The structure of values among college students: An examination of sex differences

Male and female college students stated how proud or ashamed they would be of 96 behaviors. The ratings by each sex were then factor analyzed. While personal accomplishments was found to be the primary factor for males, academic failure was the primary factor for females. An interpretation of these differences in terms of the operation of fear-of-failure dynamics among college women was suggested. Further examination of the factor structures revealed a larger number of morality-related factors for females than for males, suggesting that morality is more differentiated for females. The compatibility of this finding with previous research in the area of moral development was noted.This research was supported in part by a Michigan State University research grant to John Paul McKinney.Received Ph.D. from Michigan State University, 1979. Major interests are creativity, play, and values.Received Ph.D. from Ohio State University, 1961. Major interests are adolescence, values, and family patterns.Received Ph.D. from Michigan State University, 1979. Major interests are parent-adolescent separation, values, and evaluation research.     

Parent-adolescent separation: The role of parental divorce

Previous research has identified Emotional Separation and Personal Control as two sets of home leaving indicators that are associated, respectively with relatively troubled and relatively untroubled parent-adolescent separation. As expected, among late adolescent males, parental divorce was highly related to endorsement of Emotional Separation as an important composite indicator of having left home. For females, being a firstborn was associated with endorsing Personal Control as an important composite indicator of home-leaving. Findings were interpreted as supporting previous research which has indicated that males experience more adjustment problems after parental divorce than females.Received Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Current research interests are parent-adolescent separation and perceptions of loneliness.Received Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Current research interests are adolescent-parent separation and evaluation research.     

Fathers,mothers, and adolescents: Gender-based differences in parental roles during adolescence

This study examined the involvement and satisfaction of adolescents with their fathers and mothers. Possible age and sex differences were investigated for three components of involvement: proportion of time spent with fathers and mothers, type of activities engaged in, and degree of satisfaction with those activities. Telephone interviews were used to obtain information about previous day's activities from 61 adolescents in grades 6–12. For each activity, data were obtained on duration, who else was present, and satisfaction. Results indicated that adolescents spent a greater proportion of time in leisure than in work with fathers, and equal time in work and in leisure with mothers. In general, adolescents were as satisfied with activities with their fathers as with their mothers. Adolescents enjoyed working with fathers more than mothers, however. The results demonstrate that activity satisfaction varies as a function of what activities adolescents engage in and who is present.Received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Major research interests are in parent-adolescent relations.Received his Ph.D. from Georgia State University. Major research interests are in early peer relations and mother-child interactions.     

The contribution of family structure and differentiation to identity development in females

We examined the relationship between Minuchin's structural family model, adolescent separation-individuation, and identity development. One hundred sixty-four female undergraduate students completed the Structural Family Interaction Scale Revised (SFIS-R), the Parental Relationship Inventory (PRI), and the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOM-EIS) scale. Exploratory Factor Analysis of the SFIS-R and PRI scales indicated that two factors, Proximity-Differentiation and Generational Hierarchy-Differentiation, accounted for 90% of the variance. Canonical correlation analysis with the two factor scores and age included in the predictor variables, and the four measures of ego identity included in the dependent variables, yielded two significant roots. The results supported Minuchin's model.Received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Major interests are family factors influencing adolescent development and family assessment.Received her Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Major interests are family factors and the separation/individuation process.Received Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. Major interests are statistical issues related to chi-square analyses.     

Age segregation of adolescents in and out of school

In a naturalistic study of age segregation during adolescence, 403 adolescents making up 153 separate groups were observed in three high schools and seven out-of-school settings. Age segregation was extensive, especially in school, among older adolescents in same-sex groups of friends. More mixed-age association was observed out of school among younger adolescents who were in mixed-sex groups containing relatives. Adolescents were most often observed with friends who were other adolescents, next with adults, and least frequently observed with children. Parents, particularly fathers, were rarely present. It was suggested that age segregation during adolescence is the result of a lack of contact with relatives.Received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1974. Major research interest is parent-adolescent relations.Major research interests are adolescence and clinical psychology.     

