This study explored the relationship between social interaction anxiety (SIA) and problematic smartphone use (PSU) among Chinese adolescents. Further, the roles of online basic psychological needs satisfaction (online BPNS), nature connectedness (NC), and related differences between urban and rural adolescents were examined. We recruited 840…

The goal of this study was to document comorbidity profiles of psychiatric disorder and perceived need for treatment among urban adolescents with unmet behavioral health needs. Participants were 303 community-referred adolescents and their primary caregivers. Adolescents included both boys (54%) and girls and were primarily Hispanic (58%), African…

African American youth residing in low income urban neighborhoods are at increased risk of experiencing negative life events in multiple domains, increasing their risk for internalizing and externalizing behaviors. However, little is known about youth's differential responses to life event stress, or protective processes and coping strategies for…

This study examined relations between effortful control, parent-adolescent conflict, and teacher-student relationships and the concurrent and longitudinal impact of these factors on adolescent depression and misconduct. In particular, we examined whether the risks of low effortful control and parent-adolescent conflict could be buffered by…

The present study tested for mediators of the relation between neighborhood risk characteristics and internalizing and externalizing symptoms in a sample of 1,120 low-income urban adolescents. Results indicate that a composite of census tract variables predicted both internalizing and externalizing symptoms in this sample. Stressful life events…

The theory of sensation seeking has conceptualized this construct as a stable personality trait associated with a variety of problem behaviors. Reckless behavior theory posits that increases in reckless behavior during adolescence can be attributed, in part, to increases in sensation seeking. This study evaluated patterns of stability and change…

Given prevalence rates and negative consequences that adolescents' perpetration of dating violence may have on an individual's well-being and future relationships, it is imperative to explore factors that may increase or reduce its occurrence. Thus, we aimed to identify how multiple contextual risk factors (individual, family, schools, and…

Traditional approaches to education and youth work were transformed by two psychologists who came to the United States as Hitler rose to power. Practical theorist Kurt Lewin challenged mechanistic ideas of behavior by studying children in their natural "life space." Theory practitioner Fritz Redl applied life space concepts to work with…

Transactional theories of development suggest that displaying high levels of antisocial behavior early in life and persistently over time causes disruption in multiple life domains, which in turn places individuals at risk for negative life outcomes. We used longitudinal data from 1,137 primarily African American urban youth (49.1% female) to…

Hierarchical regression analyses were used to identify factors that functioned as either promotive or protective factors against the impact of ecological risk on the psychological adjustment of 112 African American and 94 European American adolescents (13-19 years of age). Indicators of ecological risk, promotive/protective factors, and adjustment…

Rural/urban differences were studied in self-reported stress, coping, and behavioral problems in adolescents. Levels of stress and ways of coping were similar between the two groups. However, urban males reported more conflict and externalizing behaviors than females and rural males. Results suggest that adolescents may utilize many coping…

This article presents findings from a survey mailed to caseworkers, who answered questions about special needs, independent living skills, educational attainment, and services for 416 randomly selected foster youth in Illinois. A third of the adolescents had a mental health disorder, developmental disability, or other special need that their…

Examined relationships among cigarette use, alcohol use, marijuana use, delinquency, and sexual intercourse in 1,271 seventh and 966 ninth graders in urban school system in which most students were African American and from low-income families. Measures of problem behavior frequency were positively correlated with each other and negatively…

Studied when and how adolescent girls become involved in violent street crime as well as the explanatory factors for this criminal behavior. Subjects were 85 incarcerated women in New York City. Results suggest a need to better understand the impact of neighborhood, peer, and addiction factors in female adolescent criminal violence. (GLR)

This report highlights two studies that are part of the Program of Research on the Causes and Correlates of Delinquency sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). The Rochester Youth Development Study and the Pittsburgh Youth Study have tracked a sample of urban males through their teenage years. These studies…