A community-based sexuality education program for parents and their puberty-aged children is described, and findings of a follow-up survey of the program are reported. The program was developed to provide factual information about puberty and sexuality which would serve as a basis for increased communication about sexuality between parents and…

The paucity of research on children's conceptions of mental illness seems surprising considering the recent interest in social cognition and person perception in children, and the contention that stereotypes of mental illness are learned in childhood. A study was conducted in a large midwestern city to survey the attitudes of children toward…

Ebata (1985) showed that among young adolescent boys high achievement was associated with better adjustment while low achievement was associated with poorer adjustment. A study was conducted to determine whether this pattern would generalize to links between achievement and self-image for boys and to describe the pattern of relationship between…

A study investigated early aspects of Type A behavior by assessing children's goal setting and parents' aspirations for their children. Teachers of 73 fourth through sixth grade children rated them for Type A behavior. A replication study of parental aspiration findings was conducted. Results show fathers may strongly influence development of Type…

Study examined speech complexity among 22 sets of parents and their school-age children during two time periods approximately one year apart. Parents and children were videotaped while completing a block design task and their conversations were transcribed. Speech patterns were found to differ at the two times. (Author/BN)

Attitude, achievement, and sex stereotyping tests administered to 11-year-olds reveal boys are more sex stereotyped; able and middle-class girls are less sex stereotyped; feminine self-image is linked to low achievement and masculine self-image to high achievement; and children endorsing sex stereotypes show less interest in science associated…

A study examined reading, demographic, social, and psychological factors related to preadolescent smoking and nonsmoking behaviors and attitudes. Variables studied included reading achievement, family involvement, and racial and sex differences. (Authors/CJ)

Two steps in the social information process model were assessed for socially accepted and rejected children by verbal responses to stories embedded in computer games. Attributions of intent and aggressive problem solutions were correlated with contextual factors (interpersonal context, outcome of game, and story type) and with sex and social…

Identified most significant family and nonfamily persons in lives of 180 preadolescents and 180 adolescents. "Mother" and "same sex friend" emerged as outstanding choices. Family members (except siblings) were associated with positive characteristics, whereas, among unrelated adults, youth group leaders were viewed positively.…

Among a group of mostly African-American and Hispanic 10- to 14-year-olds, boys believed that parents would disapprove more of retaliation against siblings than friends, whereas girls believed that parents would equally disapprove of retaliation against either target. Children expected that retaliation was more likely to deter additional…

Assessed fourth-graders' peer clique characteristics as a function of socioeconomic status, gender, and aggressiveness. Found that rejected youth were less central group members than average-status peers; aggressive preadolescents were no less involved than nonaggressive peers; rejected preadolescents belonged to smaller cliques and cliques…

This study investigated parental socialization of adolescent political reasoning from a Vygotskian cognitive socialization perspective. Discussions between mothers and their adolescent sons or daughters were examined using a transactive dialogue system and were related to the adolescent's age and gender and to family parenting style. As predicted,…

Those who are perceived as significant others influence the perceiver's self-evaluation. Age and gender differences in choice of significant others should reflect variation in cultural and familial values. On the other hand, if one accepts age stage developmental theories, one would expect consistency across cultures. In this study significant…

Gender differences in self-esteem across time were investigated by means of a comparison of the extent of congruence between an individual's self Q-sort and his or her Q-sort of the ideal self. Self Q-sorts were done when subjects were 11, 14, 18, and 23 years of age; they were done on separate occasions, at least a week apart. Ideal self Q-sorts…

A sample of 212 urban, black mothers and their 8- through 12-year-old children responded to questionnaires about the frequency of potentially stressful life events experienced by the children and the feelings the children had when the events took place. A 49-item questionnaire addressed childen's concerns regarding the stress categories of home…