The development of academic competence among adolescents who bully and who are bullied

Using data from the first three waves (Grades 5, 6, and 7) of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, this study assessed if being a bully or being a victim accounts for an adolescent's academic competence, if selected contextual and individual variables impact an adolescent's academic competence, and if such impact differs in relation to an adolescent's bullying status. The results of random coefficient hierarchical regression analyses indicated that being a bully predicted lower grades across time, and that being a bully was more detrimental for girls than for boys. Being a bully and being a victim negatively predicted self-perceived academic competence, but these predictive effects did not change over time or differ by sex. Teacher support positively predicted grades and greater parent support and teacher support independently predicted higher self-perceive academic competence. Greater educational expectations and school engagement independently predicted higher self-reported grades, while these two predictors positively interacted in explaining self-perceived academic competence. Unexpectedly, peer support negatively predicted self-reported grades for victims, and negatively predicted self-perceived academic competence for bullies. We discuss the importance of addressing the issue of academic competence in bullying interventions, as well as the utility of capitalizing on developmental assets in promoting academic competence among adolescents who bully and who are bullied.     

Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components of civic action: Towards an integrated measure of civic engagement

Using data from 8th grade participants in the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, factor analytic procedures were used to explore a model of active, engaged citizenship, termed Civic Identity/Civic Engagement (CICE). We identified a higher order factor model in which CICE is a second-order latent variable that is comprised of several dimensions including civic duty, civic skills, and civic participation, adult social connection, peer social connection, and neighborhood social connection. Covariation was assessed between CICE scores and participation in youth development organizations, such as 4-H. Participation in 4-H was related to higher scores on five of the six factors as well as the overall CICE score. Both limitations of this study and the need for longitudinal assessments of CICE are noted and the implications of the presence of an integrated construct of civic engagement for the conduct of youth programs is discussed.     

我国当代青少年情感素质现状调查

本研究在青少年情感素质理论和发展的情感分类思想指导下, 在理论构想与实践探索相结合的基础上, 编制了富有原创性的内含6个分问卷、可测查青少年2层次6大类29种情感发展状况的调查工具——《青少年情感素质问卷》, 并以此对我国3类地区9大城市及其郊县的117所学校的25485名青少年学生进行首次大规模情感素质测查。结果发现: 我国青少年情感素质整体上处于积极正向状态, 但亟待提高; 男女生情感素质主要存在结构性差异; 情感素质未随学段升高而提高, 反有下降趋势, 其中乐学感和自信感下降达显著水平; 情感素质与学习成绩的自我评价、父母受教育程度呈正相关; 师生关系良好、教师有情施教对青少年学生各方面情感素质发展具有重要而直接的促进作用。     

Parental and school influences upon the career development of poor youth of color

Critical career development tasks for adolescents include developing vocational expectations and a connection to the world of work. Given the sociopolitical barriers to the career development of poor Youth of Color, it is vital to identify contextual resources facilitative of their career development. The present study examines the impact of relational and instrumental parental support and instrumental school support upon vocational expectations and work salience among poor Youth of Color. Participants from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) were examined longitudinally from 12th grade to two years after they had finished high school. The obtained structural models suggested that relational and instrumental parental support had a direct effect upon work salience and instrumental parental support a significant indirect effect two years later. Instrumental school support and relational parental support had direct effects upon vocational expectations and nonsignificant indirect effects two years later. These findings illuminate contextual factors facilitative of vocational expectations and work salience, provide support for school-based career development programs, and suggest that incorporating relational and instrumental parental support could augment intervention programs for poor Youth of Color.     

A Case Study of the Coping Power Program for Angry and Aggressive Youth

This paper illustrates the application of the Coping Power program with an 11-year-old boy and his father. Coping Power is a manualized preventive intervention for school-age children at-risk for disruptive and delinquent behavior. Cognitive-behavioral techniques are taught in separate child and parent groups to improve children’s social and emotional competencies. This case study highlights the core content of the Coping Power child and parent intervention components, the contextual social cognitive risk factors that the program targets, and the empirical support for the program’s effectiveness.     

