjustment.Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2002. Research interests include social competence, prevention research, and women’s health.Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2002. Research interests include social competence, prevention research, and women’s health.Received Ph.D. in 1975 from University of Pennsylvania in Human Learning and Development. Research focus centers around designing and evaluating interventions aimed at enhancing the wellbeing of children living in poverty and associated conditions. Conducts research on transitional periods during childhood and adolescence, focusing on school, family and biological transitions in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Specific interests are in the factors that contribute to positive and negative outcomes, and changes inwell-being over these years.Received Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University in 1977. Research interests include tobacco, alcohol, and drug abuse prevention, violence prevention, AIDS risk reduction among adolescents, health promotion and disease prevention, smoking cessation.     

Perception of epistemic authorities by children and adolescents

The study investigated children's and adolescents' perceptions of epistemic authorities in various knowledge domains. Children and adolescents from 4th, 8th, and 12th grades were asked to evaluate their father, mother, teacher, and friends as epistemic authorities in nine areas of knowledge content. In general, the results indicated that the perception of parents as epistemic authorities decreases with age. Nevertheless, children and adolescents continue to consider one or both parents to be the most important epistemic authorities. The perception of friends as epistemic authority increased relative to other sources in the social domains of knowledge. The perception of teachers as epistemic authority decreases with age, but in the formal knowledge domain it remains relatively stable.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Research interests concern media psychology, knowledge formation, and school psychology. Requests for reprints should be sent to Amiram Raviv at Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel 69978.Received Ph.D. in psychology from University of Pittsburgh. Research interests concern political psychology, social psychology of knowledge, and stereotyping.Received Ph.D. in statistics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Research interests concern nonparametric statistics and applied statistics.Received M.A. degree in clinical child psychology from Tel Aviv University.     

Juvenile Offenders’ Alcohol and Marijuana Trajectories: Risk and Protective Factor Effects in the Context of Time in a Supervised Facility

The current study modeled trajectories of substance use from ages 15 to 20 among 1,095 male serious juvenile offenders (M age = 16.54; 42% African-American, 34% Latino, 20% European-American, and 4% other ethnic/racial backgrounds) and prospectively predicted trajectories from risk and protective factors before and after controlling for time spent in a supervised setting. Results indicated that supervised time suppressed age-related growth in substance use. Trajectories of offenders with no supervised time and low levels of supervised time increased in substance use across age, whereas offenders with high levels of supervised time showed no growth. Almost all risk and protective factors had effects on initial substance use but only adolescent history of substance use, impulse control, and psychosocial maturity had an effect on change in substance use over time. Findings highlight the importance of formal sanctions and interventions superimposed on normal developmental processes in understanding trajectories of substance use among serious juvenile offenders.

Maternal employment and adolescent sexual behavior

This study investigated whether maternal employment would be associated with teenage sexual attitudes and behaviors likely to increase the probability of teenage pregnancy. Female subjects whose mothers were employed outside the home during the high school years (a) had a greater tendency to begin sexual relations before age 19, (b) expressed less concern regarding the risk of unintended pregnancy, and (c) scored lower on an objective test of their practical knowledge about contraception.Received Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Washington. Research interests include personality and environmental influences on adjustment.Received Ph.D. from University of Georgia. Current research interests are in behavioral teratology.Received Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University. Research interests are in loneliness and adjustment.Received Ph.D. from North Carolina State University. Research interests are in population and urban sociology.     

Nonsuicidal Self-Harm Among Community Adolescents: Understanding the “Whats” and “Whys” of Self-Harm

This study examines self-harm in a community sample of adolescents. More specifically, the study identifies the prevalence and types of self-harm, elucidates the nature and underlying function of self-harm, and evaluates the relation of psychological adjustment, sociodemographic, and health-risk variables to self-harm. Self-report questionnaires assessing self-harm, adjustment, health behaviors, suicide history, and social desirability were completed by 424 school-based adolescents. Overall, 15% of the adolescents reported engaging in self-harm behavior. Analyses revealed gender differences across behaviors and motivations. Adolescents who indicated harming themselves reported significantly increased antisocial behavior, emotional distress, anger problems, health risk behaviors, and decreased self-esteem. Results provide support for the coping or affect regulation model of self-harm. Findings suggest that self-harm is associated with maladjustment, suicide, and other health behaviors indicative of risk for negative developmental trajectories. Doctoral student in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology at the University of British Columbia. Received M.A. in School Psychology from the University of British Columbia. Research interests include self-harm, anxiety, coping, and street-involved youth. Associate Professor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology at the University of British Columbia. Received Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. Research interests include adolescent social-cognitive development, developmental psychopathology, and stress and coping.     

