Examined individual differences in the relations among preadolescents' sociomoral understanding and self-understanding and teacher and peer ratings of school behavior. Findings for 239 preadolescents are discussed in terms of curricular implications for inter- and intrapersonal understandings. (SLD)

Studied the relative contribution to and function of general risk factors for mental disorders and compensatory, vulnerability, and protective factors in a sample of 1,110 preadolescents and adolescents in Switzerland. Identified general risk factors for both sexes and general compensatory factors, which included self-esteem and acceptance by…

The connections between body image disturbance and psychological functioning have been well established in samples of older adolescent girls and young women. Little is known, however, about body image in younger children. In particular, little is known about possible gender differences in preadolescent children. The current study explored…

Issues in studying pubertal events are examined, including whether puberty is best characterized as a social construction or a physical event, whether early adolescence is a transitional or distinct life period, life events associated with puberty, boundaries of early adolescence, and possible models for studying pubertal change. (Author/BW)

The relationship between adolescent autonomy and parental stress (PS) for 139 parent-adolescent dyads in a family-oriented educational program was studied via questionnaires. Stress levels were significant for parents of younger adolescents and parents of first-borns. Adolescents' adherence to parental advice and desire for autonomy strongly…

Based on data collected from 181 students across grades six to eight in rural northern Michigan, results suggest that peer substance use is highly correlated with personal substance use and increases with age. Sexual differences were also noted. (Author/PN)

A representative household sample of adolescents (ages 12-17) and their parents were interviewed. Findings support the theory that adolescent alcohol abuse is part of a complex psychosocial problem behavior syndrom. A high degree of parental nurturance may be a significant deterrence to alcohol abuse and more general deviant behavior. (Author/BS)

The incidence and continuity of smoking and drinking, precursory social-behavioral characteristics of smokers and drinkers, and life conditions related to smoking and drinking are described. Part of an extensive Finnish longitudinal study of social development, the original sample consisted of eight-year-old subjects. Follow-up studies were made…

This study distinguished between forms of self-consciousness (private self-consciousness and social anxiety) and investigated the effect of self-esteem, vulnerability to criticism, and the tendency to fantasize on each. A structural equation analysis used unobserved variables from a sample (n=1098) of adolescents, ages 12 to 19. (Author/BS)

The Self-Image Questionnaire for Young Adolescents (SIQYA), an adaptation of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ), designed to measure aspects of self-image among young adolescents, was administered to two groups of sixth graders. The development of the SIQYA is described and reliability and validity results are presented. (EGS)

A 16-item questionnaire concerning independence and 3 divergent thinking tests were administered to 3 groups of preadolescent boys (N=91) and their mothers as part of an ongoing longitudinal study of exceptional giftedness. Results indicate significant correlation of mothers' and boys' independence scores with divergent thinking test scores. (TJH)

This study drew on four cycles of longitudinal data from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth to examine the academic and behavioural trajectories of youth between 10 and 15 years of age as a function of maternal age at childbearing. The analyses controlled for several family characteristics and examined the mediating…

First- and second-year findings of a survey of the development of disordered eating in 80 fourth- and fifth-grade girls and 85 boys are presented. Results, especially findings about body mass index and pubertal development, emphasize gender differences and the importance of identifying early risk factors for eating disorders. (SLD)

The present study was designed to assess body mass index (BMI), self-esteem, parent and peer relations, negative affect, and perfectionism, as predictors of dieting, food preoccupation, and muscle preoccupation, in 326 preadolescent children (150 girls and 176 boys) aged between 8 and 10 years. Preadolescents were tested twice over a 10-month…

Two groups of boys and their parents were given five divergent thinking tests as one part of a longitudinal investigation on exceptional giftedness in early adolescence. Canonical and bivariate analyses indicated that there was a strong correlation between the adolescents' divergent thinking test scores and their parents' scores. (Author/LMO)