It Takes a Village: Protecting Rural African American Youth in the Context of Racism

Prior research demonstrates negative consequences of racism, however, little is known about community, parenting, and intrapersonal mechanisms that protect youth. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study illuminated linkages between positive and negative contextual influences on rural African American adolescent outcomes. Quantitative results provide support for Structural Ecosystems Theory, in that the influence of discrimination and collective socialization on adolescent outcomes was mediated by racial socialization and positive parenting. Parenting and community influences contributed to adolescent racial identity and self image, which protected against common negative responses to racism; including academic underachievement, succumbing to peer pressure, and aggressive tendencies. Qualitative results indicate that current measures of discrimination may underestimate adolescents’ experiences. Adolescents reported racist experiences in the domains of school, peers, and with the police (males only). Moreover, qualitative findings echoed and expanded quantitative results with respect to the importance of the protective nature of parents and communities.

Trajectories of Peer Social Influences as Long-term Predictors of Drug Use from Early Through Late Adolescence

The present study analyzed the long-term effects of perceived friend use and perceived peer use on adolescents’ own cigarette, alcohol and marijuana use as a series of parallel growth curves that were estimated in two developmental pieces, representing middle and high school (N = 1,040). Data were drawn from a large drug abuse prevention trial, the Midwestern Prevention Project (MPP). Results showed that both perceived peer and friend cigarette use predicted own cigarette use within and across the adolescent years. For own alcohol and marijuana use, peer and friend influences were limited primarily to middle school. The findings suggest that strategies for counteracting peer and friend influences should receive early emphasis in prevention programs that are targeted to middle school. The findings also raise the question of whether cigarette use may represent a symbol of peer group identity that is unlike other drug use, and once formed, may have lasting adverse effects through the adolescent years.

Adolescent Marital Expectations and Romantic Experiences: Associations With Perceptions About Parental Conflict and Adolescent Attachment Security

This study tested associations between adolescent perceptions of interparental conflict, adolescent attachment security with parents, and adolescent marital expectations and romantic experiences. Participants were 96 early adolescent females from 2 parent families. Insecurity was examined as a mediator of the association between negative perceptions of parental conflict and romantic outcomes. Results supported the mediation model in which adolescents' negative perceptions of parental conflict was associated with insecure attachment with parents, which was in turn associated with negative marital expectations and romantic experiences. Implications for understanding how parent-adolescent and interparental variables influence adolescent marital expectations and romantic experiences are discussed.

Individual Motivation and Parental Influence on Adolescents’ Experiences of Interest in Free Time: A Longitudinal Examination

Time spent in freely chosen leisure activities offers a distinct developmental context that can support positive youth development; however this potential for growth depends in part on adolescent interest and engagement in their free time activities. Research indicates that many adolescents report experiencing boredom, instead of interest, in their free time. This study utilized longitudinal data from 354 rural middle school students to investigate how parenting practices and adolescent motivational styles influence adolescents’ experience of interest in their free time. Findings indicated that adolescent self-regulated motivation and parental knowledge related to the free time context were positively associated with experiences of interest, while adolescent amotivation and parental control were negatively associated with interest in free time. The effect of parental knowledge and parental control on adolescents’ experiences of interest was mediated by adolescent motivational styles. These results were similar across grade level and gender. Implications for interventions promoting positive youth development are discussed.

A Multi-mediation Model on the Relations of Bullying,Victimization, Identity,and Family with Adolescent Depressive Symptoms

This study investigated a multi-mediation model of the relationship between bullying behavior, peer victimization, personal identity, and family characteristics to adolescent depressive symptoms in 194 high school students, 12–18 years of age. In the first model, peer victimization mediated the relation between bullying behavior and depressive symptoms. In the second model, personal identity mediated the relation between peer victimization and depressive symptoms. In the final model, the two mediation models were combined. The relative influence of family characteristics on all variables in the two mediation models was studied using structural equation modeling. The results supported both mediation models and confirmed the influence of family characteristics on all variables in the mediation models. This study indicates that victimization by one’s peers has consequences for adolescents’ psychological health when their personal identity is affected. In addition, the study was able to model several processes in which family characteristics were related to adolescent depressive symptoms. Moreover, the final combined model (in which the two mediation models and the influence of family characteristics on all variables were confirmed) explained half of the variance in adolescent depressive symptoms.

School Adjustment in Rural and Urban Communities: Do Students from “Timbuktu” Differ from Their “City Slicker” Peers?

