An experimental study of the effect of structured videotape feedback on adolescent group psychotherapy process

Group psychotherapy with disturbed undersocialized adolescents requires modification of traditional group psychotherapy methods. The effectiveness of a structured, brief video-tape feedback and discussion on group psychotherapy process with this population was studied by an analysis of detailed ratings of each statement, or process unit; in randomly selected videotapes from a control and experimental group during a nine-month period. Significant differences in level of intimacy of verbal content and in frequency of feedback about behavior in content indicate that this technique is effective in facilitating group psychotherapy goals.Received Ed.D. from University of Kentucky. Research interests are group psychotherapy process and methodology.Received M.A. from North Carolina State University. Research interest is adolescent group psychotherapy.Received Ph.D. from North Carolina State University. Research interest is adolescent group psychotherapy.Received M.A. from University of North Carolina. Research interest is group psychotherapy process.Received Ph.D. from Purdue University. Research interets include analysis of small group processes.     

An approach to evaluating adolescent adaptive processes: Validity of an interview-based measure

The authors present an initial exploration, of the validity of 15 scales designed to assess adaptive ego processes in adolescence. These scales are rated solelyThis study was supported by the Youth Development Project of the Joslin DRTC (NIH AM 20530-01), grants from the Psychoanalytic Research Fund of the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Spencer Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Harris Trust, National Instutute of Mental Health, a Research Scientist Award (K-05-MH-70178) (Dr. Hauser), the Maternal and Child Health Research Grants Program, and a Faculty Scholar Award of the William T. Grant Foundation (Dr. Beardslee).Clinical director, Department of Psychiatry, The Children's Hospital; and assistnt professor in psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Received M.D. from Case-Western Reserve University. Currently studying adaptation and intervention with youngsters at high risk for psychopathology.Chief of psychiatry, Joslin Diabetes Center; and associate professor in psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Received M.D. from the University of Chicago. Currently studying psychosocial consequences of diabetes mellitus.Associate professor in psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Received M.D. from Yale University and Ph.D. from Harvard University (psychology). Currently studying family contexts of adolescent development and outcomes in diabetic adolescents.Director of evaluation research, The Children's Unit of McLean Hospital. Received Dipl. Psych. from Freie Universitat, Berlin (clinical psychology); Ed.D. from Harvard University (School of Education). Currently studying relationships between psychopathology and development among adolescent psychiatric patients.Research associate, Henry A. Murray Research Center of Radcliffe Colleges; and instructor of psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. Received Ed.D. from Harvard University (School of Education). Currently studying adolescent and family coping processes in response to stressful events.Currentlyand tudying research methodology and statistics.M.S.W., Smith College School of Social Work. Currently attending Dartmouth Medical School.     

Correlates of early adolescent peer and personal substance use in rural northern Michigan

Data were collected from 181 middle school students in rural northern Michigan during May 1982. Student responses concerning peer and personal use of alcohol and nicotine were analyzed. The results suggest that peer substance use is highly correlated with personal substance use, and increases significantly with age. Sexual differences were also noted. This article describes the powerful correlates between peer and personal alcohol and nicotine use (i.e., cigarette smoking), and suggests some hypotheses for this phenomenon.     

The adolescent as theorist: An interpretive view

This article advances a way of conceptualizing the adolescent as theorist derived from interpretive sociology. This formulation of the adolescent as theorist is contrasted to that available within Piagetian theory. It emphasizes the practical and the occasioned nature of theoretical activity and shows it in everyday settings. Interview conversation between an adolescent and an adult is used as empirical illustration. This formulation of the adolescent as theorist is offered as a means of entry to the scientific constitution of the adolescent as a practitioner of world building who uses the same available resources and does the same sense-making work as any competent member in a culture.Received Ph.D. from University of Toronto. Current interests are the social and scientific constitution of the adolescent, and interpretive methodologies in the study of adolescence.     

