Parental marital status and adolescents' optimism about their future

This article reports the results of a questionnaire survey of a representative random sample of all the schooled French-speaking adolescents of Montreal (N=4539). The sample included adolescents from legally intact homes, separated or divorced homes, and homes in which a parent was deceased. Three indicators of future success were included; adolescents from both types of broken families were less optimistic on all three dimensions than were adolescents from intact families. These results are discussed within a socioeconomic framework.This project was sponsored by grant 605-1356-42 from the National Health Research and Development Program, Canada Ministry of Health and Welfare, 1976–1978, and by a research grant from York University, 1981.Received M.D. from Université de Montréal and Ph.D. from Cornell University. Main research interest are in pedopsychiatry and family life.Received Ph.D. from Cornell University. Main research interests are in social psychiatry and marital dissolution.     

A longitudinal study of adolescents' future orientation (time perspective)

This longitudinal study was designed to test hypotheses concerning the influence of environmental changes in different groups (educational status; sex) of adolescents on their future orientation (FO). FO was measured through a free-response questionnaire on which the subjects indicated their hopes and fears (which were later categorized into various domains of life by independent judges). On a second questionnaire the subjects adjudged their present and future life in various given domains of life. The sample consisted of 24 male and 24 female adolescents, aged between 14–16 years at the time of the first measurement; the second measurement took place two years later. Half of the subjects of each sex were students at a Gymnasium (preparing for university study) at both times of measurement (high social status). The other half of the subjects of each sex were in their last year at the Hauptschule (continuation of elementary education) at the first time of measurement, and had taken up employment (e.g., an apprenticeship) by the time of the second measurement (low social status). At the time of the second measurement relatively more hopes and fears were voiced in the domains of personal development and occupation than at the first measurement. Independent of time of measurement, low-status subjects voiced relatively more hopes and fears related to the occupational domain, and boys had a more extended FO than girls. Low-status subjects — as compared to high-status subjects as well as to their own judgments at the first measurement — believed to a greater extent that the materialization of their hopes and fears depended on themselves rather than on external forces. These results support the assumption that FO cannot be dealt with as a global concept and that FO can be modified by change in the external environments, such as entry into an occupation.This study was conducted at the Sonderforschungsbereich 24, Sozial- und wirtschaftspsychologische Entscheidungsforschung, Universität Mannheim (West Germany), and financed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, with support from the Government of Baden-Württemberg. The three authors have contributed equally to this article.Received her Ph.D. from Universität Mannheim. Major interests are judgment and planning of small groups, adolescents, delinquents, and married couples.Received his Ph.D. from Princeton University. Major interests are small group processes, negotiation, and justice.He graduated from Universität Mannheim. Major interest is sociology of organizations.     

Parental Suicidality as a Risk Factor for Delinquency Among Hispanic Youth

Several studies have examined the factors associated with juvenile delinquency, but this literature remains limited largely because it has not moved beyond traditional factors generally and because of the lack of research conducted on minority—especially Hispanic—youth. This study seeks to overcome these two limitations by using data from a longitudinal study of 2,491 Hispanic (Puerto Rican) youth ages 5–13 (48.5% female) socialized in two different cultural contexts, Bronx, New York and San Juan, Puerto Rico, in an effort to examine the relationship between parental suicidality and offspring delinquency. Results indicate that while traditional risk/protective factors and parental mental health issues relate to delinquency in expected ways, youths whose parents attempted suicide engaged in more frequent and varied delinquency over time. Implications for theory and future research are addressed.     

