Studies in the Psycho-Physiology of Transfer: III. Bilateral Practice Effects in Normal and Mirror Writing

Thirty-six children who had participated in two separate preschool studies of play interests were given an interest questionnaire when in elementary school. Sex differences in interests were studied with both age groups, with both sexes showing more varied interests in elementary school than they had in preschool. There was a significant correlation between preschool and elementary school masculinity-feminity scores for boys but not for girls. The implications of the broadening of interest patterns for both sexes and the lack of significant sex role correlations for girls were discussed in terms of changing sex role standards.     

The development of conceptual interests in young children

We conducted a longitudinal analysis of the relative intensity and duration of interests associated with conceptual domains between the ages of 4 and 6 years, respectively. Results indicated a significant portion of preschool children do sustain an interest in conceptual domains during some portion of their childhood. Expected gender differences were found, with boys more likely to express an interest in a conceptual domain than girls. A latent growth curve analysis revealed that the probability of exhibiting a conceptual interest declined as school began, though the rate of that decline was similar for both boys and girls. Potential explanations for the decrease in conceptual interests as school begins are considered.     

Les intérêts professionnels des collégiens : l'évolution sur un quart de siècle

Two inventories assessing interests of boys (QIG 7,6,5) and of girls (QIF 7,6,5) have been completed by 428 pupils of seventh form in 2004. Results have been compared with those obtained in 1970 and 1976 in comparable studies. On the one hand, appears a fall of the scientific interests and interests for nature and, on the other hand, a rise of the artistic and manual, social and commercial interests. Variations are differentiated for two categories: literary interests are stable among boys and in fall among girls, while sport interests are in rise (G) or stable (F). At last, scores in two specific categories are stable: mechanics (G), domestic (F). These variations seem to follow a general social evolution, but do not modify the differences between genders.     

Evaluation of an intervention to increase non-traditional career interests and career-related self-efficacy among middle-school adolescents

This investigation evaluated the effectiveness of an intervention designed to increase adolescents’ interests in non-traditional careers, and their career-related self-efficacy. Results demonstrated significant increases in career planning and exploration efficacy, and educational and vocational development efficacy among experimental group participants. Boys showed significant increases in artistic, social, and conventional interests, and girls showed significant increases in realistic, enterprising, and conventional interests. Results suggest that young adolescents’ career-related self-efficacy and interests in non-traditional careers can be increased through their participation in computer assisted career intervention and group exploration activities.     

Planes, trains, automobiles--and tea sets: extremely intense interests in very young children

Some normally developing young children show an intense, passionate interest in a particular category of objects or activities. The present article documents the existence of extremely intense interests that emerge very early in life and establishes some of the basic parameters of the phenomenon. Surveys and interviews with 177 parents revealed that nearly one third of young children have extremely intense interests. The nature of these intense interests is described, with particular focus on their emergence, commonalities in the content of the interests, and the reactions of other people to them. One of the most striking findings is a large gender difference: Extremely intense interests are much more common for young boys than for girls.     

The Development and Correlates of Academic Interests from Childhood through Adolescence

Study goals were to assess: (1) the development of academic interests from middle childhood through late adolescence, (2) the degree to which junior high and high school transitions, parents' educational expectations, interests, and education, were related to changes in academic interests, and (3) the longitudinal links between youth's academic interests and school grades. Participants were mothers, fathers, and two siblings from 201, White, working and middle class families who were interviewed in their homes on up to 9 annual occasions. Multi-level model analyses revealed overall declines in youth's interests over time, with boys showing more rapid decline than girls. Mothers' educational expectations were positively related to youth's interests, and youth's interests declined less when fathers had more education. The transition to junior high, but not high school, was linked to decline in interests, but this was buffered by mothers' academic interests. Declines in youth's academic interests were linked to declines in school grades.     