An attitude study of minority group adolescents toward mental health

The authors conducted an attitude study in a total sample of 103 high school students at the junior and senior levels. The study was conducted to ascertain the existence of any evident special attitudes as a result of black or Spanishspeaking minority membership. Although specific group characteristics were revealed that might be sociocultural, the overall conclusion is that attitudes relating to the mental health field and its personnel are parallel to the majority population. No evidence was found to support the contention that members of this population are not good insight patients, but rather it was found that insight is an individual capacity rather than a culturally determined one.Received M.D. from Howard University, College of Medicine, Washington, D.C. Currently a Child Psychiatry Fellow at Michael Reese Hospital. Main interest is in child and adolescent psychiatry.Received M.D. from University of Spain. Currently a Child Psychiatry Fellow at Michael Reese Hospital. Main interest is in child and adolescent psychiatry.     

An exploratory study of dominance interactions among adolescent females at a summer camp

One bunk of eight 16- to 17-year old females was studied over a four-week camping session. Instances of dyadic dominance behaviors between group members were recorded in three settings. Although participants formed a cohesive group dominance structure that remained relatively stable throughout the camp session, the structure was not rigid or hierarchical. A new term, “cohesive dyarchy,” was coined to describe intracabin dominance relations. In contrast to many studies of adolescent females, popularity with boys and physical attractiveness were not found to be major predictors of dominance status. A variety of personality traits emphasizing interpersonal skills, athletic ability, and self-reported self-esteem predicted dominance status. Implications of these findings in terms of female adolescent development and future research are discussed.     

Self-recognition of the face: A study of adolescent narcissism

Two adolescent groups and an adult group were given a self-recognition task involving the tachistoscopic presentation of inverted photographs of their faces. Measures of narcissism, certainty of response, and response strategy were recorded. The young adolescent group was found to be more successful than either the late adolescent or adult groups. The former were also the most narcissistic. No sex difference was found, nor was there any difference when the faces of known or unknown peers were used as distractors. Age and narcissism were found to be equally good predictors of both self-recognition and certainty of response. Young adolescents tended to use the complete gestalt of the face more often as a recognition strategy than older adolescents or adults, who seemed to use idiosyncratic facial features. The results are discussed in terms of integrated approach to the development of body image and how the internal representations of the body are gradually built and modified by perceptual, cognitive, and personality functioning.Received M.A. (Hons 1.) and Ph.D from University of Sydney. Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society. Principal research interest is psychology of adolescence.Received B.A. (Hons.) from Macquarie University; now a doctoral candidate at Macquarie University. Principal research interest is child and adolescent psychotherapy.     

Delinquent behaviors and male adolescent development: A preliminary study

Commonly identified developmental tasks of male adolescence were examined for their relationship to delinquent behavior during adolescence among a general sample of 11-to 18-year-old males (N=337). Evaluations of the prevalence and mean level of delinquent acts across the age groups confirms previous suggestions that delinquent behavior follows the adolescent years quite closely. Measures of three primary developmental domains—family relations, social relations, and educational/vocational orientations—were taken and correlated with delinquent behavior across three substages of adolescence. The patterns of correlations suggest there is support for the view that a substantial portion of delinquent behavior is tied to struggles with adolescent development tasks.This work was conducted while the author was a Clinical Research Training Fellow in Adolescence (funded by T32 MH 14668) at the Institute for Psychosomatic and Psychiatric Research and Training, Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, in a program also sponsored by the Departments of Behavioral Science and Psychiatry, University of Chicago and the Adolescent Program of the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute. It is based, in part, on a presentation made at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, August 1985.Dr. Tolan received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Tennessee in 1983. Primary research interests are delinquency, prevention, and families.     

