Adolescent Attachment Questionnaire: A Brief Assessment of Attachment in Adolescence

The Adolescent Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ), a brief questionnaire to assess attachment characteristics in adolescents, was developed and validated in a large normative sample (n = 691) and a sample of 133 adolescents in psychiatric treatment. The AAQ is a self-report questionnaire consisting of 3 scales of 3 statements each, with Likert-type responses from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The Availability scale assesses the adolescent's confidence in the availability and responsiveness of the attachment figure. TheGoal-Corrected Partnershipscale assesses the extent to which the adolescent considers and is empathetic to the needs and feelings of the attachment figure. The Angry Distress scale taps the amount of anger in the adolescent–parent relationship. All scales demonstrate satisfactory internal reliability and agreement between scores for adolescents (n = 91) from the normative sample who completed the AAQ twice. Adolescents in the clinical sample also completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI); the AAQ demonstrated high convergent validity with the AAI.     

Risky Drinking and Driving/Riding Decisions: The Role of Previous Experience

Factors related to risky drinking and driving/riding decisions were explored by presenting vignettes to 135 older adolescents, 17–24 years of age, with vignettes related to drinking and other social behaviors engaged in at a party. Analyses revealed that alcohol-related behaviors, attitudes toward the acceptability of drinking and driving, and previous drinking and driving/riding experiences were all significant predictors of decisions about driving or riding while intoxicated. Indeed, the overall model accounted for 46% of risky drinking and driving/riding decisions. As predicted, older respondents had more previous experiences with driving while intoxicated and riding with intoxicated drivers than did younger respondents, and they reported that drinking and driving was more acceptable among their peers. However, contrary to expectations, there were no differences in the number of risky decisions made by the two age groups or between males and females. The importance of previous experiences is discussed.     

Sexual Debut Timing and Depressive Symptoms in Emerging Adulthood

The association between sexual debut timing and depressive symptomatology in adolescence and emerging adulthood was examined using data from Waves I, II and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Respondents who reported never having sexual intercourse at Wave I and were 18–22 years of age at Wave III were included (n = 5,061). Twenty percent of respondents experienced early (<age 16) and 49% experienced typical (ages 16–18) sexual debut. In bivariate analyses, pre-debut depressive symptoms were associated with earlier sexual debut among female but not male adolescents. In models adjusting for demographic characteristics and pre-debut depressive symptoms, sexual debut was positively related to adolescent (Wave II) depressive symptomatology, but only among female adolescents age less than sixteen. However, sexual debut timing was unassociated with emerging adult (Wave III) depressive symptomatology for both male and female respondents. Findings suggest sexual debut timing does not have implications for depressive symptomatology beyond adolescence.

Examining Ethnic Identity and Self-Esteem Among Biracial and Monoracial Adolescents

The psychological well-being and ethnic identity of biracial adolescents are largely underrepresented topics in current scholarly literature, despite the growing population of biracial and multiracial individuals in the United States. This study examined self-esteem, ethnic identity, and the relationship between these constructs among biracial and monoracial adolescents (n = 3282). Using analysis of covariance, significant differences emerged between biracial and monoracial adolescents on both a measure of self-esteem and a measure of ethnic identity. Specifically, biracial adolescents showed significantly higher levels of self-esteem than their Asian counterparts, but significantly lower self-esteem than Black adolescents. Furthermore, biracial adolescents scored significantly higher than Whites on a measure of ethnic identity, but scored lower than their Black, Asian, and Latino peers on the same measure. Finally, correlational analyses revealed a significant and positive relationship between ethnic identity and self-esteem for all groups.     

Relationships Between Identity and Self-Representations During Adolescence

By drawing from literature on identity development as well as on self-discrepancy, the present study aimed to investigate variations in the magnitude of self-belief discrepancies among adolescents with different levels of identity development. The respondents consisted of 336 male and female adolescents, from 5 private secondary schools, ranging in age from 14 to 18 years (M = 15.98, SD = 0.89). Four levels of identity status (Achieved, Moratorium, Foreclosed, and Diffused identity status) were used as the method of identity classification in this study. Four types of self-discrepancies (Actual/Ideal (own), Actual/Ideal (other), Actual/Ought (own), and Actual/Ought (other) self-discrepancy) were also obtained. Multivariate analyses of variance showed that respondents with different identity statuses significantly varied on the magnitude of self-discrepancy experienced. The Foreclosed and Achieved statuses were found to have lower levels of self-belief discrepancy than the Moratorium and Diffused statuses. However, most of the significant differences among the statuses were for the Actual/Ideal (own) and Actual/Ideal (other) self-discrepancies. These results indicate that identity development is related to the magnitude of self-belief discrepancy. However, further research with more developed instruments is needed to explore this relationship more fully.     

