Processes linking adolescent well-being, marital love, and coparenting.

This study examined coparenting in a sample of 177 two-parent families with firstborn adolescents by using annual home interview data from mothers, fathers, and adolescents. With a path-analytic approach and with earlier problem behaviors controlled for, coparenting conflict predicted relative increases in adolescent risky behavior over 2 years. In addition, evidence for 2 types of mediation was found. Marital love mediated the link between adolescents' early risky behavior and coparenting 1 year later, and coparenting conflict mediated the link between marital love and adolescents' risky behavior 1 year later. Linkages did not emerge for coparenting cooperation or triangulation. Interventions that are focused on the marital and coparental relationships in families with adolescents may modify trajectories of adolescent risky behavior.     

The impact of parental attachment and supervision on fear of crime among adolescent males

This paper examines the effect of parental attachment and supervision on fear of crime among adolescent males. Earlier work has suggested that feelings of powerlessness and association with deviant peers have a significant impact on adolescent fear of crime. As the nature of the parent-adolescent relationship is also a key predictor of adolescent self-concept and quality of peer relationships, we felt that parental attachment and supervision should also impact fear of crime. Using self-report surveys from 318 incarcerated adolescent males, we examine the effect of parental attachment and supervision, along with other demographic and contextual variables, on fear of criminal victimization, perceived safety, and perceptions of risk. The results indicate that those boys who are most attached to their parents are less fearful of criminal victimization and feel safer in their environment than do their counterparts with weaker parental attachments. Additionally, those boys whose parents supervise them closely are more fearful of criminal victimization, but have lower levels of perceived risk of victimization. Implications and ramifications for social policies and future research are also discussed.     

Personality, intelligence and personal space among violent and non-violent delinquents

McGurk, Davis and Grehan (1981) have suggested that personality variables may have a moderating effect on the violence—personal space relationship originally reported by Kinzel (1970). Similarly, Wright (1974) has reported enhanced personal space in inmates classified as of low intelligence. The present study was undertaken in order to further investigate possible confounding effects of personality and intelligence differences on the relationship between aggressive behaviour and spatial use. A direct approach stop-distance and a semi-blind measure of personal space were obtained for a group of violent young offenders and a non-violent control group. Verbal and Non-verbal Intelligence scores and personality scores were also collected. Analysis of variance showed no significant differences in personal space size between the violent and non-violent group on any one measure. However, a significant interaction effect was found between violence, P and Non-verbal Intelligence such that violent inmates exhibited augmented personal space in relation to non-violent inmates only in the cases of those scoring both low on Non-verbal Intelligence and high on P. These findings contradict earlier research reporting a difference in spatial use between violent and non-violent Ss. It is concluded that the lack of a standardized well-controlled technique for measuring personal space has resulted in ambiguous findings in this area of research.     

Comparison of rates of recidivism among status offenders and delinquents

This study is concerned with how many status offenders and delinquents returned to a state training school in Wisconsin after their first release. The sample is derived from 1965 and 1967 correctional files, and subjects were followed for ten years in Wisconsin to see if they also had a conviction for a felony as an adult. Policy implications of the study are discussed.     

Violent crime and its relation to subjective social stress indicators: The case of Israel

Although the effects of objective social stressors on violent crime have been studied extensively, the effects of subjective perception of stress factors have been neglected in criminological research. The present study investigates the relationship between the subjective perception of external stress factors and homicide and robbery rates, within a stress model according to which the probability of violence as a reaction to stress will increase when social support systems fail or malfunction. In the present context, subjective perception of social stress is conceived as expressions of worry or dissatisfaction regarding cardinal life domains such as the economic, security, or political situation. Support systems are defined here in terms of national solidarity, which is expressed as positive (or improved) attitudes regarding the relations between various segments of the population. The data regarding the subjective indicators were derived from continuing surveys of representative samples of urban Israeli population during the years 1967–1985. Fourteen stress indicators and two solidarity indicators were included. The periods covered range from less than 4 years to more than 16 years. The theoretical model was generally supported by the findings: both homicide and robbery were found to be related to most of the stress indicators as predicted. The two solidarity indicators were in line with the model in respect of robbery but not homicide. The consistency of the findings with the model is particularly noteworthy in view of the great variation among the independent variables regarding the number of observations and periods of time covered. Some theoretical implications of the findings are discussed, and suggestions are made for future research.     

