This study examined whether a comprehensive set of psychosocial factors was equally predictive of both adolescent vaginal intercourse and oral sex among 1,105 adolescents aged 12-16. Logistic regressions were used to examine the relationships between parental communication, religiosity, bonding to school, heavy drinking, sex expectancies,…

Investigated attitudes toward suicide and death across two intrafamilial generations to better understand possible causal factors underlying increasing suicide rates among the young. Findings indicate support for the hypothesis that the youthful generation holds more "accepting" attitudes toward suicide and death than does the parental…

Explores the relationship between college students' self-reports of adolescent substance use and scores on indices tapping different aspects of guilt. Results suggest that a stronger internalization of societal standards, as reflected by higher scores on Standards and Situational Guilt, may prove a useful tool in the prevention of substance use.…

Examined relationships between worksite influences and smoking and quitting behavior among adolescent grocery employees. Surveys on interpersonal, intrapersonal, and organizational factors indicated that regular smokers were 30 percent more likely to receive co-worker encouragement to quit than occasional and experimental smokers. Compared to…

Alcohol use and abuse has received extensive attention, with recent concerns focused on the use and abuse of alcohol by adolescents and young adults. Alcohol use has become one of the major rituals in the rites of passage from childhood to adulthood. Anthropologists have documented the importance of rites of passage rituals for marking the…

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…

Examines the quality of conversation produced by small groups of subjects in fifth, ninth, and twelfth grades and the last year of college. Results supported Piaget's sequence of conversational development. However, topical coherence apparently is not fostered by focused turns but emerges as a generalization of the normative constraints applying…

Indicators of normative traditionalism were derived from 1947 and 1970 attitude surveys of adolescents from 68 Pennsylvania high schools. Rural-urban character of the areas was indexed by 1950 and 1970 census materials. Although 1970 normative climates were more permissive, findings suggest continuing utility of rural-urban distinction in dealing…

Three principles of work distribution were considered: (1) direct cause; (2) self-regulation; and (3) continuing responsibility. Children of 8, 11, and 14 years of age performed a job sorting task and commented on the fairness of work arrangements in vignettes. Results showed a differential development for the three principles rather than a…

Describes the "Check and Connect" model of monitoring in a secondary school environment. Students seen as at risk for dropping out of school were assigned a monitor who then built a trusting relationship with the student through which support was given and advocacy provided within the school environment. (MKA)

This paper reports on a study that developed a model of sexual risk-taking behavior that included psychological measures, as well as social or demographic factors, and contextual variables. The study seeks to contribute to the knowledge based used when designing health promotion or disease prevention programs that promote safer sexual practices…

Physical violence, a factor often associated with drug addiction, must be reduced or eliminated in order for drug dependent individuals to reenter society. To examine the extent to which individual violence associated with drug addiction was controllable by the Odyssey House drug addiction rehabilitation program, the violence potential of 47…

Criticizes Dorval and Eckerman (included in this issue) for their findings' lack of generality due to the artificial nature of the conversational groups studied. Also both age changes in the ability to plan large conversational units and the functions of particular kinds of turns within these larger units are left unexplored. (CB)

Defines the adolescent sex offender as an individual whose problem is primarily moral and social. Discusses how individuals adopt and internalize social norms, emphasizing peer interactions, role taking, and collective behavior. Describes a treatment program which emphasizes the functions of labeling, group therapy, and structured living…

Surveyed secondary school students regarding their perceptions of college student drinking. Most 7th graders had normative perceptions of collegiate drinking. Adolescent substance use most closely related to peer norms. Perceptions of collegiate drinking independently related to alcohol use intensity, drinking onset, and indicators of tobacco and…