A measure of risk taking for young adolescents: Reliability and validity assessments

Researchers often define adolescent risk taking in terms of individual behaviors such as alcohol and drug use, early sexual activity, and reckless driving. It is not clear whether these behaviors defined by adults as risky have the same meaning for adolescents. This paper describes the development and preliminary testing of an instrument to assess risk taking among young adolescents. The six item scale was constructed by asking small groups of eighth grade boys and girls to describe things that teenagers your age do for excitement or thrills. The measure was then used in a longitudinal study of 758 young adolescents from three rural counties in Maryland. The scale shows good reliability, as indicated by coefficient alpha and factor analyses. Eighth-grade scores on the scale are associated with the initiation of sexual activity and substance use in ninth grade among virgins and nonusers of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and pills in eighth grade.     

Drinking behavior,drinking attitudes,and attachment relationship of adolescents

In this article the connection between the drinking behavior and drinking attitudes of adolescents in relation to their attachment relationship with their parents is examined. The Family Episode Rating Task (FERT) was used, which was developed to measure the attachment relationship; it measures four patterns of parent-adolescent attachment. An Alcohol Questionnaire was used to measure the quantity and frequency of alcohol use, the amount of problem drinking, and the drinking attitudes of adolescents. It was hypothesized that anxiously attached adolescents have a greater risk of developing damaging drinking habits. One hundred sixty-one adolescents participated, all of them students in Grades 7, 9, and 11 of a high school. By means of an analysis of variance it was demonstrated that the Attitude scale's drinking to facilitate social contact was significantly related to the quality of the attachment relationship with the parents: this reason for drinking was mentioned most frequently among adolescents who were anxiously attached.Received Ph.D. at the same university. Currently studying psychological aspects of excessive alcohol intake.Received Ph.D. at the Catholic University, Nijmegen. Currently involved in stress management training.     

The self-concept of homeless adolescents

Thirty adolescents who had lived away from home for at least six months were compared on self-concept with 120 adolescents living at home. The latter group was divided into equal numbers of adolescents who were employed, unemployed, school students, and college students. The Offer Self-image Questionnaire for Adolescents was used to measure self-concept. Other measures used were the Beck Depression Inventory, the Hopelessness Scale of Beck et al.,and the Rotter Internal External Locus of Control Scale. These were used to examine the relationship between deficits in self-concept and psychopathology. Environmental factors such as family relationships, employment, school achievement, and friendships were also examined. It was found that homeless adolescents demonstrated significant deficits in five areas of self-concept and a specific pattern of deficits was related to hopelessness. Results were discussed with reference to the theory that acting-out behavior mitigates the impact of affective disturbance on self concept.Received her master's of clinical psychology from Macquarie University, Australia. Major interest is adolescent psychopathology and clinical work with homeless adolescents.     

Coping in adolescence: Empirical evidence for a theoretically based approach to assessing coping

The present study was designed to examine the reported Stressors and patterns of coping strategies used by adolescents and extend the 1989 work of Carver et al. by reporting internal reliability, factorial validity, and normative data on the COPE for a sample of middle adolescents. A sample of 484 ninth through twelfth graders (ages 14–18) attending a Laboratory High School participated in the study. The COPE inventory developed by Carver et al. in 1989 for use with college students, was administered with a battery of measures to all adolescent participants in their classrooms. Results indicated sufficient internal consistency for the measure and significant gender differences. Factor analysis of the COPE indicated that the subscales consistently fell into four factors rather than the traditional two (i.e., problem focused vs emotion focused). Implications for using the COPE in research on adolescent were discussed.Partial support for this project was obtained from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues and by Illinois State University's Graduate Student Association, Graduate School, and Psychology Department.Received master's degree at Illionos State University. Research interests include social development in adolescents.Receaved doctoral degree in experomental psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. Research interests include life span social development.     

Family Characteristics and Adolescent Competence in India: Investigation of Youth in Southern Orissa

This study examines the relationship among a host of family characteristics and indicators of adolescent competence in a sample (N = 107) of 8th- and 9th-grade students in one school located in Berhampur city in Orissa state, India. Social competence (SC) and antisocial behavior (AB) were assessed by teachers, and adolescents evaluated various areas of their own competence on a perceived competence scale. Final examination grades also were obtained as a general measure of cognitive competence. The results indicated that families of more socially competent participants tended to be verbally and emotionally expressive; democratic with regard to discipline, input, and decision making; close but not enmeshed; higher in their level of parent–adolescent communication and family ideals; and lower in external locus of control. Consequently, families of more antisocial adolescents had more conflict and enmeshment and were more external-locus-of-control oriented and either permissive or authoritarian. Finally, several personal and family demographic traits were positively associated with SC and negatively associated with AB, including gender (girls higher in SC and lower in AB than boys), age and grade (older students and those in grade 9 more competent and less problematic), education level of mothers and fathers (positively related to SC and negatively to AB), and birth order (middle children in the family lower in self-perceptions of competence than oldest or youngest children). The findings have implications for parenting and family-life education efforts in India that could have a major impact on the development of adolescent competence.     

