Correlates of syllogistic reasoning skills in middle childhood and early adolescence

Sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders, and college students, were given a preliminary test of categorical syllogistic reasoning ability. In a subsequent session, subjects were given other categorical syllogisms and asked to depict as many of the possible relationships between the A, B, and C terms of the syllogism as they could. The number of possible relationships, and the time it took to decide if other relationships were possible, did not differ among the noncollege groups. The results indicated, however, that the correlates of reasoning proficiency differed for those subjects younger and those older than about age 13.Support for this research was provided by the Spencer Foundation, whose generosity is greatfully acknowledged.Received the Ph.D. in Psychology and the M.S.E. in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania, and has research interests in the areas of formal and everyday reasoning, the development of reasoning skills, decision making, and conceptual development.Received the Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and has research interests in the areas of language acquisition, conceptual development, and the development of reasoning skills.     

Self-doubt in late childhood and early adolescence

This study examined the development of self-doubt in late childhood and early adolescence. Self-doubt was operationalized as the self-reported degree of uncertainty about the self's attributes. According to social-cognitive theory, self-doubt should decrease as social norms for self-evaluation are acquired through role-taking development. Seventy-five children at three ages-10, 13, and 16—were administered Selman's role-taking interview, a measure of social desirability, and a multidomain measure of self-doubt. Consistent with the social-cognitive model, self-doubt decreased with age during early adolescence. Role-taking ability increased with age. However, advances in role taking were not necessary for the resolution of self-doubt, nor could the decline in self-doubt be attributed to the tendency of older adolescents to conceal socially undesirable feelings. The findings support the view that adolescence is a period of consolidation for self-evaluations.Portions of this paper were presented at the meetings of the Society for Research on Child Development, Toronto, Canada, April 1985.Current interests include cognitive development and child psychotherapy, self-evaluation, and child psychopathology.     

Psychological mindedness and abstract reasoning in late childhood and adolescence: An exploration using new instruments

This study introduces two new measures of psychological mindedness, applying them in a study of the growth of abstract thinking in children and adolescents in a developmental design. The capacity to achieve psychological understanding of the self and of others involves comprehension of the motives, attitudes, and characteristics of the self and others. Psychological mindedness toward the self (PS) and toward others (PO) may be seen as complex cognitive capacities that should show a pattern of related development in childhood. Three groups of 60 fifth, eighth, and twelfth graders completed two measures of formal operations and two instruments to assess the two components of psychological mindedness. We find that psychological mindedness and abstract thinking both increase significantly with age, although the relationship between them is complex and varies with gender and age. Because the development of abstract reasoning skills does not correlate with the development of psychological mindedness in a simple way, a more complex model is necessary, taking age and gender differences into account. Performance on the two measures of psychological mindedness is found to be largely unrelated, suggesting that these are two different psychological skills. Implications of these findings are discussed, with special reference to education, peer counseling, and psychotherapy.Received Ph.D. from University of Michigan and psychoanalytic training from The Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute. Main research interests are psychoanalytic theory, the therapeutic alliance, and insight and self-observation.Received Ph.D. from University of Michigan. Main research interests are adolescent development, peer counseling, short-term psychotherapy, and the psychology of women.Received M.A. from The University of Michigan. Main research interests are infant mental health and attachment theory.Received M.A. from The University of Michigan. Main research interests are gender identity and children of divorce.Received B.A. from The University of Michigan. Main research interests are gender issues and adolescent development.     

The onset of suicidal ideation in childhood and adolescence

Event history analysis is used to address questions about the timing of first suicidal ideation during preadolescence and adolescence. Are suicidal thoughts atypical during development? Does the age trajectory of suicidal thoughts parallel that of suicidal actions? Do factors that moderate the risk of suicidal actions also moderate the risk of suicidal thoughts, and does their influence vary by developmental stage? Based on life history data from 364 college students, results indicate that suicidal thoughts in childhood are typical and that the risk of such thoughts begins to increase by age nine. Risk rates are affected by demographic factors (gender, race) and by the experience of parental absence. However, the influence of these factors depends on developmental stage, with whites being at increased risk only during adolescence, and parental absence having its strongest effect during preadolescence. In sum, this study suggests that many children and adolescents contemplate suicide, that the risk of doing so begins to increase at an early age, and that clear similarities exist between those groups at heightened risk for suicidal thought and those at heightened risk for suicidal action. Moreover, this study illustrates the power of employing an analytic technique suitable for modeling transitions. Finally, it highlights the need to model differential influences on suicidal ideation at different stages in development.     

