Background: Research suggests significant health differences between rural dwelling youth and their urban counterparts with relation to cardiovascular risk factors. This study was conducted to (1) determine relationships between physical activity and markers of metabolic syndrome, and (2) to explore factors relating to physical activity in a…

Time spent in freely chosen leisure activities offers a distinct developmental context that can support positive youth development; however this potential for growth depends in part on adolescent interest and engagement in their free time activities. Research indicates that many adolescents report experiencing boredom, instead of interest, in…

Describes a study designed (1) to develop a parent behavior instrument suitable to the study of rural parents; (2) to study the stability of the behavior of rural parents over a one-year period; and (3) to investigate rural parent behaviors in relation to family and child demographic variables. (CT)

Details the needs identified by parents, youth, and others concerning the role played by rural parents in the career development of young people. Presents findings from a series of focus group interviews. The identified needs reflect potential activities which parents, schools, and others might use to help rural youth. (RJM)

Comparison of 57 rural adolescents choosing agriculture careers with 474 who did not shows that (1) more males than females chose agriculture; (2) parents of students choosing agriculture were less likely to have high school education; (3) students whose fathers worked in service/labor/farming or who had lower socioeconomic status were more likely…

Analysis of data from the Iowa Youth and Families Project establishes that parents' social involvement is a source of social capital for their children. Rural children's connection to a civic culture and their involvement in community groups are encouraged by parental social participation and further enhanced by parents' ties to farming. (Contains…

A sample of 176 Tennessee children and their mothers were studied in 1969 when the children were fifth or sixth graders and again in 1975 when they were eleventh or twelfth graders to determine changes in occupational and educational aspirations and expectations along with possible causes for such changes. Comparison of occupational aspirations…

Males from rural economically deprived school districts, were surveyed a fourth and final time 10 years after high school graduation. Results show over the 10-year period the occupational and educational achievements and aspirations have been significantly higher for the high-identification with their father group than for the low-identification…

The study explored the importance of parent-child rapport as it pertained to the child's career development in the context of rural Ontonagon County, Michigan. Questionnaires were self-administered to 201 high school seniors (100 boys and 101 girls) in the spring of 1974. Information was gathered on a wide range of topics dealing with the…

Using a self-report questionnaire, this study investigated smoking experimentation among 374 rural, black fifth graders and white fifth graders. Results indicated that 26% of males and 16% of females had tried cigarettes. Black students and white students had similar smoking experimentation rates. Peer and parent smoking affected students smoking…

A study examines the long-term effects of a family process program on social and cognitive competence and aggressive and deviant behavior among rural African American adolescents. Results suggest that family processes influence the status and changes in adolescent competence and behavior, while analysis of covariant structures suggest that…

This paper examines rural high school students' educational and occupational expectations and their relationships to personal, educational, school, and family characteristics. Questionnaires were distributed to all 10th and 12th graders in four small rural high schools in diverse geographic regions of Ohio. Almost all of the 491 respondents were…

Extending application of Svalastoga's (1965) concept of system permeability to the intrasystem analysis of sex-race differentials in educational permeability in the rural South, an operational procedure was developed to quantify permeability as the percent variation in filial attainment of a status not associated with variations in parental…

Questionnaire data gathered from 142 high school students in a rural Montana town were used to identify the sources of influence in setting occupational and educational goals and to analyze the amounts of information transmitted from various categories of significant others. Results showed that for both occupation and education, peers and,…

Using data obtained from recent cross-national and longitudinal studies, the link between family influences and the traditional patterns of school achievement were assessed in terms of rural educational mobility and sex differentials within the context of the "sponsored" system of Norway's schools and the "contest" system…