Ego identity status and expressive writing among high school and college students

Several studies were conducted to assess the relationship between expressive writing (poetry writing and journal keeping) and ego identity development among high school and college students. In three independent comparisons, poetry writers were more likely than students not writing poetry to have previously resolved identity crises (i.e., to be in the identity achiever status). There were also indications that students who had never written poetry were more likely to be in the foreclosure and identity diffusion statuses. No differences in identity development were found between students keeping personal journals and those who had not kept journals. A comparison was made of the themes most frequently chosen as the subject for each type of expressive writing and the functions such writings were believed to be serving. Possible explanations for why poetry writing, but not journal keeping, is related to ego identity formation are discussed.Received his Ph.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo. Research interests include psychosocial development during adolescence, youth, and adulthood and techniques for resolving identity crises.Research interests include identity development in early and midadolescence and the choice of models.     

Knowledge and attitudes about AIDS: A comparison of public high school students,incarcerated delinquents,and emotionally disturbed adolescents

This study compared AIDS knowledge and attitudes in public high school students (N=167), incarcerated delinquents (N=166), and emotionally disturbed (SED) adolescents (N=151). The response measure was a 50-item Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) questionnaire that was previously used by Bell et al., in their 1991 study of learning disabled adolescents. Although AIDS knowledge was moderately high in all three groups, widespread misunderstandings about disease transmission and awareness of high-risk groups and practices were noted. Knowledge scores were significantly higher in the public school sample than in the SED adolescents; moreover, they tended to be slightly higher (p<0.10) than the delinquent group as well. Teenagers with the severest emotional problems were by far the least informed. Age and race were also predictive of AIDS knowledge. Other results showed that delinquents were more permissive in their attitudes about sex, more inclined to disdain safe sex practices, and more likely to feel threatened by high-risk groups as well as powerless to protect themselves against AIDS. Generally speaking, the findings extend the work of other investigators on the needs for AIDS education in adolescents. The need is especially urgent in delinquent and emotionally disturbed youth who may require a more comprehensive intervention because of their greater knowledge deficits, propensity for high-risk practices, and tendency to deny or underestimate their own vulnerability.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Research interests include health behavior change and the treatment of anxiety and habit disorders. To whom correspondence should be addressed.Received M.A. degree in psychology from the University of the Pacific. Research interests include health behavior change and medical epidemiology.Received Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Research interests are in child and adolescent psychiatry and the delivery of mental health services.Received Ph.D. in biostatistics from the Medical College of Virginia. Research interests are in general linear models.     

Family communication and the sexual behavior and attitudes of college students

Ninety-five college students and both of their parents completed questionnaires that measured sexual attitudes, sexual behavior, general family communication, and parent-child communication about sex. Generally, parents and children from high sexual communication families had sexual attitudes that were significantly correlated whereas those from low sexual communication families did not, although this relationship was not apparent for fathers and daughters. The quality of family communication seemed unrelated to the extent of family sexual discussions, although the parents' reports on the quality of general family communication was significantly related to sexual inexperience, particularly for males. Contraceptive use for females was significantly related to the extent of parent-child communication about sex reported by the student. General family communication as well as parent-child discussion about sex both seem important factors in the study of family impact on sexuality.Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Georgia. Current research interest is parent-child communication about sex.     

Identity status in high school students: Critique and a revised paradigm

The validity of applying the Marcia identity status paradigm to study of high school students is examined. Uncritical categorization of young adolescents into the identity statuses originally validated upon university students raises various issues. A revised paradigm for study of identity style among high school students is presented. It is suggested that the issues raised—the validity of measures for varying age groups and the role of environmental demands—are related to the eventual formulation of a life-span conceptualization of identity style.Received his Ph.D. from University of Toronto. Research interests are life-span developmental psychology and adolescent behavior.Received B. A. from the Northeastern Illinois University.     