Parental criticism and young adolescent self-disclosure: A cross-cultural study

Criticism by mothers and fathers, as well as young adolescents' perceptions of parental criticism and their self-disclosure to parents, was assessed for a sample of 80 families. Of these, 40 were resident in Australia (20 Anglo-Australian and 20 Greek-Australian) and 40 were resident in Greece (20 professional and 20 working-class). There were no differences between the groups in amount of criticism by parents nor in adolescents' perceptions of criticism. Greek- and Anglo-Australian adolescents disclosed significantly less to parents than did the Greek adolescents. For Greek-Australian adolescents there was an inverse relationship between self-disclosure on a number of topics and perceived levels of parental criticism. The results were interpreted in terms of cultural differences between the groups and adaptive behaviors of the Greek-Australian adolescents.This research was supported by a University of Melbourne grant to the first author.Received Ph.D. from University of Melbourne. Research interests include the social context of adolescent development.Received Ph.D. from Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki. Research interest is in cognitive development through the life span.Received Ph.D. from Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki. Research interest is in cognitive development through the life span.     

Correlates of adolescent pessimism: A study of the beck hopelessness scale

This study examines correlates of the Beck Hopelessness Scale within an adolescent population. Consistent with studies employing adults as subjects, Hopelessness scores were found to be associated with depression and external locus of control. Additionally, a significant positive correlation was found between Hopelessness scores and an index of general maladjustment. The Hopelessness measure was, however, found to be unrelated to self-reported health status.Data for this study were collected as part of a larger investigation involved with the development and validation of an adolescent measure of life stress which was funded by a grant to the senior author from the University of Washington Graduate School Research Fund.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Northern Illinois University. Major interests are clinical-child psychology and psychopathology of children and adolescents.Major interests are clinical-child psychology and suicide.     

Generational differences in perceived responsibility for adolescent support: A study of adolescent females,mothers, and maternal grandmothers

The issue of parent and adolescent responsibilities was explored in a sample of 195 adolescent females, 192 mothers, and 153 maternal grandmothers to assess whether generational differences in views about responsibility, particularly financial ones, existed. A 43-item Responsibility Scale was developed, and principal components analysis of the instrument yielded five factors. Significant generational differences emerged on several items, with the largest generational differences being found on the items comprising a factor describing parental protection of family values. Whereas all three generations viewed parents as having responsibilities to provide material goods, adolescents were more likely to link parental provision of material goods with autonomy issues than were their mothers or grandmothers.This research was supported by a grant from the Grants and Research Funding Committee of Southeast Missouri State University.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from The University of Texas at Austin. Interests include competence, coping, risk, vulnerability, and intergenerational relationships.Received Ph.D. in developmental psychology from West Virginia University. Interests include life-span developmental psychology, cognition and aging, problem-solving, intergenerational issues, and courtship violence.     

The satisfaction with life scale: Psychometrics properties in an adolescent sample

The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) was developed in the United States as a multiitem scale for the overall assessment of life satisfaction as cognitive-judgmental process, rather as a measurement of specific satisfaction areas (e.g., health, energy). The present study attempted to extend the applicability of the SWLS by investigating specific aspects of reliability and validity in a different cultural context (Portugal) with adolescents. In line with previous American findings, reliability figures were found to be favourable. SWLS scores were affected by sex and sociocultural level. In addition, SWLS scores showed to be predictably associated with psychological measures: loneliness, social anxiety, shyness, self- concept, and physical attractiveness. The variables that best predicted satisfaction were overall self-concept, loneliness, and physical attractiveness.Received a Ph.D. in normal and abnormal anthropology from École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris) in 1980 and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Faculty of Psychology (Porto) and an Aggregation in Psychology from Faculty of Psychology (Coimbra) in 1990. Research interests include migration and cross-cultural social migration.The author wishes to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

Friends' interests: A cluster-analytic study of college student peer environments,personality, and behavior

