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.     

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.     

suicidal adolescents: Family dynamics and the effects of lethality and hopelessness

The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of the family dynamics of suicidal adolescents regarding the constructs of overprotection, enmeshment, rigidity, and conflict avoidance. The relationship of the family dynamics, and adolescent's degree of hopelessness, and the lethality of the suicidal behavior were also examined. The Structural Family Interaction Scale, Marital Satisfaction Inventory, Hopelessness Scale, and lethality rating were utilized to assess the families and groups. The total sample (N=49) was comprised of two groups: the families with suicidal adolescents groups (N=34), and the nonsuicidal, symptomatic adolescents group (N=15). Results supported hypotheses that the families were similar in overprotection and enmeshment, and that suicidal families were more rigid and conflict avoidant. Hopelessness and lethality were not significant, although lethality contributed to the variance in the perceptions of marital relationships in suicidal families.Private practice in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Graduate student, currently completing a Ph.D. in counseling and human development, at The University of Iowa. Research interests include marriage and family therapy and adolescents.Received a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York. Main research interests are in family stress, and the impact of physical illness on family organization and dynamics.     

Use of drugs among Senegalese school going adolescents

Though it may appear more severe and dramatic in most industrialized nations, drug addiction has also become a matter for concern in some developing nations. The problem is even more complex when, prior to the advent of colonialism and the adoption of Western values by those countries, there already existed traditional forms of drug addiction. This paper examines the attitudes of Senegalese school-going adolescents to the problem of drug addiction. It describes the nature, development, and perception of drug addiction in the country from an historical and sociological point of view. It shows the tolerance of Senegalese society toward drugs — some were used in traditional medicine — and its rejection of hard and intermediate drugs, as they are viewed negatively by the society. The authors finally analyze the motivations of the drug addicts which also indicate, in Africa as in the West, a crisis of identity reflecting a global crisis of civilization.We are profoundly grateful to the Belgian Cooperation Service for the material assistance they kindly provided us.Master's degree in Psychopedagogy and a postgraduate in Psychosociology. Research interest is cross-cultural adolescent psychology.Doctor of mathematics and post-graduate in psychopedagogical science. Research interest is cross-cultural adolescent psychology.     

Hallucinations in nonpsychotic children and adolescents

The case histories of ten nonpsychotic patients (nine female and one male) who had experienced hallucinations are summarized. Significant anxiety and depression were found in the majority of the patients, five of whom expressed suicidal ideas. Stress factors were primarily family and school. Eight children had combined auditory and visual hallucinations, which involved dead relatives in five cases. The aims or purposes of the hallucinations were multiple, but escape mechanisms were most common. A profile of the nonpsychotic patient most likely to experience hallucinations would be a socially immature teenage girl who is experiencing depression and anxiety due to stress within the family.     

Depressive symptoms and perceived competence among Chinese secondary school students in Hong Kong

Depressive symptoms of 621 Grade 7 to Grade 12 secondary school students were assessed and described in terms of dimensions of disturbances in mood, self-image, behavior, hedonic capacity, and self-efficacy using the Childrens Depression Inventory (CDI). Using the cutoff score of 20, 24% of the adolescents would be in the depressed range. In a subsample of 319 students who also completed the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents, depressive symptom levels tended to be highest among students who perceived themselves to be relatively incompetent academically and socially, and lowest among students who perceived themselves to be academically and socially competent, supporting the cumulative effects of perceived academic and social incompetence on depressive symptoms. The relatively more elevated CDI scores and subscores among Chinese adolescents compared with US adolescents and the choice of a cutoff score for screening in the Hong Kong school population are discussed.This study was supported in part by a Chinese University of Hong Kong RGC direct grant for research.     