The primary purpose of our study was to explore the effects of rurality on school adjustment and other school-related variables. Using data from 167,738 7th–12th graders located in a national sample of 185 predominantly white communities, multilevel models were estimated for perceived school performance and school liking using a variety of individual-level (e.g., gender, ethnicity, and peer school performance) and community/school-level variables (e.g., school size, rurality, and percentage free/reduced lunch) as predictor variables. Rurality was not significantly related to school adjustment, but rather, the characteristics of individuals living within those communities were. Results also indicated that participation in school and non-school activities, a strength of rural schools, can play a positive role in school adjustment. Given the significant relationships of income and parental education to all of the school-related variables, a key long-term strategy may lie in improving the economic climate of rural areas.

Adolescents’ Experiences of Sexual Assault by Peers: Prevalence and Nature of Victimization Occurring Within and Outside of School

This study examined adolescent peer-on-peer sexual assault victimization occurring within and outside school. The sample consisted of 1,086 7th through 12th grade students, with a mean age of 15. Most of the respondents were White (54%) or Black (45%), and approximately half of respondents were female (54%). A modified version of the Sexual Experiences Survey was used to assess opposite sex sexual victimization in 7th through 12th grade students. Rates of peer sexual assault were high, ranging from 26% of high school boys to 51% of high school girls. School was the most common location of peer sexual victimization. Characteristics of assault varied by location, including type of victimization, victims’ grade level, relationship to the perpetrator, type of coercion, and how upsetting the assault was. Distinctions between sexual assault occurring in and out of school are conceptualized with literature on developmental changes in heterosexual relationships and aggression.

Family Transitions and Later Delinquency and Drug Use

Changes in the family structure can be very disruptive to adolescents who live in those families. This article examines the impact of the number of family transitions on delinquent and drug-using behavior. Specifically, the effect of family transitions is hypothesized to be mediated by problems within the family, school, and peer settings. A sample of 646 boys (73%) and girls (27%) taken from a longitudinal panel study of high-risk adolescents are used to examine these hypotheses. For girls, little support is found for the direct or the indirect effect of family transitions on delinquent behavior or drug use. For boys, however, both forms of problem behavior are influenced by family transitions directly and indirectly through changes in, and problems with, peer associations. The findings suggest that during times of family turmoil, the friendship network of adolescent male children is also disrupted, leading to an increase in associations with delinquent others and, in turn, an increase in problematic behaviors.

Parent–Child Relations,Conduct Problems and Cigarette Use in Adolescence: Examining the Role of Genetic and Environmental Factors on Patterns of Behavior

This study investigated genetic and environmental influences on the associations between mother–child relationship quality (warmth and hostility) and adolescent conduct problems and cigarette use. Participants included 601 mothers and adolescent twin pairs (aged 12–17 years). Mothers and adolescents provided separate reports of mother-to-child warmth and hostility. A combined measure of mother and adolescent reported conduct problems was used while adolescents provided reports of their cigarette use. Analyses were conducted using bivariate genetic analyses of correlated factors models and regression analyses of monozygotic twin differences. Genetic influences were found for most ratings of the parent–child relationship, with evidence of gender and/or rater-specificity for some measures. The relationship between mother–child hostility with adolescent conduct problems and cigarette use was influenced by genetic and environmental effects. Evidence was found for shared environment effects on the relationship between mother–child warmth and conduct problems. Examining monozygotic twin differences provided further support for non-shared environmental influence on the relationship between mothers’ expressions of hostility and low warmth and adolescent adjustment. Findings are discussed in relation to the interplay between genetic and environmental effects underlying links between parent–child relations and adolescent behavior problems.

Parents and Peers as Social Influences to Deter Antisocial Behavior

Growth curve analyses were used to investigate parents’ and peers’ influence on adolescents’ choice to abstain from antisocial behavior in a community-based sample of 416 early adolescents living in the Southeastern United States. Participants were primarily European American (91%) and 51% were girls. Both parents and peers were important influences on the choice to abstain from antisocial behavior. Over the four-year period adolescents relied increasingly on parents as influences and relied less on peers as influences to deter antisocial behavior. Significant gender differences emerged and suggested that female adolescents relied more on social influences than did male adolescents but that as time progressed male adolescents increased the rate at which they relied on peers. Higher family income was associated with choosing peers as a social influence at wave 1, but no other significant income associations were found. Understanding influences on adolescents’ abstinence choices is important for preventing antisocial behavior.

