Substance use by hispanic and white non-hispanic pregnant adolescents: A preliminary survey

White non-Hispanic and Hispanic adolescents aged 17 years and under n= 81) who delivered in San Jose, California area hospitals during a 6-week period were interviewed within 24 hours concerning their use of cigarettes, marijuana, and alcohol during pregnancy, and a number of background, social support, and psychosocial factors. Before 12–16 weeks of pregnancy, each of the substances studied was used by over 50% of this population, with 53% smoking cigarettes, 51% smoking marijuana, and 58% consuming beer or wine. Most substance use ceased after 12–16 weeks of pregnancy. There were no significant differences between ethnic groups in substance use. Multiple regression analyses showed that cigarette smoking decreased when social support was provided by the adolescent's partner and it was higher if parents smoked and/or used alcohol p<.001. Parental substance use, combined with lack of social support, was also associated significantly with marijuana use p<.001, explaining 30% of the variance. Use of birth control prior to pregnancy was related to beer and wine consumption p<.05, explaining 16% of the variance. Active inclusion of members of the adolescent's support network in pregnancy care, and initiative by educators and clinicians in discussing substance use, may accelerate its cessation. Ethnicityrelated behavior change strategies may be of little relevance to adolescent substance use during pregnancy.This study was funded by grant no. MCR-060466-01-0 from the Maternal and Child Health and Crippled Children's Services Research Program, Bureau of Health Care Delivery and Assistance, DHHS, to the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Stanford University School of Medicine. The first author is supported by a fellowship from the Pew Memorial Trust.Received Ph.D. from Stanford University. Main interest is adolescent pregnancy and health of Latino populations.Received M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. Main interest is perinatology.     

Interpersonal and self-critical dysphoria and behavioral problems in adolescents

Clinical evidence suggests that various problem behaviors in adolescence can be expressions of dysphoria that have not reached threshold for the diagnosis of depressive disorders. Formulations of two major types of dysphoria distinguish between disruptions of interpersonal relatedness (e.g., feelings of loss or abandonment) and diminished self-esteem (e.g., feelings of self-criticism, failure, or guilt). Adolescents in a suburban high school were given the Achenbach Youth Self-Report, the Adolescent Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, and the Community Epidemiological Survey of Depression for Children (CES-DC). Even after level of depressive symptoms (CES-DC) was partialled out in hierarchical multiple regressions, interpersonal dysphoria significantly accounted for additional variance in predicting internalizing disorders, while self-critical dysphoria added significantly to the explained variance of both internalizing and externalizing disorders, specifically delinquency and aggression in both males and females.Ph.D., 1957, University of Chicago. Research interests: The development of mental representations, their differential impairment in various forms of psychopathology (especially depression), and their change in the therapeutic process.Ph.D., 1981, Yeshiva University. Research interests: adolescent pregnancy, depression, and ego development.Ph.D., 1968, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Research interests: cognitive processes in schizophrenia, dependency and self-criticism in depression, and cognitive structural models of development and psychopathology.Ph.D., 1986, Columbia University, New York. Research interests: adolescent development.Ph.D., 1988, State University New York—Buffalo. Research interests: Language and self-representation and narcissism and borderline disorders.     

The personality correlates of differential verbal and mathematical ability in talented adolescents

This paper describes the personality correlates of differential verbal and mathematical ability in very bright adolescent boys (N=182). The results indicate that there are few mean personality differences between two groups of boys formed on the basis of high scores on measures of either verbal or quantitative ability. On the other hand, within each of these groups there are dependable personality correlates of differences between verbal and quantitative ability. In particular, boys with high verbal relative to their quantitative scores seem independent, rational, reflective, and mature, regardless of their vocational or academic preferences.Work on this paper was supported by a grant from the Spencer Foundation, Chicago, Illinois.Received her Ph.D. in psychology from the Johns Hopkins University. Major interests are personality theory and medical psychology.Received his Ph.D. in psychology from the Johns Hopkins University. Major interests are education and developmental psychology.Received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley. Major interests are personality theory and moral development.     

