Search

Abstract:Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender + (LGBT+) undergraduate student community are at heightened risk for a variety of health and mental health challenges due to unsupportive environments which may include home, school, and society. However, research underscores the importance of mentors, mentorship, and other social supports upon the mental health of LGBT+ youth, especially when navigating discriminatory experiences. An online survey was conducted among LGBT+ undergraduate college students within one mid-sized university located in the Midwest to assess experiences with discrimination, perceptions of mentoring, and the beneficial components of mentoring programs. 289 LGBT+ undergraduate students (65.7% cisgender female, 47.8% ages 19–20, 51.2% bisexual) responded with 71.6% of participants reporting no current LGBT+ mentor. 56.4% either agreed or strongly agreed that acceptance of the LGBT+ community could be improved at the university. Discussion centers upon the importance of mentoring programs for LGBT+ undergraduate students to provide support and create a more affirming college experience.

Over the past few decades, service-learning has surged in popularity. Although most programs are implemented in high school and college classrooms, service-learning has the potential for great impact in middle school. The present article evaluates a pilot service-learning program for fifth- and seventh-grade (N= 86) children in a large, urban, midwestern city. For this project, a service-learning curriculum was developed, implemented, and assessed. Findings indicate that, relative to students in the control group, students participating in the service-learning curriculum demonstrated significantly higher scores on the measure of Leadership. Several Grade × Intervention interactions suggested stronger effects for fifth-grade students. A measure of Acceptance of Diversity did not show any significant differences. Implications and recommendations for developing future programs are discussed.

This research investigated maternal employment and education in relation to mothers' emotional well-being and the emotional well-being of their adolescents. Inthe study, 52 adolescents and their parents carried electronic pagers and responded to signals via self-report forms for I week At the end of the week the Beck Depression Inventory and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were administered along with other self-report measures. The results showed that mothers' global well-being was influenced by an interaction between education and employment. Additionally, mothers' education/employment match interacted with their affect to influence adolescents's global well-being (depression and self-esteem) as well as adolescents' day-to-day experiences (affect). These interactions were investigated further and the findings are discussed in relation to the emotional development of adolescents.

Puberty is a central process in the complex set of changes that constitutes the transition from childhood to adolescence. Research on the role of pubertal change in this transition has been impeded by the difficulty of assessing puberty in ways acceptable to young adolescents and others involved. Addressing this problem, this paper describes and presents norms for a selfreport measure of pubertal status. The measure was used twice annually over a period of three years in a longitudinal study of 335 young adolescent boys and girls. Data on a longitudinal subsample of 253 subjects are reported. The scale shows good reliability, as indicated by coefficient alpha. In addition, several sources of data suggest that these reports are valid. The availability of such a measure is important for studies, such as those based in schools, in which more direct measures of puberty may not be possible.

Mothers, fathers, and young adolescents in 55 European American families carried pagers for one week and reported on their experience at random times when signaled. All family members indicated high levels of freedom during family and home leisure activities, but they differed on other dimensions. Mothers reported less positive affect than fathers. Mothers' role of family caretaker may make it harder to enjoy family leisure, while fathers, whose family role is often defined as ‘primary breadwinner’, may find it easier to use this time for diversion and self-expression. Adolescents experienced lower intrinsic motivation and less positive affect than parents during family leisure. Adolescents have a larger, more rewarding arena of non-family leisure that may better serve their developmental needs.

It has often been assumed that a relationship exists between higher levels of cognitive functioning, particularly formal operations, and mature ego functioning in adolescence. This research examined the relationships between ego functioning and two domains of operational thinking: social interpersonal reasoning and physical-mathematical reasoning in 139 high school seniors. Subjects were given two measures of physical-mathematical reasoning, two measures of interpersonal reasoning, and the Sentence Completion Test of ego functioning, as well as a measure of verbal intelligence. Results indicated significant differences between males and females in patterns of correlations as well as in patterns of relationships in a causal analysis. Ego functioning was predicted by interpersonal reasoning for females and by physical-mathematical reasoning and verbal intelligence for males.