Family processes and adolescent adjustment in intact and remarried families

This study examines whether family processes that predict positive and negative developmental outcomes are the same in intact and remarried families. Surveys were administered to 758 tenth graders from intact families and 95 from stepfather families. Measures of cohesion, democratic decision-making style, permissiveness, and conflict were used to predict self-rated depression, worry, and self-esteem. Remarried and intact families provide similar family environments for permissiveness and democratic decision making. Remarried families are more conflictual and less cohesive than intact families. In both family types, conflict had negative effects, and cohesion and democratic decision-making had positive effects on adolescents' adjustment. In remarried families, but not intact, permissiveness was related to higher self-esteem.Received Ph.D in developmental psychology from The University of Michigan. Research interests include family influences on adolescent identity development and the effects of divorce and remarriage on adolescent adjustment.Received M.S. in child clinical psychology from Pennsylvania State University. Research interests include family processes in stepfamilies and the impact of family structure on adolescent development.     

Perception of epistemic authorities by children and adolescents

The study investigated children's and adolescents' perceptions of epistemic authorities in various knowledge domains. Children and adolescents from 4th, 8th, and 12th grades were asked to evaluate their father, mother, teacher, and friends as epistemic authorities in nine areas of knowledge content. In general, the results indicated that the perception of parents as epistemic authorities decreases with age. Nevertheless, children and adolescents continue to consider one or both parents to be the most important epistemic authorities. The perception of friends as epistemic authority increased relative to other sources in the social domains of knowledge. The perception of teachers as epistemic authority decreases with age, but in the formal knowledge domain it remains relatively stable.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Research interests concern media psychology, knowledge formation, and school psychology. Requests for reprints should be sent to Amiram Raviv at Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel 69978.Received Ph.D. in psychology from University of Pittsburgh. Research interests concern political psychology, social psychology of knowledge, and stereotyping.Received Ph.D. in statistics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Research interests concern nonparametric statistics and applied statistics.Received M.A. degree in clinical child psychology from Tel Aviv University.     

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.     

Emotional and temperamental correlates of Type A in children and adolescents

Emotional and behavioral correlates of Type A behavior in children and adolescents were examined in 184 fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-grade students, classified as high or low Type A, using self-report, teacher ratings (fifth grade only), and structured interview procedures. Measures included the Hunter-Wolf A-B Rating Scale, Behavioral Symptoms of Stress Inventory, Dimensions of Temperament Survey, Desire for Control Scale, Eysenck Personality Inventory, and the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist. High Type A children reported significantly more stressed-related behaviors, higher levels of depression, anger, anxiety, and cognitive disorganization, and greater reactivity than Low Type A. No differences were found on measures of temperament (activity level, attention span, adaptibility, and rhythmicity), desire for control, or introversion-extroversion. Females, in general, reported significantly more behavioral stress symptoms. However, no other gender differences were found. Possible reasons for reported differences between Type A children and adults are discussed, along with gender differences in behavioral symptoms. Need for multiple measures of Type A across situation is considered along with need for controlled longitudinal studies of Type A components and the influence of contexts.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: Adolescent problems, stress.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: Type A, anger/hostility; AIDS prevention.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: child & family problems, stress disorders.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: psychoneuroimmunology.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: pain disorders, stress.Received Ph.D. from Stanford.Received Ph.D. from Stanford. Research interests: anxiety and phobic disorders.     

Family interaction patterns among families with normal,disturbed, and drug-abusing adolescents

The relationships between family interaction patterns and the symptomatology of the individual family member are central to many therapeutic approaches. This study was designed to determine whether family interaction patterns differ significantly among three groups of families defined according to the adolescent offspring's symptoms. Thirty families were evaluated in a one-hour interview while three observers behind a one-way mirror rated verbal behavior and the quality of interaction between father, mother, and adolescent. Assessed behaviors included the ability to reach a decision, decision time, scapegoating, and double-bind messages. In addition, the quality of the family's interaction was assessed at four different times during the interview. The results established that the three family groups did not differ demographically. A comparison of the two disturbed family groups yielded no significant differences, with the exception of the adolescent's presenting problem and behaviors. The normal group was significantly different from the other two groups in frequency of scapegoating of the adolescent and the ability to reach a decision. Additionally, the normal families displayed clearer communication, more freedom of expression, more cooperation, and greater sensitivity among members. Several variables did not discriminate the normal group from the disturbed family groups.Received her Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr College. Research interests are adolescent psychopathology as it relates to family, group psychotherapy with adolescents, and use of the therapeutic milieu.     