Measuring Barriers to Help-Seeking Behavior in Adolescents

To construct and validate an instrument that would measure barriers to help-seeking behavior in adolescents. Method: A 37-item questionnaire based on prior help-seeking literature was constructed to yield a total score indicating strength of barriers to help-seeking behavior. The instrument was given to a sample of 280 high school students following a pilot study of 65 students. Results: The instrument was found to have good test–retest and internal reliability and adequate validity in the tested population. It shows promise in helping to identify adolescents who may be amenable to, and opposed to, therapeutic intervention, and may aid in understanding which barriers to help seeking are most significant in any given population.     

Rural adolescents' perceived personal risks for suicide

Rural adolescents' suicidal cognitions were assessed while conducting a larger project on risk perception. This allowed for a more indirect (less reactive) method of assessment than is typical in related research. High school students (n=455) rated on a 7-point scale their personal risks for 24 lethal events, including suicide. Over half the adolescents (56%) reported some risk for suicide, of which 12% reported that their subjective risk was quite likely. The rates are consistent with prevalence rates for suicidal ideations obtained from studies using more direct methods of assessment. Public high school students were significantly more likely to report serious suicide risks than parochial high school students. This finding is discussed in the context of Durkheim's proposition that religions deter self destructive impulses.Received Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Research interest: adolescents' perceptions of risks.Received Ph.D. from the University of Missouri. Research interests: in the areas of identity, self, and personality.     

Suicide Attempts and Self-Image Among Turkish Adolescents

The objective of this paper is to report on the role of self-image as an internal factor in suicide attempts of adolescents. Three groups of adolescents, suicide attempters (n = 33), nonsuicidal psychiatric outpatients (n = 50), and normal controls (n = 50), were administered Offer Self-Image Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, Symptom Check List-90-R, and a socio-demographic questionnaire. The factors discriminating suicidal adolescents from the other 2 groups were increased number of siblings, being the older children, and negativity in the familial aspect of the self-image. The self-image factor was specific for suicidal girls but not for boys. Disturbance in the development of the self-image, especially in its relationship with other family members is an important risk factor in attempted suicides by female adolescents. This brings up the importance of including the family in the treatment of suicidal adolescents. None of the factors evaluated in this study are significant in attempted suicides by males. This point needs further research.     

Measuring School-Related Stressors in Adolescents

Some 1620 high school students responded to 68 items that measure adolescent stressors. Thirty-five of the items were based on J. P. Kohn and G. H. Frazer's Academic Stress Scale [1(1986) An Academic Stress Scale: Identification and Rated Importance of Academic Stressors, Psychological Reports, Vol. 59, pp. 415–426] developed in the United States, while the remaining 33 items were developed from P. Strutynski's [(1985) A Survey of Queensland Year 10, 11 and 12 Student Attitudes to Schools and Schooling, State Planning Committee, International Youth Year, Brisbane] lists of the most frequently named problems of 2336 Australian high school students. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to test and develop a measurement model developed from an extensive review of previous scales. The High School Stressors Scale emerged from the analytic process and measures nine school-related stressors. For researchers focusing on school-related problems and stressors among adolescents, the HSSS promises to be a very useful instrument. It has sound construct and predictive validity and adequate reliability, as demonstrated by the goodness-of-fit indices the squared multiple correlations.     

Adolescents,young adults and AIDS: A study of actual knowledge vs. perceived need for additional information

Adolescents and young adults today are increasingly knowledgeable about AIDS and HIV transmission. However, in several studies substantial confusion is observed especially concerning how HIV is not transmitted and the prophylaxis against AIDS. Additional efforts to answer specific knowledge lacks are still useful. There is, however, no evidence that the actual knowledge level influences the interest in additional information. The aim of this study was to obtain a detailed investigation of the AIDS- and HIV-related knowledge level and the perceived need for additional information and to assess the (absence of an) association between both. Results of factor analysis and canonical correlation analysis confirmed the hypothesized incongruence between actual knowledge and need for additional information. Although respondents indicated that they had received sufficient information or that they were rather indifferent with regard to additional information, answers on knowledge questions showed important misconceptions. Moreover, associations between a specific knowledge scale and a specific information need factor were weak and not significant. The results contradict the importance of a detailed assessment of specific needs for additional information as an explanation for this incongruence and leave the possible role of an overestimation of one's own knowledge level. This study could not answer the question about the failure of traditional school-based sex education to provide youngsters with the information they need. However, a possible explanation for the overestimation of one's knowledge level could be the use of unreliable information sources—such as peers—in combination with a feeling of indifference towards traditional school-based sex education.Receiveddegree fromuniversity. Research interests: determinants of sexual risk (reduction) behaviors among adolescents and young adults. Current interest lies in interpersonal communication between adolescent lovers.     