Delinquent recidivists: Vulnerable children

This study examines the relationship between vulnerability factors and recidivism by testing the hypothesis that first offenders who repeat delinquencies display more high-risk factors than those who do not repeat delinquencies. Four factors are identified which distinguish recidivists from nonrecidivists in a sample of first offenders matched by age and sex. Results are discussed from an epidemiological and early-intervention perspective.Data collected in 1980 were supported by the Research Associates, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Received MSW from University of Michigan, 1972. Major research interests are juvenile delinquency and early intervention.Received Ph.D. in psychology from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, 1957. Major research interests are classification, juvenile delinquency, and psychological test development.Received Ph.D. in psychology from State University of New York at Buffalo, 1971. Research interests are cognitive development and mental health-care delivery.     

Older adolescents' engagement in casual sex: Impact of risk perception and psychosocial motivations

The relationship between attitudes for casual sex and casual sex behavior was investigated for a group of older adolescents between the ages of 17 and 19. In addition, factors that influence casual sex orientations were studied. Models of behavior that emphasize disease issues as a primary determinant of casual sex behavior were compared with models that emphasize a broader range of social-psychological motivations. Results showed that the relationship between attitudes and behavior was stronger for females than males. In addition, disease-related variables were found to be correlated with behavior in a direction opposite to what traditional disease models would predict. The results were interpreted in the context of a behavioral inference model. It was found that casual sex behavior is more heavily influenced by a broad range of social-psychological motivations as compared to disease-based variables. Implications for educational interventions were developed.Received Ph.D. in education from Stanford University. Major research interests are in self-efficacy and adolescent sexual risk behavior.Received Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana. Major research interests are in parent-adolescent communication and quantitative methods.Received M.A. in psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York. Major research interests are in attitudes and attitude change.     

Adolescent autonomy,parent-adolescent conflict,and parental well-being

The present study examines whether parents' reports of well-being are related to the level of parent-adolescent conflict in the family and their youngsters' level of emotional autonomy. The sample is composed of 129 intact families with a first-born child between the ages of 10 and 15. Measures included parents' reports of midlife identity concerns, self-esteem, life satisfaction, psychological symptoms, and parent-adolescent conflict, as well as youngsters' reports of emotional autonomy vis-à-vis parents. Findings indicate that (1) parents' experience of midlife identity concerns is positively related to the level of emotional autonomy reported by same-sex children; (2) mothers', but not fathers', well-being is negatively related to the intensity of parent-adolescent conflict; and (3) socioeconomic status moderates the relation between parental well-being and parent-adolescent relations. These results are discussed in terms of psychoanalytic and parental stress perspectives on parental well-being during the adolescent years.The work described herein has been conducted during the second author's tenure as a Faculty Scholar under the William T. Grant Foundation's Program in the Mental Health of Children and is supported as well by a grant to the second author from the Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin.Received Ph. D. in Child and Family Studies from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Major research interests are in the psychological well-being of parents with adolescent children.Received Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Cornell University. Major research interests are in social relations during adolescence.     

Late adolescents' perceptions of their relationships with their parents: Relationships among deidealization,autonomy, relatedness,and insecurity and implications for adolescent adjustment and ego identity status

Questionnaire data from 376 undergraduates (mean age=19.3 years) were used to test a model describing interrelationships among deidealization, relatedness, autonomy, and insecurity in late adolescents' relationships with their parents. As expected, deidealization predicted greater autonomy and less relatedness (i.e., more disengagement), greater disengagement predicted greater insecurity, and greater insecurity predicted less autonomy. However, disengagement from parents proved to be a double-edged sword in that it was linked not only to insecurity, but also to feelings of greater separateness and self-directedness in relation, to parents. Additional analyses identified significant associations between the adolescent/parent relationship variables and the adolescents' psychological health and ego identity status.Received her Ph.D. from Yale University. Major interests are in parent/child relationships during late adolescence and young adulthood.Received her B.A. from University of Virginia and M.A. from Michigan State University. Major interests are in adolescent development and pediatric psychology.Received her B.A. from Duke University and M.A. from Michigan State University. Major interests are in adult children of alcoholics and adolescent separation/individuation.     