Family profiles of adaptability,cohesion, and communication for learning handicapped and nonhandicapped adolescents

The family functioning of 30 nonhandicapped and 30 learning handicapped adolescents and their parents was examined. Measures of adaptability, cohesion, and communication were taken from the parent and the adolescent perspectives. Parent and adolescent perspectives on these areas of functioning were analyzed with a cluster analytic technique, which resulted in five distinct profiles of family functioning. These statistical groupings were confirmed by information gathered through participant observation from an accompanying investigation. The nature of the five clusters confirmed the existence of similar family functioning across the nonhandicapped and learning handicapped groups. Additionally, variations in reaction and adjustment to the amount of structure in the family environment by different families was documented. The importance of considering adolescent and parent perspectives separately was highlighted.Received degree from University of California, Riverside. Research interests are in the area of the social development of at-risk or mildly handicapped children and adolescents in school and family settings.Received degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. Research interests in social competence and family relations of learning handicapped populations as well as the development of family, community, and school partnerships.     

Implicit theories of intelligence and self-perceptions of academically talented adolescents and children

Beliefs about intelligence can vary from the view that it is stable to the view that it is unstable. Third through eleventh grade academically talented students (n =153) rated their beliefs on the stability of intelligence using a 6-point Likert scale. They also rated themselves on similar scales for how smart and hardworking they thought they were, and how much they liked hard tasks. Students' views of the stability of intelligence paralleled a normal distribution, with almost one-half having borderline views that can be easily modified to match environmental demands. Approximately 9% of these talented students were at risk for underachievement based on their self-perceptions of relatively low ability and the belief that intelligence is stable. High school students believed intelligence was more stable than elementary students and females described themselves as being harder workers than males. Findings may account for the differing academic experiences and performance of academically talented students over time.Received Ph.D. in Psychology from University of Maryland Baltimore County. Research interests include self-perceptions, achievement, motivation, metacognition, and family factors that contribute to the development of academic talent.Received Ph.D. in Psychology from Johns Hopkins University. Research interests include gender differences, cognitive styles, and exceptional ability. Her other interests include gifted-learning disabled students and international education.     

Political legitimacy and approval of political protest and violence among children and adolescents

A question of general theoretical relevance for political socialization research concerns the role played by basic political orientations in structuring specific political opinions. This report investigates the relationship between beliefs in the legitimacy of political objects and approval of political protest and violence among a sample of children and adolescents. The setting for the research was a Florida town. Four aspects of political legitimacy are defined and measured. Measures of approval of political protest and political violence are distinguished conceptually and empirically. Beliefs in political legitimacy are shown to be of considerable importance in structuring opinions about political violence but have little impact on opinions about protest.     

Effects of self-concept and perceived disapproval of delinquent behavior in school children

It is argued that a multidimensional approach to self-concept may reveal intricate relations between self-concept and delinquent behavior, and that perceived approval of delinquent behaviors from referent groups may be related to the frequency of their occurrence. To evaluate these hypotheses, 1668 students from Grade 7 to Grade 9 responded to a questionnaire that measured their general self-esteem; their self-concept with regard to physical ability, social ability, physical appearance, and academic ability; the frequency they committed 15 delinquent acts; and the perceived approval of committing these acts from their parents, teachers, and friends. Regression analyses indicated that poor academic self-concept and poor relationship with school and parents were related to a higher frequency of delinquent behavior. However, a higher frequency of delinquent behavior was related to a more positive selfconcept with regard to social ability and physical ability. Finally, higher perceived approval from parents and peers was related to more delinquent behavior. Implications of these findings for identifying the antecedents and consequences of delinquent behavior were discussed.Received his Ph.D. from University of Illinois in social, industrial, and organizational psychology. His research interests included cross-cultural psychology, social justice, and the psychology of adolescence.Received his Ph.D. from Purdue University, and his research interests include values, selfconcept, family processes, and the psychology of adolescence.     

