Peer knowledge of and reactions to adolescent suicide

Questionnaire data were obtained from 120 high school students on their (1) knowledge of risk factors that identify potential suicidal behavior in peers, (2) attitudes toward peers who attempt or commit suicide, and (3) ability to respond appropriately to suicidal messages from peers. Overall, relatively few adolescents possessed accurate information, and many had misinformation concerning various warning signs. Furthermore, respondents expressed negative attitudes toward peers who attempt or commit suicide, and generally were unable to respond sensitively and appropriately to suicidal communications. These results have implications for suicide education programs for adolescents.This study was based on a Masters Thesis conducted by the first author under the direction of the latter two authors. Preliminary results of this investigation were presented at the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, 1988.Received M.A. in clinical psychology from Loyola University. Current research interests include bulimia and alcoholism.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Vanderbilt University. Primary research interests involve community psychology, prevention programs, and child psychology.Received Ph.D. from University of Chicago. Research interests include issues in adolescence and eating disorders.     

A self-report measure of pubertal status: Reliability,validity, and initial norms

Puberty is a central process in the complex set of changes that constitutes the transition from childhood to adolescence. Research on the role of pubertal change in this transition has been impeded by the difficulty of assessing puberty in ways acceptable to young adolescents and others involved. Addressing this problem, this paper describes and presents norms for a selfreport measure of pubertal status. The measure was used twice annually over a period of three years in a longitudinal study of 335 young adolescent boys and girls. Data on a longitudinal subsample of 253 subjects are reported. The scale shows good reliability, as indicated by coefficient alpha. In addition, several sources of data suggest that these reports are valid. The availability of such a measure is important for studies, such as those based in schools, in which more direct measures of puberty may not be possible.This research was supported by a grant to A.C.P. from the National Institutes of Mental Health (MH 38052/38142).She earned the Ph.D. in Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistical Analysis at the University of Chicago. Her research interests focus on biopsychosocial development in adolescence.She earned the Ph.D. in Human Development at the University of Chicago. Her research interests focus on social development and gender roles.She earned the Ph.D. in Human Development at the University of Chicago. Her research interests focus on adolescent development and gender issues.His research interests focus on parent-adolescent relationships.     

The Effect of Interviewer Gender on the Survey Response

We examined the existence of gender-of-interviewer effects in two local-area surveys in which male and female interviewers were randomly assigned to interview male and female respondents. Small but consistent gender-of-interviewer effects arose on questions related to the women's movement, women's issues, and gender equality, demonstrating that, as expected, respondents were more likely to provide feminist answers to female interviewers. Gender-of-interviewer effects were somewhat more pronounced and consistent on controversial political topics: the women's movement (feminists and political activism) and their policy agenda. There was mixed evidence on whether respondents were equally susceptible to gender-of-interviewer effects. In one of the surveys, gender-of-interviewer effects were more pronounced among less well-educated and younger respondents than among respondents who were better educated or older. This effect was not replicated in the second survey.     

Shaping Administrative Reform and Governance: An Examination of the Political Nexus Triads in Three Asian Countries

When addressing administrative reform, many scholars have referred to the fact that governments confront multiple internal challenges such as fiscal stress, distrust of bureaucracy, and higher demands for public services (Peters and Savoie 1995). Externally, governments become more sensitive to global issues and tend to be more influenced by international environments (Garcia-Zamor and Khator 1994). Faced with internal and external challenges, governments seek new paradigms for governance (Ingraham and Romzek 1994) and often initiate administrative reform (AR) aimed at enhancing governmental performance and improving the administrative system through technological advances, managerial improvements, administrative innovations and continued enhancement of administrative capabilities (Caiden 1991). Administrative reform and its diffusion among Western countries are well documented in the literature (Campbell and Peters 1988; Savoie 1994; Halligan 1996; Peters and Savoie 1995). However, studies are skewed toward Western countries and little attention has been paid to Asia. Even less attention has been paid to comparative studies on Asian administrative reform, even though many Asian countries have developed their own AR trajectories to improve public efficiency and productivity (Burns 1994; Zhang, De Guzman, and Reforma 1992). As many students of comparative public administration (CPA) understand, it is always a challenging task, both methodologically and theoretically, to examine a group of different countries (Aberbach and Rockman 1987; Heady 1996a; 1996b; Peters 1988; Peters 1996). It is an even more challenging and controversial task to develop a single comparative framework from which we can examine different countries. This article attempts to fill a gap in the literature by examining Asian AR from a comparative perspective. First, we propose an exploratory theoretical framework, a Political Nexus Triad (PNT). PNT is an extended model, which adds civil society as the third dimension to the traditional politics-administration model. We suggest the PNT and its dynamic trajectory as a building block of the comparative study of Asian administrative reform. This is similar to the power interaction models in which Peters (1988) addresses the power interactions between politicians and bureaucrats. 1 Peters (1988) suggests the “pursuit of power” as one of the following four dependent variables for the comparative study of public bureaucracy: an individual level, an organizational level, a behavioral level and a power level. With respect to the power level, Peters develops five ideal-type models: a formal/legal model, a village life model, a functional village life model, an adversarial model and an administrative state model.
¹ Second, we examine the conventional patterns of PNT for three Asian countries: China, Japan, and Korea. Third, we survey AR of the three countries, focusing on actors, contents and potential impacts to the new PNT. Finally, we discuss conclusions and comparisons