Perception of infant cries in adolescent and adult mothers

Deficits in parenting behavior in adolescent mothers could be due to the adolescent mother's perception of her infant's behavior. The aim of this study was to compare how adolescent and adult mothers perceive the crying behavior of their newborns. The 19 adolescent and 18 adult mothers listened to a tape recording of their infants' crying and rated the characteristics of the cry on 12 seven-point scales. The sample included newborns with normal growth and newborns with compromised growth. Acoustic characteristics of the cries were extracted by computer. Adult mothers rated the cries of their infants with compromised growth toward the negative end of the scales. By contrast, adolescent mothers rated the cries of their infants with compromised growth toward the positive end of the scales. Acoustic analysis showed that the cries of the infants with compromised growth were higher pitched and more variable than the cries of infants with normal growth. Correlations between the cry ratings and the acoustic analysis showed that for adult mothers, higher pitched and more variable cries were associated with negative ratings. For adolescent mothers, higher pitched and more variable cries were associated with more positive ratings. The findings suggest that adolescent mothers differ in the perception of their infant's behavior, which may have implications for later parenting behavior.This research was supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation.Received Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Main Research interests are infant crying, determinants of neontal and infant development, assessment of preterm and at-risk infants.Received Ph.D. from Harvard University. Main research interests are sociocultural aspects of development, teenage pregnancy, infant temperament, and psychophysiology.Main research interests have been in maternal and infant interactions of high risk infants.     

Transcultural comparisons of self-image in German and United States adolescents

Based on the Offer Selfimage Questionnaire (OSIQ), the selfimage of German and United States adolescents was compared. The German study was based on OSIQ protocols from 365 adolescents in West Berlin while the American sample comprised adolescents drawn from seven cities in the United States. With respect to three scales, United States adolescents report better adjustment than do the German adolescents. These scales were Mastery of the External World, Vocational and Educational Goals, and Superior Adjustment. In general, these two Western societies share more similarities than differences in the selfimages of their adolescents.Received M.D. and Ph.D in Psychology from the University of Hamburg, Germany. Research interests are high-risk studies, child psychiatric epidemiology, and adolescence.Received M.D. from the University of Chicago. Major interests are concepts of mental health and the developmental psychology of adolescence.Received J. D. from the University of Chicago School of Law; received Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Chicago. Research interests are adolescence and delinquency.Received Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Chicago. Major interests are psychotherapy research and adolescence.     

Aggression and delinquency: Family and environmental factors

Juvenile delinquency has become an increasing concern to society; aggressive behaviors are particularly harmful. This study examined parent and youth behaviors and personality types that may influence delinquent and aggressive behaviors. Youths were referred by the court to an intervention program; ratings of delinquency and aggression were derived from parent reports, self-reports, and court referral data. Results showed that high parent ratings of youth aggressiveness were related to high turmoil in the home and to youths' positive opinions of delinquent peers, while high aggressiveness of the youths' referring offenses was related to lax punishment. Developmentally, this suggests that in adolescence both the peer group and home influences are important in shaping different aspects of the youths' aggressive and delinquent behaviors.This study was partially conducted under University of Virginia Research Policy Council Grant No. 199505. The study was funded in part by a NICHD Training Grant (HD07289) to Dr. D. W. Fulker. Preparation of the paper was facilitated by grant RR-07013-20 awarded to the University of Colorado by the Biomedical Research Support Grant Program, Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health.Received Ph.D. in psychology from University of Virginia. Current research interests are intelligence and prosocial and antisocial behaviors from a developmental behavior genetics perspective.Received Ph.D. in psychology from Michigan State University. Current research interests are developmental pathways to problem behaviors of youth in high-risk communities.Current research interests are volunteer interventions with adolescents at risk for delinquency.Current research interests are clinical applications and intervention with adolescents and families.     

