Gender Differences in the Educational Expectations of Urban,Low-Income African American Youth: The Role of Parents and the School

This study examined how youths’ gender is related to the educational expectations of urban, low-income African American youth, their parents, and their teachers. As predicted, African American boys (ages 9–16) reported lower expectations for future educational attainment than did their female counterparts. Parents and teachers also reported lower expectations for African American boys (ages 6–16) than for girls. These findings held even when controlling for academic achievement. Contrary to predictions, the magnitude of the difference in expectations for males vs. females did not increase as a function of youths’ age. In keeping with our hypotheses, parental expectations fully mediated the relation between youths’ gender and youths’ expectations. Finally, certain school-based factors (i.e., positive teacher expectations and positive youth perceptions of the school environment) appeared to protect youths’ expectations from the deleterious impact of low parental expectations.

Ethnic Identity Formation of Immigrant Children and Implications for Practice

The issue of immigration is especially controversial in the United States as immigrants today have not only increased in number but constitute a more heterogeneous population. Unlike the earlier waves of immigrants, which were predominantly of European origin, the post-1965 migration trend from Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean has tremendously altered the demographic characteristics of the U.S. population. In-depth exploration of various contextual factors affecting ethnic identity formation can offer insights that help social work practitioners and policy planners overcome the difficulty in working with immigrant populations and their descendants. This article reviews significant contextual aspects influencing immigrant children's ethnic identity formations and proposes practice recommendations that help facilitate the children's adaptation in the host society.     

Primary Attachment to Parents and Peers during Adolescence: Differences by Attachment Style

This study examines the nature of adolescent attachment to parents and peers during adolescence. A projective measure was used to classify 99 11th and 12th grade students into secure, insecure dismissing, and insecure preoccupied attachment groups. Respondents identified their primary attachment figure by nomination and by rating the level of attachment support they received from mothers, fathers, best friends, and boy/girlfriends. On average, parents and peers were equally likely to be identified as primary attachment figures but individual preference was strongly tied to attachment style. Secure adolescents significantly favored mothers over best friends, boy/girlfriends, and fathers. Although secure adolescents with romantic partners rated mothers lower on attachment support, none of the adolescents from this group nominated a boy/girlfriend as their primary attachment figure. In contrast insecure adolescents indicated a strong preference for boy/girlfriends and best friends as their primary target for attachment and nearly a third of dismissing adolescents identified themselves as their primary attachment figure. Findings are discussed in terms of individual differences in attachment during adolescence.     

Maternal Control and Adolescent Depression: Ethnic Differences Among Clinically Referred Girls

The relationship between perceived maternal control and depression was examined in 111 urban adolescent girls seeking psychological services at an outpatient mental health center in the Midwest. This study sought to clarify inconsistent findings in earlier research linking parental control and adolescent depression by examining urban girls with mental health problems and by testing ethnic background as a moderator of the general relationship. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires of adolescent girls' depressive symptoms, and perceptions of their mothers' parenting styles. Analyses did not detect a significant association between maternal control and depression in the combined sample of adolescent girls; however, findings were moderated by the ethnicity of the girls. Once ethnicity was included, no relation between control and depression was found for Caucasian and Latina girls, but high control was linked to less depression among African American girls. These findings highlight the importance of ethnicity and gender in child rearing and adolescent depression and stress the need for more culturally sensitive conceptualizations of depression     

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.     