The extent and effects of peer pressure among high school students: A retrospective analysis

Although people assume that peer pressure is an influential component of adolescent development, few empirical studies have investigated the nature and extent of its influence. Using retrospective accounts from 297 college undergraduates, the present study assessed how much pressure peers exerted in numerous areas of high school life and how this pressure influenced teenagers' attitudes and behaviors. One-third of both genders identified peer pressure as one of the hardest things they had to face as a teenager. Generally, however, peer pressure appeared stronger for females than males, and the genders disagreed about the areas in which pressure was strongest. Perceptions of peer pressure were significantly associated with dating attitudes, sexual activity, and use of drugs and alcohol, but not with relationships with parents. The findings suggested that adolescents may be their own worst enemy in any attempt to break away from gender-stereotypic attitudes and behavior.Received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, Committee on Human Development. Research interests include effects of peer and confidant relationships on adolescents' identity development and ability to cope with stressful life changes.     

Sex differences in depression across the high school to college transition

Although adolescent and adult females have consistently been found to experience depression at twice the rate of males, the college population has represented a notable exception, with equal rates of depression reported for males and females. Using a cross-sectional design with equivalent measures, we explored the nature of these shifting population statistics by the following: (a) examining whether college females were reporting lower levels of depression, or college males were reporting higher levels of depression, relative to same-sex high school peers; and (b) exploring a number of relevant psychological and psychosocial/environmental variables that might explain these shifts. Replicating previous findings on the presence or absence of gender differences in depression in adolescent vs. college subjects, our data also indicated that this shift could be accounted for by lower levels of depression reported by college, relative to high school, females. Moreover, although psychological variables were the best overall predictors of females' depression levels, differences between high school and college females were best explained by psychosocial/environmental variables. Results are discussed in terms of the contextual features associated with the college environment that might protect women against depression and account for differential depression levels.Graduate student in the Ph.D. program in clinical psychologyResearch interests include cognitive, interpersonal, and social-environmental factors associated with depression.Received Ph.D. from Northwestern University. Research interests include cognitive and developmental aspects of depression. This research was supported, in part, by a faculty grant from Emory University to Linda Koenig.     

Sex differences in sex-role conceptions and family orientation of high school students

Studies of college freshmen find that men are more sexist in their attitudes than women. Does this hold also for high school students? This paper reports the relationship of (1) sex-role attitudes to selected school and family characteristics and (2) attitudes toward family life to sex-role conceptions for women and men. The study is based on 529 students in grades 9 to 12 attending four high schools. The findings show that males are more sexist than females and Blacks more so than Whites. Women who are bright, from upper class backgrounds, and whose mothers work are more equalitarian in sex-role conceptions. For men, family background is unimportant, but attending an elite public school seems to foster equalitarian sex-role conceptions. Men's sex-role attitudes are harder to explain than women's, and, unlike women, their role attitudes have little connection to their family orientation.     

The role of the high school professional in identifying and managing adolescent suicidal behavior

The ongoing contact of adolescents with high school staff may provide an opportunity for the early identification and effective management of suicidal behavior. In this study, the knowledge, attitude, and experience of 80 high school professionals regarding adolescent suicide were assessed through semistructured personal interviews. Respondents identified more than 30 signs of potential vulnerability — manifestations of depression, verbal and written cues, isolation, and self-destructive behaviors. Among predisposing factors, those related to alienation within the family were most prominent. Other important risk factors were low self-esteem, difficulty in peer relationships, and economic or ethnic differences from other students. When suicidal behaviors occurred, respondents saw students and staff as attempting to be helpful; families were more often viewed as defensive.     

Incidence and correlates of bulimic behavior in a female high school population

To investigate the incidence and correlates of bulimic behavior, 1268 high school females were surveyed. A 47-item questionnaire was used to identify a group of students that would meet the DSM-III criteria for a probable diagnosis of bulimia. Students were then compared across the four content areas of demographics; body perception and weight information; dieting, exercise and menstrual behavior; and frequency of bingeing and purging behavior. Results indicated that 4.9% of the students met rigorous criteria for the diagnosis of bulimia. Between-group comparisons indicated that body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and chronicity of dieting differentiated the two groups.This work was supported by Biomedical Research Grant #RR5476, the Sears Allstate Foundation, and the George and Tina Barr Foundation.Main interest is eating disorders.     

