Although research has established that school adjustment is associated with marijuana use (MU) in adolescence, few studies have tested these associations bidirectionally. Using random intercepts cross-lagged panel modeling, this study examined reciprocal associations between MU and school adjustment across 8th to 10th grade, including the…

This article examined parenting styles and prosocial behaviors as longitudinal predictors of academic outcomes in U.S. Mexican youth. Adolescents (N = 462; Wave 1 M[subscript age] = 10.4 years; 48.1% girls), parents, and teachers completed parenting, prosocial behavior, and academic outcome measures at 5th, 10th, and 12th grades.…

Early detection of severe violence is a significant challenge for many schools. Three studies were conducted on samples of 6th, 8th, and 10th graders (12-16 years old). The first study, based on paired reports of teachers and students (n = 130), showed that a high percentage of both victims and perpetrators of severe violence are not identified by…

The socialization of cultural values, ethnic identity, and prosocial behaviors is examined in a sample of 749 Mexican-American adolescents, ages 9-12; M (SD) = 10.42 years (0.55); 49% female, their mothers, and fathers at the 5th, 7th, and 10th grades. Parents' familism values positively predicted their ethnic socialization practices. Mothers'…

Parental involvement in education remains important for facilitating positive youth development. This study conceptualized parental involvement as a multidimensional construct--including school-based involvement, home-based involvement, and academic socialization--and examined the effects of different types of parental involvement in 10th grade on…

The authors explored trajectories of perceived discrimination over a 6-year period (five assessments in 6th-11th grade) in relation to academic, behavioral, and psychological adjustment in 8th and 11th grades. They distinguished discrimination from adults versus peers in addition to overt versus covert discrimination from peers. The sample…

Adolescents are often resistant to interventions that reduce aggression in children. At the same time, they are developing stronger beliefs in the fixed nature of personal characteristics, particularly aggression. The present intervention addressed these beliefs. A randomized field experiment with a diverse sample of Grades 9 and 10 students (ages…

Girls have caught up with boys in math course taking in high school but reasons for taking math still differ by gender. This study, therefore, investigated gender differences in the linkage between peer relations and math course taking by applying multilevel modeling to a nationally representative data set that includes peer networks and school…

A social developmental framework was applied to test for the socialization of homophobic attitudes and behavior within adolescent peer groups (Grades 7-11; aged 12-17 years). Substantial similarity within and differences across groups were documented. Multilevel models identified a group socializing contextual effect, predicting homophobic…

The high school transition was examined in an ethnically diverse, urban sample of 1,979 adolescents, followed from 7th to 10th grade (M[subscript age] = 14.6, SD = 0.37 in 7th grade). Twice annually, data were gathered on adolescents' perceptions of school climate, psychological functioning, and academic behaviors. Piecewise growth modeling…

A dynamic cascade model of development of serious adolescent violence was proposed and tested through prospective inquiry with 754 children (50% male; 43% African American) from 27 schools at 4 geographic sites followed annually from kindergarten through Grade 11 (ages 5-18). Self, parent, teacher, peer, observer, and administrative reports…