Personal problems of adolescents and their relationship to peer acceptance and sex-role identity

The Mooney Problem Checklist (MPCL), Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and a series of sociometric rating scales were administered to four groups of adolescents (40 males and 48 females from grade 8—average age = 13.5 years; 39 males and 37 females from grade 12—average age = 17.5 years). The total number of problems reported and the number in many of the 11 areas of the MPCL were fewer in the older group of males than the other three groups. As the number of problems was expected to decrease with age, it was proposed that females' problem level was maintained at a high level by pressures to conform to a feminine sex-role identity. This speculation was based on the findings that females became more stereotyped (more feminine, less masculine) with age and that femininity was significantly related to the number of problems for females. Although masculinity and peer group acceptance were expected to relate negatively to the number of problems, none of the groups supported the prediction for masculinity, and only the younger males confirmed the hypothesis for peer acceptance.This research was conducted by the first author as an empirical thesis project in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) at Macquarie University in 1979. The project was supervised by the second author and Associate Professor J. K. Collins.Received B. A. (Honours in Psychology) from Macquarie University in 1979. Major interest is adjustment in adolescence.Received B. S. (Honours in Statistics) from Sydney University in 1965; B. A. (Psychology) from Oxford in 1968; M. A. and Ph.D. (Psychology) from University of Michigan in 1973. Major interests are sex roles and psychometrics.     

Healthy and maladjusted Type A behavior in adolescents

The dimensions of Type A behavior were studied in 990 randomly selected adolescents and their conceptualization was clarified in terms of achievement striving, self-concept, and sense of control. The methods used were the AFMS to evaluate Type A behavior, the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale, and Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory. Achievement striving was assessed using the questionnaire designed for this study. It was revealed that Type A consisted of two independent dimensions, both adding an equal contribution to the total score. One was an impatient, aggressive competitiveness related to a low self-esteem, low self-set achievement standards, and external locus of control. The other Type A exhibited competitiveness related to a sense of responsibility, leadership, social activity, high achievement striving, and high self-esteem. These factors may distinguish maladjusted competitiveness from healthy ambition and suggest that it is important to distinguish risk Type A individuals from Type A's who are potential leaders in society.Received Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Helsinki, Finland. Her major research interest is psychosomatic medicine.     

A latent variable model of the Family-of-Origin Scale for adolescents

The Family-of-Origin Scale (FOS) is a recently developed 40-item instrument originally designed to assess adults' perceptions of the family in which they were raised. A modified version of the FOS has shown promise for assessing adolescents' perceptions of the extent to which their family fosters autonomy and intimacy. The current study involved administration of the FOS to a large sample of adolescents currently residing with their family of origin. Confirmatory factor analysis supports the scale's original 13 theoretical constructs and establishes factorial validity. Follow-up hierarchical tests indicate the current confirmatory model provides a significant refinement over other plausible models proposed by several different authors finding a similar unitary factor employing exploratory factor analyses.     

Undivided interest and the growth of talent: A longitudinal study of adolescents

Based on theoretical considerations drawn from John Dewey and others, and using the Experience Sampling Method to longitudinally investigate a group of talented high school students,undivided interest was operationalized as times when the students felt above average spontaneous interest (i.e., excitement, openness, and involvement) while also reporting above average goal-directed interest (i.e., that their task was important to their goals). Results showed that after adjusting for the effects of family background, scholastic aptitude, and other individual differences, undivided interest while doing talent-related activities was positively correlated with independent assessments of talent area performance three years later: the level of mastery students achieved as indicated by their school records, the ratings students received from their talent area teachers, and the students' assessments of their own level of engagement. Highly engaged students reported over twice as much undivided interest in comparison to a group of disengaged students, who reported more divided interest (i.e., more of what Dewey referred to as fooling—high spontaneous involvement with no goal direction; and more drudgery—low spontaneous involvement and high goal direction). These findings held regardless of whether the teenagers were talented in math, science, music, or art. The implications of the study are discussed in terms of contemporary theories of attention and cognitive development, as well as unproductive educational philosophies that pit these important dimensions of experience against each other.Received Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Chicago. Main research interests are adolescent development within the family and the role of interest in learning and development.Received Ph.D. in human development from the University of Chicago. Main research interests are optimal experience and creativity.     