Victimization and Relational Aggression in Adolescent Romantic Relationships: The Influence of Parental and Peer Behaviors, and Individual Adjustment

Consistent with the view that adolescent relationships are established in the context of important characteristics of their social networks, we examined the effects of adolescents’ experiences of parenting (psychological control and positive monitoring) and of peer aggression and victimization, on their self reports of dating victimization and aggression. We also examined the effects of individual differences in emotional and behavioral problems. We used questionnaire data from a population-based sample of youth 12–18 years old who were in dating relationships (n = 149). Parental monitoring emerged as a protective factor in reducing both dating victimization and relational aggression. Our findings also point to a significant transfer of aggression in peer relationships to relational aggression in dating relationships.

Negative Adult Influences and the Protective Effects of Role Models: A Study with Urban Adolescents

We investigated whether role models (individuals adolescents look up to) contributed to the resilience of adolescents who were exposed to negative nonparental adult influences. Our sample included 659 African American, ninth-grade adolescents. We found that adolescents’ exposure to negative adult behavior was associated with increased externalizing, internalizing, and substance using behaviors, as well as more negative school attitudes and behavior. We found that role models had protective effects on externalizing and internalizing behaviors and compensatory effects on school outcomes. Collectively, our findings indicate that role models can contribute to the resilience of African American adolescents who are exposed to negative nonparental adult behavior.

Perceived Social Support among Bullies,Victims, and Bully-Victims

Research indicates that social support plays a protective role among adolescents, but little research has explicitly evaluated its function among youth involved in bullying. Accordingly, this study examined relations among social support, bully/victim status, and psychological distress in a sample of 784 ethnically diverse youth. We assessed differences in perceived social support across bully/victim subtypes, and evaluated peer and maternal social support as protective factors among victims, bullies, and bully-victims. Youth were classified as uninvolved (61.6%), as bullies (14.3%), as victims (12.5%), and as bully-victims (11.6%). Uninvolved youth reported the most peer and maternal social support and the least anxiety/depression. Multivariate analyses revealed that there was a significant interaction between bully/victim groups and peer social support. Specifically, bullies, victims, and bully-victims who reported moderate peer social support also indicated the least anxiety/depression. Results highlight the importance of encouraging youth to develop and effectively use peer support networks as part of bullying intervention programs.

The Skinny on Body Dissatisfaction: A Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Girls and Boys

The present study tested whether theoretically derived risk factors predicted increases in body dissatisfaction and whether gender moderated these relations with data from a longitudinal study of 428 adolescent girls and boys because few prospective studies have examined these aims, despite evidence that body dissatisfaction increases risk for various psychiatric disturbances. Body dissatisfaction showed significant increases for girls and significant decreases for boys during early adolescence. For both genders, parental support deficits, negative affectivity, and self-reported dietary restraint showed significant relations to future increases in body dissatisfaction. Ideal body internalization and body mass index did not demonstrate significant relations to future increases in body dissatisfaction; peer support deficits showed a marginal relation to this outcome. Gender did not moderate these relations, despite adequate power to detect interactive effects.

The Role of Spirituality Versus Religiosity in Adolescent Psychosocial Adjustment

This study investigated the interaction between religiosity (defined as church attendance) and spirituality (defined as personal beliefs in God or a higher power) on psychosocial adjustment. Four groups were created capturing 4 different religious/spiritual orientations. Differences were assessed between the groups on a wide range of psychosocial indicators. Participants included 6578 adolescents ages 13–18 encompassing a school district in Ontario, Canada. Results were striking with regards to the consistency with which religious youth reported more positive adjustment than did non-religious youth, regardless of level of spirituality. Spirituality may not be as salient an influence on behavior as religiosity. The secondary analyses indicated that the advantage for religiosity may not be entirely unique to church attendance, but rather a function of being part of any community. However, where religiosity may be uniquely associated with adjustment (over and above benefits associated with participation in any community) is in lower levels of risk behaviors.

Autonomy,Belongingness, and Engagement in School as Contributors to Adolescent Psychological Well-Being

Self-determination theory emphasizes the importance of school-based autonomy and belongingness to academic achievement and psychological adjustment, and the theory posits a model in which engagement in school mediates the influence of autonomy and belongingness on these outcomes. To date, this model has only been evaluated on academic outcomes. Utilizing short-term longitudinal data (5-month timeframe) from a set of secondary schools in the rural Midwest (N = 283, M age = 15.3, 51.9% male, 86.2% White), we extend the model to include a measure of positive adjustment (i.e., hope). We also find a direct link between peer-related belongingness (i.e., peer support) and positive adjustment that is not mediated by engagement in school. A reciprocal relationship between academic autonomy, teacher-related belongingness (i.e., teacher support) and engagement in learning is supported, but this reciprocal relationship does not extend to peer-related belongingness. The implications of these findings for secondary schools are discussed.