College Women and Personal Goals: Cognitive Dimensions that Differentiate Risk-Reduction Sexual Decisions

As the twenty-first century begins, a high level of participation in premarital sexual intercourse by college women is well-documented. But, in the research exploring risk-reduction sexual behaviors, the relationship of cognitive abilities to responsible sexual behavior has been under-researched. Anonymous questionnaires were administered to 626 never-married, heterosexual women at a midwestern university to examine personal goal-setting, a cognitive variable postulated to be related to risk-reduction sexual behavior. Women who frequently set goals were more religious, optimistic about life, conservative in sexual attitudes, comfortable with their sexuality, and more psychologically sexually satisfied. Those who less often set goals were more likely to drink alcohol prior to sexual intercourse, become more intoxicated, and less likely to ask if new sex partners had STI(s). The cognitive variable, goal-setting, did differentiate college women who made responsible sexual decisions from those who engaged in risk-taking sexual behaviors.Professor Emerita of Family and Consumer Science, Texas State University-San Marcos. Received her PhD from the University of Texas, Austin in Child Development and Family Relations and is a Certified Marriage and Family Therapist, American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists and licensed in the State of Texas. Her research interests include sexual attitudes and behavior of college students, adoption attitudes of unmarried pregnant teens, and teen pregnancy/parenting programs.University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Received his PhD from the University of Florida in Family Sociology and is a Clinical Fellow, American Academy of Clinical Sexologists and Fellow, National Council on Family Relations. His research interests include sexual attitudes and behavior of college students, adoption attitudes of unmarried pregnant teens, female sexual adjustment, and perceptions of the female physiological sexual response.     

Emotional Reactivity Toward Parents and Interpersonal Competence: Differences Across Gender and Type of Relationship

The goal of the present study was to explore the relationship between emotional reactivity toward parents and interpersonal competence. It was asserted that the types of present day interactions that are experienced with parents may be related to the level of comfort and competence experienced in interpersonal relationships outside the family. Interactions with parents were assessed with the Behavioral and Emotional Reactivity Index, a newly developed scale [S. E. Bartle and R. M. Sabatelli, (1995) The Behavioral and Emotional Reactivity Index: Preliminary Evidence for Construct Validity from Three Studies, Family Relations, Vol. 44, pp. 267–277]. In addition, much of the past research investigating these issues has failed to make a distinction between intimacy in same-sex vs. intimacy in opposite-sex relationships. In an effort to be sensitive to the possibility that family dynamics and gender may be differentially related to the development of the capacity for intimacy within these two types of relationships, interpersonal competence in both same-sex friend and dating partner relationships were explored. The results of a doubly repeated multivariate analysis of variance suggested that emotional reactivity toward parents was related to interpersonal competence in both same-sex friend and dating partner relationships regardless of gender. The results also demonstrated a gender by gender of partner interaction.     

Predictors of Adolescents’ Disclosure to Parents and Perceived Parental Knowledge: Between- and Within-Person Differences

Adolescents’ willingness to share information with parents is a central process through which parents gain knowledge of their adolescents’ lives. This paper addresses four questions important to understanding adolescents’ decisions to voluntarily disclose areas of parent-adolescent disagreement: What are the contribution of parent-adolescent agreement and adolescents’ non-disclosure of disagreement to adolescents’ perceptions of parental knowledge?; Which adolescents are most likely to disclose to parents in case of disagreement?; Under what conditions are adolescents more or less likely to disclose disagreement?; and What type of non-disclosure will different adolescents use and under what conditions? Self-report data from 120 adolescents (M age=15.8) revealed that failure to disclose disagreement, but not overall agreement, predicted perceived parental knowledge. Adolescents from authoritative homes and those less involved in disapproved leisure were more likely to disclose disagreement and less likely to lie. Within-person differences in disclosure were predicted by the presence of explicit rules and adolescents’ beliefs about required obedience.Dr. Darling is a developmental psychologist whose research focuses on social relationships during adolescence, with a special interest in contextual variation in developmental processes. Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Darling atDr. Cumsille is a developmental methodologist whose research focuses on adolescent well-being.Dr. Caldwell's research focuses on the experience of adolescent leisure, with a particular interest in adolescent boredom and well-being.Dr. Dowdy is a developmental psychologist specializing in adolescent social relations.     

