This study aimed at testing a model in which cognitive, dispositional, and social factors were integrated into a single perspective as predictors of gambling behavior. We also aimed at providing further evidence of gender differences related to adolescent gambling. Participants were 994 Italian adolescents (64% Males; Mean age = 16.57).…

The well-documented higher rates of depression among sexual minority youth are increasingly viewed by developmentalists as a byproduct of the stigmatization of sexual minority status in American society and of the negative impact this stigma has on the processes associated with depression. This study attempted to spur future research by testing…

Several risk factors, including female sex, racial minority status, and family poverty, have been implicated in adolescents' depression. The present study focused on the role of one specific aspect of adolescents' ecological context, interactions with adults, in depressive symptomology. We examined the relationship between perceived support from…

Although drinking motives have been largely studied, research taking into account the Mediterranean drinking culture and focusing on motives specifically associated to adolescents' developmental tasks is lacking. For these reasons the study investigates drinking motives in a group of Italian adolescents and their relationships with drunkenness and…

This article examines major risk factors for suicide among sexual minority youth using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. Although suicidal behavior among sexual minority youth is a major public concern in the United States, understanding of this phenomenon has been limited since the majority of empirical research studies have addressed…

This study examined the co-occurrence of subtypes of substance use and bullying behaviors using latent class analysis and evaluated latent class differences in demographic characteristics, peer and parental influences. Self-reported questionnaire data were collected from a nationally representative sample (N = 7508) of 6-10th grade adolescents in…

The global development community has focused in recent decades on closing the gender gap in education, but has given insufficient attention to the specific needs of pre- and post-pubescent girls as they transition to young womanhood within the educational institution. This study explored the social context of girls' experiences of menses and…

This paper examines the relationship between low empathy and bullying while also controlling for the impact of a number of other individual and social background variables linked with bullying. This included the relationship to the prevalence of bullying, but also to the frequency and type of bullying. Questionnaires were completed by 720…

Two theoretical perspectives have been proposed to describe, explain, and intervene in adolescent development--prevention science and positive youth development (PYD). An integrative model bridging these two perspectives posits that it is important to assess the extent to which the same, similar, or complementary mechanisms may be responsible for…

This paper investigates the extent to which social support can have a buffering effect against the potentially adverse consequences of bullying on school achievement and mental health. It uses a representative multiethnic sample of adolescents attending East London secondary schools in three boroughs. Bullied adolescents were less likely to…

During social interactions people self-monitor their behavior at least partially to conceal socially devalued characteristics. This study examined the influences of concealing academic achievement on self-monitoring in an academically-relevant social interaction. An interview paradigm called for school-aged adolescent participants (total N = 86)…

Adolescence is a period of transition, marked by physical, psychological, and cognitive changes underpin by biological factors. Today's generation of young people--the largest in history--is approaching adulthood in a world vastly different from previous generations; AIDS, globalisation, urbanisation, electronic communication, migration, and…

This study tested a mediation model of the relationship with tobacco use, social network quality (level of risk or protection in a network), and substance use (alcohol and/or illicit drugs) with a sample of 301 urban adolescents. It was theorized that social network quality would mediate the effect of tobacco use, accounting for PTSD symptoms and…

The goal of the present study was to investigate meanings of sexual intercourse in adolescence, and the relationships between meanings, gender, age, and sexual behaviors. Subjects were 201 Italian adolescents (107 boys and 94 girls), aged 14-19 (M=17.44, SD=1.65). Participants completed a battery of questionnaires on meanings of sex, sexual…

This study aimed to describe the social, behavioural and offence characteristics of all convicted perpetrators of homicide aged 17 and under; to examine their previous contact with mental health services, and to discuss strategies for homicide prevention. An eight-year (1996-2004) sample of 363 juvenile homicide perpetrators in England and Wales…