Protective and Risk Factors Associated with Adolescent Boys’ Early Sexual Debut and Risky Sexual Behaviors

Protective and risk factors associated with rates of early sexual debut and risky sexual behaviors for a sample of low-income adolescent boys were examined using bioecological theory framed by a resiliency perspective. Protective processes examined include a close mother–son and father–son relationship, parental monitoring and family routines, as well as the adolescent boy’s academic achievement, expectations, and school recognition. The risk factors assessed were delinquent behaviors, if the adolescent was born to a teenage mother, family structure, monthly family income, risky neighborhood environments, family of origin welfare receipt, and maternal education. Waves one (1999) and two (2001) of Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study were used (N = 528; Wave 1 ages 10–14 years). Associations between early sexual debut and risky sexual behaviors with individual, family, school, and neighborhood protective and risk factors were addressed through a series of d-probit and Ordinary Least Squares multiple regression techniques. When protective and risk factors were addressed independently, academic achievement and parental monitoring protected adolescent boys from early sexual debut and risky sexual behaviors while drug and alcohol use and school problems placed them at risk for these behaviors. However, when the model is assessed together, early parental monitoring and academic achievement were shown to protect boys’ early sexual debut and risky sexual behaviors by reducing their delinquent behaviors, specifically early drug and alcohol use and school problems.

Social Motives Underlying Antisocial Behavior Across Middle School Grades

The goal of the study was to examine whether social motives (social mimicry, mutual attraction, and unreciprocated attraction) predict changes in antisocial behavior across middle school grades. The 2,003 initial participants (55% girls) were drawn from a larger longitudinal study of urban public school students: 44% Latino, 26% African-American, 10% Asian, 9% Caucasian, and 11% multiracial. Analyses of peer nominations and teacher-rated behavior included five waves of data between the fall of sixth grade and the spring of eighth grade (n = 1,260–1,347 for longitudinal analyses). Supporting the social mimicry hypothesis, students who associated peer-directed aggression with high social status in the beginning of middle school engaged in elevated levels of antisocial conduct during the second year in the new school. Additionally, unreciprocated attraction toward peers who bully others in the beginning of middle school was related to increased antisocial behavior in the last year of middle school. No support was obtained for the mutual attraction hypothesis. The findings provide insights about possible social motives underlying susceptibility to negative peer influence.

Smoke in the Looking Glass: Effects of Discordance Between Self- and Peer Rated Crowd Affiliation on Adolescent Anxiety, Depression and Self-feelings

Peer crowds serve as an identity marker for adolescents, indicating their image and status among peers; but adolescents do not always endorse peer appraisals of crowd affiliation. We report on two studies—one with 924 adolescents in grades 7–12 and a second with a more diverse population of 2,728 students in grades 9–11, followed for 2 years—that examined how congruence between peer and self-appraisals of crowd affiliation relate to self-esteem and internalizing symptoms. Analyses indicate that high-status crowd members may suffer and low-status crowd members benefit by denying their peer crowd affiliation, but effects are modest in size and not entirely consistent across the two studies. Findings underscore the value of symbolic interactionist principles concerning reflected appraisal processes in understanding how peer crowd affiliation affects adolescent self-image.

Peer Victimization and Social Anxiety in Adolescents: Prospective and Reciprocal Relationships

This study used a 2-month prospective research design to examine the bi-directional interplay between peer victimization and social anxiety among adolescents. Participants included 228 adolescents (58% female) in grades 10–12. Three types of peer victimization were examined: overt (physical aggression or verbal threats), relational (malicious manipulation of a relationship, such as by friendship withdrawal), and reputational (damaging another’s peer relationships, such as through rumor spreading). Adolescents’ self-reported feelings of social anxiety and peer victimization experiences were assessed at two time points, in November and January of the same school year. Peer victimization was strongly related to adolescents’ social anxiety, and relational victimization explained additional unique variance. Moreover, peer victimization was both a predictor and consequence of social anxiety over time, with the most robust results found for relational victimization. Limited support was obtained for gender as a moderating variable. Findings highlight the deleterious effects of peer victimization, especially relational victimization, and suggest avenues for future research and clinical intervention for adolescents experiencing such victimization.