Sex differences within the family: Studies of adolescent and parent family interactions

Sex differences in verbal family interactions were investigated in a group of 79 adolescents and parents from normal and psychiatric settings. The analyses were designed to study these differences in both generations, parent and adolescent. Parent and adolescent interactions with one another were observed in a semistructured, revealed-differences family discussion. All of the individual speeches were then scored with our Constraining and Enabling Coding System (CECS). Initial predictions involved both adolescent and parent differences. These hypotheses were only partially confirmed. The strongest findings pertained to parent sex differences, as we found strikingly higher levels of cognitive enabling speeches expressed by fathers and significantly more speeches addressed to fathers. We discuss several alternative interpretations of these findings. Perspectives included in our considerations are direction of effect and influences of task/context upon the expression of family sex differences.This study was supported through a grant from the National Institute of Child and Human Development (NICHD Grant No. R01 HD18684-02) and a Research Scientist Development Award No. 5 K-02-MH-70178 (Dr. Hauser) from the NIMH.Received M.D. from Yale University and Ph.D. from Harvard University (psychology). Currently studying family contexts of adolescent development.Received B.A. from Michigan University. Currently graduate student in organizational behavior, Northwestern University. Current interests are women and work.Received his Ph.D. from Boston University. Research interests are in methodology and statistics.Henry A. Murray Research Center of Radcliffe College. Received Ed. D. from Harvard University (School of Education). Currently studying family coping processes in response to stressful events.Received Ph.D. from Ohio State University (psychology). Current interests in assessing ego development and family systems.Parent-Place, Judge Baker Guidance Center. Received Ph.D. from the University of Miami (clinical psychology). Research interests are in family studies and adolescent development.Received M.D. from the University of Chicago. Currently studying psychological consequences of diabetes mellitus.the Children's Unit of McLean Hospital. Received Diploma Psych. from Freie Universitat, Berlin (clinical psychology), and Ed.D. from Harvard University (School of Education). Currently studying relationships between psychopathology and development among adolescent psychiatric patients.     

Peer knowledge of and reactions to adolescent suicide

Questionnaire data were obtained from 120 high school students on their (1) knowledge of risk factors that identify potential suicidal behavior in peers, (2) attitudes toward peers who attempt or commit suicide, and (3) ability to respond appropriately to suicidal messages from peers. Overall, relatively few adolescents possessed accurate information, and many had misinformation concerning various warning signs. Furthermore, respondents expressed negative attitudes toward peers who attempt or commit suicide, and generally were unable to respond sensitively and appropriately to suicidal communications. These results have implications for suicide education programs for adolescents.This study was based on a Masters Thesis conducted by the first author under the direction of the latter two authors. Preliminary results of this investigation were presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, 1988.Received M.A. in clinical psychology from Loyola University. Current research interests include bulimia and alcoholism.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Vanderbilt University. Primary research interests involve community psychology, prevention programs, and child psychology.Received Ph.D. from University of Chicago. Research interests include issues in adolescence and eating disorders.     

A Rationale and Method for Examining Reasons for Linkages Among Adolescent Risk Behaviors

A large volume of research has investigated interrelations among adolescent risk behaviors. Although several theoretical accounts have been proposed, researchers have not directly examined hypotheses for why risk behaviors are linked. In the present paper, a distinction is drawn between predictive factors that explain variance in risk behaviors and “linkage factors” which may provide an explanation for why risk behaviors are interrelated. The relevance of linkage factors to risk behavior research, theory, and practice is described. Further, a simple to use and easy to interpret analytic technique for exploring linkage-related issues is illustrated. Using this technique, hypotheses regarding the role of predictors in explaining linkages among risk behaviors can be tested directly. The proposed line of inquiry will provide valuable input for intervention efforts and theoretically relevant information concerning linkages among adolescent risk behaviors. Research Associate at the Brock Research Institute for Youth Studies at Brock University, Ontario, Canada. He received his M.A. in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Dakota. His major research interests are adolescent risk behavior involvement and youth activity involvement as a context for positive development. Professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University, Ontario, Canada. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Waterloo. Her major research interests include adolescent risk taking and resilience, including academic underachievement and media/technology influences on lifestyle choices and learning. Assistant Professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University, Ontario, Canada. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Brock University. Her major research interests are adolescent risk-behavior involvement, particularly related to gambling, and risk and resilience.     

