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The present study examined whether parenting and parental smoking can prevent children from selecting smoking friends during adolescence. 254 Adolescents of one Belgian secondary school participated. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed among 2nd-4th graders (mean ages = 14.2-16.2 years) during spring 2006. Follow-up was conducted 12 months later. Data was analyzed conducting longitudinal social network analyses. Results showed adolescents perceiving high parental psychological control had a significant higher tendency to select smoking friends. Perceived behavioral control and perceived parental support did not affect the selection of smoking friends. Furthermore, maternal smoking behavior affected the selection of smoking friends, although no effect of paternal smoking behavior on the selection of smoking friends was found. Adolescent smoking prevention efforts should focus on the influence of parents through their smoking behavior and their psychological control to decrease adolescents' tendency to select smoking friends resulting in fewer opportunities for negative peer influences to occur. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study explores the role that digital media technologies play in adolescents' experiences of friendship and identity. The author draws on findings from in-depth interviews with 32 adolescents (15 girls, 17 boys) ages 13-18 (M = 15.5 years) attending one of seven secondary schools in Bermuda. The adolescents were asked to describe the nature of their online exchanges with friends and the value they ascribe to these conversations. A thematic analysis of their responses revealed that online peer communications promote adolescents' sense of belonging and self-disclosure, two important peer processes that support identity development during adolescence. At the same time, the unique features of computer-mediated communication shape adolescents' experiences of these processes in distinct ways. Gender and age differences show that adolescents' online peer communications are not uniform; the characteristics that distinguish adolescents offline also shape their online activities. (Contains 3 tables.)

In this paper, using data from the first nationally representative, cross-sectional survey of more than 7000 Vietnamese adolescents, we explore how peers, compared to family, matter to Vietnamese adolescents' development of their independent identity as an adult. We use future hopes and aspirations as proxies for identity development, arguing that an individual's development of future hopes and aspirations is a correlate to the emergence of an independent identity. Our analyses show that peers have a positive and consistent influence on adolescents' hopes to have a happy family, good job, good income, and opportunities to do what they want. Regarding career and economic aspirations, the importance of peer relationships appears to have dropped away. It may be that when youth consider their realistic economic alternatives, the role of peers that was important for identity development in adolescence gives way to pragmatism about the attainment of a career identity. (Contains 2 tables.)

This systematic review investigated the relationship between peer and/or friend variables and physical activity among adolescents by synthesising cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental research conducted in the US. Seven electronic databases were searched to identify related articles published within the last 10 years and the articles reviewed included adolescents between 10 and 18 years. Studies reporting a measure of physical activity for adolescents and at least one potential peer and/or friend variable were included. Research demonstrated that peers and friends have an important role to play in the physical activity behavior of adolescents. Six processes were identified through which peers and/or friends may have an influence on physical activity including: peer and/or friend support, presence of peers and friends, peer norms, friendship quality and acceptance, peer crowds, and peer victimization. The theoretical significance of these results is assessed and the development of peer-related physical activity programs for adolescents is discussed. (Contains 1 table.)

School bullying is a serious, worldwide problem which is not easily counteracted. The present study focuses on the perspective of former victims, asking them what it was that made the bullying stop in their case. Participants were 273 18-year-old former victims in Sweden, a country in which schools are doing extensive work against bullying and the bullying prevalence is relatively low. Results showed that although support from school personnel was the most common reason that the former victims gave to why the bullying had ended, it was only mentioned by a fourth of them. In fact, it was almost equally as common that the bullying had ended in that the victims transitioned to a new school level or changed their way of coping with the bullying. Very few of the adolescents reported that the bullying had stopped due to support from peers. (Contains 3 tables.)

We examined identity development as a moderator of the relation between peer group pressure and control and adolescents' engagement in risk behaviors. Participants (n = 1070; M[subscript age] = 15.45 years) completed a self-report measure of "identity exploration", the degree to which they have explored a variety of self-relevant values, beliefs and goals, and "identity commitment", the degree to which they have secured a personal identity. Participants further reported on their frequency of risk behaviors (substance use and general deviancy) and experienced peer group pressure and control. Results confirmed that identity commitment was a buffer of substance use and identity exploration was a buffer of general deviancy in more "pressuring" peer groups. In more "controlling" peer groups, teens with greater identity commitment engaged in less risk behavior than teens with low-identity commitment. Thus, identity development may be a suitable target to deter negative effects of peer pressure in high-risk adolescents. (Contains 3 tables and 4 figures.)

