Academic dishonesty among high school students

Research on academic dishonesty has generally relied on survey techniques, which may fail to capture students' true feelings about cheating. The present investigation used focus group discussions to gain a fuller understanding of students' beliefs about academic dishonesty. The results suggest that, in regard to their cheating, students generally place the blame on others.     

Sexual behavior of Colombian high school students

This paper presents the results of a survey on the sexual behavior of Colombian high school students. It documents significant gender differences in the sexual behavior of Colombian adolescents as compared with the more egalitarian sexual behavior of their American and European counterparts. The study indicates that prostitutes are playing a decreasing role in the sexual lives of Colombian males as a result of a trend toward premarital coital permissiveness among Colombian females. The findings also support previous studies which indicate that there are intrinsic gender differences in the intensity and frequency of sexual desire.     

亲子依恋与初中生亲社会行为:有调节的中介效应

亲社会行为是个体在人际交往中表现出的谦让、帮助、合作、分享等行为,是青少年社会能力发展的重要方面。以往研究表明,安全的亲子依恋对亲社会行为具有重要影响,但亲子依恋发挥作用的具体机制及作用条件还有待深入探讨。本研究在发展系统理论及依恋理论指导下,构建一个有调节的中介效应模型,检验心理资本在亲子依恋与亲社会行为之间的中介作用,以及不良同伴交往对上述中介路径的调节作用。采用亲子依恋问卷、心理资本问卷、不良同伴交往问卷以及亲社会行为问卷对737名初中生进行测查。结构方程模型分析表明:(1)在控制了年龄、性别和社会经济地位后,亲子依恋对亲社会行为具有显著的正向预测作用。(2)中介效应检验表明,心理资本在亲子依恋与亲社会行为之间具有完全中介作用。(3)有调节的中介效应检验进一步表明,不良同伴交往调节了"亲子依恋→心理资本→亲社会行为"的前半段,即当初中生的不良同伴交往偏多时,亲子依恋对心理资本的促进作用减弱。本研究的发现表明,安全的依恋关系有利于培养初中生的心理资本,进而促进亲社会行为。但是,较高的不良同伴交往会阻碍亲子依恋积极作用的发挥。本研究验证了家庭系统、同伴系统和个人系统对亲社会行为的联合作用,对初中生亲社会行为的培养具有一定的指导意义。     

高中生解决化学实验问题的心理过程及其影响因素的进一步研究

对中学化学实验问题解决心理机制的前期研究的基础上,本研究进一步采用活动任务分析、心理模拟、现场实验活动观测、学生自我反思问卷调查,以及定量统计相结合的研究方法,对22名高三优秀学生解决化学实验问题的心理活动及其影响因素进行了较深入的探查,对了解我国高中生化学实验问题解决的能力和水平特点,以及如何改革中学化学实验教学具有重要启示.     

Support reciprocity and depression among elementary school and high school students1

Abstract: This study examined the relationship between support reciprocity in friendships and depression among elementary school and high school students, taking specific account of the quality of parent‐child relationships. The participants were 340 first‐year high school students and 317 sixth‐year elementary school students, all of whom completed questionnaires measuring levels of depression and support receiving and support giving in the relationship with their best friend. In addition, high school students answered questions about their parents’ child‐rearing attitudes. Consistent with predictions, it was shown that support reciprocity correlated significantly with lower depression among high school students but not among elementary school students. Moreover, it was found that for high school students who perceived their parents as caring and affectionate, support reciprocity related significantly to lower depression but not for those who perceived their parents as distant and dismissive.     

Suicidality among high school students in Hong Kong, SAR

Suicide is the leading cause of death in Hong Kong SAR for the youth aged 15-24. This study examined the prevalence of suicidality among secondary school students in Hong Kong using a representative, territory-wide sample of 2,586 students. Suicidal behaviors can be conceptualized as a spectrum of self-destructive behaviors. Cumulative logit model analysis indicated that a range of factors, such as unhappy family life, were associated with increasing levels of suicidality. Use of illicit drugs, inhalants, and tobacco differentiated attempters from ideators. The implications of the research findings are discussed.     