Prenatal androgens and gender-typed behavior: a study of girls with mild and severe forms of congenital adrenal hyperplasia

Gender-typed behaviors and interests were investigated in 26 girls, aged 2-10 years, affected with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and in 26 unaffected girls matched for age. Girls with CAH were more interested in masculine toys and less interested in feminine toys and were more likely to report having male playmates and to wish for masculine careers. Parents of girls with CAH rated their daughters' behaviors as more boylike than did parents of unaffected girls. A relation was found between disease severity and behavior indicating that more severely affected CAH girls were more interested in masculine toys and careers. No parental influence could be demonstrated on play behavior, nor did the comparison of parents' ratings of wished for behavior versus perceived behavior in their daughters indicate an effect of parental expectations. The results are interpreted as supporting a biological contribution to differences in play behavior between girls with and without CAH.     

The Holtzman Inkblot Technique Content Measures of Depression and Suspiciousness

Using free response reports of preferences for books and movies that are presumed to be an index of subjects' fantasy interests, content codes for these materials were developed that successfully discriminated adolescent boys and girls. In two samples boys preferred stories about (1) sports, (2) adventure themes, (3) stories of man-machine relationships. Girls preferred stories of (1) suffering, hardship, overcoming personal and interpersonal obstacles, (2) romance, (3) teenage life, and 4) religious and inspirational themes. Stories about family life, nurturance, sex, and aggression were among the codes that did not discriminate the sexes. Implications of the findings and suggestions for further development of the instrument are discussed.     

A multiple-risk interaction model: Effects of temperament and divorce on psychiatric disorders in children

Effects of family status on the trajectory of problematic temperament-adjustment at 1 to 10 years of age and associated psychiatric disturbance 8 years later were examined in an epidemiological sample of 648 children. After adjusting for predivorce temperament-adjustment and background factors, logistic regression yielded independent effects of single custodial mother (SCM) family status for increased risk of disruptive and anxiety disorders, and of stepfamily status for increased risk of disruptive disorders. Increased risk of psychiatric disorders was more pervasive for SCM family boys versus intact family boys than for SCM family girls versus intact family girls, however only significantly more so for depression. No significant sex interaction was observed for stepfamily status. When girls and boys were treated independently, patterns of family status and outcomes of internalizing disorders varied. In stepfamilies, an elevated risk of depression and anxiety disorders was observed in girls but not boys, whereas in SCM families an elevated risk of depression was observed in boys but not girls. Within each family status group there was support for an altered risk of later psychiatric disorders given specific problematic predivorce temperament-adjustment characteristics. Implications for future research and treatment are discussed.The research described was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and by the W. T. Grant Foundation.     

Family‐based Intervention for Legal System‐involved Girls: A Mixed Methods Evaluation

The increased proportion of juvenile court‐involved girls has spurred interest to implement and evaluate services to reduce girls’ system involvement. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a family‐based intervention by using a dominant sequential mixed methods evaluation approach. First, we examined quantitative data using a quasi‐experimental design to determine whether the family‐based intervention reduced recidivism among court‐involved girls. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to construct statistically equivalent groups to compare one‐year recidivism outcomes for girls who received the court‐run family‐based intervention (n = 181) to a group of girls on probation who did not receive the intervention (n = 803). Qualitative interviews (n = 39) were conducted to contextualize the quantitative findings and highlighted the circumstances that family‐focused interventions for court‐involved girls. Girls who received the program had slightly lower recidivism rates following the intervention. The qualitative findings contextualized the quasi‐experimental results by providing an explanation as to the girls’ family circumstances and insights into the mechanisms of the intervention. Results highlighted the importance of family‐focused interventions for juvenile justice‐involved girls. These findings have practical and policy implications for the use interventions—beyond the individual level—with adjudicated girls and offer suggestions for ways to improve their effectiveness using a community psychology lens. In addition, this paper includes a discussion of evaluating of juvenile court programming from a community psychology perspective including strengths, challenges, and considerations for future work in this area.     

