The Importance of Family and School Domains in Adolescent Deviance: African American and Caucasian Youth

Previous work has documented the similar importance of developmental domains in accounting for adolescent deviance in different racial/ethnic groups (e.g., Vazsonyi A. T., and Flannery, D. J., 1997, J. Early Adolesc. 17(3): 271–293). The current investigation is a replication and extension of this line of work. It examined the importance of the family (closeness, monitoring, and conflict) and school (grades, homework time, educational aspirations, and commitment) domains on a sample of adolescent (mean age = 16.4 years) African American and Caucasian youth (N = 809). The following important findings were made: (a) developmental processes including family and school domain variables and deviance were very similar for African American and Caucasian youth; (b) both developmental domains revealed independent predictive relationships with a number of different measures of adolescent deviance in both groups; and (c) the 2 domains uniquely accounted for 25% and 37% of the variance explained respectively in African American and Caucasian adolescent total deviance.     

Social Competence and Substance Use Among Rural Youth: Mediating Role of Social Benefit Expectancies of Use

The present study examined the mechanisms by which social competence may be associated with substance use during early adolescence. The sample consisted of rural youth (N = 1,568) attending 36 junior high schools in a midwestern state. Structural equation modeling indicated that social competence had a direct protective association with substance use in that those youth who were more socially confident, assertive, and had better communication skills reported less smoking and drinking. Further analyses revealed that the relationship between social competence and substance use was fully mediated by social benefit expectancies of use. These findings suggest that poorly competent youth turn to smoking and alcohol use because they perceive that there are important social benefits to doing so, such as having more friends, looking grown up and cool, and having more fun. Prevention programs that teach youth interpersonal skills may reduce the initiation of substance use by improving social competence and providing youth with more adaptive means of gaining approval from peers.     

Risky Sexual Behaviors in First and Second Generation Hispanic Immigrant Youth

Though official data document that Hispanic youth are at a great risk for early sexual intercourse, STDs, and teen pregnancy, only few etiological studies have been conducted on Hispanic youth; almost no work has examined potential generational differences in these behaviors, and thus, these behaviors may have been mistakenly attributed to cultural differences. The current study examined the relationships between maternal parenting (general communication, communication about sex, monitoring, support) and risky sexual behaviors, and potential moderating effects by immigration status and acculturation in 1st and 2nd generation Hispanic immigrant adolescents (N = 2,016) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Waves I and II). Maternal communication about sex and maternal support emerged as key predictors of risky sexual behaviors across generational groups; neither immigration status nor acculturation moderated the maternal parenting constructs-risky sexual behaviors links. Furthermore, maternal parenting constructs and their relationships with risky sexual behaviors did not differ by generational groups.

Cultural Orientations, Daily Activities, and Adjustment in Mexican American Youth

The links between youth’s daily activities and adjustment and the role of cultural practices and values in these links were studied in 469 youth from 237 Mexican American families. In home interviews, data on mothers’, fathers’, and two adolescent-age siblings’ cultural practices (language use, social contacts) and values (for familism, for education achievement) were collected, along with data on youth risky behavior and depressive symptoms. In 7 nightly phone calls, youth reported on their day’s free time activities (i.e., sports, academics, religious activities, television viewing, and hanging out). Analyses revealed that youth who spent more time in unsupervised hanging out reported more depressive symptoms and risky behavior, and those who spent more time in academic activities reported less risky behavior. Results also indicated that more Anglo-oriented youth spent more time in sports, that more Mexican-oriented youth spent more time watching television, that fathers’ familism values were related to youth’s time in religious activities, and that parents’ educational values were linked to youth’s time in academic activities. Some evidence indicated that parents’ cultural practices and values, particularly fathers’, moderated the links between daily activities and youth adjustment.

