Is an attenuated physiological response to family conflict, seen in some youth exposed to early adversity, protective or problematic? A longitudinal study including 54 youth (average age 15.2 years) found that those with higher cumulative family aggression exposure showed lower cortisol output during a laboratory-based conflict discussion with…

Provides an overview of recent behavior-genetic studies of personality that document (1) the demonstration of genetic bases for stability of certain personality dimensions, (2) evidence suggesting the most influential environmental sources of variation are those not jointly experienced by family members, and (3) continuing controversy regarding…

Introduces structural modeling with nonnormal continuous variables, using the equations language of the micro-mainframe program EQS in the context of a longitudinal study of adolescent development that followed about 700 adolescents across an 8-year span into young adulthood. Two models are developed to assess the influence of drug use on…

The effects of selective dropout and retesting on the assessment of developmental changes in abilities during adolescence are examined. (ST)

Investigates, among delinquent and nondelinquent subjects ages 10 to 11 and 14 to 15 years, differences exhibited on moral reasoning tasks, social problem solving/metacognition, effects of clues on performance on a social problem-solving task, effects of age, and the interaction of age and delinquency. (Author/RH)

Interviews 100 first borns (12-14 years) and their parents, where both were Australian-born and where parents were Italian-born and children Australian-born, to separate family transmission effects from generational similarities in culture. Proposes that studies across generations should distinguish between actual and perceived agreement and…

Reviews the findings of the eight studies in this special section on children and ethnic/political violence, focusing on the contributions and limitations of research in this area and suggestions for future research. (MDM)

Presents a synthesis and overview of literature on identity development in the childhood and adolescence of young people in ethnic and minority groups in the United States. (PCB)

Asked Dutch university and Russian high school students to sort statements in terms of moral sophistication to investigate hierarchical stage structure of moral stages. Found that sorting statements representative of stages below one's own was straightforward; sorting statements above one's stage was difficult, suggesting that reflective…

Examined parent/peer linkages and how both types of experiences influence substance use in European-American adolescents. Found that mothers' responsiveness lessened adolescents' peer orientation, which reduced substance use. This process was moderated by maternal values regarding adolescent alcohol use. Among fathers, closer monitoring was…