A crossed-lagged regression model was tested to investigate relationships between friendship support, bullying involvement, and its consequences during adolescence. Students, 12-16 years (N = 880), were administered questionnaires twice, one year apart. Using structural equation modeling, a model was specified and higher levels of support from friends were related to lower levels of bullying and victimization one year later. Additionally, a bidirectional relationship between victimization and depression was found, and greater property crimes commission was related to higher levels of future bullying. These findings support the "friendship protection hypothesis" and suggest the quality of support in friendships can protect against bullying victimization and perpetration. Prior research has shown that friendships can protect against victimization; however this is one of the few longitudinal studies to focus on the quality of friendship, rather than other characteristics of the friends. It is suggested that interventions should focus on increasing perceptions of support within existing friendships. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

Previous studies from a wide variety of European countries have demonstrated that low educated adolescents engage more frequently in health risk behaviors compared to high educated adolescents. The present study investigates the mediating roles of parental knowledge and time spent with peers in this relationship. Data were retrieved from a nationally representative sample of 12- to 16-year old Dutch adolescents (N = 5422). Risk behaviors were measured by adolescents' report of daily smoking, binge drinking and cannabis use in the previous month, and sexual debut before age 17. Low educated adolescents indicated that their parents had less knowledge on their whereabouts and reported spending more time with peers than high educated adolescents. Both factors mediated the relationship with health risk behaviors. These results hint to parenting practices and adolescent peer relations as points of reference for prevention and intervention work aiming to reduce educational inequalities in adolescent health risk behaviors. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

Based on a sample of tetrads (N = 839), including 16 year-old adolescents, their mothers, fathers, and same-sex friends, it was analyzed in which way the value social responsibility is related to adolescents' readiness for different types of political participation. Results showed that social responsibility was positively linked to readiness for participation in legal protest actions. No relationships with readiness for participation in federal elections or with readiness for participation in illegal protest actions occurred, and a negative relationship with readiness for participation in political violent actions was found. In a second step, the socialization of the value social responsibility in the parents and peer context was the focus. Value similarities between adolescents, their parents and friends, as well as other contextual factors were considered. Multiple regression analyses revealed differential effects for male and female adolescents. In male adolescents, authoritative parenting and political discussions with parents were positively linked to social responsibility. Furthermore, peer-group membership had a negative impact. For female adolescents, significant value similarities with their parents, especially with their mothers, occurred. Value similarities with their friend were found in both gender groups, but appeared to be higher in the female group. Also, in both gender groups, a positive parent-child relationship quality was linked to higher social responsibility. In sum, findings show that parents as well as peer contextual factors were contributing to the adolescents' value acquisition. (Contains 3 tables.)

We examined the direct contribution of parent and peer risk and promotive factors on youth condom use trajectories, in addition to the indirect influence of these factors via youth's substance use over four years in a sample of urban, African American youth (N = 679; 51% female; M = 14.86 years; SD = 0.65). Growth curve modeling was used to estimate changes in substance use and sexual risk across adolescence and test their association with parent and peer factors. Parent and peer risk factors were strongly associated with increasing substance use as youth aged. Substance use and condom use were interrelated. Parent and peer "risk" factors were indirectly associated with youth condom use; parent and peer "promotive" factors were directly associated with condom use, after accounting for substance use. Findings suggest the value of considering multiple influences on youth risk behavior. (Contains 3 tables and 4 figures.)

This paper investigates: (1) whether high school students overestimate gun carrying by their peers, and (2) whether those students who overestimate peer gun carrying are more likely to carry firearms. Data come from a randomly sampled survey conducted in 2008 of over 1700 high school students in Boston, MA. Over 5% of students reported carrying a gun, 9% of boys and 2% of girls. Students substantially overestimated the percentage of their peers who carried guns; the likelihood that a respondent carried a gun was strongly associated with their perception of the level of peer gun carrying. Most respondents believed it was easier for other youth to obtain guns than it was for them. Social marketing campaigns designed to lower young people's perceptions about the prevalence of peer gun carrying may be a promising strategy for reducing actual gun carrying among youth. (Contains 3 tables.)