The contribution of the Responsive Classroom Approach on children's academic achievement: Results from a three year longitudinal study

This paper reports the results of a quasi-experimental study on the contribution of the Responsive Classroom (RC) Approach to elementary school children's reading and math performance over one-, two-, and three-year periods. All children enrolled in six schools (3 intervention and 3 control schools in a single district) were the participants in the study. Children's test scores in math and reading were used as outcomes, and data on treatment fidelity were used to describe differences in use of RC practices between intervention and control schools. Findings showed that, after controlling for poverty and test scores from previous years, the RC Approach contributed to the gains in both reading and math, with math showing greater difference between the intervention and control schools. The contribution of the RC Approach appeared to be greater over a three-year period than over a one or two-year period. These findings provide early evidence for the positive contribution of the RC Approach to gains in academic achievement.     

Risk and protective factors for urban African-American youth

The present study investigated risk and resilience processes in a sample of urban African-American youth. Risk and protective factors were assessed across ecological levels including individual, family and community. Both externalizing and internalizing symptomatology were included as measures of child adjustment. Youth and parental reports as well as various methods, such as the Experience Sampling Method, were used to capture the daily experiences of the adolescents from different perspectives. Poverty, hassles, and exposure to violence predicted higher rates of externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Individual and family protective variables emerged as powerful sources of resilience. An inner sense of confidence and helpful family support were associated with reductions in the deleterious effects of community poverty. Two main patterns, protective-stabilizing and overwhelming-risk, seemed to characterize most of the risk by protective factor interactions. The present findings are important for understanding the complex experiences of urban youth and furthering the literature on sources of risk and protection for African-Americans.     

Oppression and empowerment: perceptions of violence among urban youth

Youth violence in the United States has emerged as a major concern for communities, policymakers and community researchers. This paper reports on the efforts of a child mental health clinic to build a community consensus around addressing violence that affects youth and all members of the community. We describe and give case examples regarding our approach to acquiring the perspectives of the community, particularly that of youth, discuss key themes and implications that emerged from our work, and offer preliminary recommendations for designing a youth violence prevention initiative in a disenfranchised community. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attitude Towards Premarital Sex among Rural College Youth in Maharashtra,India

Little is known about the risky sexual behaviour, misconceptions and attitudes regarding sexuality and sexual health among rural youth in India. In order to understand these aspects, quantitative data were collected among 1,500 rural college students (800 male and 700 female) in the age group 15–24 years in the Thane district of Maharashtra, India, during 2004. Analysis of variance and regression analysis were performed using the total mean score of attitude towards sexuality as the dependent variable to determine the association and relationship, respectively, with background and familial characteristics. The results clearly showed that the majority of the students in the study expressed conservative attitudes towards premarital sexuality. Many students not only disagreed with casual sex but also considered it immoral. Gender bias i.e. permitting premarital sex for males and not for females, was reflected in their attitudes to some extent. Mean score indicated that male students had higher mean scores compared with their female counterparts and senior students compared with junior students, indicating more liberal attitudes towards sexuality. Bivariate analysis showed positive association between age; peer interaction; erotic exposure; habits of gutaka, tobacco, smoking and alcohol consumption; and knowledge about reproductive health issues with attitudes towards various sexuality issues. Multivariate analysis showed that female students studying in the commerce and science faculties were more liberal in attitude towards sexuality when compared with female students from the arts faculty. Male students with high erotic exposure (odds ratio 2.3); habits of gutaka, tobacco, smoking and alcohol consumption (odds ratio 2.7); and high peer interaction (odds ratio 2.3) had higher attitudinal scores indicated more liberal attitudes. Overall, the majority of the students expressed conservative attitudes towards premarital sex. The programme on sexuality education and responsibility for in-school adolescents should be launched early in secondary schools/college at an early stage of the perception process and formulation of attitudes towards sexuality. This would provide students with more scientific information and deter them from gathering incomplete information through sources such as pornography and peers.     

Specificity of Information Processing Styles to Depressive Symptoms in Youth Psychiatric Inpatients

Although information processing has been widely studied with depressed adults, little emphasis has been placed on the specificity of resultant findings to depression, as opposed to other psychological disorders. Analogously, even less effort has been directed toward examining the information processing styles of depressed children and adolescents. The present study investigated the specificity of information processing styles to depression and anxiety among 58 youth psychiatric inpatients. To assess information processing, we used a self-referent encoding task, in which participants were presented with positive and negative adjectives; participants were asked whether these adjectives described them or not, and were then tested on recall of the adjectives. After controlling for age and gender, lower rates of positive adjective endorsement and lower rates of positive adjective recall were found to be associated with depression, but not anxiety. Additionally, negative adjective endorsement was associated with anxiety symptoms. These results suggest specific cognitive features of depressive symptoms.