A 27-item measure was developed to assess college peer environments in terms of friends' interests as perceived by individual students. Four dimensions of friends' interests were identified in cluster analyses: Collegiate Activities, Intellectual Pursuits, Apathy or Alienation, and Traditional Adult Orientation. In contrast to previous studies that have focused on peer environment characteristics which were proximal to specific behaviors, the comparatively distal Friends' Interests dimensions were capable of accounting for variation on an array of social, psychological, and behavioral measures. In general, the Collegiate and Traditional clusters were related to a relatively conventional set of individual personality and behavioral variables among college-age men and women; on the other hand, the Intellectual and Apathy dimensions were associated with more unconventional or liberal personality characteristics and behaviors.The research reported here is based on the author's dissertation, which was carried out within a larger longitudinal study of The Socialization of Problem Behavior in Youth, supported by NIAAA Grant No. AA-00232, R. Jessor, principal investigator. The research was conducted while the author was a graduate student in social psychology - personality, and a research assistant at the Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colarado. This article is Publication No. 174 of the Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado.Received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado. Major interests include social environment assessment and program evaluation.     

Body image satisfaction in adolescent girls and boys: A longitudinal study

In a longitudinal developmental study, 90 girls and boys participated in a psychological investigation, and were medically examined when they were 11, 13, 15, and 18 years old. Their satisfaction with the various parts of their body was assessed by means of a questionnaire. Satisfaction was highest at age 18, with males on average more satisfied than females at all age levels. There was a fairly constant pattern of critical body features for each of the sexes. However, individual satisfaction varied greatly as a function of age and developmental level, with late maturers tending to be more satisfied than early matures at ages 11 and 18. The correlations between body image satisfaction and other variables varied as a function of the age and sex of the subjects, and are discussed in relation to the growth process.This research was supported by the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation.Received Ph.D. from the University of Turku, Finland. Research interest is the life process of adolescents.     

Substance use and abuse among adolescent runaways: A four-year follow-up study

Using data from the National Longitudinal Study Youth Survey (NLSY), runaway status in early adolescence (ages 14–15) was associated with subsequent (four years later) substance abuse, alcohol problems, and school dropout status. Three runaway categories were formed—never runaway, runaway once, and runaway two or more times. Overall, the repeat runaways reported engaging in higher levels of substance use and abuse than never and once runaways. However, some degree of gender specificity in the relationships for repeat runaways and substance abuse was found. Female repeat runaways were particularly susceptible to abusing illicit drugs (and not acoohol), whereas male repeat runaways manifested a more generalized susceptability to abusing alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and other illicit drugs. Whereas substance use and abuse were linearly associated with runaway status, both the one-time and repeat runaways manifested equivalent proportions of school dropouts, and at levels far exceeding never runaways. Results are discussed with regard to the heterogeneous developmental pathways leading toward and away from adolescent runaways.Dr. Windle's major research interests involve the identification of high risk factors and then influences on adolescent substance use and other problem behaviors.     

An eight-year follow-up: Outcome from adolescent compared to adult onset anorexia nervosa

Seventy-five women were traced and reassessed on average eight years after the onset of anorexia nervosa. All patients received treatment and 88% were hospitalized at least once. Comparisons between early (11–15 years; N=35), late (16–18 years; N=24) adolescent and adult (19–27 years; N=14) onset revealed no significant differences in outcome for age at onset. For 70% of adolescent and 42% of adult onset patients the outcome was good, meaning that the weight was within ± 15% of norm with regular cyclical menstruation,17% and 21% had an intermediate, and 9% and 21%, respectively, had a poor outcome, 5.3% had died. Taken together, 59% had physically recovered and were free of any eating disorder. Severity of illness reflected in a low body mass index, excessive exercise, and poor psychosocial functioning at intake were poor prognostic indicators;length of illness and food restriction or bulimia as eating patterns were unrelated to outcome. The observation that all women with chronic anorexia nervosa, and even a third of those who had physically recovered from anorexia nervosa, qualified for one or more psychiatric diagnoses suggests that the psychosocial correlates of anorexia nervosa require further study.Supported by grant MH ROI35585-01A1.Received an M.D.-Ph.D. degree from Albert-Ludwig University in Freiburg, Germany. Research interests have been depressive disorders, eating disorders, in particular anorexia nervosa, and more recently women's health.Received M.D. degree from the University of Illinois in Chicago, Illinois. Research interest is in preventive medicine.     

