What Predicts Adolescent Violence in Better-Off Neighborhoods?

Predictors of repeated violent delinquency across ages 13–19 were investigated in a longitudinal sample of 420 urban adolescent males living in high- compared to low-socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhoods. Adolescents in high-SES neighborhoods were significantly less likely than their counterparts in low-SES neighborhoods to engage in serious and violent delinquency. Results indicated that risk factors for later repeated violence among adolescents in high-SES neighborhoods, such as physical aggression, may be biologically based, whereas risk factors for later violence among adolescents in low-SES neighborhoods, such as poor parent–adolescent communication and early intercourse, appeared to be context-dependent. Having positive attitudes toward problem behavior and delinquent peers increased risk for later violence regardless of neighborhood SES type. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

初中阶段青少年健康行为的因素结构特点分析

本研究以北京地区398名初中学生为被试,以适度睡眠、合理饮食、口腔卫生、体育锻炼、防止久坐五类健康促进行为与冒险、越轨、吸烟、过量饮酒、冒险骑车五类健康危害行为为对象,对其健康行为的因素结构特点进行了分析。研究结果表明,初中阶段青少年的健康危害行为间具有显著的正相关,而健康促进行为间的关系则较为复杂。验证性因素分析结果表明,初中阶段青少年健康行为的因素结构主要包含了两个因素,其中健康生活习惯因素主要包括适度睡眠、合理饮食与口腔卫生三类健康促进行为;冒险生活方式因素则包括了冒险、越轨、吸烟、过量饮酒、冒险骑车五类健康危害行为以及体育锻炼、防止久坐两类健康促进行为。     

Bullies and victims in rural African American youth: behavioral characteristics and social network placement

Bullying and victimization are serious problems for youth of many ages and from a variety of backgrounds. These behaviors have not, however, been widely studied in rural minorities. The current work examined behavioral and social correlates of bullying and victimization in a sample of rural African American youth. Incidence rates of bullying, victimization, and aggressive victimization parallel those in other populations. Bullies were rated as aggressive, hyperactive, and manipulative. Bullies and victims were both sociometrically rejected, but while victims were on the margin of the social network, bullies were integrated in their groups. Bullies' associations were heterogeneous: they belonged to both aggressive and non-aggressive and popular and unpopular groups. They also were highly likely to be leaders of their groups.     

Risk Taking in Adolescence: New Perspectives From Brain and Behavioral Science

ABSTRACT— Trying to understand why adolescents and young adults take more risks than younger or older individuals do has challenged psychologists for decades. Adolescents' inclination to engage in risky behavior does not appear to be due to irrationality, delusions of invulnerability, or ignorance. This paper presents a perspective on adolescent risk taking grounded in developmental neuroscience. According to this view, the temporal gap between puberty, which impels adolescents toward thrill seeking, and the slow maturation of the cognitive-control system, which regulates these impulses, makes adolescence a time of heightened vulnerability for risky behavior. This view of adolescent risk taking helps to explain why educational interventions designed to change adolescents' knowledge, beliefs, or attitudes have been largely ineffective, and suggests that changing the contexts in which risky behavior occurs may be more successful than changing the way adolescents think about risk.     

The good,the bad (and the ugly): The role of curiosity in subjective well‐being and risky behaviors among adolescents

Previous studies have shown that enhanced trait curiosity has positive influence on well‐being. It remains an open question, however, whether curiosity has any detrimental effects on behavioral outcomes in adolescence. The main aim of this research was to investigate the role of trait curiosity in the prediction of risky behavior engagement and subjective well‐being (SWB) among adolescents. A total of 371 Serbian adolescents (mean age 15.5, SD = 0.57) participated in the 5‐month follow up study. The results showed that the embracing component of curiosity (but not stretching) predicted risky behavior engagement, while the stretching component of curiosity (but not embracing) predicted positive affect. In addition, neither embracing nor stretching was a significant predictor of negative affect and life satisfaction. The results of this study call into question the conceptualization of curiosity as a completely positive emotional‐motivational system, and suggest that curiosity can contribute to negative outcomes in adolescence.     

青少年学生身体自我特点的初步研究

本研究编制的青少年学生身体自我量表具有较高的信度和效度,该量表包含五个因素：相貌特征、运动特征、身体特征、性特征和负面特征。我国青少年学生的身体自我在总体上不存在性别差异,但女生对自己在运动特征和身材特征上的满意度显著高于男生。从中学生到大学生的年级发展趋势看,青少年学生身体自我的满意度总体上呈下降趋势;随着年级的升高,他们对自己的身体越来有越多的不满意。