Diabetic control in children and adolescents: Psychosocial factors and therapeutic efficacy

Forty-two insulin-dependent latency and adolescent age diabetics were studied over a four-month period. Half of the population received a multicomponent intervention designed to enhance diabetic regulation. Psychological and demographic variables and glycosylation of hemoglobin were correlated in order to investigate the interaction between personality factors and metabolic control. Number of life event changes predicted initial values of glycohemoglobin, while ego development predicted the magnitude of improved diabetic control.     

The role of parental perspectives in the school adjustment of innercity black children

This study investigated the relative influence of parent attitudes and behaviors on the scholastic and social adjustment of 729 low-income, black sixth graders in the Longitudinal Study of Children at Risk. Data were collected from parent questionnaires on attitudes toward education, expectations for children's educational attainment, and several indicators of behaviors with or on behalf of their children. Results indicated that parents had generally positive attitudes toward their children's schooling, had high expectations for their educational attainment, and were moderately involved in their education at home and in school. Multiple regression analyses indicated that only parents' educational expectations and satisfaction with the quality of schooling were significantly associated with reading achievement, math achievement, and teacher ratings of competence and problem behaviors above and beyond family/child background factors (e.g., parent education and SES, family structure, employment status, sex). Attitudinal factors also contributed significant variance (2.4%–9.1%) to differences in cognitive and social adjustment outcomes and, to lesser degrees, changes in social adjustment from Grades 4–6 (2.2%–5.7%). Behavioral measures had negligible influences on school adjustment outcomes. Findings suggest that affective characteristics of parents deserve special attention in educational reform and intervention efforts.Received Ph.D. from University of Illinois at Chicago. Research interests include children at risk, family and school influences.Received M.S. from Punjab Agricultural University. Research interests include family processes, early childhood education.     

Horsing around: Using equine facilitated learning to support the development of social-emotional competence of students at risk of school failure

The social-emotional issues some students experience can place them at risk of school failure. Traditional methods of support can be ineffective or not sustainable and new alternative approaches need to be attempted to support social-emotional competency, school engagement, and success for students at risk. This article discusses preliminary outcomes of an equine facilitated learning (EFL) program specifically designed to focus on using horses to improve the resilience and social-emotional competency in students perceived as “at risk” of school failure. This qualitative exploratory study used interviews and observations over a six month period to listen to the voices of the students themselves about their experiences of EFL. Initial findings from the pilot study suggest that EFL programs can be a novel and motivating way to promote resilience training and social-emotional development of students at risk of failure and, in turn, improve their level of engagement and connection with school environments.     

Development of a self-report measure of adherence for children and adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes

Two samples of insulin-dependent diabetic youths were studies in successive attempts to refine a brief patient self-report measure of general long-term adherence to a diabetic regimen. Validity and reliability were assessed for both samples by measuring a number of related variables: locus of control, stressful life events, knowledge of diabetes, parent report, and glycosylated hemoglobin. Initial evidence of validity was demonstrated in a variety of criterion areas. Both reliability and validity were replicated on the second sample. Adherence is discussed as a complex multidimensional variable, the measurement of which requires several different methods, including the selfreport measure described here. Warnings about social desirability as a confounding factor were discussed, as were suggestions for other adherence measures.Received Ph.D. in Social Treatment from the University of Chicago. Research interests include adolescent development and psychological components of physical illness.received Ph.D. from Loyola University. Research interest is adolescent depression.received M. D. from Northwestern University. Research interest is juvenile diabetes mellitus. To whom reprint requests should be sent.