Correlates of Ideal Body Size Among Black and White Adolescents

Cultural differences have been found in body image perceptions among Black and White adolescents, however little is known about the factors associated with perceptions of an ideal body size (IBS). This study examined differences in correlates of IBS among 265 Black (116 girls and 62 boys) and White (63 girls and 24 boys) adolescents. IBS for White girls and boys was related to perceptions of how their parents wanted them to look, while IBS for Black girls was related to perception of how peers look and would like to look. IBS for Black boys was significantly related to perceptions of their current size, how peers would like to look, how parents think they look, and depressive symptoms. Findings suggest cultural differences in the factors related to body image perceptions and have implications for educational programs promoting healthy body image development among Black and White adolescents.Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center. Received PhD in Counseling Psychology from University of Missouri-Kansas City. Research interests include environmental and cultural correlates of obesity, obesity prevention, nicotine and tobacco addiction, and health promotion interventions.Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota. Received medical degree from Christian Medical College, Punjab, India, and Master of Public Health from University of Kansas School of Medicine. Research interests include diet and physical activity behaviors, role of the environment in obesity and obesity prevention, especially among children and adolescents.Research Associate, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center. Completing PhD in clinical psychology from University of Kansas and Master of Public Health from University of Kansas School of Medicine. Research interests include obesity prevention, smoking cessation, and positive psychology.Assistant Professor and Director, MPH Program, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center. Received MPH from Boston University and PhD in epidemiology from the University of California/San Diego State University. Research interests include behavioral epidemiology of tobacco use among adolescents and ethnic minorities.Professor of Medicine and School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Associate Director, Midwest Center for Health Services and Policy Research, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Director, Section of Health Promotion Research, Department of Medicine, University of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago. Received PhD in clinical psychology from Long Island University. Research interests include obesity prevention, binge eating, and cultural differences in eating behavior.Medical Epidemiologist, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Received MD and MPH from Tongji Medical University, Wuhan, China and PhD from University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Research interests include the etiology, epidemiology, and prevention ofobesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.Research Instructor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center. Received MBBS from Allama Iqbal Medical College, Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan and MPH from University of Kansas Medical Center. Research interests include smoking cessation, database design, implementation, data management and analysis, and use of information technology in health care settings.Professor Department of Medicine and Office of Clinical Research, University of Minnesota School of Medicine. Received MD/MPH from Tulane University and MS from Harvard School of Public Health. Research interests include disparities in healthcare; smoking cessation among underserved populations, specifically African Americans; diet, nutrition, obesity, and physical activity.     

Transcultural comparisons of self-image in German and United States adolescents

Based on the Offer Selfimage Questionnaire (OSIQ), the selfimage of German and United States adolescents was compared. The German study was based on OSIQ protocols from 365 adolescents in West Berlin while the American sample comprised adolescents drawn from seven cities in the United States. With respect to three scales, United States adolescents report better adjustment than do the German adolescents. These scales were Mastery of the External World, Vocational and Educational Goals, and Superior Adjustment. In general, these two Western societies share more similarities than differences in the selfimages of their adolescents.Received M.D. and Ph.D in Psychology from the University of Hamburg, Germany. Research interests are high-risk studies, child psychiatric epidemiology, and adolescence.Received M.D. from the University of Chicago. Major interests are concepts of mental health and the developmental psychology of adolescence.Received J. D. from the University of Chicago School of Law; received Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Chicago. Research interests are adolescence and delinquency.Received Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Chicago. Major interests are psychotherapy research and adolescence.     