Evaluating the impact of a third-year careers education programme

The occupational interests, values, and knowledge of third-year pupils undertaking a careers education programme were compared to those of a matched sample of pupils not receiving the programme. Despite the fact that the programme was designed to increase occupational knowledge, broaden interests, and discourage sex-role stereotyping, its main impact was an increase in occupational knowledge. Occupational interests remained stable, with the girls showing a greater preference for traditional female work roles. The pupils were more willing to discuss their ideas with their parents, and were more able to specify a job preference or job expectation for the future.     

Religiosity,Prosocial Values,and Adjustment among Students in Catholic High Schools in Canada

The present study explored the facilitating function of religious commitment in the lives of adolescents. A total of 369 boys and 372 girls attending Catholic high schools in Canada completed measures of family religion, religiosity, prosocial values, social adjustment (school attitudes and family satisfaction), and personal adjustment (life satisfaction and self-esteem). There were no significant gender differences in family religion, religiosity, social adjustment or personal adjustment. However, girls endorsed prosocial values much more than did boys. Religiosity had strong positive correlations with prosocial values and lesser significant correlations with social adjustment. Religiosity had much higher correlations with prosocial values and social adjustment among boys than among girls. Structural-equation analyses of the total sample, of boys, and of girls supported a path model where family religion fosters adolescents's religiosity, religiosity fosters prosocial values, prosocial values promote social adjustment and social adjustment promotes personal adjustment.     

Perceptions of Family Relationship Factors and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents: What Roles Do Parents and Gender Play?

The association of adolescents’ perceptions of family relationships and adolescent depressive symptoms was investigated using a sample of 2,918 youth participating in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. Boys showed fewer depressive symptoms than girls, as hypothesized. In general, adolescents’ perceptions of family relationships were negatively related to depressive symptoms. Mother support of father predicted depressive symptoms for girls only, whereas father support of mother predicted depressive symptoms for boys only. These findings contradict previous research that suggested family functioning is more related to outcomes of adolescent girls than boys. Suggestions for future research and implications for marital and family therapists are discussed.     

Family and ability correlates of academic achievement

Relationships were examined among family social status, family learning environments, intellectual ability, and the mathematics and word achievement of boys and girls. Data were collected from 516 (250 boys, 266 girls) 11-yr.-old Australian children and their parents. Analysis indicated that the relationships between the predictor and achievement variables varied for boys and girls and differed depending on the achievement measure being examined. Generally, the family and ability measures combined to have large associations with word scores, while intellectual ability was the only significant predictor of mathematics achievement.     

Patriarchal influences on the lives of African adolescent girls from child-headed households

This study examined the gendered experiences of patriarchal family life by adolescent girls from a low socio-economic status (SES) neighbourhood in South Africa. The informants were nine girls from an urban setting, three of whom were from child-headed homes. The six others lived with extended family and served to provide typical experiences for girls from the same community. Data on the girls’ experience of patriarchal values were gathered using focus group discussions and a photo-voice booklet. Thematic analysis of the data suggested pervasive patriarchal value influences on the adolescent girls – including pressure from within themselves to prove their academic abilities, as well as being competent and responsible in daily living responsibilities. The informant girls perceived their greater educational aspirations to be discounted by their male peers, who did not seem to take them seriously.     

Connections Between Marital Conflict and Adolescent Girls’ Disordered Eating: Parent–Adolescent Relationship Quality as a Mediator

The family system has frequently been suggested to play an important role in adolescents’ health. Particularly, conflict within the marital dyad has been associated with maladjustment among adolescents, although studies have rarely focused on disordered eating as a possible negative outcome. In this study, we examined the direct association between marital conflict and disordered eating among 123 adolescent girls in middle school and high school. We also tested the mediating role of adolescents’ positive relationship quality with their mothers and fathers (e.g., high warmth and low control) in this relation. For our hypothesized direct effects and mediation models, we formed latent constructs with cross-sectional data collected from girls’ self-report questionnaires and applied bootstrapping procedures. We found that marital conflict was both directly and indirectly, via poor mother– and father–adolescent relationship quality, associated with girls’ disordered eating. This suggests that the mother–father, mother–adolescent, and father–adolescent family subsystems can play a part in influencing girls’ eating patterns. Clearly, family subsystems have significant roles in promoting the health of young, female adolescents. Future research and treatment efforts for girls exhibiting disordered eating should aim to include family members and address the roles of different family subsystems.     

