Administered Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery (WLPB) to 18 learning-disabled adolescents from culturally variant population in rural southern Louisiana and to matched group of normal achievers. Found group status to have significant effect on cluster scores. Results suggest that WLPB may be useful for culturally diverse students when…

This study measures and evaluates the premarital sexual standards of a sample of adolescents residing in a small Mississippi community. On the basis of their response patterns to a set of Guttman scale items, the students were classified into three standards: abstinence, double standard, and the single standard of permissiveness. A racial…

Examined the relationship between sex and career and lifestyle expectations of 128 students. Results indicated no sex differences in curricular or post-secondary plans. Equal proportions of males and females indicated professional career aspirations, however, they differed in their choices along traditional lines. Males expected to achieve their…

Studied religious development in 365 adolescents from white, two-parent families participating in the Iowa Youth and Families Project. Found that farm youth had stronger ties to religious institutions and expressed stronger commitments to religious values than nonfarm youth. The correlates of religious change and continuity indicate that social…

Of 883 Iowa high school seniors, 60% lived in towns, 40% on farms. Both groups had a high level of congruence between educational and occupational aspirations and perceived minimal barriers to goal achievement. Farm and town students had equally diverse aspirations. (Contains 23 references.) (SK)

This study examined the relationship of psychosocial factors with alcohol use for adolescents residing in rural Iowa. This association was also tested separately for boys and girls. Seventh graders (N = 1673) self-reported alcohol use, peer drinking norms, adult drinking norms, drug refusal assertiveness, drug refusal techniques, life skills,…

Context: Rural and frontier states are significantly affected by substance abuse and poverty. The high rate of substance abuse coupled with high levels of dependence on state-funded treatment systems places a burden on rural treatment systems and makes resource allocation a central planning issue. Purpose: The goal of this study was to combine…

Reviews relevant literature on the subject of rural adolescent mental health. Discusses demographics, unique situations, and problems of rural youth. Presents impact of the rural economic crisis. Suggests treatment strategies to deal with mental health problems of rural adolescents: individual therapy, family therapy, and peer group programs. (NEC)

Results of a survey of White Appalachian and rural Black youth indicated that parents were the most frequent choice of these youth as significant others (SOs) for career decisions. Analyses for race differences in the SO choices of these young people failed to support "deficit" interpretations of the Black family. (Author/BL)

Examined drug and alcohol use and social background to determine their relationship to adolescent suicide attempts. Survey of 2,690 adolescents revealed that young women, farm residents, and in general, drug users were more likely to report suicide attempt. Women who were frequent alcohol users and heavy users of marijuana were more prone to…

Examined educational and occupational attainment of young women from low-income, rural Appalachian families. Data from 10-year longitudinal study found that educational attainment did not predict occupational attainment of these women. Several findings for family socioeconomic background and social psychological variables were interpreted as…

Compared the problems and coping strategies of 231 adolescents (mean age, 15 years) from rural mid-south alternative and non-alternative schools. Results indicated that, overall, alternative school students tend to respond to given problems by using more negative coping strategies than do non-alternative school students. (SLD)

Study explored the relationship between substance use and spirituality and religious participation with a multicultural sample of youths. Logistic regression measured efficacy of spiritual and religious participation as predictors of substance use. Although increased participation in religious activities predicted a greater probability of never…

The article examines assumptions circulating in development or interventionist discourse concerning the vulnerabilities of AIDS orphans in South Africa. Ongoing ethnographic research, begun in March 2003, with 31 rural children and youth between the ages of 14 and 22, in Magangangozi, KwaZulu-Natal, points to the ways in which global terms may…