Modification of Housing Mobility Experimental Effects on Delinquency and Educational Problems: Middle Adolescence as a Sensitive Period

Residential mobility is one documented stressor contributing to higher delinquency and worse educational outcomes. Sensitive period life course models suggest that certain developmental stages make individuals more susceptible to the effects of an exposure, like residential mobility, on outcomes. However, most prior research is observational, and has not examined heterogeneity across age or gender that may inform sensitive periods, even though it may have important implications for the etiology of adolescent development. Moreover, there are important translational implications for identifying the groups most vulnerable to residential mobility to inform how to buffer adverse effects of moving. In this study, low-income families were randomized to residential mobility out of public housing into lower poverty neighborhoods using a rental subsidy voucher (“experimental voucher condition”), and were compared to control families remaining in public housing. The sample was comprised of 2829 youth (51% female; 62% Non-Hispanic Black, 31% Hispanic, 7% other race). At baseline, youth ranged from 5 to 16 years old. This study hypothesized that random assignment to the housing voucher condition would generate harmful effects on delinquency and educational problems, compared to the control group, among boys who were older at baseline. The results confirmed this hypothesis: random assignment to the experimental voucher condition generating residential mobility caused higher delinquency among boys who were 13–16 years old at baseline, compared to same-age, in-place public housing controls. However, residential mobility did not affect delinquency among girls regardless of age, or among boys who were 5–12 years old at baseline. The pattern of results for educational problems was similar but weaker. Families with teenage boys are particularly vulnerable to residential transitions. Incorporating additional supports into housing programs may help low-income, urban families to successfully transition to lower poverty neighborhoods.     

School Disengagement as a Predictor of Dropout, Delinquency, and Problem Substance Use During Adolescence and Early Adulthood

Over the past 5 years, a great deal of attention has been paid to the development of early warning systems for dropout prevention. These warning systems use a set of indicators based on official school records to identify youth at risk for dropout and then appropriately target intervention. The current study builds on this work by assessing the extent to which a school disengagement warning index predicts not only dropout but also other problem behaviors during middle adolescence, late adolescence, and early adulthood. Data from the Rochester Youth Development Study (N = 911, 73% male, 68% African American, and 17% Latino) were used to examine the effects of a school disengagement warning index based on official 8th and 9th grade school records on subsequent dropout, as well as serious delinquency, official offending, and problem substance use during middle adolescence, late adolescence, and early adulthood. Results indicate that the school disengagement warning index is robustly related to dropout as well as serious problem behaviors across the three developmental stages, even after controlling for important potential confounders. High school dropout mediates the effect of the warning index on serious problem behaviors in early adulthood.     

Relationship status: Scales for assessing the vitality of late adolescents' relationships with their parents

Three criteria for assessing relationship status were proposed: self-disclosure despite the risk of parental disapproval; openness to critical feedback from parents; constructive confrontation when angry with parents. These concepts were operationalized as narratives of nine interpersonal dilemmas, to which late adolescents responded by indicating “What would you do if you were in this situation?” Reliable example-anchored scales were constructed from the responses of one sample of college students and then cross-validated with two other samples. Social class had a significant but small effect on the relationship status scores; but age and sex of adolescent and sex of parent did not. The patterns of correlations of the Relationship Status Scales among themselves and with the Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire, the College Self-Expression Scale, the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and Hogan's Empathy Scale were interpreted as evidence of construct validity.     

Adolescents' fear of social consequences of academic success as a function of age and sex

The Fear of Success Consequence Scale (FOSC) was used to assess adolescents' fears of potential social consequences of academic success in three dimensions, i.e., negative social reaction, positive peer reaction, and increased pressure and responsibility for continuous success. Subjects were 360 students in early adolescence (grades 7–9) and mid-adolescence (grades 10–12) in three urban British Columbia areas. Two hypotheses were supported: (1) that fear of academic success is higher among early adolescents than among mid-adolescents; (2) that girls generally have higher fear of academic success than do boys. Significant sex differences were found among early adolescents but not among mid-adolescents. While general sex differences were consistent with Horner's prediction, the findings of lower fear of success consequences among older adolescents than among younger ones, and the absence of significant sex difference among mid-adolescents, were contrary to Horner's prediction. Possible explanations for these findings are considered. Suggestions for further research are mentioned.Ishu Ishiyama has a Master of Education from McGill University. He is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria, where he is currently completing his Ph.D. His research interests are in the area of social anxiety and its treatment.David Chabassol has a Ph.D. from the University of Alberta. He is currently a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria. His research interests relate to attitude and interest formation in adolescence.     