Turn-taking in mother-adolescent conversations about sexuality and conflict

The current study examined the nature and style of mother-adolescent conversations, how these conversations differ by subject matter, and dyadic and individual differences. Thirty-one mother-adolescent dyads (17 boys, 14 girls) with a child between the ages of 11 and 14 had a nonstructured conversation, and conversations about conflict and sexuality. They also completed questionnaires on beliefs about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Conversations were measured for turn taking, total number of words, and conversational dominance, as well as nonverbal measures of affiliation, shame, and contempt. Conversations about sexuality involved less turn taking, fewer words, and more mother dominance than nonstructured conversations. Conversations about conflicts involved less turn taking but more words than nonstructured conversations. Some gender and age differences were found. More interactive conflict conversations contained higher levels of affiliation, and lower levels of child shame than conversations with fewer turns or higher mother dominance. In addition, children in more interactive dyads possessed a larger percentage of their mother's AIDS knowledge, and worried about AIDS a moderate amount.This research was supported by National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development Grant No. HD27035.Received M.A. from UCLA. Current research interests include parent-adolescent relationships, adolescent peer relations, and adolescent sexuality.Received Ph.D. from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Major research interest is in parent-adolescent communication and emotional development.Received Ph.D. from Boston University. Major research interest is in parent-child affective communication.     

Physical activity and adolescent female psychological development

This study explored the relationship between self-reported past and present physical activity levels and high school adolescent women's self-image, sense of mastery, gender role identity, self-perceived physical ability, and self-perceived attractiveness. The Offer Self-image Questionnaire and the Bem Sex Role Inventory were administered to 149 high school adolescent women who were categorized as either physically active, physically inactive, decreasing in physical activity, or increasing physical activity. Results indicated the physically active group members reported self-image and coping characteristics that were significantly more positive than those reported by the physically inactive group members. They also reported significantly more masculine and feminine characteristics and higher physical ability ratings than inactive group members. The decreased activity group did not differ from any of the other groups. These results suggest that physical activity in adolescence, in comparison with physical inactivity, is associated with healthier emotional expression and emotional control, and higher levels of perceived mastery and coping skills for adolescent women. A decrease in physical activity over the course of adolescence does not necessarily result in psychological distress for adolescent women.Received Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Michigan State University. Major interests are concepts of the self, psychological health, and developmental psychology.Received Ph.D. in sport psychology from The Pennsylvania State University. Current research interests include social cognitions in sport and physical activity and the role of sport and physical activity in adolescent development.     

Hungarian adolescents' self-concept

Hungarian and United States adolescents' self-image was studied using the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ). In Hungary, 1,163 younger and older male and female adolescents were studied using a Hungarian translation of the OSIQ. Analyses of endorsement patterns of OSIQ items showed that Hungarian and American adolescents endorsed many items in the same way. Similarities in endorsement patterns were much more common between the two countries than were differences. Analyses of OSIQ scales showed that for most scales younger Hungarian adolescents reported better adjustment than younger American adolescents. Differences were not as great or reversed in the older age groups. Implications for cross-cultural studies of adolescent self-image were drawn based on these results.Received M. D. from the Semmelweis Medical university in Budapest. Research interest is complex somato-mental health care of adolescents.Received M. D. from the University of Chicago. Major interests are concepts of mental health and the developmental psychology of adolescence.Director, Forensic Psychology, Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center. Received J. D. from the University of Chicago School of Law; received Ph. D. in human development from the University of Chicago. Research interests are adolescence and delinquency.Professor of Psychology, Northwestern University. Received Ph. D. in psychology from the University of Chicago. Major interests are psychotherapy research and adolescence.     