Common problems and coping strategies reported in childhood and early adolescence

This research investigated problems commonly experienced by children and young adolescents, and the strategies they use to cope with these events. Six hundred seventy-six children, ages 9–13 years, were asked to identify a problem they recently experienced and to describe the strategies they used to cope with it. In addition, they were also asked to complete a scale describing how they coped with a common problem (being grounded by parents). In general, we found that children reported four common Stressors: parents, siblings, school, and friends. These Stressors were the same across age and sex; however, the coping strategies employed differed by age and type of problem. Both age and sex effects were found in reported use of coping strategies to deal with being grounded by parents. The results of this study suggest that more research must be performed to offset the lack of data in the area of children's normative coping. The implications of the findings for clinical assessment and treatment of children are discussed.He has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. Current research interests include coping strategies used by healthy and chronically ill children, and attempted suicide in adolescence.She has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from West Virginia University. Her current research interests include coping in chronically ill children and feeding difficulties in children with cystic fibrosis.She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Louisiana State University. Her current research interests include pediatric psychology and childhood anxiety disorders.His current research interests include behavioral consultation in industrial settings.     

Family relationships and social competence during late adolescence

Data from a large sample of late adolescents was used to examine associations between family relationships (reported closeness to parents and siblings) and perceived social competence. Significant positive relationships were found between family bonds and the social competence measures, which included social self-esteem, instrumentality, expressiveness, shyness, and degree of satisfaction/ease in same- and opposite-sex peer relationships. There was no evidence of differential effects of sibling versus parent relationships upon adolescent social competence.This project was supported by NIMH Grant 5 R01 MH34570.Received Ph.D. from Northwestern University.     

Identity formation and social relations during late adolescence

Theoretical assumptions outlined by Erik Erikson on psychosocial crisis resolution hypothesizes that the positive resolution of the identity crisis is predictive of more mature intimacy formation. To test this hypothesis, college-aged late adolescents (48 subjects) completed interviews and selfreport instruments measuring identity formation and degree of intimacy along with daily records of social interactions for one week. Analyses indicated a complex association between identity and intimacy formation. Comparisons were made between the exploration and commitment process of identity and the measures of intimacy formation and social interaction measures. Numerous complex sex differences were observed with several interactions between gender, exploration, commitment, and intimacy context. Findings are discussed in terms of broadening future research direction beyond the simple study of the linkage of identity and intimacy.Partial funding for this study was provided through a grant to the second author. Support was given by Science and Education Administration/United States Department of Agriculture and the Utah State Agricultural Experiment Station.Research interests include adolescent development, personality and social relations, and mental health issues.Research interests focus on personality and social development in adolescence.Research interests include psychotherapy, mental health, and psychopathology.     

The relation of personality functions and adaptive skills to self-esteem in early adolescence

This paper examines the relation, in early adolescence, of competence in personality functions and adaptive skills to self-esteem. As part of a longitudinal study of adolescent personality development, a nonclinical group of 63 adolescents underwent a comprehensive assessment at age 13. Their personality functioning status was assessed by means of a semistructured psychiatric interview. A psychometric battery was administered to assess verbal and nonverbal adaptive skills. In addition, global self-esteem was assessed. The findings indicate that positive self-esteem was associated with competence in both personality functions and in adaptive skills. Both domains contributed to self-esteem to a similar degree.This study was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Community and Social Services of the Province of Ontario, Canada. This paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Academy of Child Psychiatry, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, 1985.Received his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Research Interests include adolescent personality development and the effects of affective disorders on development.Received his M.D. from the University of Toronto. Research interests include mood disorders, personality development in adolescence, and preventive psychiatry.Received his M.D. from the University of Toronto. Research interests include adolescent personality development, effects of psychosis on personality, and psychophysiology of schizophrenia.Received his M.D. from the University of Toronto. Research interests include affective disorders in adolescence and individual psychotherapy.     

Effects of social support on self-assessed health in adolescence

Based on a national survey of Icelandic adolescents, this study evaluates the effects of social support on self-assessed health. The study compares four support sources, and distinguishes between direct effects and indirect effects through (1) health-related behaviors and (2) different aspects of mental health. The study indicates that parental support has the largest total effect on self-assessed health, followed by friend support, and other adult support. (Sibling support is unrelated.) The total effect of parents is due to their pervasive indirect impact, i.e., supportive parents encourage positive health behaviors and enhance mental health, which results in favorable assessment of own health. In contrast, friends and other adults affect self-assessed health in a more specific, and sometimes negative manner. Also, friends are the only support source having direct effect on self-assessed health. The implication of these results are discussed.This research was partially supported by Grant No. 123230-93 from the University of Iceland Research Fund.Received a Ph.D. in medical sociology from the University of Wisconsin — Madison. Research interests include epidemiology of mental disorder and distress, effects of social support on mental health, and adolescent health-related behaviors and perceptions.     