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     

The Impact of Gender and Family Processes on Mental Health and Substance Use Issues in a Sample of Court-Involved Female and Male Adolescents

Greater empirical attention directed toward gender-sensitive assessment strategies that concentrate on family-specific factors is thought to be both timely and necessary, especially with regard to outcome variables associated with mental health and substance abuse in at-risk adolescent populations. A sample of 2,646 court-involved adolescents was used to test two competing models regarding relationships among disruptive family processes, mental health (as both internalizing and externalizing problems), and substance abuse issues according to gender. The results of multiple group structural equation modeling procedures indicated that disrupted family processes were significantly associated with higher levels of internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and substance abuse in both male and female youth. For females, however, disrupted family processes were more related to internalizing problems and substance abuse than externalizing problems. Further, the relationship between disrupted family processes and substance abuse was not mediated by mental health issues, indicating a lack of support for the alternative model tested in this study. Together, the findings underscore the primacy of the family’s impact on issues related to adolescent development and well-being in tandem with the need for a more gender sensitive approach to the needs of court-involved males and females.

Inside Quality: Examination of Quality Improvement Processes in Afterschool Youth Programs

Using a case study method, afterschool site leader experiences and organizational factors related to youth program quality improvement processes were examined. Responding to issues identified by site leaders, external technical assistance targeted both program structure and content. Staff beliefs of internal program quality standards, such as a mandatory focus on academics, affected learning and quality improvement processes. Hierarchical organizational program standards and supports, including internal self-assessments, did not appear to foster buy-in, learning, or site-based problem-solving for quality improvement. Results indicated the need for further examination of the theory of change and pedagogical approaches to quality technical assistance.     

Competency in Establishing Positive Relationships With Program Youth: The Impact of Organization and Youth Worker Characteristics

Frontline youth workers’ ability to form strong, positive relationships with program youth is a key element in maximizing the benefits of program participation. A recent National Collaboration of Youth (2006 National Collaboration for Youth. ( 2006 ). Capturing promising practices in recruitment and retention of frontline youth workers. Retrieved from http://www.nydic.org/nydic/documents/CompletePublication.pdf  [Google Scholar]) report identified six elements associated with youth workers’ competency to complete their professional roles: compensation, training opportunities, supportive work environment, clear work roles, sense that work is valued, and networking opportunities. The current study investigated whether having these elements predicted 459 youth workers’ self-reported job competency in forming positive relationships with youth. Regression analyses revealed that job efficacy, clarity of work roles, and benefits significantly predicted competency in forming strong relationships with program youth. Findings are discussed in relation to practice implications for the youth work field.     

Epistemic Reasoning and Adolescent Egocentrism: Relations to Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Problem Youth

This investigation addressed the question of how two forms of social cognitive reasoning – epistemic reasoning and adolescent egocentrism – interface with externalizing and internalizing forms of psychopathology during adolescence. Adolescents’ epistemic reasoning (i.e., types of belief entitlement, or degree of doubt, held by an individual when confronted with contradictory sides of an issue), and imaginary audience and personal fable ideation, were assessed in a sample of 29 adolescent boys with behavioral problems and 30 of their peers without behavioral problems. To assess internalizing and externalizing symptomatology, teachers completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL-TRF). Results revealed that, compared to those without behavior problems, boys with behavioral problems were lower in epistemic reasoning. Further analyses revealed consistent relations between dimensions of social cognitive reasoning to specific forms of psychopathology. These findings suggest that social cognitive reasoning, particularly epistemic doubt, is important in understanding problem behaviors among typical and atypical adolescents.

Family Characteristics and Adolescent Competence in India: Investigation of Youth in Southern Orissa

This study examines the relationship among a host of family characteristics and indicators of adolescent competence in a sample (N = 107) of 8th- and 9th-grade students in one school located in Berhampur city in Orissa state, India. Social competence (SC) and antisocial behavior (AB) were assessed by teachers, and adolescents evaluated various areas of their own competence on a perceived competence scale. Final examination grades also were obtained as a general measure of cognitive competence. The results indicated that families of more socially competent participants tended to be verbally and emotionally expressive; democratic with regard to discipline, input, and decision making; close but not enmeshed; higher in their level of parent–adolescent communication and family ideals; and lower in external locus of control. Consequently, families of more antisocial adolescents had more conflict and enmeshment and were more external-locus-of-control oriented and either permissive or authoritarian. Finally, several personal and family demographic traits were positively associated with SC and negatively associated with AB, including gender (girls higher in SC and lower in AB than boys), age and grade (older students and those in grade 9 more competent and less problematic), education level of mothers and fathers (positively related to SC and negatively to AB), and birth order (middle children in the family lower in self-perceptions of competence than oldest or youngest children). The findings have implications for parenting and family-life education efforts in India that could have a major impact on the development of adolescent competence.     

