Abstract: This article describes the development and psychometric properties of the Aggression Scale. The scale consists of 11 items designed to measure self-reported aggressive behaviors among middle school students (sixth, seventh, and eighth graders). The scale was evaluated in two independent samples of young adolescents (n = 253 and n = 8,695). Reliability scores were high in both samples, and did not vary significantly by gender, ethnicity, or grade level in school. Aggression scores also were stable in a 2-year follow-up study. Mean scores on the Aggression Scale were associated positively with teachers’ independent rating of student aggression, other measures of aggression, and known predictors of aggression. The scale is brief, is easy to administer, and focuses on overt behaviors. Thus, the Aggression Scale could be a useful tool for program evaluation and for further research on violence prevention in schools.

Abstract: A model of the association between adolescents’ perception of the quality of parent/adolescent attachment and adolescent aggression was examined, with social cognition and self-esteem as mediators. A total of 68 sixth graders, their parents, and their language arts teachers participated. Adolescents completed measures of attachment with mother and with father, self-esteem, social cognition, and aggressive tendencies. Mothers, fathers, and teachers each completed measures of adolescent aggressive and prosocial behavior. Evidence was obtained for social cognition and self-esteem both as mediators between adolescents’ perceived quality of mother/adolescent attachment and adolescent selfreport of aggression. Controlling for mother/adolescent and father/adolescent attachment and adolescent self-esteem, adolescent higher social cognition was associated with adolescent lower self-report of aggression. Controlling mother/adolescent and father/adolescent attachment and adolescent social cognition, adolescent highe...

Abstract: Considerable progress has been made in prevention science, and since reaching a high in the late 1970s and early 1980s, overall substance use has declined in the United States. However, for some populations and substances, smaller declines or even increased use has been observed. Notably, the traditional gender gap in substance use has decreased substantially, and it has disappeared completely for some substances, especially among younger cohorts. This article was written to integrate existing evidence on the relevance of gender for substance use prevention research and to move the field forward by suggesting theoretical models that might inform future prevention research with girls. This article reviews the following: (a) trends in substance use, (b) gender differences in risk factors, and (c) theoretical models deemed relevant to substance use prevention among girls. Finally, recommendations regarding needed research and prevention strategies that take gender, race, and ethnicity into account are provided.

Abstract: Assessed in the present study were the contributions of variables thought to be related to positive expectations for the future in a sample of inner-city sixth-grade through eighth-grade students. Students completed self-report measures in September and June. At each time point, higher levels of positive expectations for the future were related to lower levels of problem behaviors and peer negative influences and to higher levels of school involvement, internal resources, and social support. In prospective analyses, higher levels of Time 1 problem behaviors and peer negative influences predicted decreases over 9 months in positive expectations for the future; higher levels of family support and problem-solving efficacy predicted increases over 9 months in positive expectations for the future. These findings have implications for further prospective research as well as for designing resilience-promoting prevention programs for at-risk youth.

Abstract: The purpose for this study was to address the ways in which conflictual and positive relationship qualities in the sibling relationship differ at different grade levels during early adolescence. Th...

Abstract: Analyses were conducted to assess whether risk factors for youth violence measured at 10 years of age influenced later violence directly or indirectly through predictors measured in early adolescen...

Abstract: A brief overview and history of the Female Adolescent Initiative, a program funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, is given. Findings from selected programs and a synthetic summary of...

Abstract: The applicability of the Loevinger conception of ego development was explored for the period of early adolescence. Recent modifications of the earliest ego levels are summarized, and a new version of the measure is presented: the Sentence Completion Test for Children and Youth (SCT-Y). Questions were considered about the reliability and validity of this new instrument. The main question addressed was whether an oral administration would yield essentially different responses and significantly differing ego-level scores as compared to the standard written administration in an early adolescent sample (9.5 through 15.5 years of age; N = 120). The results indicated that an oral administration of the SCT-Y did not yield essentially different responses or significantly differing ego-level scores, regardless of the respondent’s age, gender, reading/writing skills, and preference for either presentation mode. The findings indicate that the revision of the ego development construct and measure for (early) adolescen...

Abstract: Young adolescents classified by teacher report as nonaggressive or aggressive were administered the Attributions Questionnaire, which consisted of 12 hypothetical teacher/student interactions depicting positive, negative, or ambiguous teacher intentions. Variables measured were (a) type of intent attributed to the teacher (i.e., hostile, benign), (b) degree of hostile and benign intent, (c) degree of anger felt, and (d) assignment of blame for negative outcomes. When the teachers’ intentions were ambiguous, aggressive adolescents were more likely than nonaggressive adolescents to attribute hostile intentions to the teachers, and they attributed a higher level of hostile intent, were more likely to blame teachers for the outcome, and reported higher levels of anger. A similar pattern of group differences emerged for situations in which the teachers’ intentions clearly were negative. However, when the teachers’ intentions were benevolent, aggressive youth responded in a manner similar to nonaggressive adole...