Ethnic Differences in Trajectories of Family Cohesion for Mexican American and Non-Hispanic White Adolescents

This study examined gender, family structure, SES and language usage as predictors of cultural orientation and family cohesion. Ethnic differences in trajectories of family cohesion were tested within a hierarchical linear modeling framework. The sample consisted of 4156 adolescent respondents, measured at three time points during three consecutive years. The three study groups consisted of Mexican Americans oriented to Mexican culture (N = 738), Mexican Americans oriented to majority American culture (N = 867), and Non-Hispanic Whites (N = 2551). Family cohesion was assessed using the cohesion subscale of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (FACES III). Analyses consisted of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) in which a linear trajectory of family cohesion for the three groups was computed followed by a test for the effects of ethnicity with the inclusion of control variables. Thus, ethnic differences in the trajectories of family cohesion over time were examined. Neither group of Mexican Americans was significantly different from Non-Hispanic Whites in initial status. However, Mexican Americans oriented to Mexican culture showed a significant increase in family cohesion at mid adolescence. Judith C. Baer is an Associate Professor at Rutgers University. She received her Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Houston. Her major research interests include the study of adolescent development within the contexts of culture, and family, adolescent sexual risk taking, and the nosology of mental disorders. Mark F. Schmitz is Clinical Assistant Professor at Temple University. He received his Ph.D. in sociology at Iowa State University. His major research interest involves the use of several large epidemiologic datasets for an extensive examination of the empirical basis for the diagnostic criteria of various DSM-IV mental disorders. He also is involved in research on cultural issues in child development and family processes.     

Shyness, Sociability, and Parental Support for the College Transition: Relation to Adolescents’ Adjustment

A path model was tested in an ethnically diverse sample of 350 college students in which shyness, sociability, and parental support for the college transition were related to loneliness and friendship quality. Furthermore, friendship quality and loneliness were related to depression and anxiety. High levels of shyness, low levels of sociability, and low levels of parental support were related to high levels of loneliness. High levels of parental support for the college transition were related to more positive friendship quality. Multiple regression analyses suggested that loneliness, but not friendship quality, were related to adolescents’ anxiety and depression. In addition, the interaction between shyness and sociability was significantly related to anxiety for African-American adolescents such that adolescents who reported low levels of sociability in combination with high levels of shyness reported the highest levels of anxiety. There was also a significant interaction between sociability and parental support for African-American adolescents such that high levels of sociability in combination with low levels of parental support for the college transition were related to high levels of anxiety. For White adolescents, only loneliness was related to anxiety. Nina S. Mounts is an associate professor at Northern Illinois University. She received her PhD in child and family studies from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her major research interests are on linkages between parent and peer contexts, parental management of adolescents’ peer relationships, and peer influence on adolescents. David P. Valentiner is an associate professor at Northern Illinois University. He received his PhD in clinical psychology from University of Texas-Austin. His major research interests are cognitive and emotional factors in anxiety disorders, including the development and maintenance of social anxiety. Katherine Anderson is a graduate student at University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her MS in developmental psychology from Northern Illinois University. Her major research interests are on career identity development in college students. Michelle Boswell is a graduate student at Northern Illinois University. She received her MS in clinical psychology from Northern Illinois University. Her major research interests are on parenting effects on bullying and victimization.     

Trajectories of Discrimination across the College Years: Associations with Academic,Psychological, and Physical Adjustment Outcomes

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Despite growing evidence that racial-ethnic discrimination has a critical impact on college students of color, there is a shortage of longitudinal studies...     