Continuity of type a behavior during childhood,preadolescence, and adolescence

The continuity of Type A behavior during childhood, preadolescence, and adolescence was studied in 1403 randomly selected children. The subjects' Type A behavior was evaluated by their mothers and also self-rated by preadolescents and adolescents using the AFMS (Type A Behavior for the Finnish Multicenter Study) questionnaire, which is a method based on the Matthews Youth Test for Health and the Swedish version of the Jenkins Activity Survey. The results showed that when mothers' assessments were used, Type A behavior was very highly and homotypically stable during the periods studied, and there were no sex- and age-related differences. Among the different components of Type A pattern, impatience-aggression exhibited slightly greater stability than leadership-sense of responsibility. Mothers' assessments had predictive significance in the self-ratings given three years later, especially in girls, while the continuity of the self-ratings over adolescence was rather low.Received Ph.D. from University of Helsinki. Research interests: psychosomatics, behavioral medicine and social development of a child.     

Identity development in late adolescence: Causal modeling of social and familial influences

The purpose of this study was to develop a causal model to examine the ways in which familial and social variables influence identity development in late adolescence. Four hundred and ten 18-to 21-year-old male and female college students at a large Midwestern university completed a questionnaire assessing familial security, familial and social relations, and three dimensions of identity. The resulting causal models indicated that security in familial relations enhanced identity development directly, and also indirectly by initially enhancing adolescents' social confidence and degree of interpersonal affiliation. However, the pattern of interaction among these variables varied with sex and with the specific identity measure used. It is suggested that security in familial relations may provide the support for meaningful exploration and experimentation, and enhance aspects of adolescents' sociability, which, when taken together, may enhance the identity formation process.Parts of the current report were presented at the annual meeting of the Americal Psychological Association, Los Angeles, California, August 1985. This study was supported in part by NIMH Training Grant MH-14622, and represents a portion of the doctoral dissertation completed at Michigan State University.Received Ph.D. in Psychology from Michigan State University. Current research interest is identity development in adolescence and adulthood.     

Temperament and social support in adolescence: Interrelations with depressive symptoms and delinquent behaviors

This study investigated the interrelations between temperament, perceived family and friend support, and depressive symptoms and delinquent activity with a sample of 975 adolescents (¯xage=15.5 years). A difficult temperament index was devised, and manifested significant associations with depressive symptoms and delinquency, as well as with low family and friend support. Moderator and mediator variable models were specified via hierarchical multiple regression equations and path analyses, respectively. There was little support for the moderator variable models; partial support was garnered for the mediational models, indicating that part of the influence of temperamental difficulty on depression and delinquency may be attributable to reduced levels of perceived family and friend support. However, temperamental difficulty also significantly predicted depression and delinquency directly, over and above its indirect influences via perceived family and friend support. The findings were similar for males and females as indicated by simultaneous group structural equation models.This research was supported by NIAAA Grant No. 07861 awarded to the authorReceived a Ph.D. in human development and family studies from the Pennsylvania State University. Major research interests involve the identification of high-risk factors for adolescent substance use and other problem behaviors.     

Depressive styles in adolescence: Assessment,relation to social functioning,and developmental trends

Examined the relation of dependency and self-criticism to social functioning among adolescents. Subjects were 7th–11th graders from a suburban high school who completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire for Adolescents (DEQ-A) and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP). The results showed that self-criticism was strongly associated with reporting a greater number of interpersonal problems, particularly in the areas of sociability and control. Dependency was only marginally related to interpersonal difficulties. The results also showed that levels of self-criticism tended to decline steadily across the high-school years, whereas levels of dependency followed a U-shaped curvilinear pattern in which it was higher in the early and late high school years relative to the middle years. Finally, the present study provides initial evidence of a reliable, shortened 20-item version of the DEQ-A.This research was funded by a team grant to David Zuroff, Richard Koestner, and Debbie Moskowitz from the Fonds Pour La Formation De Chercheurs Et L'Aide A La Recherche (FCAR-Quebec). Richard Koestner was also funded by a McGill Faculty grant.Received B.A. from McGrill University. Research interests include personality development and psychosocial adjustment.Received Ph.D. from University of Rochester. Research interests include motivation, personality, and life-span development.Received Ph.D. degree from University of Connecticut. Research interests include dependency, self-criticism, and vulnerability to depression.     

