This report surveys the basic research on how children understand and respond to television advertising messages in order to determine whether regulation is necessary. The implications of the research findings for likely marketplace developments in an unregulated environment are discussed, and it is concluded that there is no sound basis to expect…

The document examines the roles of peer relations and parent monitoring in increasing children's risk of developing a deviant network of friends. Subjects were approximately 200 boys and their families. Boys were assessed in school and interviewed when 9-10 years old and when 11-12 years old. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the…

Based on the social cognitive perspective which assumes that children and teenagers internalize social values, this study focused on the psychological processes involved in the internalization of responsibility by young adolescents. The study examined whether preadolescents experienced social goals, ethical evaluations, and perceptions of efficacy…

In recent years, society has emphasized the desirability of being thin. Although children may learn the attractiveness of being thin from society, another influential component may be their parents' attitudes toward food, eating, and eating restraint. This study investigated the dieting practices and beliefs in fourth-grade children and their…

Drawing on theoretical and empirical studies, this paper hypothesized that attitudes towards the use of violence and the use of aggressive and violent behavior among preadolescent African American males would be affected by verbal aggression in the home, violence observed in the community, family environment, and peer models. Data on aggressive…

Inner-city mothers (N=86) and their 8- to 12-year-old children completed a 60-minute interview on the consequences of drug use, and overall concepts of health. A 15-minute conversation between mother and child regarding health was taped and coded for content and nature of the messages exchanged. Mothers and children also independently completed…

This paper describes the KIDLINK Project, a worldwide e-mail exchange with children from 10 to 15 years of age, which was created as part of the 1990 Children's Cultural Week in Arendahl, Norway, by Odd de Presno, a Norwegian journalist and author of computer books. The goal of the project is to create a global dialog among as many children as…

A study at South Carolina State College examined the psychosocial effects of relaxation training on student dropout, disruptive behavior,and absenteeism of rural preadolescents between 10 and 14 years of age. Phase 1 of the study was composed of 62 preadolescents selected randomly from 167 middle school students with no previous instruction in…

A community-based sexuality education program for parents and their puberty-aged children is described, and findings of a follow-up survey of the program are reported. The program was developed to provide factual information about puberty and sexuality which would serve as a basis for increased communication about sexuality between parents and…

Divergent thinking tests are probably the most commonly used measure of children's creative thinking. A study was conducted to examine the influence of environmental cues on the divergent thinking of children between the ages of 11 and 13. All subjects received the Uses, Instances, and Line-Meanings divergent thinking tests. Each test involved…

The paucity of research on children's conceptions of mental illness seems surprising considering the recent interest in social cognition and person perception in children, and the contention that stereotypes of mental illness are learned in childhood. A study was conducted in a large midwestern city to survey the attitudes of children toward…

Ebata (1985) showed that among young adolescent boys high achievement was associated with better adjustment while low achievement was associated with poorer adjustment. A study was conducted to determine whether this pattern would generalize to links between achievement and self-image for boys and to describe the pattern of relationship between…

This study examined whether problem behavior in early adolescent girls was associated with pubertal processes and other life events and whether social support and positive relationships buffered the adolescent from possible negative effects of biological and social events. White girls (N=150) between the ages of 10 and 13 years completed the Youth…

Building on prior literature on adults' and children's appraisals of stressors, this study investigated relations among negative and positive appraisal biases, negative divorce events, and children's post-divorce adjustment. Subjects were 79 custodial nonremarried mothers and their children ages 9 to 13 who had experienced parental divorce within…

Research indicates that a secure relationship with the custodial parent buffers children from some of the negative consequences of divorce. To test the hypothesis that the quality of open communication between mothers and children as well as their perceptions of acceptance and rejection moderate children's appraisals of divorce and their…