A comparison of adolescent inpatients with and without substance abuse using the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory

We compared clinical syndromes, expressed concerns, and personality styles of adolescent inpatients with substance use disorders (SUD; n=44) vs. without substance use disorders (non-SUD; n=61) using the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory. The two groups did not differ with regard to age, sex, ethnicity, functional severity, or the frequency of other major psychiatric disorders, and were drawn from the same overall sample population. SUD subjects showed significantly higher levels of delinquent predisposition and lower levels of anxiety. Consistent with these syndromal findings, we found that SUD subjects were characterized by higher levels of unruliness and social insensitivity and lower levels of submissiveness. Our findings suggest that, in severely disturbed adolescents who require psychiatric hospitalization, externalizing phenomena are closely associated with SUD. Our findings also suggest that internalizing problems also exist in SUD, although not at levels greater than that observed in non-SUD inpatients.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. Research interests include eating and weight disorders, addictive behaviors, behavioral medicine, psychological assessment, and psychiatric comorbidity.Received Psy.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Hartford. Research interests include psychological assessment, adolescent psychopathology, and psychiatric comorbidity.Received B.A. in Psychology from Swarthmore College. Research interests include perception, developmental psychopathology, and psychosis proneness.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychiatry from DePaul University. Research interests include the assessment and treatment of substance abusing psychiatric populations.     

An application of Gough's conceptual model to a measure of adolescent self-esteem

The concept of self-esteem is central in psychology, but few well-validated measures exist. This paper presents some preliminary data on the Self-Esteem Questionnaire (SEQ) organized along Gough's conceptual model of primary, secondary, and tertiary evaluation. The SEQ appears to discriminate groups along a self-esteem continuum; fits in well with a variety of theoretical approaches; does not have nuisance loadings on sex, intelligence, or social status; is unduly affected by social desirability; and correlates well with standard measures of self-esteem.Received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. Research interests include psychological testing and creativity.Received her B.A. from the University of Arizona. Research interests include child abuse and statistical methodology.     

The influence of paternal substance abuse and difficult temperament in fathers and sons on sons' disengagement from family to deviant peers

This study was undertaken to examine the relative contribution of paternal history of substance abuse and difficult temperament in fathers and sons on a panel of individual, family, and interpersonal risk factors shown to be associated with deviant peer affiliations among boys. Deviant peer affiliations among boys have been associated with development of a conduct disorder and early age substance use. In a sample of sons of substance abusing fathers (n =56) and normal fathers (n=94), a structural equation path analysis revealed that the conjoint influence of paternal history of substance abuse and difficult temperament in fathers and sons influenced family and interpersonal processes that, in turn, influenced the developmental trajectory of the child toward deviant peer affiliations. The full model (F=74.49, p<.001, Stability Index=0.70) explained 50% of the variance on sons' Peer Delinquency Scale scores. Implications for primary prevention are discussed.Supported by the Center for Education and Drug Abuse Research (CEDAR), Pittsburgh, PA. Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (No. DA 05605) and ROIs DA08540 and AA09985 to the first author. CEDAR is a consortium between St. Francis Medical Center and the University of Pittsburgh.Received Ph.D. from University of Pittsburgh. Research interests include temperament, parent-child relationships, peer affiliations, and drug and alcohol abuse.Received Ph.D. from University of Oklahoma. Research interests include etiology and vulnerability to substance abuse.Received Ph.D. from Queens University. Research interests include the etiology of conduct disorder.Received Ph.D. from University of Pittsburgh. Research interests include social environment risk factors for substance abuse.Received Ph.D. from Penn State University. Research interests include temperament and substance abuse.     

Men and Women’s Attachment and Contact Patterns with Parents During the First Year of College

Attending a university involves change and transition and an opportunity to study older adolescents’ attachment. The current study explored potential gender differences in both older adolescents’ need-and nonneed-based interactions with parents and their perceptions of attachment quality. Results indicated that although females did not initiate significantly more need-based contact with parents than males, they received significantly more need-based contact than males that was initiated by their parents. On the other hand, females both initiated and received nonneed-based contact with parents more than males. Consistent with attachment theory, parent–child need- and nonneed-based interactions were related to one’s perceived quality of attachment. Results indicated that adolescent attachment involves both need- and nonneed-based parent–adolescent interactions. The pattern of findings suggests that adolescent males and females may show attachment in different ways.This research is based on the first author’s master’s thesis at American University under the supervision of the second author.Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC. Received MA in Psychology from American University, Washington, DC. Research interests lie within developmental and clinical psychology, parent–adolescent interactions, and child psychopathology.Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC. Received PhD in Clinical Psychology from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Research interests include gender issues and developmental and clinical psychology.     