Methylphenidate and hospitalized adolescents with conduct disorder: Dose effects on classroom behavior,academic performance,and impulsivity

The effects of methylphenidate on hospitalized conduct-disordered (CD) adolescents were examined by using teacher ratings of behavior, a measure of classroom learning, and a test of impulsivity. Twenty-two male adolescents with CD, 12–18 years of age, participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject (crossover) design in which each adolescent received three doses of methylphenidate (10 mg, 15 mg, and 20 mg) and a placebo in a randomly assigned, counterbalanced order. Seven of the adolescents had a comorbid diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Significant overall medication effects were shown on teacher ratings of conduct, and on number of arithmetic questions correctly completed and time spent. Within the limitations of this study, stimulant actions may be effective for some aspects of CD in the absence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, although only for specific measures.This project was supported by BRSG S 07 RR 05364 awarded to Ronald T. Brown by the Biomedical Research Support Grant Program, Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health, and by an award from the Emory University Research Fund.Portions of this paper were presented at the 96th annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Atlanta, Georgia, August 1988.Received his Ph.D. from Georgia State University. His research include attention deficit disorders, psychopharmacology, and pediatric psychology.Received his M.D. from Albert Einstein School of Medicine. His research interests include adolescents and attention deficit disorder.Received his M.Ed. degree from Georgia State University. His research interests are in the area of attention deficit disorder.Received his M.D. from the University of West Virginia. His research interests include autism and attention deficit disorder.     

A differential survey of the problems of privileged and underprivileged adolescents

The problems of adjustment during the midadolescent years were examined in 1298 privileged and underprivileged adolescents from the Sydney Metropolitan Area, Australia. Girls reported more problems than boys in all areas of adjustment and underprivileged adolescents more problems than the privileged group; however, a significant interaction effect was also found. Whether high-income or low-income group, the overwhelming number of problems were associated with educational adjustment and were interpreted as the reaction to pressures to achieve imposed on adolescents of this age.Received her M.A. (Hons.) and Ph.D. from Macquarie University. Member of Australian Psychological Society. Principal research interests are child psychopathology and psychology of adolescence.Received his M.A.(Hons.) and Ph.D. from Sydney University. Fellow of Australian Psychological Society. Principal research interest is psychology of adolescence.     

Association of a Mixed Anxiety-Depression Syndrome and Symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder During Adolescence

The relations between an empirically derived syndrome of Anxiety-Depression and an analogue measure of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are examined in a longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of adolescents. Analyses of parents' reports and adolescents' self-reports indicate that there is moderate correspondence between scores on the Anxious-Depressed syndrome and symptoms of the MDD Analogue. Furthermore, scores on the syndrome predicted MDD Analogue symptoms 3 years later with sensitivities ranging from .69 to .71 and specificities from .69 to .93. Meeting criteria for either the Anxious-Depressed syndrome or the MDD Analogue was associated with low social or academic competence and high scores on other syndromes of psychopathology. Implications for integration of empirical/dimensional and categorical/diagnostic approaches are highlighted.     

Antisocial Beliefs and Attitudes in Pre-adolescent and Adolescent Youth: the Development of the Antisocial Beliefs and Attitudes Scales (ABAS)

A focus on antisocial beliefs and attitudes has informed both the assessment and treatment literature, and practice, in youth justice service provision. This study attempts to broaden the construct of antisocial beliefs and attitudes and reports on the psychometric development of the Antisocial Beliefs and Attitudes Scale (ABAS). The ABAS is a new instrument for measuring antisocial thinking in older children and adolescents, which is developmentally-sensitive, broad-based, and assesses domains grounded in the empirical literature on childhood conduct problems and delinquency. Along with a self-reported measure of antisocial behavior, the ABAS was administered to 425 school children aged 10–18 (M = 14.18; SD = 2.31). A meaningful factor structure emerged from our instrument with two of the three factors, Rule Non-Compliance and Peer Conflict, predicting self-reported antisocial behavior while demonstrating sensitivity to age and gender. These findings are encouraging in our aim to “bridge” the measurement gap, by developing a reliable and valid measure of antisocial thinking applicable to older children and adolescents.