Adaptation of career goals to self and opportunities in early adolescence

Development of career goals that are adapted to self and opportunities is a central component of adolescent career preparation. The present longitudinal study (conducted throughout the eighth grade with three assessment points) investigated how 330 Swiss adolescents simultaneously adapt career goals to interests, scholastic achievement and environmental opportunities. Results demonstrated that students increasingly adapt their goals to the environment. Mean adaptation to environment related positively to degree of adaption to interests and achievement. Increased adaptation to environment over time related to increased adaptation to achievement but to decreased adaptation to interests. Gender, attended school type and nationality moderated adaptation processes. Structurally disadvantaged students (girls, lower requirements school track, immigrant students) reported more conflict in aligning adaptation to environment with adaptation to interests.     

Are Developmental Pathways in Disruptive Behaviors the Same for Girls and Boys?

Data from the first five waves of the National Youth Survey were used to test the applicability of the Developmental Pathways model to a nationally representative sample of girls. Overall, girls were less likely to be involved in all types of delinquent behavior, with the majority of girls reporting no delinquent involvement across the five waves of data collected. Using the Developmental Pathways model, similar developmental patterns of antisocial and delinquent involvement were found for girls as have been found for boys. Approximately 70% of involved girls followed most steps in each of the pathways. We also evaluated the relation of family and peer factors to specific pathways and found differences in those relations for boys and girls. For girls, only parental monitoring was related to involvement in one of the three pathways. For boys, specific relations were found between family and peer variables and each of the three developmental pathways. As with previous studies on girls involvement in disruptive behavior, these results suggest some general consistency in patterns with that of boys, although differences in frequency and predictors of risk.     

Gender differences in emotional support and depressive symptoms among adolescents: A prospective analysis

Investigated components of perceived emotional support, including support from family members, nonfamily adults, and peers, as predictors of depressive symptoms in a sample of 333 high school students (age 14-18) using a prospective design. Analyses of panel questionnaire data at two points in time suggest there are significant gender differences both in the quality of perceived support reported by adolescents and in the importance of support variables as predictors of depressive symptoms. Although there are no gender differences in the magnitude of perceived support from family members, girls report higher emotional support from both nonfamily adults and peers than boys report. Simple correlations between family support and depression are significantly stronger for girls than for boys. Results of hierarchical regression analyses, controlling for initial level of symptoms, reveal that whereas both nonfamily adult and friend components of perceived support are significant predictors of changes in symptoms for girls, none of these variables significantly predicts changes in symptoms for boys in this sample. In addition, initial symptoms predict changes in family support for girls but not for boys.     

Effects of area and family deprivation on risk factors for teenage pregnancy among 13-15-year-old girls

Information is needed about how the effects of socio-economic deprivation on teenage pregnancy are mediated by proximal risk factors, in order to target area-wide and family interventions more effectively. Using a 2x2 factorial design, we tested the separate and interacting effects of area deprivation and family deprivation on six specific proximal risk factors for teenage pregnancy: early sexual activity, life expectations, knowledge and beliefs about contraceptives, attitude to abortion, beliefs about love, and use of local sexual health services. Data were collected from 201 13-15-year-old girls in deprived and non-deprived families living in deprived and more affluent areas of the United Kingdom. Area deprivation significantly increased early sexual activity, and both area and family deprivation significantly reduced life expectations. Significant interactions between area and family deprivation showed that the impact of living in a deprived area depends to some extent on family circumstances, with implications for targeting different types of intervention. Living in a deprived area increased early sexual activity much more markedly among girls in deprived families, so interventions to reduce early sexual activity could target individually deprived girls living in deprived areas. Living in a more affluent area increased life expectations, but only among girls in non-deprived families, so both area-wide and individually targeted interventions would be needed to raise life expectations among girls most at risk of teenage pregnancy.