This article presents a discursive psychological approach in examining the ways that adolescent boys (ages 12-15 years) accomplish a sense of "maturity" by bringing off and managing certain features of "heterosexuality" in group interaction. We focus on and analyse moments when the boys negotiate implicit challenges, make evaluations and offer…

This study examined a model of the simultaneous and interactive influence of social context, psychosocial attitudes, and individual maturity on the prediction of urban adolescent drug dealing. Five factors were found to significantly increase adolescents' opportunity for drug selling: low parental monitoring, poor neighborhood conditions, low…

Adolescents must be viewed as social assets even though there is reason to be concerned about the problems they present to society. Initial discussion relates difficulties adolescents face, problems with adults' perceptions of adolescents, differences in the difficulty of transition to adulthood for youth in different social classes, and the…

The development of The Psychosocial Maturity Inventory, an attitude inventory based on an interdisciplinary model of psychosocial maturity, is described. It is a self-report instrument comprised of nine subscales and is suited for the assessment of youngsters in the approximate age range 11-18. (Author/BJG)

Based on a paper presented at the Groves Conference, Boston, Massachusetts, April, 1968.

A total of 20 boys and girls from grades 1, 4, 7, and 11 were interviewed on the topic of deviant behavior among their peers. They were also asked to make deviance judgments on two story characters whose behaviors exemplified qualities that typically evoke an attribution of psychological disorder on the part of adult judges. One story described…

Compared 12 right-handed adolescent females with a history of idiopathic precocious puberty to 12 closely pair-matched normal controls of similar maturational status to test the association of physical maturation with cognitive abilities and the mediation of this association by hemispheric specialization. (HOD)

The period of major risk for initiation to cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana is completed mostly by age 20, and to illicit drugs other than cocaine by age 21. Overall patterns are similar for both sexes, with men initiating all drugs (except prescribed psychoactives) at higher rates than women. (Author/GC)

Six hundred adolescents and 25 teachers responded to incidents containing a moral issue. Overall there was moral development with age, as suggested by Piaget, but many (by Piaget's definitions) immature responses were recorded on some incidents, even by adults. The context in which issues were presented was an important influence. (Author/SJL)

Describes the results of four longitudinal studies of adolescent development that focus on coping styles, maturity of defenses, adaptation to school environments, and predictors of educational and occupational attainment. Implications are discussed in terms of linking adolescence with other phases of development. (Author/SS)

Examined the social structural conditions under which helpful behavior are elicited, the interrelations of helpfulness and competence across two years of middle adolescence, and whether social circumstances moderate the effects of helpfulness on competence. Found that both boys' and girls' helpfulness in the home was responsive to family need,…

Children and adolescents (n=40) with congenital or adventitious blindness were exposed to two unfamiliar environments. Evaluation of subjects' spatial representations (through construction of models and estimates of distance) found that age appeared to be more important than learning in their development of spatial representation skills. (DB)

Describes an early-entrance program which enables gifted adolescents to enter college without attending high school. A study involving 31 participants indicated varying degrees of comfort in diverse social situations; however, all believed themselves to be more mature than had they gone to high school. (Author/CR)

Two studies investigated relationship between adolescents' subjective age and self-reported problem behavior, autonomy, and peer relationships. Findings indicated that older subjective age among 15-year olds correlated positively with problem behaviors, behavioral autonomy, and involvement with other-sex peers. When chronological age and pubertal…

This article presents the author's views on the present situation of American high schools. The current American high school system fails in satisfying the demands placed upon it by all sectors of American society in all classes, regions and ethnicities. He further points out several problems. Along with it, he discusses some academic adjustments…