Life Satisfaction and Violent Behaviors among Middle School Students

We explored relationships between violent behaviors and perceived life satisfaction among 2,138 middle school students in a southern state using the CDC Middle School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (MSYRBS) and the Brief Multidimensional Student Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS). Logistic regression analyses and multivariate models constructed separately revealed significant race by gender results. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for the variables of interest. Having ever carried a gun, ever carried a knife/club, physical fighting and physical fighting with need for medical treatment were associated (p ≤ .05) with reduced life satisfaction for specific race/gender groups, while controlling for SES and grade. Results suggest implications for school-community based violence prevention programs. Future research should consider measures of life satisfaction as a component of comprehensive assessments of middle school student violence and aggressive behaviors in fieldwork, intervention research and program evaluation.     

Agreement among adolescents, parents, and teachers on adolescent personality

Agreement between adolescents, mothers, fathers, and teachers on adolescents' personality traits was investigated in a longitudinal study. The targets for personality ratings were the adolescents who participated in the European Youth Heart Study in Estonia. There were 593 participants in the first wave and 480 participants in the follow-up study 3 years later. Adolescents' self-reports as well as father, mother, and teacher ratings were collected using questionnaires to measure the five-factor model of personality. In both waves, inter-rater agreement was highest between mothers and fathers, was low to moderate for parent-self ratings, and was lowest for ratings between self and teacher, mother and teacher, and father and teacher. Test-retest correlations were moderate for parent and self-ratings but failed to reach statistical significance for three of the five teacher-rated traits, suggesting lower reliability of teacher ratings. Possible explanations for the low agreement between teachers and other judges are discussed.     

Attachment style, ethnicity and help-seeking attitudes among adolescent pupils

The present study set out to explore influences on help-seeking attitudes among adolescents. The roles of attachment style, ethnicity and symptomatology were examined, as previous research (predominantly from outside the UK) has shown they have an influence on help-seeking. A self-report questionnaire survey of help-seeking attitudes was carried out among 112 Asian, black and white UK pupils (age 15 years). Teachers were identified as the most frequently used source of previous professional help. Greater intentions to seek help were associated with being female, having a secure attachment style and having had previous experience of obtaining professional psychological help, but ethnicity and level of emotional and behavioural difficulties did not predict. Results are discussed in terms of implications for enhancing adolescent help-seeking.     

Reason,emotion, and love

Wittgenstein's private language argument is interpreted as an example of a kind of transcendental argument which, if valid, explains why a certain concept must possess certain features. Cognition and affect are shown to require each other by an application of Bennett's account of what beings capable of true cognition must be capable of, and the necessity of certain emotions to the existence of any rules in a community is argued in similar fashion. Hume's account of love and admiration being rejected, an account of love, intended to explain some of love's familiar features, is defended, and various proposed additions to the analysis are rejected. The idea of love is linked to those of value, agency, and the transcendental self by argument showing that each of these ideas requires all of the others. Finally, the idea of love is linked by a direct argument to that of the transcendental self.     

Cognitive and social influences on gang involvement among delinquents in three Chinese cities

Inasmuch as research has held the increase in youth gang activities responsi ble for the escalating level of crime and delinquency in Chinese societies, ascertaining risk or protective factors of gang involvement among Chinese youths is crucial. The factors include those associated with social control, social learning, and cognitive development. To investigate these factors across different sociocultural contexts, we surveyed delinquents in three diverse Chinese cities-Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shanghai. Because of the sociocultural differences among the three cities, social control by parents and cognitive development are likely to be greater protective factors in terms of youths' gang involvement in Hong Kong, while social control by teachers is likely to be a greater protective factor in mainland cities. Results bear out these hypotheses.     

Daily mood, partner support, sexual interest, and sexual activity among adolescent women.

The main objective of this study was to examine day-to-day associations of coitus, sexual interest, partner emotional support, negative mood, and positive mood among adolescent women. Diaries assessed partner interactions, sexual activity, substance use, and mood. Participants were 146 adolescent women who provided 28,376 diary days. Correlates of coitus on a given day included age, increased coital frequency in previous week, coitus on the previous day, partner support, increased same-day sexual interest, and decreased same-day negative mood. The data demonstrate complex associations of sexual interest, mood, partner interactions, and sexual activity. The findings extend understanding of the sexuality of adolescent women and have implications for a variety of interventions to reduce sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancies.     

Heterosocial involvement, peer pressure for thinness, and body dissatisfaction among young adolescent girls

The purpose of this study was to examine longitudinal connections among young adolescent heterosocial involvement (i.e., mixed-sex interactions), peer pressure for thinness, and body dissatisfaction. Three years of self-report questionnaire data were collected from 88 adolescent girls as they completed 6th through 8th grades. Results indicated that the relation between heterosocial involvement and body dissatisfaction was mediated by perceived peer pressure for thinness. Within this model, heterosocial involvement was associated with greater peer pressure for thinness. In turn, peer pressure for thinness was associated with greater body dissatisfaction. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for prevention and intervention efforts aimed at girls during their middle-school years.