Family influences,school behaviors,and risk for the later development of an eating disorder

Interviews were conducted with parents of 136 female and 45 male adolescents categorized into risk groups for the later development of an eating disorder. The family and school concomitants of risk status in females were demonstrated to be different from that in males. Risk group female adolescents rated family cohesion, parent-adolescent communication processes, and overall family satisfaction more negatively than the comparison group. Mothers of moderate risk group females reported lower family cohesion than the comparison group; there were no group differences for adolescent females in fathers' ratings of family measures. However, no group differences were found on any of the family measures between male risk and comparison males. For both females and males, there were no significant group differences in family history of eating and mood disorders, or alcohol dependence. Teacher ratings indicated relatively greater internalizing tendencies in the high-risk female group.This investigation was supported by NICHD Grant Number 1R01-HD24700 awarded to Gloria R. Leon.Received Ph.D. from University at Maryla. Research interests include precursors of eating disorders and stress and coping in extreme environments. To whom correspondence should be addressed.Received M.A. from San Diego State University. Research interests include precursors of eating disorders, substance abuse, and personality.Received Ph.D. from Stanford University. Research interests include psychosocial aspects of health promotion and disease prevention.Received B.A. from University of Maine. Research interests life span development and family issues.     

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.     

Maternal employment and adolescent sexual behavior

This study investigated whether maternal employment would be associated with teenage sexual attitudes and behaviors likely to increase the probability of teenage pregnancy. Female subjects whose mothers were employed outside the home during the high school years (a) had a greater tendency to begin sexual relations before age 19, (b) expressed less concern regarding the risk of unintended pregnancy, and (c) scored lower on an objective test of their practical knowledge about contraception.Received Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Washington. Research interests include personality and environmental influences on adjustment.Received Ph.D. from University of Georgia. Current research interests are in behavioral teratology.Received Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University. Research interests are in loneliness and adjustment.Received Ph.D. from North Carolina State University. Research interests are in population and urban sociology.     

Adolescent discipline: Different family members' perception

Adolescence is perhaps the most difficult period of child rearing for parents. This study attempted to identify disciplinary techniques used by parents as perceived by mothers, fathers, and their adolescent children. Results indicated several significant areas of intrafamilial disagreement in regard to disciplinary techniques utilized, although all subjects tended to agree that some form of verbal reasoning was the primary disciplinary technique utilized with these adolescents.This study was funded, in part, by the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (H-644) and the School of Home Economics, The University of Georgia.Received his Ph.D. in child and family studies from the University of Tennessee. Current interests include adolescent development, family influences on sex-role development, and dual-work families.Received her Ph.D. in sociology from Iowa State University. Major interests include family research methodology, assessment of family power, and marital dissolution.Received her Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Texas. Current research interests include parenting, sex roles, and socialization across the life-span.     

Attentional and intellectual deficits in unmedicated behavior-disordered adolescent inpatients

The authors examined the hypothesis that impairments in attention and verbal intelligence are associated with seriously maladaptive social behavior in behavior-disordered, hospitalized adolescents. Twenty-five unmedicated inpatients with disruptive behavior disorder diagnoses were rated during a one-month period for frequency of severe disruptive episodes, or critical incidents (CI); these included assaults, behavior resulting in the use of restraints, etc. All subjects independently received intelligence testing and continuous performance testing (CPT). Based on CI scores, subjects were divided into a high-CI group (CI>5; N=9) and a low-CI group (CI<4; N=16). On the CPT, the high-CI group showed more impairment in perceptual sensitivity (d; this group also had lower verbal IQ scores. (Both findings were significant at the p<.05 level.) The latter result was largely due to differences in Comprehension subtest scores. These results support the hypothesis, and may have implications for the treatment of behavior-disordered adolescents.Received M.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Major research interests are adolescent psychopathology, disruptive behavior disorders, and information processing.Received Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. Major research interests are outcomes measurement, psychosis proneness, and psychodiagnostic assessment.Received Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. Major research interests is adolescent psychopathology.Received M.A. from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Major research interests are adult attachment and mental representation.Received M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Major research interests are schizophrenia, personality disorders, and trauma.