Attachment in adolescence: A narrative and meta-analytic review

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature that has examined adolescent attachment relations with parents, and any association between attachment and adolescent development or adjustment. The paper begins with a review of traditional attachment theory and concepts. The organizational perspective advanced by Sroufe and his colleagues is described in addition to other extensions of the study of attachment. The study of adolescent attachment is one extension of the attachment literature that has received increasing attention in recent years. A narrative review of studies of adolescent attachment is presented in which conceptualizations of adolescent attachment, methodologies, and results are described. The narrative review is followed by a metaanalytic review of this literature. The paper concludes by discussing the results of the reviews, the current state of adolescent attachment research, and some recommendations for further advancing the empirical and theoretical literature on adolescent attachment and adaptation.Received Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame. This paper was completed while the author was a doctoral student at the University of Notre Dame. Major interests are in object relations theory and adolescent ego development. 511     

Cognitive appraisal of major and daily stressful events during adolescence: A multidimensional scaling analysis

Multidimensional scaling analysis was used to examine adolescents' cognitive appraisals of major and daily stressful events. The desirability of events was the only salient feature for early adolescents. Middle and late adolescents also appraised events in terms of their desirability; in addition, the amount of impact that events exerted on their lives and the generality of the causes of events were salient dimensions for these age groups. These results suggest increased complexity with age in adolescents' cognitive appraisals of stressful events. Correlational analyses also indicated that perceptions of personal coping capabilities are associated with high event desirability, high frequency of occurrence, stable causes, and decreased ability of others to be of help in coping.This research served as a portion of the doctoral dissertation of the first author and was supported in part by an institutional award from the University of Vermont to the second author.Received his Ph.D. from University of Vermont. Research interests include stressful events during adolescence.Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Vermont where he is investigating stress and coping among children and adolescents. Received his Ph.D from UCLA in 1980.     

Contraceptive behavior in adolescence: A decision-making perspective

The contraceptive behavior of adolescent girls was viewed from a decision-making perspective. A semistructured interview protocol was used in interviewing 120 girls aged 12–19 in three clinics (Teen Family Planning, Prenatal, Pediatric Acute Care) at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center on (1) demographic in formation; (2) sexual and obstetric history; (3) contraceptive and sexual knowledge, attitudes, and practices; (4) environmental pressures; (5) personality factors; and (6) decision-making style. We found that the girls were generally poor contraceptors. They viewed the costs of contraception (in terms of safety) to be high; and they positively valued physical intimacy, opportunities for which come up unexpectedly and sporadically. These factors, along with their ambivalent views toward pregnancy and childbearing seemed to encourage their risk-taking behavior. Once pregnancy occurred, it was carried to term because of the strong internal and external pressures they felt to have and keep the baby. The peer-led intervention program that we are developing based on the survey findings will focus on (1) the teenagers' lack of accurate and complete knowledge about birth control and conception, (2) their limited sense of options concerning birth control and pregnancy outcomes, and (3) their poor understanding of and lack of insight into what motivates their behavior.This study is part of the investigation being conducted by the YADMAC (Young Adult and Adolescent Decision Making About Contraception) Project at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, 2959 South Cottage Grove, Chicago, Illinois 60616. The authors are all members of the YADMAC research team.Received Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Current interests are human sexuality and reproductive behavior. Currently at Department of Psychology, St. Xavier College.Received M.D. from the University of Michigan. Current interests are liaison child psychiatry and adolescent sexuality.Received Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Current interests are early adolescent development issues.Current interests are puberty and sex differences.B. A. candidate in social work, Roosevelt University. Current interests are adolescent sexuality and contraceptive behavior.     

Social support and self-esteem in adolescence

This study assessed contingencies in the effect of social support from parents and friends on adolescent self-esteem. Questionnaires were administered to 76 Israeli adolescents regarding self-esteem, stressful life events, and perceived level of support from mother, father, and friends. Maternal support had a strong effect on self-esteem. Aid from friends was influential primarily when that of mothers was absent. Paternal support had little effect, once other support sources were controlled. Despite the negative influence of stress on self-esteem, support and stress had no interactive effects. These findings, consistent with attachment theory and social provision theories, were contrary to cross-pressure or separate world models of peer/parent influence.He received his doctorate in Educational Psychology from University of California at Los Angeles. His current research interests involve stress, coping, and social support in childhood and adolescence, as well as factors bearing on interethnic relations in the Israeli classroom.where she is working on her doctorate in social psychology from Bar Ilan. Her research addresses resilience in early and middle adulthood.Received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She studies ego development and identity across the life span, the transition to parenthood, and stress and coping.