Reward allocation among Chinese high school students in Hong Kong

The present study examined the effects of personality and performance on reward allocation. The subjects were 89 Chinese senior high school students in Hong Kong. The results showed that the subjects would take into consideration the recipient's personality when they allocated reward to a relatively low performer. Personality factors were irrelevant, however, in the allocation of reward to a relatively high performer. Moreover, the subjects judged an allocation decision as more unfair when the allocation was intended to be a punishment for a worker with relatively low performance and a desirable personality than when the allocation was intended to be a reward for a relatively high performer.     

Suicide planning among high school students who report attempting suicide

Using a nationally representative sample of 16,296 high school students, we examined those who reported attempting suicide but did not report a suicide plan in the past 12 months. Results from logistic regression analyses showed that the 15% of attempters who did not report planning were as likely to receive medical treatment after their attempt as the attempters who did report planning. They also were more likely than nonideators and less likely than attempters who reported planning to report substance use and weapon carrying. All attempters, regardless of planning, were at high risk for fighting. Additional effort is needed to understand and prevent unplanned suicide attempts.     

The utility of behavior contracts and behavior proclamations with advantaged senior high school students

The relative efficiency of behavioral contracts and behavioral proclamations was empirically appraised in a parochial high school setting. Subjects were a select group of academically oriented seniors studying Problems in Democracy. The study consisted of an intra-subject replication design with eight phases aimed at determining the controlling influences of the experimental conditions for increasing appropriate student behavior. Line graphs and percentage tables were employed to analyze observational data. Results supported the position that students attain higher rates of appropriate behavior when given the opportunity to assist in classroom management. Both behavioral proclamations and contracts proved superior to the standard classroom procedures of the baselines.     

Self-esteem, depression, and alcohol dependency among high school students

123 high school students completed the short form of the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory-School Form and its Lie scale, Beck's Depression Inventory, and an Alcohol Dependency Scale. Analyses of variance (2 x 4) showed boys had higher mean Lie scores than girls, and freshmen had lower mean alcohol dependency scores than sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Correlations between self-esteem scores and depression scores were significant and negative, but values were significant and positive between self-esteem and lie scores and between depression and alcohol dependency scores. Much work is required to understand better the relations among depression, self-esteem, and drug and alcohol dependency in high school students if interventions are to focus upon prevention.     

The communicative process of drug resistance among high school students.

This article reports the results of the second of two studies designed to examine social influences on adolescents' responses to drug offers. In the first study, a typology of both drug offers and drug resistance strategies was developed. The present study provides an analysis of the associations between offers and resistance and the differences between drug and alcohol offers. To accomplish this, sixty-nine narrative accounts of both successful and unsuccessful attempts to say no were collected from high school students. Analysis of the interviews indicated that peer pressure was applied in approximately 70% of the offers; however, much of that pressure was applied after the initial offer had been refused. It also was determined that simple offers were more likely with alcohol, while drug offers were more likely to be persuasive and involve pressure during the initial offer.     

Suicidal behavior among youth with severe emotional disturbance

The purpose of this study was to replicate an investigation of risk behaviors associated with suicidal behavior in public high school students, in a population of high school age youth with severe emotional disturbance (SED). Subjects for the study were clients of the South Carolina Continuum of Care (COC) (N=83). Information on suicidal thoughts and acts, aggressive behaviors, substance use and physical recklessness was gathered using a modified version of the self-report National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Four percent of the youth reported seriously considering suicide, 8% reported planning how they would attempt suicide, 10% reported actually attempting suicide at least once, and 6% reported attempts requiring medical treatment Of the 13 youth who reported attempting suicide, four (31%) did not report planning an attempt. All suicidal behaviors except thoughts occurred more in girls than boys with SED. Alcohol and illicit drug use were associated with suicidal behavior, with larger odds ratios for attempts than for thoughts/plans. Youth with SED who use alcohol and illicit substances are particularly at risk of suicidal behavior. A high index of suspicion is appropriate when evaluating suicidal risk in girls with SED, especially in the presence of known alcohol or substance use.Continuum of Care for Emotionally Disturbed Children Division, S. C. Office of the Governor.     