Moral judgment and sex role orientation as a function of self and other presentation mode

Gilligan's concern for a negative bias in assessing moral reasoning based on feminine interpersonal orientations and corresponding positive bias in favor of masculine orientations of justice and equity was explored. Bem's Sex Role Inventory provided a psychological index of orientation rather than only biological sex. College men and women completed Rest's moral dilemmas (DIT) in the usual manner-other condition-or assumed the role of the central character-self condition. The latter procedure augmented affective dimensions assumed to underlie orientation differences. Males in the other condition scored higher on the DIT than those in the self condition; females revealed the opposite pattern. Using the sex role categories, it appeared that androgynous males had higher DIT scores in the self condition than in the other condition, in direct contrast to the overall results for males. For females who were androgynous or masculine in orientation, the self condition resulted in higher DIT scores than the other condition. Generally, the greater affective demands in the self condition produced a higher frequency of Stage 3 use for men and women regardless of sex role orientation. The other condition showed a higher percentage of Stage 4 use among males and females independent of sex role orientation. Sex role orientation and affective arousal were discussed in terms of Gilligan's view of moral judgment development.Portions of this paper were presented at the biennial meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MA, April 1987.Received Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison Current research interests are logical concept development and moral and political development.Received Ph.D. from Purdue University. Current research interests are moral development and life-span changes in cognition.Received Ph.D. from Syracuse University. Current research interests are moral development and adult cognition.     

Rethinking Timing of First Sex and Delinquency

The relation between timing of first sex and later delinquency was examined using a genetically informed sample of 534 same-sex twin pairs from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, who were assessed at three time points over a 7-year interval. Genetic and environmental differences between families were found to account for the association between earlier age at first sex and increases in delinquency. After controlling for these genetic and environmental confounds using a quasi-experimental design, earlier age at first sex predicted lower levels of delinquency in early adulthood. The current study is contrasted with previous research with non-genetically informative samples, including Armour and Haynie (2007, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36, 141–152). Results suggest a more nuanced perspective on the meaning and consequences of adolescent sexuality than is commonly put forth in the literature.

Consistency of adolescents' self-report of sexual behavior in a longitudinal study

This study examines three issues relevant to adolescent self-reported sexual behavior: the extent to which adolescents rescind reports of sexual intercourse, changes in reporting of lifetime sexual intercourse, and changes in reported age at first sexual intercourse. Data come from a three-year longitudinal study of health-compromising behaviors among a cohort a 758 rural adolescents. Students completed a self-administered questionnaire on health behaviors annually in eighth, ninth, and tenth grades. Findings show that 88.8% of students in eighth grade and 94.3% in ninth grade who reported having had sexual intercourse gave the same answer in a subsequent year. Approximately 15% of students reported fewer numbers of lifetime sexual intercourse experiences in tenth grade than they did in ninth grade. Age at first sexual intercourse was reported inconsistently by 67% of the students. Inconsistency rates differed by racial-gender groups, question sensitivity, and prior sexual experience.Received Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. Research interests include adolescent health and early adolescent development.Received Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. Research interests include personality, stress, and coping.Received Ph.D. from University of Chicago. Research interests include adolescent delinquency and substance use.Received Dr. P.H. from Johns Hopkins University. Research interests include rural adolescents and international health issues.Received Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. Research interests include adolescent sexuality and contraceptive decision making.     