Biological maturation and social development: A longitudinal study of some adjustment processes from mid-adolescence to adulthood

The role of biological maturity in behaviors in adolescence which most often are considered as negative by adults was investigated for a normal group of girls. In mid-adolescence early matured girls were found to play truant, smoke hashish, get drunk, pilfer, ignore parents' prohibitions, considerably more often than did late maturing girls. These differences between biological age groups were mediated by the association with older peer groups and they leveled out in late adolescence. Data on alcohol consumption and crime at adult age showed little association with biological maturation. A hypothesis was tested suggesting that early biological maturation may have negative long-term consequences within the education domain. In accord with this assumption, a considerably smaller percentage of girls among the early maturers had a theoretical education above the obligatory nine-year compulsory schooling than among the late maturing girls. The association between biological maturation and adult education was significant also after controlling for standard predictors of education, such as the girls' intelligence and the social status of the home. The requirement of conducting longitudinal studies when investigating issues connected with maturation was strongly emphasized.The research presented here was supported by funds to D. Magnusson from the Swedish Terecentenary Foundation and the Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research.Received Ph.D. from the University of Stockholm. Current research interest is development.Received Ph.D. from University of Stockholm. Current research interest is development.Received Ph.D. from University of California at Berkeley. Current research interest is Social psychology.     

An application of Gough's conceptual model to a measure of adolescent self-esteem

The concept of self-esteem is central in psychology, but few well-validated measures exist. This paper presents some preliminary data on the Self-Esteem Questionnaire (SEQ) organized along Gough's conceptual model of primary, secondary, and tertiary evaluation. The SEQ appears to discriminate groups along a self-esteem continuum; fits in well with a variety of theoretical approaches; does not have nuisance loadings on sex, intelligence, or social status; is unduly affected by social desirability; and correlates well with standard measures of self-esteem.Received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley. Research interests include psychological testing and creativity.Received her B.A. from the University of Arizona. Research interests include child abuse and statistical methodology.     

Locus of peer influence: Social crowd and best friend

This study examined the relative influence of the best friends and social crowds of older adolescents on cigarette smoking. The data were examined to determine if there were differences in influence as a function of sex, conformity, or the mutuality of the friendship. This study used a longitudinal design that enabled the separation of the effects of peer influence from those of selective association. The results showed that social crowds differed in mean level of cigarette smoking, with burnouts smoking the most and jock/preps smoking the least. The majority of best friendships were homogeneous for social crowd. Best friend influence predicted change in cigarette smoking over a one-year period, while social crowd influence appeared to be minimal. Conformity was positively related to susceptibility to peer influence, although mutuality of the friendship and sex of the subject were not.This research was supported by NIH grant HD18425 awarded to Kathryn Urberg.Obtained Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in the Department of Educational Psychology. A developmental psychologist, her major area of interest is adolescent social development.     

Parental involvement and the effectiveness of an adolescent day treatment program

Results on an outcome study with adolescents in a partial hospitalization program reflect parental involvement during the treatment process. The study compared behavioral outcomes of adolescent patients with high parental involvement with outcomes of adolescent patients with low parental involvement. The partial hospitalization program led to improvement for adolescents aged 13–17 years with significant differences for improvement by parental involvement. Improvements were in primary function areas, school and home as perceived by the adolescent, and in a reduction in severity level and total pathology as rated by the parent. Further, adolescents with high parental involvement were less likely to need rehospitalization.Received M.A. in psychology, from Governors State University. Research interests focus on adolescent treatment.Received Ph.D. in counselor education from Loyola University of Chicago. Research interests concern individual and career development, and service delivery issues.