Orientations to the future: A comparison of adolescents in Australia and Singapore

Using an event-listing approach, this study examined the personal and societal future orientations of 15-year-old males and females in Singapore and Sydney. Three aspects were examined: content, affect, and time span. Overall, the study found that adolescents perceived their personal and societal features in separate noninterlocking planes, seeing more pleasant, proximal, personal futures, and more unpleasant, distal, societal futures, especially in relation to nuclear war and political problems. Demographic and personal construct variables influenced this general pattern of future orientation.Ph.D., social psychology, La Trobe University. Research interests: adolescence, education and social policy.Ph.D., education, Sydney University. Research interests: adolescence, psychometrics, and statistics.     

Emotional and temperamental correlates of Type A in children and adolescents

Emotional and behavioral correlates of Type A behavior in children and adolescents were examined in 184 fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-grade students, classified as high or low Type A, using self-report, teacher ratings (fifth grade only), and structured interview procedures. Measures included the Hunter-Wolf A-B Rating Scale, Behavioral Symptoms of Stress Inventory, Dimensions of Temperament Survey, Desire for Control Scale, Eysenck Personality Inventory, and the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist. High Type A children reported significantly more stressed-related behaviors, higher levels of depression, anger, anxiety, and cognitive disorganization, and greater reactivity than Low Type A. No differences were found on measures of temperament (activity level, attention span, adaptibility, and rhythmicity), desire for control, or introversion-extroversion. Females, in general, reported significantly more behavioral stress symptoms. However, no other gender differences were found. Possible reasons for reported differences between Type A children and adults are discussed, along with gender differences in behavioral symptoms. Need for multiple measures of Type A across situation is considered along with need for controlled longitudinal studies of Type A components and the influence of contexts.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: Adolescent problems, stress.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: Type A, anger/hostility; AIDS prevention.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: child & family problems, stress disorders.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: psychoneuroimmunology.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: pain disorders, stress.Received Ph.D. from Stanford.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: anxiety and phobic disorders.     

A post-residential-treatment follow-up of socially and emotionally deviant adolescents in Israel

Fifty-five emotionally and socially deviant but normally intelligent adolescents who had spent 2–7 years in a children's and apprentice home in Israel were followed up 5–9 years after they had left the institution. Their postresidential social and vocational careers were evaluated by means of personal interviews, home visits, and reports from employers, and it was found that good adjustment was substantially related to family background variables (having lived with biological parents prior to residential placement, mutual positive relationship between parent and child, being first born) as well as to satisfactory behavior and performance in peer group, school, and workshop during residence. Level of intelligence, unrelated to overall adjustment, correlated positively with vocational status and income at followup. On the other hand, length of stay in the apprentice home had no impact on postresidential adaptation to work and society. Fewer than 10% of exinmates expressed retrospectively a negative attitude toward their stay in the institution. The importance of paying more attention to the eventual long-term and enduring impact of family relationship on the residential and postresidential behavior of adolescents is discussed, suggesting a shift of emphasis in evaluating factors involved in institutional treatment. Findings also indicate that later social and vocational success may be fairly predicted from observation of behavior during the stay in the institution.The empirical study reported in this article was supported by a grant from the Australian Women's International Zionist Organisation (WIZO), through the initiative of Mrs. Martha Jacobson, Melbourne, chairman of the board of directors.Received his Ph.D. in Psychology and Special Education from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, in 1954. Main research interests are normal and abnormal child development, high-risk infants, adolescence, and handicapped children.Main research interest is institutional care.     

