The transition from middle childhood to early adolescence: Sex differences in the social network and perceived self-competence

This study concerns the development of social networks from middle childhood to early adolescence. On a longitudinal sample of 100 children seen at 9 and 13 years of age, three basic questions were addressed: 1) age changes, 2) sex differences, and 3) the relation between network characteristics and self-perceived competence in early adolescence. The number of and frequency of contact with kin, adults and friends for each subject were assessed at 9 and 13 years using maternal report. Teenager report of academic, social, athletic and behavioral conduct was also collected. The transition to early adolescence was marked by several changes in the social network. At 13 years networks become more age segregated. Both opposite and same sex friends show an increase. Sex differences were also evident. For example, adolescent girls had a larger network of friends than boys. Adolescent boys had less segregated adult networks. For adolescent girls but not boys, the friendship network was related to specific types of competence.The preparation of this paper was made possible by the support of the William T. Grant Foundation.     

The stability of vocational interests from early adolescence to middle adulthood: a quantitative review of longitudinal studies

The present meta-analysis examined the stability of vocational interests from early adolescence (age 12) to middle adulthood (age 40). Stability was represented by rank-order and profile correlations. Interest stability remained unchanged during much of adolescence and increased dramatically during the college years (age 18-21.9), where it remained for the next 2 decades. Analyses of potential moderators showed that retest time interval was negatively related to interest stability and that rank-order stability was less stable than profile stability. Although cohort standings did not moderate stability, interests of the 1940s birth cohort were less stable than those of other cohorts. Furthermore, interests reflecting hands-on physical activities and self-expressive/artistic activities were more stable than scientific, social, enterprising, and clerical interests. Vocational interests showed substantial continuity over time, as evidenced by their higher longitudinal stability when compared with rank-order stability of personality traits. The findings are discussed in the context of psychosocial development.     

Identification and the development of competence: a 44-year longitudinal study from late adolescence to late middle age

The role of defense mechanisms in the development of planful competence (J. A. Clausen, 1993) was studied over a period of 44 years in participants from the Oakland Growth Study, who are part of the Intergenerational Studies of the Institute of Human Development. Planful competence was assessed on 4 occasions, from late adolescence (ages 15-18) to late middle age (age 62). The use of the defense mechanisms of denial, projection, and identification was assessed in late adolescence, based on Thematic Apperception Test (H. A. Murray, 1943) stories coded with the Defense Mechanism Manual (P. Cramer, 1991b). In late adolescence, the defense mechanism of identification was found to be positively related to competence, whereas the less mature defense of projection was related to lower levels of competence. For the group as a whole, hierarchical linear modeling (Bryk & Raudenbush, 1992) indicated that competence increased across the adult years, with a modest decline at late middle age. Individual differences for intraindividual change in competence were related to the use of identification: high use of identification in late adolescence was associated with relative stability in adult competence, whereas low use of identification in adolescence predicted changes in adult competence.     

Rumination as a vulnerability factor to depression during the transition from early to middle adolescence: a multiwave longitudinal study

The current study examined vulnerability to depression during the transition from early to middle adolescence from the perspective of the response styles theory. During an initial assessment, 382 adolescents (ages 11-15 years) completed self-report measures assessing rumination and depressive symptoms as well as a semistructured clinical interview assessing current and past major depressive episodes. Every 3 months for the subsequent 2 years, adolescents completed self-report measures assessing depressive symptoms and negative events. Every 6 months, adolescents completed a semistructured clinical interview assessing the onset of new major depressive episodes. Higher levels of rumination were associated with a greater likelihood of exhibiting a past history of major depressive episodes, a greater likelihood of experiencing the onset of a future major depressive episode, and greater duration of future depressive episodes. Consistent with a vulnerability-stress perspective, rumination moderated the association between the occurrence of negative events and the development of future depressive symptoms and major depressive episodes.     

