Differentiating specialists and generalists within college students' social support networks

In order to examine the relationships among social network structure, types of social support, and determinants of support satisfaction, an alternative method was used to score the Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ). Factor analysis procedures suggested that college students' (N=198) social networks consisted of four groups: nuclear family, other family, friends, and others. Satisfaction with support was positively related to the proportion of the network occupied by nuclear family and negatively related to the proportion of friends in the network. Evidence was found for the presence of both support specialists and support generalists in the networks of the college students. These results are discussed from a developmental perspective with attention to the implications for interventions.     

Extension of the color suite available for chemical enhancement of fingerprints in blood

The use of ortho- and para-phenylenediamine (OPD & PPD respectively) for the enhancement of fingerprints in blood has been investigated. Optimal pH conditions and H2O2 concentrations have been determined using UV/Vis spectroscopy. Both OPD and PPD are effective and less hazardous alternatives to the presently used 3,3'-diaminobenzidine (DAB) for the development of blood fingerprints, especially on porous surfaces. The orange color of OPD and the purple color of PPD offer alternative colors to the brown color of DAB and the light green color of ABTS for standing out against particular backgrounds. Both OPD and PPD can be used after ninhydrin treatment, but the reverse is not the case.     

The Influence of Future Certainty and Contextual Factors on Delinquent Behavior and School Adjustment Among African American Adolescents

This study examined the ability of future certainty—an individual's perception of future stability, operationalized as the likelihood of certain life outcomes–to explain variance in delinquency and school adjustment, while controlling for economic, neighborhood, and family factors, among a cross-sectional sample of 1422 male and 1562 female African American adolescents drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Three kinds of future certainty were examined: future life certainty (e.g., life expectancy), marriage certainty, and college certainty. In hierarchical multiple regression analyses, future certainty and family functioning were stronger predictors than economic and neighborhood variables: neighborhood disorganization and family socioeconomic status. Future life certainty and expectations of attending college were stronger predictors of delinquency among males than females. Marriage certainty was the weakest predictor of the three certainty variables.     

Predictors of Adolescents’ Disclosure to Parents and Perceived Parental Knowledge: Between- and Within-Person Differences

Adolescents’ willingness to share information with parents is a central process through which parents gain knowledge of their adolescents’ lives. This paper addresses four questions important to understanding adolescents’ decisions to voluntarily disclose areas of parent-adolescent disagreement: What are the contribution of parent-adolescent agreement and adolescents’ non-disclosure of disagreement to adolescents’ perceptions of parental knowledge?; Which adolescents are most likely to disclose to parents in case of disagreement?; Under what conditions are adolescents more or less likely to disclose disagreement?; and What type of non-disclosure will different adolescents use and under what conditions? Self-report data from 120 adolescents (M age=15.8) revealed that failure to disclose disagreement, but not overall agreement, predicted perceived parental knowledge. Adolescents from authoritative homes and those less involved in disapproved leisure were more likely to disclose disagreement and less likely to lie. Within-person differences in disclosure were predicted by the presence of explicit rules and adolescents’ beliefs about required obedience.Dr. Darling is a developmental psychologist whose research focuses on social relationships during adolescence, with a special interest in contextual variation in developmental processes. Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Darling atDr. Cumsille is a developmental methodologist whose research focuses on adolescent well-being.Dr. Caldwell's research focuses on the experience of adolescent leisure, with a particular interest in adolescent boredom and well-being.Dr. Dowdy is a developmental psychologist specializing in adolescent social relations.     

Reducing violence in serious juvenile offenders using intensive treatment

This study reports on the reduction in violent offending in a population of serious and violent juvenile offenders following an intensive institutional treatment program. The treatment group (N=101) is compared to a similar group that was assessed but not treated (N=147). All youth were sent to the program from a juvenile corrections institution where they had received the customary rehabilitation services. The results show a significant reduction in the prevalence of recidivism in the treated group after controlling for time at risk in the community and other covariates. The effects of non-random group assignment were reduced by including a propensity score analysis procedure in the outcome analysis. Untreated comparison youth appeared to be about twice as likely to commit violent offenses as were treated youth (44% vs. 23%). Similarly, treated youth had significantly lower hazard ratios for recidivism in the in the community than the comparison youth, even after accounting for the effects of non-random group assignment.     

Mixed-Sex Settings and the Perception of Competence

This study examines the association of self-perceptions with sixth to eighth graders' exposure to mixed-sex and dating contexts. It contrasts two hypotheses: the stress hypothesis, which suggests that the transition to romantic relationships will be associated with declines in self-esteem, especially for girls, and the leisure hypothesis, which suggests that movement into a desired role in an emotionally positive social context will be associated with positive emotions and higher self-esteem. Results indicate that adolescents experience mixed-sex settings positively, and that comfort with the other sex (for girls) and more time spent with the other sex (for boys) are predictive of more positive self-perceptions. Activity diary data suggest that these differences are due to differences in the emotional climate of same- and mixed-sex settings, rather than to the activities adolescents engage in with same- and mixed-sex groups. Dating boys who are less interested in dating experience lower self-esteem. Results are discussed in light of the transitional nature of mixed-sex relationships in early adolescence and the preparatory role played by same-sex friendships.     

Gordon Tullock’s The Organization of Inquiry: A critical appraisal

The major themes of Gordon Tullock’s 1996 book The Organization of Inquiry are identified. Tullock’s treatment of the philosophy of science is criticized, as is his explanation for the backwardness of the social sciences relative to the natural sciences. The paper closes with a listing of some of Tullock’s proposals for the reform of science.