The contraceptive behavior of adolescent girls was viewed from a decision-making perspective. A semistructured interview protocol was used in interviewing 120 girls aged 12–19 in three clinics (Teen Family Planning, Prenatal, Pediatric Acute Care) at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center on (1) demographic in formation; (2) sexual and obstetric history; (3) contraceptive and sexual knowledge, attitudes, and practices; (4) environmental pressures; (5) personality factors; and (6) decision-making style. We found that the girls were generally poor contraceptors. They viewed the costs of contraception (in terms of safety) to be high; and they positively valued physical intimacy, opportunities for which come up unexpectedly and sporadically. These factors, along with their ambivalent views toward pregnancy and childbearing seemed to encourage their risk-taking behavior. Once pregnancy occurred, it was carried to term because of the strong internal and external pressures they felt to have and keep the baby. The peer-led intervention program that we are developing based on the survey findings will focus on (1) the teenagers' lack of accurate and complete knowledge about birth control and conception, (2) their limited sense of options concerning birth control and pregnancy outcomes, and (3) their poor understanding of and lack of insight into what motivates their behavior.

The socialization of children and adolescents is shaped by how they spend their time. This special issue maps the daily experience of white American 5th–9th graders, describing both the quantities of time they spend in different contexts and the affective states associated with these contexts. Each paper examines a separate segment of daily activity (e.g., schoolwork, talking, sports), employing data from a common study in which 401 participants provided “experience sampling” reports at random times during their daily lives when cued by a pager. The findings show substantial age and sex differences, indicating significant changes in the daily “life space” of girls and boys between preadolescence and early adolescence. Implication for socialization to healthy adult adjustment in love, work, and play are discussed in each paper.

In this conclusion we examine the implications of the special issue findings for the development of the self. We discuss how well the young adolescent experiences in schoolwork, maintenance, talk, and leisure provide bases for an evolving adjstment to the adult roles of work, love, and play. Gender differences clearly emerged in the experience of daily life; children entered adolescence with differences in how time is experienced already firmly established, and by midadolescence these differences were intensifying. Our data support the three heuristics of “communion versus agency,” “gender intensification,” and the “public versus private dichotomy.” Concern is raised as to the viability of traditional sex role socialization when adult roles may demand more egalitarian behavior.

This paper explores young adolescents' experience of basic daily tasks: personal maintenance (e.g., grooming and eating) and household maintenance (e.g., chores and errands). Quantity of time, companionship, and subjective states in these activities were examined during one week in the lives of 401 5th–9th graders with the Experience Sampling Method (Csikszentmihalyi and Larson, 1987). Our findings show that these tasks are particularly subject to sex typing. Girls engaged in grooming more often than boys, and this time increased in the higher grades, while boys showed no age effects. Boys did more outside chores while girls did more indoor chores. Girls were also more likely to carry out household tasks with family while boys did more chores alone. An examination of subjective states during household maintenance revealed that older girls reported a greater sense of motivation and choice than younger girls, but boys' experience did not differ. Experience of maintenance as socialization for adult activities is discussed.

The decline in sports participation that begins in early adolescence has been well documented, and there has been considerable controversy regarding the reasons for this attrition. The present study addressed the attrition process by focusing on the subjective experience of sports as a function of grade, gender, and sport context. Following the procedures of the Experience Sampling Method, 401 5th–9th-grade boys and girls carried electronic pagers, similar to those worn by doctors, for one week, and filled out self-report forms on their activities and subjective states in response to signals received at random times. Older respondents spent less time in sports than their younger peers. This age difference was due primarily to a decline in informal sports participation, with less pronounced attrition from organized sports. Our findings suggest that the reasons for attrition from sport may be context specific. While informal sports were experienced more positively than gym class or organized sports, perceptions of skill were lowest during informal sports and declined with age. It seems youngsters stop participating in organized sports because these activities are less enjoyable to them, while attrition from informal sports is more performance based. Boys spent more time in sports than girls, and this difference was based primarily upon significant gender differences in informal sports participation. In spite of their differential rates of participation, boys and girls reported similar levels of affect, arousal, and skill during sports.

Questionnaire data were obtained from 120 high school students on their (1) knowledge of risk factors that identify potential suicidal behavior in peers, (2) attitudes toward peers who attempt or commit suicide, and (3) ability to respond appropriately to suicidal messages from peers. Overall, relatively few adolescents possessed accurate information, and many had misinformation concerning various warning signs. Furthermore, respondents expressed negative attitudes toward peers who attempt or commit suicide, and generally were unable to respond sensitively and appropriately to suicidal communications. These results have implications for suicide education programs for adolescents.