Competence, Self-esteem, and Coping Efficacy as Mediators of Ecological Risk and Depressive Symptoms in Urban African American and European American Youth

Structural equation modeling was used to test [Sandler, American Journal of Community Psychology 29: 19–61.] a theoretical model of risk and resilience in an urban sample of African American and European American adolescents. The aims of the present study were to examine whether self-system processes (i.e., competence, self-esteem, and coping efficacy) mediated the relations between ecological risk and depressive symptoms and to determine if pathways varied across ethnic/racial groups. Results implicate self-esteem as a putative mediator of the impact of ecological risk on depressive symptoms for both African American and European American youth. In addition, coping efficacy was a mediator of the link between ecological risk and depressive symptoms for African American youth, but not for European American youth. The evidence supporting competence as a significant mediator of the relation between ecological risk and depressive symptoms was less compelling. Findings suggest substantial similarities in the pathways between ecological risk and depressive symptoms across African American and European American youth.

Procedural Justice in Family Conflict Resolution and Deviant Peer Group Involvement Among Adolescents: The Mediating Influence of Peer Conflict

The involvement of adolescents with deviant peer groups is one of the strongest proximal correlates to juvenile delinquency and stems from a variety of causes. Past research has linked ineffective parenting with peer variables, including deviant peer group involvement and peer conflict during adolescence. In this study, adolescents’ appraisals of procedural justice within the family (adolescents’ appraisals of how fairly they are treated by parents in the process of resolving family conflict) were examined as one aspect of effective parenting that may relate to deviant peer group involvement in early adolescence. Data from 1660 middle school students (ages 11–14, mean = 12.6) indicated that higher appraisals by adolescents of procedural justice during family conflict resolution were related to lower levels of both peer conflict and deviant peer group involvement. A structural model was tested in which the relationship between adolescents’ appraisals of procedural justice in the family and deviant peer group involvement was partially mediated by measures of peer conflict. This model was found to have adequate fit to the data, indicating that part of the relationship between procedural justice appraisals and deviant peer group involvement can be explained by levels of peer conflict. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The Importance and Benefits of Supervision in Youth Work Practice

This article explores the concept of supervision and its implementation within a youth work context. The article describes and explores a process of staff development facilitated by the author which involved providing supervision training to a group of youth work practitioners at Cork YMCA in Ireland and continuing to meet them on a monthly basis over a period of a year in a mentoring capacity. These sessions provided a supportive space for supervisors and aimed to facilitate a reflective process in relation to their own supervisory practice. This article explores the opportunities and challenges of the supervision process, advocates the importance of supervision in ensuring effective youth work practice, and identifies the beneficial impact of this at a number of levels.     

Course and Severity of Maternal Depression: Associations with Family Functioning and Child Adjustment

Number of lifetime episodes, duration of current episode, and severity of maternal depression were investigated in relation to family functioning and child adjustment. Participants were the 151 mother–child pairs in the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) child multi-site study. Mothers were diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder; children (80 males and 71 females) ranged in age from 7 to 17 years. Measures of child adjustment included psychiatric diagnoses, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and functional impairment. Measures of family functioning included family cohesion, expressiveness, conflict, organization, and household control; parenting measures assessed maternal acceptance and psychological control. Children of mothers with longer current depressive episodes were more likely to have internalizing and externalizing symptoms, with this association being moderated by child gender. Mothers with more lifetime depressive episodes were less likely to use appropriate control in their homes.

Alcohol and Drug Use in Young Apprentices: Effect of Social Control in the Family

In this research, social control used by the families of young apprentices related to certain deviant behaviors such as alcohol and drug use was examined. Finally it was found that most of the young people who use drugs and alcohol were battered frequently. The relationship between deviant acts of young people and social control used by their families was analyzed through theories concerning the socioeconomic status of family and the relations between family members.     

