This study examines the association between adolescents' relational schemas and their subjective understanding of interactions in the context of male-female romantic relationships. We employed an innovative multimodal methodology: the video-recall system [Welsh, D. P., & Dickson, J. W. (2005). Video-recall procedures for examining subjective…

Homeless youth (HY) who lack employment in the formal economy typically turn to the street economy (e.g., prostitution, drug selling) for survival. Guided by the theory of social control, the present paper explores factors influencing HY's initiation into the street economy. Eighty HY (ages 15-23) were recruited from four community-based…

We test theoretically informed hypotheses using survey reports of adolescents attending three middle schools in the outskirts of Fuzhou, Fujian, China. Results yielded by regression analyses are quite consistent with the hypothesized relationships, that is, Chinese singleton adolescents are more likely to anticipate going to college than…

This study investigated age and gender differences in the quality of attachment to mothers, fathers, and peers, and the association of attachment with measures of self-evaluation in 584 Chinese adolescents in junior high, high school, and university. Their responses to the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment indexed attachment quality, and…

Mentoring programs hold great promise for fostering competency in disadvantaged youth. Although considerable theoretical work has been conducted to explain the role of mentoring relationships in promoting positive youth outcomes, very little empirical research has directly investigated this alliance. The present study developed and validated a…

Background: Previous studies of the determinants of drunkenness among youth investigated the contribution of a limited range of variables measuring social control. For the first time in France, this study including 1295 participants aged 14-19 years aimed at assessing the relative contribution of a broad range of multidimensional variables…

Aggressive, violent and antisocial behaviour in children and adolescents is a growing concern across the globe. Targeting parent-teen relationships is critical in reducing problem behaviour. "Connect" is a manualized ten-week program for parents or alternative caregivers of at-risk teens that focuses on the building blocks of secure attachment:…

This study explored correlations between risk factors and eating behavior problems in late adolescent, non-clinical females (N = 301). Participants completed questionnaires for assessing eating problems, the closely associated factors of Body Mass Index (BMI) and body dissatisfaction, and a number of other risk variables that are thought to be…

One hundred and forty adolescent students were assessed on measures of attachment, social rank (social comparison and submissive behaviour), and depression and anxiety symptoms. Secure attachment was significantly correlated with positive social comparison and inversely with submissive behaviour, depression and anxiety symptoms. In contrast,…

Examines two core assumptions of attachment theory: internal working models of attachment should increase in stability during development, and attachment is related to the adaptive solution of stage-salient issues, in adolescence, specifically to identity formation. Results show secure attachment representation was positively associated with the…

We examined social participation in organized clubs and groups from childhood to adolescence in a sample of young people from Dunedin, New Zealand. Groups were broadly categorized as ''sports'' and ''cultural/youth'' groups. While the results indicated high levels of participation in childhood with a decline over the ensuing adolescent years, path…

This study examined the linkages between identity formation and romantic attachment in an ethnically diverse sample of high school (n=189) and college students (n=324). Individuals in the foreclosed identity status group had significantly lower relationship avoidance scores than the diffused identity status group, and the foreclosed group had…

Variations in attachment-autonomy configurations are explored as these relate to substance use and several adolescent competencies. Analyses of subgroups representing four attachment-autonomy patterns, derived from cluster analysis, showed higher competency levels and fewer problems related to substance use for the group combining strong…

This study contrasted offsprings' attachment patterns and recollections of parent characteristics in two college samples: 147 females from intact biological parents and 157 females of parental divorce. Secure females from intact or non-intact families rated parents positively, while insecure females rated parents as absent, distant, and demanding.…

Discusses the use of religion in the lives of adolescents to repair problematic or disrupted attachments in the context of attachment theory and Kohut's self-psychology particularly in reference to the self-object. Proposes that adolescents do not seek to break ties with parents or adults so much as to revise their relationships in a more adult…