Trends in suicide ideation and suicidal behavior among high school students in the United States, 1991-1997

To examine trends in suicide ideation and behavior over time, the authors analyze data from nationally representative samples of between 10,904 and 16,296 students participating in the 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1997 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys. These data describe the proportion of United States students in grades 9 through 12 that reported having (1) seriously considered attempting suicide, (2) made a plan to attempt suicide, (3) attempted suicide, and (4) made an injurious suicide attempt. From 1991 to 1997, the percentage of students seriously considering suicide and the percentage that made a suicide plan showed significant linear decreases. However, the percentage of students that made an injurious suicide attempt showed a significant linear increase. These trends make it unlikely that relevant national health objectives for the year 2000 will be met. Additional efforts are needed to identify and disseminate strategies that effectively reduce suicidal thoughts and behaviors among adolescents.     

Active commuting among junior high school students in a Chinese medium-sized city: Application of the theory of planned behavior

In China, junior high school students are considered as adolescents, and their parents have guardianship of them. If junior high school students want to travel by motorized vehicles, they need to get assistance from their parents. The present study uses the theory of planned behavior to construct a model of dependent travel behavior that depicts the active commuting of junior high school students to school. A total of 449 junior high school students’ parents in Jinjiang city of Fujian Province in China were surveyed by using a questionnaire. Non-parametric test, reliability and validity test, factor analysis, and a logistic model were performed to test the model. The results show that the model is a good fit for the junior high school students’ active travel to school in the morning, and the Nagelkerke R² of the model is 0.68. Behavioral intention and perceived behavioral control of parents affect students’ active commuting behavior, and behavioral intention is larger on behavior. Besides the inner attitude, the external environment such as non-motorized traffic facilities and the road traffic conditions along the way to school have significant effect on the behavior. In contrast to our expectations, parents leaving home for work in the morning, children’s gender, grade, and household income have no significant influence on the behavior. Measures should be taken by the local government to promote students’ active commuting to school, such as improving road traffic environment and providing safe routes.     

Characteristics of continuation high school students

This study examined the psychodynamics of students enrolled in a continuation high school. Forty continuation students were randomly selected and administered the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale and an author-prepared questionnaire which investigated students' experiences in a wide range of areas. The findings revealed that, contrary to expectations, these students had adequate self-concepts. Their responses to the questionnaire appeared to suggest that they were satisfied with their alternative school placement.     

Suicidal behavior among urban,African American young adults

The objectives of the present study were four-fold. First, to determine the lifetime, last year, and 6-month prevalence and demographic correlates of suicidal behavior in a defined population of urban, African American young adults. Second, to determine the degree of mental health service utilization among attempters. Third, to study the comorbidity between mental disorders and suicidal behavior, along with the variation in the numbers and types of psychiatric disorders associated with attempts versus ideation only. Fourth, to examine gender differences in the psychiatric diagnoses associated with attempts and ideation. Data relevant to each of these objectives were gathered through structured interviews of 1,157 economically disadvantaged, African American young adults. Lifetime, last year, and 6-month prevalence rates for attempts were 5.3%, 1.2%, and 0.4%, respectively, whereas the lifetime and 6-month prevalence of ideation were 14% and 1.9%, respectively. Approximately two thirds of those who reported lifetime ideation, and a similar proportion of those who reported lifetime attempts, had a history of at least one lifetime psychiatric disorder. There were no gender differences in terms of the degree of risk for suicidal behavior (ideation or attempts) associated with any of the comorbid psychiatric diagnoses assessed. Despite the severity of most attempts, few attempters received mental health services in their lifetime or at the time of their most recent attempt.