Background: The frequently reported decline in the "overall" frequency and intensity of fears during late childhood and adolescence may mask different developmental patterns for two broad subclasses of fears: fears concerning physical danger and fears concerning social evaluation. It was investigated if physical fears decrease between…

Children over two standard deviations below height expectations have been described by researchers as being behaviorally immature and shown to be emotionally inhibited. The present study seeks to extend these findings by systematically evaluating what role age, sex, and etiology factors may have in the behavioral adjustment of groups of children…

This volume is the second in "The Course of Life" series which contains original contributions from an international group of scientists and clinicians who have produced much of current knowledge about the phases of human personality development. These contributions cover the continuum of human development from the prenatal phase through…

This paper discusses case studies of children psychologically disturbed by the death of parents or siblings. Illustrations of mourning facilitation were mainly gathered from 16 orphaned children, ages 3-14. Some techniques used in helping children mourn include: discussing physical details of the illness, discussing previous deaths of animals and…

This report summarizes the research and development activities of two Work units of the Schools and Maturity program from March 1, 1973 to November 30, 1975. The two Work Units described are (1) Theory Construction and Test Development, and (2) Validation of Psychosocial Maturity Scales. Abstracts of technical reports and journal articles…

Forty children with mental retardation were compared on everyday leisure-time behaviors with children without mental retardation matched for mental age (MA) or chronological age (CA). Although MA best predicted overall functioning on leisure-time behavior, CA best predicted both single highest behavior performed and highest behavior considered too…

Comments on Moshman's article in this issue concerning questions about adolescent reasoning, maturity, and rights to intellectual and other freedoms. Discusses the implications for public schools, government, and parents. Suggests that the evidence needed for a full rebuttal of the adolescent-as-child view involves demonstrated adultlike…

In two recent cases, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the authority of public secondary schools to exercise control over student publication in the school newspaper (Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, 1988) and student meetings on school premises (Board of Education v. Mergens, 1990). The Court ruled for substantial school authority with respect to the…

This digest offers guidelines to parents and educators helping gifted adolescents adjust to problems related to their giftedness. Challenges to adjustment are noted in the areas of: ownership (talented adolescents simultaneously "own" and yet question the validity of their abilities); dissonance (between their high standards and their…

This paper asserts that what is really basic in education lies first in recognizing what it means to be human, to accept the challenges and pains and joys of being alive, and to attempt not only to preserve but to raise the level of that humanity a notch or so for the next generation. It is suggested that adolescent literature can be a vehicle for…

This report presents exploratory analyses of the relative effect of various individual, school, and family characteristics on Individual Adequacy and Social Adequacy--two of the summary variables developed to measure theoretical components of psychosocial maturity. Multivariate analyses were conducted using sex, parental education, racial…

The junior high school, comprised of grades 7-9, was originally organized to meet the special needs of adolescent students. Current trends in school reorganization favor a middle school comprised of grades 6-8, raising the problem of where to place the ninth grade in the school organization. Assuming that ninth graders should be placed with…

This course enables teenagers to examine their present level of achievement of the developmental goals involved in the process of maturing toward adulthood. The factors involved in achieving sexual identity, emotional independence, effective social relationships, a positive self-concept and a personal value system are assessed. The course is not…

A cohort study of 172 high-school leavers, who were followed over a two-year period, found that employment and school continuation were unrelated to self-esteem and depression. Factors influencing the transition process included money and activity problems, internality, stability, and controllability both of attributions about general transition…

Viewing illegitimacy from an individualist, deviant behavior frame of reference has not been useful because of the high prevalence of illegitimacy. Theories attributing illegitimacy to the social marginality of subcultures are inadequate to explain illegitimacy among working class and middle class children. Theories based on the notion that…