This study examines the role of racial/ethnic segregation and peer effects in shaping educational achievement and attainment, using multi-level modeling on a nationally representative sample of adolescents. As in many prior studies, school socioeconomic composition was a significant predictor of achievement and attainment for students of all racial/ethnic groups. Educational attainment was negatively affected by the concentration of low-income students. However, for some racial/ethnic groups educational attainment increased with higher concentrations of minority students. Furthermore, peer social capital, measured as the average achievement of a peer network, was a significant predictor of both educational achievement and attainment for all racial/ethnic groups. In addition, and counter to some earlier studies, results revealed that segregated peer networks among African-Americans may lead to better academic achievement and attainment than school settings with more integrated friendship networks. (Contains 4 tables.)

Co-rumination, defined as repetitive, problem-focused talk explains higher levels of friendship quality in youth (Rose, 2002) and increased levels of anxiety/depression in females. Middle adolescents (N = 146) participated in a study of co-rumination, individual coping, externalizing/internalizing problems, and peer functioning. Consistent with past research, girls reported higher levels of co-rumination and internalizing symptoms. Co-rumination was also positively correlated with self-reports, but not teacher reports, of anxiety/depression and aggressive behavior. Both self-reported number of friends and teacher-rated social acceptance were negatively associated with co-rumination. Co-rumination partially accounted for the significant indirect effect of gender on internalizing symptoms. Additionally, co-rumination was associated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms but not individual coping efforts. Finally, co-rumination accounted for a unique amount of variance in internalizing symptoms, controlling for externalizing problems and secondary control coping. Theoretical implications and the importance of including broad domains of adjustment and peer functioning in future investigations of co-rumination are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Associations of popularity with adolescent substance use were examined among 1793 6-8th grade students who completed an in-school survey. Popularity was assessed through both self-ratings and peer nominations. Students who scored higher on either measure of popularity were more likely to be lifetime cigarette smokers, drinkers, and marijuana users, as well as past month drinkers. Self-rated popularity was positively associated with past month marijuana use and heavy drinking, and peer-nominated popularity showed a quadratic association with past month heavy drinking. These results extend previous work and highlight that popularity, whether based on self-perceptions or peer friendship nominations, is a risk factor for substance use during middle school. Given the substantial increase in peer influence during early adolescence, prevention program effectiveness may be enhanced by addressing popularity as a risk factor for substance use or working with popular students to be peer leaders to influence social norms and promote healthier choices.

We used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine transitions among alcohol use classes in 2225 White and African American adolescent girls, and race differences in predictors of transition into and out of problematic drinking classes. Latent class analysis confirmed four classes for White girls and three for AA girls, defined in a previous study. Latent transition analysis revealed more stable abstainers and decreasing alcohol use among AA girls, and more increasing alcohol use among White girls, though stable abstainers were the largest group in both races. Increasing use was predicted by delinquency, academic misbehavior, substance use, and peer support for White girls, and by older age and delinquency for AA girls. Decreasing use was predicted by older age and depressive symptoms for White girls, and by family relationship quality and substance use for AA girls. Study limitations and implications of findings are discussed.

This paper investigates the extent to which social support can have a buffering effect against the potentially adverse consequences of bullying on school achievement and mental health. It uses a representative multiethnic sample of adolescents attending East London secondary schools in three boroughs. Bullied adolescents were less likely to achieve the appropriate academic achievement benchmark for their age group and bullied boys (but not girls) were more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms compared to those not bullied. High levels of social support from family were important in promoting good mental health. There was evidence that high levels of support from friends and moderate (but not high) family support was able to protect bullied adolescents from poor academic achievement. Support from friends and family was not sufficient to protect adolescents against mental health difficulties that they might face as a result of being bullied. More active intervention from schools is recommended. (Contains 5 tables.)

The peer group begins to become a source of support during late childhood and adolescence making it important to understand what type of help young people might suggest to a friend with an emotional or behavioral problem. Three groups of young people participated in the study with average ages of 12 (N = 107), 14 (N = 153) and 16 years (N = 133). All participants were presented with vignettes describing fictional peers, two of whom had symptoms of clinical problems (ADHD and depression) and a third comparison peer without symptoms. Results indicate that all participants distinguished between clinical and comparison vignette characters and they believed that the characters with clinical symptoms needed help. The 16-year-olds were more likely to differentiate between the two clinical vignettes in terms of the type of help suggested. The results are discussed in light of previous research on adolescents' understanding of sources of help for mental health problems.