Mood variability and the psychosocial adjustment of adolescents

This research uses a new time sampling method to compare adolescent and adult mood variability. Over 9000 self-reports from 182 people are used to evaluate the widespread theoretical assumption that adolescents experience greater mood variability as part of a syndrome of psychosocial disequilibrium. The findings confirm that adolescents experience wider and quicker mood swings, but do not show that this variability is related to stress, lack of personal control, psychological maladjustment, or social maladjustment within individual teenagers. Rather than representing turmoil, wide mood swings appear to be a natural part of an adolescent peer-oriented life style. However, there are indications that adolescent mood variability interferes with capacity for deep involvement, especially in school.This research was partially funded by the Spencer Foundation.Received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Current interests are adolescents' involvements in projects, solitude, and the experience of enjoyment.Received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Current interests are the study of enjoyment on everyday experience and the creation of meaning.Received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Current interest are the contributions of states and traits to everyday experience.     

A survey of parent attitudes and practices regarding underage drinking

A random telephone survey of attitudes toward underage drinking was conducted in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. The results revealed that alcohol use, especially alcohol-impaired driving, among youth were seen as serious problems by a majority (>80%) of the respondents. Strong support (>80%) was detected for imposing suffer penalties on bars and restaurants that sell alcohol to minors, older peers who purchase alcohol for minors, and driver's license restrictions for minors who possess and use alcohol. Over 50% favored stiffer penalties for parents who provide alcohol to minors. Respondents who were parents of teenage children were more likely to believe their teen's friends drink and drive (37%) than they were to believe their own teen drives drunk (10%). These parents were also unlikely to believe their teen had ever come home intoxicated (19%) despite the fact that almost 60% believed their teen has been to parties where there is drinking. These findings, and others from this survey, indicate that parents (especially whites) are unaware of the nature of teen drinking and are reluctant to accept the fact that their teens are involved with alcohol and high-risk alcohol-related behaviors. The implications of these findings for prevention programs are discussed.This investigation was supported by a research grant to the senior author from the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, and was conducted using the facilities of the Interdisciplinary Health Research Laboratory of the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Maryland at College Park. Computer time for the statistical analyses was supported in full by the Computer Science Center, University of Maryland.Received Ph.D. in social psychology from Syracuse University. Research interests: impaired driving, adolescent risk taking, substance abuse, and health threat perception.Received Ph.D. in health education from University of Maryland. Research interests: alcohol and drug issues among youth.Received M.Ed, in health education from University of Virginia. Research interests: substance abuse, impaired driving, and adolescent risk behavior.Received M.Ed, in counseling psychology from Temple University. Research Interests: health behavior, smoking cessation and relapse.     

A critique of the research literature concerning pregnant adolescents, 1960–1970

A perspective on the research literature from 1960 to 1970 concerning pregnant adolescents (this literature was abstracted and reviewed in a previous publication) is presented. Research methodology and potential content for research are examined and suggestions made that would contribute to a stronger empirical base for the research. Several assumptions (of difference, of homogeneity, and of special need) regarding pregnant adolescents that seem to be implicit in the research are brought to light. Finally, an analysis of the risk concept is presented.Has degrees in social work (M.S. and Ph.D.) and public health (M.S.), with research interests in adolescent health status, human service for youth, and the process of (research) consultation.Has M.A. in sociology.Has degrees in theology (B.D.) and medical sociology (Ph.D.). He teaches the latter, while focusing his research interests on the mental health consequences on women as a result of their labor force participation and the evaluation of accelerated medical education programs.M.D. degree and a degree also in public health. Before his academic career, he was a high public official in the New York State Department of Health. His publications include studies of the medical aspects of water fluoridation and high-risk groups receiving maternity care. Current research interests include studies of patterns of provision of maternal and child health services in the United States, the incidence and prevalence of long-term diseases of childhood, and followup studies of low birth weight and other vulnerable infants.     