Abstract: Position in the perceived peer group organization was assessed using a multidimensional scaling strategy and was compared with measures of social status and mutual friendship in a sample of 404 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students. Perceived organization position was correlated significantly to social preference, like-most nominations, and like-least nominations but not to social impact. Furthermore, peer-group members who were marginal in the perceived structure were more likely to have a rejected status and to be friendless, whereas those in a central position were more likely to be popular and have at least one friend. Most rejected students, however, were not marginal in the perceived structure. Marginal-rejected group members, compared with nonmarginalrejected individuals, had more negative scores on social status measures. It was hypothesized that studying the overlap between position in the group’s perceived organization and social status might be useful for discriminating types of rejected children and adolescents.

Abstract: Project Chrysalis was a school-based program that provided services to female adolescents with histories of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Young women (14-17 years of age) were enrolled and assigned randomly either to a program or to a control condition. It was found that participation in Project Chrysalis was associated with outcomes such as healthier beliefs and attitudes about alcohol and other drug use and reduced initiation of tobacco and marijuana use. Participants also had fewer suicidal ideations and behaviors. It was shown that older participants (16 and 17 years of age) were less likely to attend Project Chrysalis activities than were younger participants and that the prevalence of depression and risk for suicide was higher among younger participants. That indicates that enrolling younger participants (11 through 14 years of age), before negative attitudes and behaviors have begun, might produce stronger positive effects.

Abstract: Gender and ethnic patterns in ratings and assessments of four dimensions of friendship qualities were investigated (emotional attachment, support, shared activities, and conflicts) with 122 Anglo-American and Mexican American early adolescents (63 girls; mean age 10.36 years), as were links between ratings and assessments. Participants named a favorite friend, rated their perceptions of the hypothetical behaviors of that friend or an unfamiliar peer in scenarios that varied by actor’s intention and outcome of the actor’s behavior on the participant, and completed two measures designed to assess friendship quality. Girls, but not boys, rated friends’ behaviors as more positive than the similar behaviors of unfamiliar peers and reported higher levels of attachment and support in their friendships. Similar rating patterns were found for Anglo-American and Mexican American participants. In addition, ratings of friends’ behaviors in scenarios that presented neutral intentions were correlated with the level of ...

Abstract: In two short-term longitudinal studies, the relation of direct parental management of peer relationships with young adolescents’ and their best friends’ antisocial behavior and academic achievement were examined. Ninth-graders reported perceptions of parental monitoring and parental prohibiting of peer relationships. Ninth-graders and best friends reported drug use, delinquent behavior, grade point average (GPA), and educational expectations. At Time 1, adolescents who reported higher levels of parental monitoring reported lower levels of drug use, lower levels of delinquent behavior, higher GPAs, and higher educational expectations. At Time 1, perceptions of moderate levels of prohibiting were associated with lower levels of drug use and delinquent behavior for adolescents and their peers. Adolescents who reported moderate levels of prohibiting reported higher levels of Time 3 academic achievement.

Abstract: The replicability of a model of family and peer influences on adolescent problem behavior was evaluated with samples of adolescent boys and girls from three ethnic groups: American Indians, Hispanics, and Caucasians. Participants were 1,450 seventh-grade students from 16 communities. The model included links between three aspects of family functioning (family conflict, positive family relations, and inadequate parental monitoring) and adolescents’ association with deviant peers. Those variables were hypothesized predictors of adolescents’ problem behavior (antisocial behavior, poor school performance, and frequency of substance use). The resulting cross-sectional model showed good consistency across the three ethnic groups for both genders, but some subgroup differences emerged in the magnitude of relations between monitoring and adolescents’ associations with deviant peers and between substance use and the problem behavior construct. With those qualifications, the model was applicable to Hispanic and Nat...

Abstract: Consideration of the role of gender in alcohol, tobacco, and drug use, for the most part, has been omitted from studies of intervention effectiveness. Consequently, although scientists now can state with confidence that effective prevention approaches exist, it is not clear whether those programs are effective specifically for girls. Consequently, although great strides have been made in identifying substance use patterns, precursors to use, and effective prevention strategies in general, many questions remain about the ways in which those prevention efforts might address better the needs of differing gender and racial/ethnic groups. The primary goal for this report was first to review evidence of the effectiveness of traditional alcohol, tobacco, and drug use prevention approaches with girls and with boys, as well as available evidence from gender-specific or genderinformed interventions focused specifically on girls, and second, to make recommendations regarding needed research and prevention strategies...

Abstract: A process-person-context model was used to investigate parental academic involvement with a nationally representative sample of young adolescents. Fathers of young adolescents were less involved at school than were mothers but similarly involved academically at home. Parents of struggling students were involved more in homework assistance and parents of successful students were involved more at school than were other parents. Parent educational level operated as a main effect and as a moderator. High school graduates helped their children with homework more than did parents who were not high school graduates; college-educated parents were involved more at school. Parents’ academic involvement at home was associated negatively with young adolescents’ academic grades and a standardized achievement test score, but associated positively with young adolescents’ school orientation. Parental at-school involvement was associated positively with young adolescents’ academic grades but not with either the standardiz...

Abstract: The relation of the possible selves to cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption was the focus for this study. Participants (1,606 students in Grades 6 through 9) listed their possible selves and r...

Abstract: The relations between the goal orientations of adolescents and those of their coaches and parents were examined in this study. Ninety swimmers, 12 through 15 years of age, coaches (N = 10), and par...