The association of childhood intelligence with mortality risk from adolescence to middle age: Findings from the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s cohort study

There is growing evidence that childhood IQ is inversely associated with mortality in later life. However, the specificity of this association in terms of causes of death, whether it is continuous over the whole range of IQ scores and whether it is the same according to age and sex is not clear. In a large cohort (N = 11,603) of a complete population of children born in one city in the UK in the early 1950s, IQ measured at age 7 years (using a routinely administered picture test) was found to be inversely associated with mortality between the ages of 15 and 57 years. For every 1 SD increase in IQ at 7, the all cause mortality hazard ratio was 0.79 (95% CI 0.73, 0.85). On adjustment for a range of perinatal factors, father's social class at birth, number of sibs in the household and childhood height and weight, this was attenuated slightly to 0.81 (0.74, 0.88). Almost identical associations of IQ with mortality were seen for men and women as well as at younger (15–39) and older (40+) ages. These associations were across the entire IQ range, although some of the high mortality in the lowest category of IQ (< 70) was accounted for by causes associated with congenital disorders. Overall, external causes of death showed the strongest association, with weaker associations being seen for cancer. Further work is required to understand the mechanisms whereby childhood IQ has such a robust association with mortality in later life.     

Differences in protective factors of substance use in early and middle adolescence

This study focuses on possible differences in protective factors of substance use in early and middle adolescence. These possible differences are analysed by means of the same structural equation model applied to two different samples of adolescents: the first sample is made up of 450 adolescents, ages 12 to 14 years, and second of 203 adolescents, ages 15 to 17 years. The results indicate that adequate family communication is a protective factor in both samples, whereas high social self-esteem is proposed as a risk factor in middle adolescence. The adolescent's family self-esteem and attitudes towards authority are also relevant factors in both samples. These results may have important implications in the development of future intervention programmes.     

Images of adolescence in English literature: the middle ages to the modern period

It is argued that modern images of adolescence are also reflected in English literary tradition. Thus, relevant works of the major authors, Chaucer, More, Locke, Shakespeare, Bayly, Milton, Prior, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Hazlitt, and Dickens, are analyzed for their imagery of youth and adolescence. It is concluded that, with minor exceptions, the way that youth are depicted in these works remains remarkably stable over time. The main theme of adolescence throughout these works is that it is a time of turbulence, excess, and passion. This is in consonance with the modern-day view of adolescence as a time of storm and stress.     

Sibling influences on gender development in middle childhood and early adolescence: a longitudinal study

The development of gender role qualities (attitudes, personality, leisure activities) from middle childhood to early adolescence was studied to determine whether siblings' gender role qualities predicted those of their sisters and brothers. Participants were 198 firstborn and second-born siblings (Ms = 10 years 9 months and 8 years 3 months, respectively, in Year 1) and their parents. Families were interviewed annually for 3 years. Firstborn siblings' qualities in Year 1 predicted second-born children's qualities in Year 3 when both parent and child qualities in Year 1 were controlled, a pattern consistent with a social learning model of sibling influence. Parental influence was more evident and sibling influence less evident in predicting firstborns' qualities; for firstborns, sibling influences suggested a de-identification process.     

The changing nature of the parent-adolescent relationship from early to late adolescence

This research analyzes changes in the parent-child relationship that help clarify the balance between individuation and cohesiveness over the period from age 11 to 17. Data were collected from mothers, fathers, and oldest children in 110 families whose oldest child was 11, 14 or 17. Three methods were involved: a survey of attitudes about family decision making, independence, love, understanding, and satisfaction with parenting; Loevinger's measure of ego level for parents and children; and an open-ended assessment of qualities family members admired in one another. The results provide insight into expectations and processes involved in revising the quality of parent-child relationships during early adolescence.     

Gender and weight concerns in early and middle adolescence: links with well-being and family characteristics

Studied sex and developmental differences in weight concerns in early and middle adolescence and links between concerns and adolescent well-being and family experiences. Participants were mothers, fathers, and older and younger siblings (Ms = 15 and 12.5 years, respectively) from 197, Caucasian, working-middle class, 2-parent families. Parents rated their gender role attitudes and adolescents rated their weight concerns, well-being, gender role orientations, and physical development. Girls reported more concerns than boys; body mass index (BMI) correlated with weight concerns for all youth. Controlling for BMI and pubertal status, weight concerns were linked to older girls' well-being; with physical characteristics controlled, mothers' gender attitudes explained older girls' weight concerns, and siblings' weight concerns explained those of older and younger girls and boys.     