The self-image of adolescents: A study of four cultures

This paper describes the utilization of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ) for research purposes on a variety of adolescent populations and demonstrates the OSIQ's effectiveness in meaningfully separating normal, juvenile delinquent, and emotionally disturbed adolescents; older and younger teenagers; males and females. It also considers the utilization of the OSIQ in four different cultures (United States, Ireland, Australia, and Israel) and concentrates on the results obtained when the OSIQ is given adolescents in these four cultures. It discusses the findings and points to some of the methodological problems which are inherent in doing cross-cultural research.Presented at the American Educational Research Association meeting in San Francisco, California, April 20, 1976.Received his M.D. from the University of Chicago. He interned at the University of Illinois and took his psychiatric residency at Michael Reese Hospital and University of Chicago. He is a graduate of the Institute for Psychoanalysis in Chicago. Major interests have been concept of mental health and the developmental psychology of adolescence.Received his Ph.D. in human development from the University of Chicago. Research interests are adolescence and delinquency.Received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Chicago. Major interests are psychotherapy research and adolescence.     

A survey of adolescent military family members' self-image

The Offer Self-Image Questionnaire was administered to 135 adolescent military family members, ages 13 through 18. The data suggest that the usual demands placed on the military family do not deter the adolescent from developing a healthy self-image.The contents herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center or the Department of Defense.Received his M.D. from Tulane University. Research interests are adolescence and substance abuse.     

A measure of risk taking for young adolescents: Reliability and validity assessments

Researchers often define adolescent risk taking in terms of individual behaviors such as alcohol and drug use, early sexual activity, and reckless driving. It is not clear whether these behaviors defined by adults as risky have the same meaning for adolescents. This paper describes the development and preliminary testing of an instrument to assess risk taking among young adolescents. The six item scale was constructed by asking small groups of eighth grade boys and girls to describe things that teenagers your age do for excitement or thrills. The measure was then used in a longitudinal study of 758 young adolescents from three rural counties in Maryland. The scale shows good reliability, as indicated by coefficient alpha and factor analyses. Eighth-grade scores on the scale are associated with the initiation of sexual activity and substance use in ninth grade among virgins and nonusers of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and pills in eighth grade.     

Sex role strain among kibbutz adolescents and adults: A developmental perspective

In spite of a commitment to equality, the kibbutz is a male-dominated society with highly differentiated sex roles. Has this gap between ideals and reality created sex role strain for kibbutz-born adolescents and adults? Previous kibbutz studies have suggested that sex role strain may be the most intense among adult kibbutz women. Based on Erik Erikson's developmental model, however, we hypothesized that adolescent females would experience significantly greater sex role strain than other kibbutz members, including adult women. Adolescent and adult males and females were tested using Loevinger's ego development test. The sex role items of the test were used to construct a new measure of sex role strain. The global index included the following submeasures: avoidance of sex role issues; expression of intellectual, emotional, or behavioral sex role conflict; and evaluative attitudes toward male roles and female roles. Significant cohort or sex differences were found on the global index and on all submeasures of sex role strain. The findings indicate that sex role strain is greatest among adolescent females, followed by adolescent males. Adult kibbutz women, however, are significantly more likely to focus their dissatisfaction in the area of actual role behavior rather than in terms of how they intellectually conceptualize kibbutz sex roles, as is the case for adolescents and adult males.     

Ethnicity and adjustment: A study of the self-image of Anglo-, Greek-, and Italian-Australian working class adolescents

Two measures of adjustment, the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory and the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire, were administered to a sample of 450 working class Anglo-, Greek-, and Italian-Australian adolescents in years 9 and 11 of 9 Melbourne high schools. Anglo- and Greek-Australian adolescents scored similarly and significantly higher than Italian-Australians on a number of subscales, suggesting that culture conflict may be an influential factor in the adjustment of Italian-Australians, but not Greek-Australians. Significant differences between the minority groups, in favor of Greek-Australians, were interpreted as resulting from the relative differences in institutional support for and press toward assimilation of the two groups.