Educational correlates of adolescents' sexual attitudes and behavior

Parents' educational attainment is known to be related to their children's educational aspirations and plans, and these variables have been presumed to be inversely related to early adolescent sexual activity. Relationships between these educational variables and adolescents' sexual attitudes and behavior were analyzed in a sample of 810 high school students from two Western states. Parents' educational background was positively related to adolescents' educational plans and performance, and these educational variables were inversely related to adolescents' premarital sexual attitudes and intercourse experience. It seems most plausible to conclude that parents' educational backgrounds affect children's educational interests and grades, which, in turn, affect adolescent sexuality. However, the observed associations also could be interpreted to suggest that early sexual behavior reduces adolescents' educational plans and lowers their school grades.The data analyzed here were collected as part of a prevention demonstration grant (APH 003-6-01-0) awarded to Terrance D. Olson by the Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs. This paper is based on the master's thesis of the second author.Received Ph.D. in Family Sociology from the University of Minnesota. Research interests concern the antecedents and consequences of early adolescent sexual behavior.Received a master's degree from the Department of Family and Human Development at Utah State University. Interested in the problem behaviors of young teenagers.     

Delinquency: The role of self-esteem and social values

Self-esteem and value orientation are recognized in several theories as important factors in the development of delinquency. In a comparison of these theories, value orientation and different aspects of self-esteem were assessed using an individually administered test battery with male delinquents, marginal delinquents, and nondelinquents. No value orientation or overall self-esteem differences were found. The results are interpreted as generally supportive of the Kaplan theory, which holds that delinquents use psychological defenses to enhance their self-esteem and to retain endorsement of socially accepted values.     

Self-Esteem and Delinquency Revisited (Again): A Test of Kaplan's Self-Derogation Theory of Delinquency Using Latent Growth Curve Modeling

Investigations of Kaplan's self-derogation theory of delinquency are numerous, but results have been mixed. Progress in this domain of research may be hampered by the use of statistical methods that do not optimally test hypotheses derived from the theory. In this study, the relationship between self-esteem and delinquency is examined using latent growth curve modeling (LGM). Analyses of panel data from the Youth In Transition study supported Kaplan's theory by showing that delinquency was positively associated with growth in self-esteem among adolescent boys who initially reported having low self-regard. It was also found that self-esteem had a moderate, but significant, negative relationship with subsequent delinquency, net of prior delinquent behavior. It is concluded that future investigations of the relationship between self-esteem and delinquency would benefit from the use of LGM.     

Adolescent Neglect, Juvenile Delinquency and the Risk of Recidivism

Victims of child abuse and neglect are at an increased risk of involvement with the juvenile justice and adult correctional systems. Yet, little is known about the continuation and trajectories of offending beyond initial contact with law enforcement. Neglect likely plays a critical role in continued offending as parental monitoring, parental rejection and family relationships are instrumental in explaining juvenile conduct problems. This study sought to determine whether neglect is associated with recidivism for moderate and high risk juvenile offenders in Washington State. Statewide risk assessments and administrative records for child welfare, juvenile justice, and adult corrections were analyzed. The sample was diverse (24 % female, 13 % African American, 8 % Hispanic, 5 % Native American) and included all moderate and high risk juvenile offenders screened by juvenile probation between 2004 and 2007 (n = 19,833). Official records from child protection were used to identify juvenile offenders with a history of child neglect and to identify juvenile offenders with an ongoing case of neglect. Event history models were developed to estimate the risk of subsequent offending. Adolescents with an ongoing case neglect were significantly more likely to continue offending as compared with youth with no official history of neglect. These findings remain even after controlling for a wide range of family, peer, academic, mental health, and substance abuse covariates. Interrupting trajectories of offending is a primary focus of juvenile justice. The findings of the current study indicate that ongoing dependency issues play a critical role in explaining the outcomes achieved for adolescents in juvenile justice settings. The implications for improved collaboration between child welfare and juvenile justice are discussed.     

