Teachers of 35 boys in the Lehigh University-based laboratory school for emotionally and behaviorally disturbed children completed rating scales assessing aggressive behavior in students. Children completed similar self-report instruments. Frequency counts of aggressive outbursts and outburst durations were recorded. Results found significant…

Argues that early adolescents are a distinctive group, and that educators must take the time to analyze their development and construct a framework for studying that development. (FL)

This study distinguished between forms of self-consciousness (private self-consciousness and social anxiety) and investigated the effect of self-esteem, vulnerability to criticism, and the tendency to fantasize on each. A structural equation analysis used unobserved variables from a sample (n=1098) of adolescents, ages 12 to 19. (Author/BS)

Administered a health behavior and attitudes questionnaire to 511 fifth- and sixth-grade students. Questions included locus of control and self-esteem items and questions concerning smoking, drinking, and marijuana use. Results indicated that the relationships between health locus of control and self-esteem and their behaviors and intentions is…

Surveyed 596 fifth through seventh graders regarding their cigarette and alcohol behaviors, attitudes, knowledge. Approximately one third of the students were experimental users of these substances. Pro-smoking and pro-drinking attitudes were directly related to use. Knowledge about smoking and drinking were inversely related to use. (JAC)

Study of television's effectiveness in promoting nonsexist role learning found androgynous preadolescent children to be as likely as feminine children, and more likely than masculine ones, to identify nontraditional televised models. (CMG)

Discusses information garnered by the Center for Early Adolescence (North Carolina) from parent surveys, visits to programs, and conversations with youth workers, program directors, and young people concerning successful after-school programing for young adolescents. Adolescent needs (diversity, self-exploration, participation, physical activity)…

This study focuses on the adjustment of siblings of male children with pervasive developmental disability, diabetes, or no known chronic illness. Findings indicate that siblings of ill children are not uniformly at greater risk for psychosocial impairment. Domains were identified in which siblings and parents were more susceptible to adjustment…

Analyzes the exploratory patterns of 112 children ages 4 to 12, using visual and auditory stimuli and toy preference and toy exploration tasks. Finds that a preference for complexity and for unknown toys increases with age and notes age differences in exploratory patterns and question-asking behavior. (Author/CB)

This surveillance report, prepared by the Alcohol Epidemiologic Data System (AEDS), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), presents trends in underage drinking by youth aged 12-20 years between 1991 and 2003. This is the first of a series of reports to be published biennially on underage drinking and related attitudes and risk…

Adolescence is a critical time for the development of self-identity; a time which often changes enthusiastic and assertive 8- and 9-year-old girls into 11- and 12-year-old girls with poor self-images and little faith in their abilities. To better understand this process, this study investigated the relationship between hope and general…

A comparative study of parent-child interaction and its relation to children's intellectual achievement is presented in examining the question of cultural continuities in cognitive development. Problem-solving behavior of fifth graders with their mothers from urban settings in Peru and the United States (N=64) was videotaped. In contrast to…

This study considered differences in induction of biological properties between children and preadolescents based on differences in stimuli processing in these two groups. Two experiments tested predictions that young children, but not preadolescents, base their inductive inference on aggregating information from different sources rather than…

Overviews research on the role of cliques among youth and on the symptoms and treatment of attention deficit disorder (ADD). Implications for camp include encouraging positive friendship groups among campers, reinforcing constructive group development, educating staff and parents about ADD, and providing a structured camp environment that has…

This study observed 65 friendship/acquaintance dyads, half of which involved one child with learning problems, among preadolescent children during play. Unlike friendships between children without disabilities, friendships involving a disabled child were marked by limited collaboration and shared decision making, a low level of cooperative play…