Do mothers know their teenagers' friends? Implications for individuation in early adolescence

This study addresses three issues: (1) Do mothers and teenagers agree less than mothers and children about their friends? (2) Are family and individual characteristics related to agreement? (3) Is agreement related to subsequent substance use? One hundred ten subjects and their mothers provided information on the friendship network at 9 and 13 years, individual and family characteristics at 13 years, and substance use at 15 years. The results indicate little change in the percent of friends the mother knows from middle childhood to early adolescence, although the number of friends the mother does not know does increase significantly. High mother teenager agreement about opposite-sex friends is related to close family relations, social and moral competence, and a lower likelihood of cigarette use. The findings are discussed as they relate to the constructs of individuation in adolescence and parental monitoring.     

Book reviews

In a Collapsing Empire: Underdevelopment, Ethnic Conflicts and Nationalisms in the Soviet Union. Marco Buttino (editor). Milano: Fondazione Giangiacomo Fentrinelli, 1993, 375 pp, Lire80,000.

The Turkic Peoples of the World. Margaret Bainbridge (editor). London: Kegan Paul International, 1993, 403 pp, £65.

Where Two Worlds Met. The Russian State and the Kalmyk Nomads, 1600–1771. Michael Khodarkovsky. Cornell University Press, 1992, 278 pp, illus, index.

Please Don't Call it Soviet Georgia. Mary Russell. London: Serpent's Tail, 1991, viii, 268 pp, £9.99.

Georgia: a Rebel in the Caucasus. Peter Nasmyth. London, Cassell, 1992, 222 pp, £16.99.

Looking Toward Ararat: Armenia in Modern History. Ronald Grigor Suny. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1993, xiii, 289 pp, $17.95.

Muslim‐Christian Encounters. William Montgomery Watt. Routledge, 1991, 164 pp, index.

The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia. Peter Hopkirk. London: John Murray, 1990, xiv, 562 pp, illus, £19.95.

The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia. Peter Hopkirk. New York: Kodansha, 1992, xxiv, 564 pp, illus, $30.00.

Francis Younghusband and the Great Game. Anthony Verrier. London: Jonathan Cape, 1991, xviii, 238 pp, illus, £18.00.     

Leisure Behavior Pattern Stability During the Transition from Adolescence to Young Adulthood

Leisure is an important context in which human development occurs. Changes in leisure behavior patterns may indicate changing developmental needs or reflect contextual changes that impact leisure behavior. The transition from adolescence to young adulthood provides an excellent opportunity for the study of the stability of leisure behavior as individuals' contexts are changed with the adoption of adult roles and the potential for disruption of leisure patterns exists. Previous studies investigating leisure and the transition from adolescence to young adulthood have tended to be cross-sectional and focus on specific leisure behaviors rather than identifying patterns of leisure behavior. The present study involved a longitudinal investigation of leisure behavior patterns over a three-year period during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood, and determined the nature of leisure pattern stability and instability during this period. In general, leisure pattern stability was the most common pathway into young adulthood. The patterns of leisure behavior and the nature of the changes that occurred with the transition from adolescence to young adulthood differed to some degree for males and females, although similarities in patterns and transitions were also found.     

Intimate partner violence, PTSD, and adverse health outcomes

The high prevalence of adverse health outcomes related to intimate partner violence (IPV) is well documented. Yet we know little about the pathways that lead to adverse health outcomes. Research concerning the psychological, biological, neurological, behavioral, and physiological alterations following exposure to IPV--many of which are associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)--represents a promising area of empirical discovery. New technologies and interdisciplinary collaborative efforts are required to integrate diverse methodologies and to apply new findings to improving the health and well being of those affected by IPV. This article focuses on victimization by IPV and addresses the most important research findings in the last 20 years (health and mental health burden of IPV), the most important research issue for the next decade (pathways between IPV and adverse health outcomes), and the most promising methodological innovation for the study of IPV (integrated, interdisciplinary, biobehavioral methodology).