Financial Socialization of First-year College Students: The Roles of Parents,Work, and Education

This cross-sectional study tests a conceptual financial socialization process model, specifying four-levels that connect anticipatory socialization during adolescence to young adults’ current financial learning, to their financial attitudes, and to their financial behavior. A total of 2,098 first-year college students (61.9% females) participated in the survey, representing a diverse ethnic group (32.6% minority participation: Hispanic 14.9%, Asian/Asian American 9%, Black 3.4%, Native American 1.8% and other 3.5%). Structural equation modeling indicated that parents, work, and high school financial education during adolescence predicted young adults’ current financial learning, attitude and behavior, with the role played by parents substantially greater than the role played by work experience and high school financial education combined. Data also supported the proposed hierarchical financial socialization four-level model, indicating that early financial socialization is related to financial learning, which in turn is related to financial attitudes and subsequently to financial behavior. The study presents a discussion of how the theories of consumer socialization and planned behavior were combined effectively to depict the financial development of young adults. Several practical implications are also provided for parents, educators and students.     

Parental Involvement and Adolescent Academic Outcomes: Exploring Differences in Beneficial Strategies across Racial/Ethnic Groups

Gaps in educational outcomes between racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups persist in the United States, and parental involvement is often cited as an important avenue for improving outcomes among racially/ethnically diverse adolescents. This study utilized data from the Education Longitudinal Study 2002–2013 (56% female, N?=?4429), which followed 10th-graders through high school and ten years post-high school, to examine the links between parental involvement strategies and academic outcomes (grade point average and educational attainment). Participants included white, African American, and Hispanic/Latino adolescents from low-SES families. This study used recursive partitioning, a novel analytic strategy used for exploring higher-order interactions and non-linear associations among factors (e.g., parental educational involvement strategies) to predict an outcome (e.g., grade point average or educational attainment) through step-wise partitioning. The results showed that the combination of greater academic socialization and school-based involvement was beneficial for all adolescents’ grade point average, whereas the combination of home-based involvement with academic socialization and school-based involvement yielded mixed results. Greater academic socialization and home-based involvement appeared beneficial for educational attainment among African American and Hispanic/Latino adolescents, but not white adolescents. More home-based involvement and less academic socialization were associated with less educational attainment for white adolescents. Overall, the findings showed different combinations of parental educational involvement strategies were beneficial for adolescents across racial/ethnic groups, which may have implications for practice and policy.     

Female Overweight and Obesity in Adolescence: Developmental Trends and Ethnic Differences in Prevalence, Incidence, and Remission

Despite substantial increases in the prevalence of adolescent overweight and obesity documented in recent decades, few studies have prospectively tracked their development during the entire adolescent period. The aims of this study were to characterize developmental trends in prevalence, incidence, and remission of overweight and obesity using annual data collected from ages 12 to 19 for 496 adolescent females. Ethnic differences between African American (n = 37), Latina (n = 96), and European American (n = 348) adolescents were also compared. The prevalence of overweight decreased slightly across adolescence and remission rates exceeded incidence (onset). Obesity was more chronic, with increasing incidence accompanied by decreasing remission rates. Middle through late adolescence was the period of greatest risk for the transition from overweight to obesity. African American and Latina females had higher overweight and obesity prevalence than European American females throughout adolescence. Differences in prevalence were driven by higher onset rates for African American and Latina females, whereas remission rates were comparable across ethnic groups. Results suggest that adolescence is not a high-risk period for onset of obesity for European American adolescent females, but is for African American and Latina adolescent females.     

The Longitudinal Influence of 10th Grade Extracurricular Activity Involvement: Implications for 12th Grade Academic Practices and Future Educational Attainment

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Although extracurricular activity involvement during high school is linked with positive academic outcomes, less is known about the longitudinal effects or the...     

Parents as Intervention Agents for Children with Conduct Problems and Juvenile Offenders

Selected research findings on conduct problems and juvenile delinquency that are relevant for practitioners making decisions about the treatment of children with these problems are summarized, with a focus on two decisions: whether to intervene and how to intervene using parents as change agents. The importance of careful assessment, not only of the child's behavior, but also of the parents' strengths and limitations is stressed, along with the importance of flexibility in treatment rather than strict adherence to one theoretical model. Important considerations in assessment and treatment are discussed.