Adolescent males with urogenital anomalies: Their body image and psychosexual development

Three midadolescent males with major congenital urogenital anomalies and multiple surgical repairs are described. Each patient had suffered repeated profound insults to body image concepts and gender identity from infancy onward, now clearly reflected in his psychosocial behavior and in figure drawings. Of major importance is the total lack at any time of counseling and emotional support as a part of comprehensive management. A plea is made for awareness of the psychological effects of such disorders and the need for long-range therapeutic planning from early childhood through adolescence to develop sound compensatory modes of coping with this stress.Formerly fellow in adolescent medicine, New York University Medical Center, at the time the material for this report was collected. Received his M.D. and pediatric training at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston City Hospital. Research interests include comprehensive health care for adolescents and the effects of illness on adolescent psychological development.Received his Ph.D. in psychology from Heed University, Miami, Florida, and training in psychology and child development at New York University. Research interests include the psychological effects of hospitalization on children and youth, minimal brain dysfunction, and developmental assessment in infancy.Received her M.D. from the University of Rochester, pediatric training at University of Minnesota Hospitals and Babies Hospital, New York City, and training in adolescent medicine at Beth Israel Hospital, New York. Research interests include psychological effects of illness and hospitalization in adolescents, legal rights of minors, and adolescent sexuality.     

The development of ego defenses in adolescence

This study tested a model for developmental transitions in defense use in adolescence based on an integration of psychoanalytic views of adolescence and Loevinger's theory of ego development. Loevinger's test for ego development and the Defense Mechanism Inventory were administered to 31 male and 35 female adolescents. Results supported several hypothesized developmental transitions: decrease in aggression outward defenses (e.g., displacement), increase in turning against the self, and an unpredicted increase in defenses entailing reversal (repression, denial, and reaction formation). Results failed to support a hypothesized increase in intellectualization and a decrease in projection. Results supported ego development over chronological age as a more valid index of maturity to apply to the investigation of the development of defenses. Implications of these findings are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.This research was partially funded by the Psychology Department at Boston UniversityAffiliations at the time when this study was conducted were Department of Psychology, Boston University, and Departments of Psychiatry at Beth Israel and McLean Hospitals/Harvard Medical School. Now Clinical Psychologist, Outpatient Psychiatry Service, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, Massachusetts. Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Boston University. Research interests include ego defenses, psychotherapy research, gender, and sex roles.     

Attachment to Parents,Best Friend,and Romantic Partner: Predicting Different Pathways to Depression in Adolescence

Research indicates that insecurely-attached adolescents are at risk for depression, but little is known about factors that may influence or explain this vulnerability. The present study focuses on close relationships during adolescence and their association with depression. Specifically, the objectives were to investigate (1) the role of working models of specific attachment figures (i.e., mother, father, best friend, and romantic partner) in the prediction of depression; and (2) the existence of target-specific pathways to depression following relational stress. It was expected that the paths to depression would differ depending on the attachment figure under consideration. A total of 134 adolescents (n = 88 girls; Mage = 16.95 years; SD = .74) completed attachment questionnaires, a depression inventory, and a computer task consisting of hypothetical interpersonal vignettes and questions. Insecure attachment relationships with romantic partner, and for girls only, with mother, were uniquely predictive of depression. Insecurely-attached adolescents' tendency to make negative attributions in response to stresses fully mediated the attachment–depression association. These adolescents were found to ruminate when confronted with stresses involving romantic partner, which was also associated with depression. Results underscore the link between attachment, negative attributions, and depression. Staff Psychologist, Child Psychiatry Department at the Jewish General Hospital. Received PhD in clinical psychology from Concordia University. Research interests include attachment and adolescent adjustment. Professor of Psychology and Applied Human Sciences, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4B 1R6. Received PhD in social psychology from Ohio State University. Research interests include close interpersonal relationships and adjustment. Professor of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4B 1R6. Received PhD in developmental psychology from Stanford University. Research interests include attachment and parenting in adolescence.