Examined the relationship between empathy and moral reasoning, age and gender differences in expression of emotional empathy, and flexibility of moral reasoning in 330 adolescents, ages 12 to 20. Moral reasoning, assessed by Flexibility of Moral Judgement Index, and empathy were found to be unrelated. (Author/DST)

This study examined the effects of exposure to violence on young children. A random sample of 236 Massachusetts 6th graders living in urban communities completed a quantitative survey on violence and its effects, including the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children-A (Briere, 1996). It was found that almost 60 percent of the children reported that…

In this study, questions regarding the prevalence of mutual antipathies and their relation to the behavior of individual children were examined among preadolescents and adolescents. Mutual antipathies were defined as relationships in which children mutually nominated one another as least liked on a sociometric task. A distinction was drawn between…

White, Mexican-American, and Black preadolescents (N=157) completed Tuckman-Lorge Old People Scale and contact questionnaire to examine preadolescent attitudes toward elderly through analysis of race, gender, and contact variables. Found only one variable studied, race, was significantly related to attitudes toward elderly. White preadolescents…

This study examined the relationship between adolescent egocentrism and depressive symptomatology in Canadian adolescents. Major findings were adolescent females regard themselves higher in uniqueness and self-consciousness than adolescent males; social class relates significantly to adolescent egocentrism; and gender differences emerge with…

Examined the possibility that lonely preadolescents have problems with disclosure that are similar to those of lonely adults. Sixth and seventh graders were given a loneliness and social dissatisfaction scale and were observed in dyadic conversations with male and female peers. Some of the lonely subjects' problems with disclosure were similar to…

Adolescents 10 to 18 years of age were interviewed 4.5 years after their parents' divorce. Adolescents' feeling of being caught between parents was related to high parental conflict and low parental cooperation. Closeness to both parents was related to low feelings of being caught between parents. Feeling caught was related to poor adjustment…

Examined influence of maternal drug use and unconventional behavior on children's behavioral problems, cognitive functioning, and self-esteem for children aged eight and older born to teenage mothers. Findings from 581 mother-child dyads suggest that maternal attitudes and experiences as adolescent or young adult and current family structure had…

In order to assess preteen activities in a moderate sized community in Georgia, selected group of classroom teachers conducted a pilot study. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to approximately 1,000 fifth-grade children and the results are presented here. It was discovered that Blacks, more than Whites, and boys, more than girls,…

During the last decade, the attributional aproach to achievement motivation has evolved into a powerful theory of motivated classroom behavior. Causal attributions, and their dimensional nature, are seen as influencing achievement behaviors through their effects on the expectations that individuals hold for outcomes in future achievement…

Examines the findings of 53 studies of sex differences in propositional logic, combinatorial reasoning, and proportional reasoning tasks. Finds sex differences for the latter two tasks to be vulnerable to Rosenthal's "file drawer" problem and effect size to be small for all tasks. Discusses possible explanations for sex differences in…

Interviewed elementary school children in 1969 and conducted a follow-up interview in 1978 using the same children, who were now out of high school, to determine the stability of self-concept over a decade. Used sex, race, and residence as independent variables. Results showed youth undergo minimal changes in self-concept during this age span. (BH)

Risk factors for early adolescents' (700 between the ages of 10 to 13) delinquency were compared between groups of children high and low in childhood adversities. The samples represented young people from the two former Germanies (200 from former East and 500 from West Germany) who were interviewed in person. Additional information was gathered…

Examined age differences in the use and effectiveness of social support processes emitted during conversations about real life negative events between preadolescent, adolescent, and adult friends. Participants were 86 same-sex friendship dyads. Results indicated that talking to friends alleviated negative affect in all ages, but factors predicting…

First- and second-year findings of a survey of the development of disordered eating in 80 fourth- and fifth-grade girls and 85 boys are presented. Results, especially findings about body mass index and pubertal development, emphasize gender differences and the importance of identifying early risk factors for eating disorders. (SLD)