Sexual socialization during early adolescence: the menarche

It has been shown that during adolescence most information about sexual matters, generally colored with misconceptions, comes from the peer group, since cultural inhibitions often prevent discussion with parents or other adults. In addition, there is abundant evidence from anthropological data of diffuse negative beliefs across cultures concerning menstruation. In order to explore the early socialization of beliefs and attitudes toward menarche, 258 adolescents, aged 11 to 14 years, male and female pre- and postmenarcheal, from southern Italy, were interviewed by way of an open questionnaire method. The results showed a consistent lack of accurate information by a high percentage of subjects, both male and female; negative beliefs were held only by girls, pre- and postmenarcheal, while boys were more likely to ignore the subject. Half of the postmenarcheal girls expressed a negative evaluation of their first experiences with menstruation, generally due to lack of advance information. As to sources of information, importance of the peer group was confirmed, especially for boys; the influence of the mother and the cultural environment accounted for the positive acceptance of menarche. Fathers appeared to be uninvolved in the transmission of information about menstruation to either boys or girls.     

The natural course of anxiety symptoms in early adolescence: factors related to persistence

Background and objectives: Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problems during childhood and adolescence. This study examined the course of anxiety symptoms in early adolescents from the general population over three phases.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Methods: Two hundred and forty-two participants (mean-age of 13.52) from a baseline sample of 1514 (mean-age of 10.23) were followed up three times. Of the 1514 children, those with emotional risk and controls without risk constituted the second-phase sample (n?=?562; mean-age of 11.25). The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders-SCARED was administered in all three phases.

Results: Fifty-six percent and 32% of respondents showed total scores above the SCARED cutoff point at one and three years follow-up, respectively. Eight percent showed fluctuating symptoms. Fifty-five percent of respondents showed high scores for any subtype of anxiety over three years. Social phobia and generalized anxiety symptoms were the most prevalent and persistent. Participants with persistent separation anxiety showed the highest co-occurrence with symptoms of other psychopathological disorders. Participants with persistent anxiety showed lower academic performance. Being male was a protective factor against persistence.

Conclusions: The data support anxiety maintenance during early adolescence. Early adolescence is a critical period which may involve other serious academic, social, and family problems.     

Preoedipal fixation: Its contribution to pregnancy in early adolescence

The authors studied 50 girls, 15 years old and younger, to determine whether early problems in the relationship with their mothers are a significant component of their becoming pregnant. A pattern of deprivation and inconstancy was found, both in their early care by their teenage mothers and in the care that they were giving to their own infants. This pattern is consistent with Blos's theory that preoedipal fixation can contribute to early pregnancy. The girls' inconsistent care of their children, which perhaps is causing preoedipal fixations, may be laying the groundwork for the continuation of the adolescent pregnancy cycle.     

The orientation of evolution and the intellect

Prediction has been central in the development of both science and society. Chaos theory, however, has given rise to the widespread belief that in all but the most stable situations prediction of the future is impossible. But this belief is contradicted by theory and findings over many years of the psychology of prediction as well as by the findings of the new field of chaos psychology and the experience of entrepreneurs in business and political leaders. At stake is a belief central to an enormous body of “law” in all scientific fields as well as to business, political, and governmental managers and leaders concerned with governance of economic and political systems in a time of global social chaos. At its core, the problem is a critical one for the development of a General Evolution Theory that can span the findings of natural science and social science to find “laws” consonant with systems requirements at both pre‐human and human evolutionary levels. This paper analyzes the problem in terms of chaos theoretical views of the limits of predictability, evidence from the fields of psychology and brain research of human predictive abilities that transcend these limits, and the practical consequence of a resolution of this conflict for science and society.     

Developmental analysis of human figure drawings in adolescence, young adulthood, and middle age.

