Relations of Stress and Drinking Motives to Young Adult Alcohol Misuse: Variations by Gender

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Theory and empirical findings have linked stress exposure to young adult alcohol misuse, but the processes underlying this association have not been fully...     

Pubertal timing and grade effects on adjustment

Effects on adjustment of biological maturation and social timing were compared using data from a longitudinal sample of 335 young adolescents, who were followed from the sixth through eighth grades. Biological maturation was estimated from the relative timing of the adolescent growth spurt. Social timing was assessed by grade in school. Five adjustment constructs were examined: school achievement (course grades in five subjects), family relations (a 17-item scale), peer relations (a 10-item scale), body image (an 11-item scale), impulse control (an 8-item scale), and psychopathology (an 11-item emotional tone scale and an 11-item general psychopathology scale). All but one adjustment construct showed grade effects, but only three of the six constructs showed pubertal timing effects. There were no grade by pubertal timing effects. Although there were gender differences for some of the adjustment constructs, there were no gender by pubertal timing effects. The results are discussed in terms of the life-span developmental perspective.Received Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1973. Research interest is biopsychosocial development in early adolescence, with a focus on sex differences.Received Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Research interests are social development, biosocial interactions in early adolescence, and sex differences.     

Zum Begriff des Betretens des Waldes aus Erholungsgründen. Zur Nutzung eines nach Berliner Waldgesetz im Wald ausgewiesenen Hundeauslaufgebiets durch einen gewerblichen Hundeausführservice

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On Measuring and Reducing Selection Bias With a Quasi‐Doubly Randomized Preference Trial

Randomized experiments provide unbiased estimates of treatment effects, but are costly and time consuming. We demonstrate how a randomized experiment can be leveraged to measure selection bias by conducting a subsequent observational study that is identical in every way except that subjects choose their treatment—a quasi‐doubly randomized preference trial (quasi‐DRPT). Researchers first strive to think of and measure all possible confounders and then determine how well these confounders as controls can reduce or eliminate selection bias. We use a quasi‐DRPT to study the effect of class time on student performance in an undergraduate introductory microeconomics course at a large public university, illustrating its required design elements: experimental and choice arms conducted in the same setting with identical interventions and measurements, and all confounders measured prospectively to treatment assignment or choice. Quasi‐DRPTs augment randomized experiments in real‐world settings where participants choose their treatments.     

Parent and Peer Pathways to Adolescent Delinquency: Variations by Ethnicity and Neighborhood Context

Effects of ethnicity and neighborhood quality often are confounded in research on adolescent delinquent behavior. This study examined the pathways to delinquency among 2,277 African American and 5,973 European American youth residing in high-risk and low-risk neighborhoods. Using data from a national study of youth, a meditational model was tested in which parenting practices (parental control and maternal support) were hypothesized to influence adolescents' participation in delinquent behavior through their affiliation with deviant peers. The relationships of family and neighborhood risk to parenting practices and deviant peer affiliation were also examined. Results of multi-group structural equation models provided support for the core meditational model in both ethnic groups, as well as evidence of a direct effect of maternal support on delinquency. When a similar model was tested within each ethnic group to compare youths residing in high-risk and low-risk neighborhoods, few neighborhood differences were found. The results indicate that, for both African American and European American youth, low parental control influences delinquency indirectly through its effect on deviant peer affiliation, whereas maternal support has both direct and indirect effects. However, the contextual factors influencing parenting practices and deviant peer affiliation appear to vary somewhat across ethnic groups. Overall the present study highlights the need to look at the joint influence of neighborhood context and ethnicity on adolescent problem behavior.     

Cross-ethnic Invariance of Self-esteem and Depression Measures for Chinese,Filipino, and European American Adolescents

Self-esteem and depression are fundamental psychological adjustment constructs in the study of adolescent well-being. Most measures of these constructs have been developed and validated using European American samples, and while the correlates and predictors of psychological adjustment have been examined in multiple cultural settings, no existing research explicitly compares the equivalence of measures of self-esteem or depression for contemporary Chinese, Filipino and European American adolescents. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (the Add Health study), this study examines the factorial invariance of self-esteem and depression measures for European American adolescents and the two largest Asian American ethnic groups in the U.S.: Chinese and Filipino Americans. Results indicate strong evidence for invariance of the measure of self-esteem; however, the often-used measure of depression (CES-D) does not satisfy basic tests of measurement invariance for Asian Americans in this sample.