Ethnic-Racial Socialization and Adjustment Among Latino College Students: The Mediating Roles of Ethnic Centrality, Public Regard, and Perceived Barriers to Opportunity

Parents?? efforts to socialize their children around issues of ethnicity and race have implications for well-being in several life domains, including academic and psychological adjustment. The present study tested a multiple mediator model in which parental ethnic-racial socialization was linked to psychological adjustment through two dimensions of ethnic identity (ethnic centrality and public regard) as well as two types of perceived barriers to opportunity (language and economic). Data were drawn from a sample of Latino students (N = 227; 65% women) attending a highly selective university. Results suggest that cultural socialization was related to self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and physical symptoms, and that part of its association with self-esteem was mediated by ethnic centrality beliefs. In contrast, preparation for bias had few direct associations with adjustment in this sample; this type of ethnic-racial socialization primarily functioned through its association with public regard and perceived language barriers to upward mobility. Moreover, in predicting self-esteem, public regard and perceived language barriers exhibited equally important roles as mediators of preparation for bias. These findings extend previous research, and implications for future research on ethnic-racial socialization among Latinos are discussed.     

Racial and Socioeconomic Status Differences in Depressive Symptoms Among Black and White Youth: An Examination of the Mediating Effects of Family Structure,Stress and Support

Stress research shows that race, socioeconomic status (SES), and family context significantly impact an adolescent’s psychological well-being, yet little is known about the mediating effects of family context on racial and SES differences in depressive symptoms among Black and White youth. We investigate these associations using a sample of 875 (45% female) from a South Florida community-based study of youth mostly between the ages of 19 and 21. Ordinary least squares (OLS) analyses find that Blacks and lower SES youth have more depressive symptoms than Whites and those in higher SES families. Racial disparities are partially mediated by family related stressors and SES differences are fully explained by family stressors and emotional support. We also find that emotional family support conditions the relationship between race and depressive symptoms such that Whites experience more depressive symptoms at lower levels of emotional support but Blacks have more symptoms at higher levels. The findings highlight the importance of identifying factors within the family context that influence a youth’s psychological well-being and ability to cope with adversities.     

The Psychological World of the Gay Teenager:Social Change,Narrative, and “Normality”

This paper examines the application of concepts of normal adolescence pioneered by Offer and colleagues to the study of gay and lesbian youth. Adolescent development among this population demonstrates remarkable historical variability along the lines of generation-cohort, revealing the utility of a life-course approach to the study of normal adolescence. Concepts of normal adolescence appear to shift with changing narratives of identity for sexual minority youth. We contrast two narratives of gay youth identity development that have emerged since the inception of substantive research programs on gay adolescence: (1) the narrative of struggle and success that came to dominate the literature in the 1980s and 1990s and (2) the narrative of emancipation that has emerged from the work of Savin-Williams and others who argue for a recognition of the diversity of adolescent development for this population. In relating this contrast to Offer’s seminal contributions to the study of adolescence, we suggest that the most normative feature of human development, particularly during adolescence, is its connection to discourses of identity through the formation of personal narratives that anchor the life course and provide meaning to conceptions of self-development. The example of shifting narratives of gay youth identity development is meant to exemplify this characteristic feature of human development. William Rainey Harper Professor of Social Sciences, The College, the Departments of Comparative Human Development, Psychology, Psychiatry and the Committee on Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, The University of Chicago. For nearly two decades he collaborated with Dan Offer as the director of the University’s component of the Adolescence Training grant shared jointly with Michael Reese Hospital and Directed by Dan Offer. His recent work focuses on the interplay of history and social change in the study of lives over time. Advanced doctoral student in the Department of Comparative Human Development. His work examines the cultural psychology of adolescence and emerging adulthood, with a focus on identity and narrative. His earlier work with former student of Dan Offer, Maryse Richards, focused on the study of ethnicity, context, and normal adolescence. Most recently, he has been studying culture and normal adolescent development among Israeli and Palestinian youth. In 2007 he will be appointed an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of California-Santa Cruz.