Gender and developmental differences in adolescents' conceptions of moral reasoning

Eighth graders, 11th graders, and college sophomores wrote open-ended essays that characterized their own approaches to moral reasoning. Their essays were scored for the presence of various themes. Students also responded to three dilemmas from the Defining Issues Test (Rest, 1979). Students then rated their own use of justice and care orientations in moral reasoning, using a previously developed instrument (Ford and Lowery, 1986; Lyons, 1983). Characterizations of moral reasoning became more multifaceted and thorough with grade, and correlated with many traditional measures of moral reasoning. Males and females showed some, but relatively few, differences in characterizing their own moral reasoning, although females tended to respond more thoroughly to the open-ended task. Gender differences, when they occurred, were mostly found on measures that assessed so-called feminine issues or concerns, but not on traditional measures of moral reasoning. Characterizations of moral reasoning clustered into five dimensions, raising questions about the utility of the constructs of justice and care orientations.The first and third authors received financial support from a Ford-Mellon grant made to Carleton College. Results of this study were presented at the 1990 meeting of the Society for Research in Adolescence.Received Ph.D. in Psychology and M.S.E. in Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, and has research interests in the development of reasoning skills, decision making, and conceptual development.Received Ph.D. in Counseling and Guidance from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and has research interests in adolescent development and adolescent psychopathology.Received B.A. in Psychology from Carleton College in 1990. Has interests in adolescence and chemical dependence.     

Comparison of adolescents' perceptions and behaviors in single- and two-parent families

This study investigated the self-concepts, school achievement, occupational aspirations, vocational maturity, and perceptions of parents of children from two-parent and single-parent homes. The sample contained 559 children, 19% from single-parent homes. A multivariateF indicated children from two-parent homes had significantly higher school grades and occupational aspirations. There were also significant differences in children's perceptions of relationships with fathers, but not with mothers. It was argued that family structure has an impact on adolescents' perceptions and behaviors.Received his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Current research interests include the impact of family structure on the family and related issues.Received his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University. Current research interests include family research.     

The relationship between ego identity status and Erikson's notions of institutionalized moratoria,value orientation stage,and ego dominance

A number of concepts central to Erikson's theory of ego identity formation (J. E. Côté and C. Levine [1987], A Formulation of Erikson's Theory of Ego Identity Formation, Development Review, 7(4): 273–325) are discussed in relation to Marcia's identity status paradigm in light of the fact that both assign a significant role to the notion of identity crisis. The results of an empirical investigation reveal that Erikson's notions of institutionalized moratoria, value orientation stages, and the ego-superego struggle for dominance of the personality are related to the identity status categories in a way that can be partially explained in terms of the degree to which an individual has experienced the identity crisis. Further explanations for the pattern of findings are offered in terms of Erikson's theory. These explanations clarify, to a degree, the nature of the identity statuses from a social psychological perspective.Received Ph.D. in Sociology from York University, Toronto, Canada. Research interests include the empirical investigation of Eriksonian theory, gender roles, the social psychology of organizations, and program evaluation.Received Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Research interests include the investigation of moral development from a social psychological perspective.     

Aspirations,Expectations and Delinquency: The Moderating Effect of Impulse Control

Although prior research finds a robust link between delinquent behavior and expectations, or an adolescent’s perceived likelihood of obtaining one’s future goals, fewer studies have evaluated aspirations, or the perceived importance of achieving one’s goals. In addition, few studies consider how individual traits such as impulsivity affect the degree to which expectations and aspirations motivate or deter delinquent behavior. We contribute to this body of research by evaluating the independent effects of expectations and aspirations, and the aspiration-expectation gap (i.e., strain) on delinquent behavior during the year following an adolescent’s first arrest using a large (N?=?1117), racially/ethnically diverse sample of male adolescents (46.55% Latino, 35.81% Black, 14.95% White, and 2.69% Other race). In addition, we considered how impulse control interacts with expectations, aspirations, and strain to motivate behavior. Our results indicated that both aspirations, expectations and strain uniquely influence criminal behavior. Importantly, aspirations interacted with impulse control, such that aspirations affected delinquency only among youth with higher impulse control. Our findings suggest that aspirations may only influence behavior if youth also have the psychosocial capabilities to consider their future aspirations when behaving in the present.