Risky sexual behavior in college students: Relationships between number of sexual partners,disclosure of previous risky behavior,and alcohol use

To examine relationships between disclosure of previous sexually risky behavior to current sexual partners, multiple sexual partners, condom and alcohol use, and vulnerability to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, an anonymous survey was administered to 427 unmarried undergraduates. Of the 262 sexually active students (66%), one third reported having more than one sexual partner in the prior 11 weeks and three fourths reported inconsistent or no condom use. Failure to disclose having previous sexual partners, not using condoms, and testing positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) was common among both men and women. Students with multiple sexual partners were less likely to disclose about previous partners and about failure to use condoms, and more likely to use alcohol prior to sexual activity. Although 40.8% of respondents said they did not use or were less likely to use condoms while drinking, no relationship between alcohol and condom use assessed during the last discrete incident was found. College students continue to engage in sexual activity that puts them at risk for contracting HIV and other STDs. Self-disclosure about past risky behavior, when it occurs, does not appear to lead to higher levels of condom use.The authors contributed equally to this study.Received Ph.D. from West Virginia University. Research interests: AIDS prevention, community-based behavior change, and women in higher education.Received Ph.D. from University of California, Davis. Research interests: Cognitive neuroscience, attention, and alternate states of consciousness.     

Health behavior stage and the prevalence of health risk behaviors in inner Mongolian secondary school students: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

This study evaluated stages of health behavior change and the prevalence of physical inactivity, unhealthy eating, poor stress management, alcohol consumption, and smoking in Inner Mongolian secondary school students. The relationship between engaging in health risk behaviors and demographic characteristics was also explored. In total, 2,794 students, largely in the contemplation and preparation stages, were enrolled. The prevalence of physical inactivity, unhealthy eating, poor stress management, alcohol consumption, and smoking were 31%, 33%, 46.8%, 18.6%, and 8.4%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis identified differences according to school grade, sex, ethnicity, residence areas, and school. Poor stress management in students is a serious health concern in Inner Mongolia.     

Risks entailed in teenage intoxication as perceived by junior and senior high school students

In a survey of 1269 junior and senior high school students in a Massachusetts community, a large majority of the respondents indicated they recognized many immediate and long-term risks involved in getting drunk at their age. A considerable minority of the sample, however, did not believe that there were significant hazards associated with youthful intoxication. Implications of the study for educators, counselors, parents, and others concerned about the prevalence of teenage drunkenness are explored.Current research interest are occupational safety and health, and alcohol and youth.Current interests are statistical research and curriculum development.     

浅析高校图书馆与大学生素质教育

高校图书馆是大学生课外教育的重要基地 ,图书馆要充分发挥其职能 ,为高校素质教育服务。     

Psychosocial development in three generations of college students

The college years are a time of significant growth in the individual's adaptive capacities in the cognitive, emotional, and social domains. Erikson 's theory of 1963 predicts that the college years are specifically a time of growth in the psychosocial issue of ego identity, but along with this development are increases in other aspects of psychosocial functioning. The opportunity to test this prediction across three cohorts of college students was presented through an expanded follow-up study of Constantinople's 1969 classic investigation of psychosocial development in a sample of over 300 undergraduates. Data were collected from undergraduates attending the same university in 1977 and 1988, allowing for a three-wave cross-sectional sequences design. The results indicated that, for all times of measurement and most of Erikson's psychosocial stages, college seniors generally had higher development than their younger classmates. Furthermore, females generally had higher psychosocial development scores than did males. The lack of cohort differences in the observed patterns of development and the minimal extent of cohort differences across college classes suggests that personality development during college is relatively uninfluenced by shifting psychosocial pressures over decades of social change.Received Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts. Research interest is human factors.Received Ph.D. from Columbia University. Research interest is psychosocial development in adulthood.     

