It has been estimated that about 30% of children will spend some time in a stepfamily and that 10% of children will experience two divorces of the custodial parent before they are 16 years of age. While there exists a substantial amount of research on divorce, there is a paucity of studies on remarriage. A longitudinal study was conducted to…

Differences in children's interpersonal perceptions and in their conceptions of behavior disorders in hypothetical peers were investigated in a sample of 34 boys between the ages of 10 and 13. Two groups of subjects were formed: 17 subjects attended special classes for the emotionally handicapped and were classified as exhibiting conduct problems…

The difficulties that younger students experience in understanding concepts related to the use of variables in computer programming are examined through descriptions of two studies: (1) detailed case studies of six highly intelligent children--three fourth graders and three sixth graders--who learned to program in BASIC during 60 hours of…

Social networks, social supports, family environment, and adjustment among 36 preadolescent students with and without mild mental retardation (MMR) were examined. Students with MMR were more likely to turn to family and adults for companionship, while those without MMR generally turned to peers. Those who received greater support experienced fewer…

Interviewed family members about family relationships and observed family members' interactions. Found that, compared to other girls, early maturing girls experienced higher levels of psychological distress; experienced greater psychological distress in grade 10 when they had a mixed-sex friendship network in grades 7 through 9; and were more…

Background: Individual differences in depressive symptoms have been linked with social skill deficits in adults and children, yet empirical studies on adolescents are lacking. The present research examines age and gender differences in nonverbal behaviour between mildly depressed and nondepressed (pre-) adolescents during conversations with an…

A model of the effects of physical abuse on child peer social status was tested in an ongoing empirical study of 8- to 12-year-old physically abused urban school children and matched control children selected from among their classmates. The model posited that family patterns of violent behavior predict general behavioral disturbance in the…

Compared structural family therapy (SFT), individual psychodynamic child therapy (IPCT) and control condition for Hispanic boys (N=69) with behavior and emotional problems. Findings suggest that control condition was less effective in retaining cases than treatment conditions, and SFT was more effective than IPCT in protecting family integrity.…

Certain highly able and motivated young adolescents can successfully pursue full-time college-level studies without unreasonable compromises to psychological and social adjustment. Ways in which an adequate program facilitating early college entrance might be structured are suggested. (Author/MLW)

Focusing on gender issues in the visual text, this paper describes one stage of a post structural analysis of "Square One TV" (SOTV), a program originally designed to provide instruction in mathematics for 8- to 12-year-old viewers which now emphasizes changing their attitudes toward mathematics. Post structural textual analysis was used…

Describes differences in preferred modes of group interaction between 743 students from grades four to eight and from four relatively distinct social environments: rural Maine, suburban New Hampshire, urban Columbus, Ohio, and inner city Cincinnati, Ohio. Rural and inner city groups prefer similar modes as do urban and suburban groups. (Author/NEC)

A survey of four large samples of Native American adolescents, conducted since 1975, shows that inhalant use is much higher for Indian than for non-Indian youth, is increasing, begins at an early age, is often associated with use of other drugs, and is influenced by peer and family attitudes. (JHZ)

Compared generic tobacco use among Hispanic, White, Black, and Asian youths (N=4,980) in grades 4, 7, 10, and 12. Found prevalence of regular use was highest among Whites, followed by Hispanics, Blacks, and Asians. Marijuana, alcohol, and other drug use explained approximately 40 percent of variance in tobacco use in each ethnic group. Other…

A study is reported of the language behavior of trilingual 9-to-12-year-old native Italian speakers in Montreal, some of whom were studying Italian on Saturdays and some of whom were not. The study focused on their available vocabulary in the three languages (Italian, French, and English) and on their language productivity during their various…

This study compared the coping strategies used by children residing with single caregivers to those used by children residing with dual caregivers. Participating were 30 children in grades 4 through 6: 15 children living in families with 1 adult present and 15 children living in families with at least 2 adults present. Measures of anxiety,…