Analyzed 195 human figure drawings (HFDs) of adolescents, young adults, and middle-aged adults in terms of developmental differences in anxiety signs, grouped into aggressive-hostile and insecure-labile categories, and according to sex-role stereotype, as measured by the Broverman Sex-role Stereotype Scale. Adolescent males and females were significantly more likely to obtain more anxiety signs than the two adult groups, although young adults and middle-aged adults did not differ from one another in HFD performance. The most reliable sex difference was that males reveal significantly more aggressive-hostile indices in the HFDs relative to females; no significant sex differences were obtained for number of insecure-labile indices. The degree to which one has adopted a conventional sex-role stereotype was not predictive of anxiety sign differences in HFD performance for either sex or for any age group.     

Diagnostic status and symptomatic behavior of hard-to-manage preschool children in middle childhood and early adolescence

Followed 2 cohorts of hard-to-manage preschool children and comparison children without early problems to middle childhood and early adolescence. Children with early problems, especially problems that were still evident at school entry, were more likely to meet diagnostic criteria for an externalizing diagnosis at follow-up. Hard-to-manage children in Cohort 1 with problems that persisted from ages 3 through 9 years were much more likely to meet diagnostic criteria at age 13 than children whose early problems were less stable in elementary school. Similarly, hard-to-manage boys in Cohort 2 whose problems persisted at age 6 were more likely to meet criteria for an externalizing diagnosis at age 9 than hard-to-manage boys whose problems appeared less stable at age 6. Across cohorts, children with persistent problems had higher levels of symptoms and more varied symptoms at ages 3 and 4 and over the course of development.     

The critique of intellect: Henri Bergson's prologue to an organic epistemology

Bergson never dared to entitle his own work in such a fashion. However, his philosophical contribution on the workings of intelligence deserves such a high title. This article seeks to elucidate Bergson's contribution to philosophy in terms of his anticipation of several developments in human understanding. The work begins by investigating the relation between thought and the world (reality) by reviewing a series of constructivist concepts. In many ways, constructivism is related to both structuralism and post-structuralism, however this work does not seek to detail these interrelations in any overt way. Instead, these concepts lay the groundwork for a review of Bergson's discussion of intellect in relation to life, psyche, and modern physics. Central concepts include limitation, circularity, and complementarity. Ultimately, the article seeks to display how Bergson's work is not only a precursor to constructivism but lays the foundation for a modified constructivism that can achieve a rigorous philosophical level. The proposed ground for the intellect is in the organic. Such an epistemological foundationalism would ultimately justify an evolutionary epistemology, in that, the structuring of the organic is evolving and thus the structuring of intellect would likewise evolve. Clarifying such an epistemology may aid in developing Delueze's an-organic bergsonism.     

The end of the reading age: grade and age effects in early schooling

During the school years, psychological test norms may be indexed by age or by grade. A number of studies have shown that using age-based norms appears to produce biases associated with grade assignment. Cahan and Cohen [Child Dev. 60 (1989) 1239-1249] showed that the effect of one grade was over twice the effect of 1 year of age for most verbal cognitive ability subtests in Grades 4-6. A higher ratio might be expected for more curriculum-related areas such as reading tests. Analysis of a representative sample of 4257 Grade 1 and 2 children in Tasmanian government schools (which use relatively strict age assignment to grades) for three subtests of the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test—Revised (WRMTR): Word Identification, Word Attack, and Passage Comprehension, showed that the grade effect is about twice the age effect. This data shows that using age-based norms instead of grade-based norms for reading and other verbal ability tests may produce bias in the early school years. Psychologists should thus be primarily concerned with children's educational history, as once children have entered school other developmental factors indexed by age have less influence on children's verbal performance.     

The course of depressive symptoms in men from early adolescence to young adulthood: identifying latent trajectories and early predictors

Heterogeneity in the longitudinal course of depressive symptoms was studied through the use of general growth mixture modeling for young men in the Oregon Youth Study (N=206), who ranged in age from 15 to 24 years. Four trajectory classes were identified: the very-low, the moderate-decreasing, the high-decreasing, and the high-persistent classes. The 3 lowest classes differed primarily quantitatively with the initial level or mean level across time being the major determinant of class differences, whereas the high-persistent class appeared qualitatively different in terms of long-term developmental trends and variation. Findings from univariate and multivariate analyses revealed specific effects of childhood, parental, contextual, and individual risk factors on the class membership as well as on the growth within each trajectory class.