试论网络条件下的大学生非正式群体

网络条件下的大学生非正式群体具有虚拟性、相似相异性、跨时空性、中心人物的不确定性等7个方 面的新特点,并由此形成一些新的类型,从而引发管理上的不可调控、心理依赖和精神焦虑、道德失范等新问题。     

Chronic stress in the lives of college students: Scale development and prospective prediction of distress

This article reports the development of the 54-item College Chronic Life Stress Survey (CCLSS) and its use in prospective studies of the relationship between chronic stress and psychological distress in college students. Study 1 demonstrated the CCLSS's test-retest reliability and concurrent validity (best friend corroboration of specific items). Study 1 also revealed differential endorsement of specific CCLSS items as a function of gender and year in college. Study 2 cross-sectional and prospective analyses showed that CCLSS chronic stress was a significant predictor of distress. Study 3 cross-sectional analyses showed that the CCLSS effects withstood the statistical control of neuroticism. The findings suggest the value of future research on chronic stress and demonstrate the utility of the CCLSS in studies with college students.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Delaware. Current interests include child sexual abuse, family therapy, and psychology internship training.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Florida State University. Current interests include research on stress-related growth and the role of social cognition in stress vulnerability. To whom correspondence should be addressed.     

The life concept in female college students: An exploratory analysis

In the present study a two-part animism questionnaire was devised and administered to 200 female undergraduate students who had fairly extensive course backgrounds in science. When these students were asked to classify each of 15 objects as living or nonliving, 67% (N=134) gave evidence of apparent animistic thought. Yet when the subjects were asked to choose which of several statements reflected their own definition of living, 66% (N=132) claimed that only plants and animals are living. Scientific background did not relate to performance on either section of the questionnaire. Results indicate that although the primary orientation of many young adults toward the word living is not a biological one, most college students areable to classify stimuli according to this criterion.Received her Ph.D. in lifespan developmental psychology from West Virginia University in 1971. Primary research interest is cognitive functioning after childhood.     

Troubling the ontological bubble: middle school students challenging gender stereotypes

In this paper, we discuss how a selection of eighth-grade students (13–14-year-olds) responded when they were asked to publicly challenge the gender binary for a critical media literacy school assignment in the USA. We describe the ways in which students negotiated the dual projects of complying with the assignment to create video ads that challenged gender stereotypes and maintaining their gendered sense of self. While the videos had virtually all students disrupting gender in some way, many did so even as they reinforced the notion of gender as a binary. We apply the idea of ontological bubble, as well as concepts from post-structural theories, to help us make sense of the different methods students used to maintain the gender binary.     

Depression and substance use in two divergent high school cultures: A quantitative and qualitative analysis

Research has generally concluded that adolescent depression and substance use are strongly interrelated, but has rarely considered how this relationship may vary across diverse populations. In this study, we used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the relationships among depression and cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, and harder drug use across two culturally disparate environments: a suburban and an inner-city high school. Our sample included 164 suburban and 242 inner-city high school students. The students completed Kovacs' Children's Depression Inventory of 1985 and substance use measures derived from various sources. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with subjects who scored in the top 10% of the CDI (N=19) from both schools. Our quantitative findings indicated a positive association between depression and cigarette, marijuana, and harder drug use among the suburban students, and no association between depression and the use of any substances for the urban students. There were no significant differences in levels of reported depression across samples. However, with the exception of marijuana use, suburban students reported greater involvement in substance use than urban students. Our qualitative analyses suggest that across-school differences in the relationships among depression and substance use may be related to the varied meanings of depression and substance use that are informed by cultural context.The research was funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), Grant No. 1 R01 DA-06844, Perry London, principal investigator. The views, opinions, and findings contained in their article are not to be construed as NIDA's position or policy.B.A. from University of California, Berkeley, and Ed.D. from the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University. Research interests include the phenomenology of high-risk behavior and social development among urban adolescents.B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and Ed.M. from the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University. Research interests include the relationships among high-risk behavior, personality variables, and cultural context.B.A. from Michigan State University, M.A. from University of Minnesota-Duluth, and Ed.D. from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Research interests include integrating quantitative and qualitative methods in social science research and the phenomenology of high-risk behavior.Research interests included adolescent high-risk behavior and ethnic and religious identity development. Deceased June 1992.