The Socio-Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Test was designed to measure the attitudes and knowledge of retarded individuals in fourteen areas: (1) anatomy/terminology; (2) dating; (3) marriage; (4) intimacy; (5) intercourse; (6) pregnancy, childbirth and childrearing; (8) masturbation; (9) homosexuality; (10) alcohol and drugs; (11) community risks…

There is a persistent belief that, in making dating choices, men are more influenced by physical attractiveness and less influenced by personality characteristics of potential dates than are women. This study was designed to test whether this is true of college students. On the basis of pre-test ratings, a set of nine facial photographs and nine…

Until recently, understanding about women's health has been traditionally mediated by the medical model, which tends to regard each health problem in a vacuum. Such an approach ignored important considerations, such as body image. In an effort to explore this health factor, a review of the literature regarding women's health and its relation to…

This book's author is the creator of an award-winning web site for teens and young adults. The Web site, Talk City's InSite, invites young people to share their questions and concerns about relationships. This book brings information from the web site onto the printed page. Based on hundreds of e-mails receive by the author, it discusses issues…

Examined the rates, contextual meanings, and attributional meanings of nonverbal behavior occurring during role-played conflict between dating couples. Eighty couples reported perceptions of their own behaviors and their partners' behaviors and were observed by trained raters. The nonverbal channel was used significantly more by females than by…

Explored sex differences in adolescent preference for older versus younger mates. Found that teenage males were willing to date females of a wide age range, whereas teenage females prefer dating males from their own age to several years older. Data suggested viewing development of sex differences in dating partner preference from the perspective…

Investigates the major areas of interest to Israeli adolescents. Discusses the development of an instrument that determines relevant psychological/life skills domains. Factor analysis revealed nine clusters of variables. Discusses gender and age differences as well as implications for the educational system. (Author/MKA)

Examined effects of three different aspects of heterosocial activity--mixed-sex activities, dating, and physical involvement with boys--on the diet patterns of adolescent girls. Found interaction between dating and menarcheal status in the prediction of dieting and disordered eating, with dating more strongly linked to dieting and disordered…

This article summarizes five K-12 school-based dating violence prevention curricula/programs that have gone through some form of evaluation and peer review. These programs were selected as a result of a broad and comprehensive review of the relationship violence literature that has been published in the past decade. Program objectives, components,…

To monitor priority health-risk behaviors among youth and young adults, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS). The YRBSS includes national, state, territorial, and local school-based surveys of high school students in grades 9-12. In addition, some states, territories,…

Ethnic minority groups such as Asian/Pacific Islanders (APIs) and native populations in Hawaii are seldom studied in the area of intimate relationships. Using the 1999 Hawaii Youth Risk Behavior Survey, this study examined gender and ethnic differences in experiencing physical dating violence and whether drinking (early initiation, binge…

Eighty-six college-aged, heterosexual couples completed questionnaires and subsequently were interviewed separately in order to test the hypothesis derived from social exchange theory that higher levels of conflict or violence will be reported in dating relationships in which one partner has fewer external resources. External resources were…

The centrality of self-perceptions in the dynamics of human relationships and personality is a well-documented empirical fact. Feelings of personal happiness and psychological adjustment were studied in relation to self-perceptions of individual worth in the interpersonal marketplace. Male and female single college students between 17 and 30 years…

Study examined how environmental and physical characteristics contribute to the emergence of adolescent girls' dating behavior. Subjects were girls who attend dance schools and girls who do not.

This summary presents data from seven papers based on six different data sets (three national and three local). Data were collected for different purposes, in different years and places, using different interview techniques. Overall, nearly one in five adolescents has had sex before his/her 15th birthday. In early adolescence, being sexually…