Adolescent stress is clearly implicated in the development of mental health problems. However, its role in dysfunctional body image, which rises markedly in adolescence, has not been investigated. The present study examined the link between stress and body image, as well as self-esteem and depressive symptoms, in 533 high school students in grades 7 to 10. Results indicated that stress accounts for a sizeable proportion of variance in body image, and the best exploratory model included stress, self-esteem, and gender. Further, specific domains of stressors related to body image differently: peer pressure and school attendance were significant correlates of body image in both genders, while future uncertainty and romantic relationships were significant for males alone. Grade differences in primary variables were also evident for females. This study helps to elucidate the role of adolescent stress in dysfunctional body image and provides insight for future prevention and intervention programs in schools. (Contains 9 tables.)

In this paper we seek to empirically quantify the role of peer social networks in influencing sexual behavior among adolescents. Using data of a nationally representative sample of adolescents we utilize a multivariate structural model with school-level fixed effects to account for the problems of contextual effects, correlated effects and peer selections to purge the potential biases from the estimates of peer influence. Our peer group measures are drawn not only from the nomination of close friends, but also from classmates. Controlling for parent level characteristics, and other demographic parameters, we find that a 10% increase in the proportion of close friends who initiates sex increases the probability that an individual chooses to initiate sex by 5% and a 10% increase in number of sexual partners among close friends increases an individual's sexual partner by 5%. The influence of classmates however, diminishes in magnitude after accounting for unobserved environmental confounders. (Contains 4 tables.)

Evidence regarding the effectiveness of after-school programs (ASPs) for reducing problem behaviors is mixed. Unstructured ASPs may increase antisocial behavior by increasing "deviancy training" opportunities, when peers reinforce deviant attitudes and behaviors. This research analyses approximately 3000 five-minute intervals from 398 observations of activities delivered as part of an ASP in five public middle schools. Analyses of peer and group leader responses to deviant behavior in the context of ASP activities indicated that while peer responses are generally reinforcing, group leaders typically do not respond to deviance. Multi-level analyses of the association between activity structure and deviant behavior indicate that higher levels of structure in the activity "as a whole" decrease levels of violence and counternormative behavior. As the level of structure in five-minute intervals "within" the activity increases, the level of violent behavior declines, but violent talk (e.g., threats to commit violence) increases. Implications for after-school programming are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Both music preferences and the substance use behavior of peers are important elements in explaining adolescent substance use. The extent to which music preference and peer use overlap in explaining adolescent substance use remains to be determined. A nationally representative sample of 7324 Dutch school-going adolescents (aged 12-16) provided data on music preferences, substance use behaviors and perceived number of peers using substances. Factor analyses showed that preferences for eight music genres factored into four styles: Pop (chart music, Dutch pop), Adult (classical music, jazz), Urban (rap/hiphop, soul/R&B) and Hard (punk/hardcore, techno/hardhouse); substance use was indicated by smoking, drinking, and cannabis use. Structural equation modeling revealed that the relationship between music preference and substance use was either wholly or partially mediated by perceived peer use. Music can model substance use and fans of different types of music may select friends with use patterns that reinforce their own substance use inclinations. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

This descriptive study examined text and traditional bullying in New Zealand (NZ), and the relationship between text bullying and traditional bullying, and feeling unsafe at school. A self-report online survey assessed the frequency of bullying among 1169 15 year old secondary students, for five categories of bullying: text messages, rumors, exclusion, teasing, and physical bullying. Results show that in the school year assessed 47% reported having been bullied sometimes or often and 37% reported bullying others; 11% reported being text bullied, while 7% reported text bullying others. Students involved in text bullying were significantly more likely to be involved in traditional forms of bullying and were less likely to feel safe at school. (Contains 2 tables.)

Common folklore seems to suggest that adolescents are particularly susceptible to peer influence. However, from the literature the exact age differences in susceptibility to peer influence remain unclear. The current study's main focus was to chart the development of general susceptibility to peer pressure in a community sample of 10-18 year olds (N = 464) with the recently developed Resistance to Peer Influence Scale (RPI). The one-factor structure of the RPI was cross-validated in the present sample, and the RPI was equally reliable at all ages. As expected, general resistance to peer influence increased during adolescence. In addition, gender differences were most pronounced during mid-adolescence, when girls were more resistant to peer influence than boys. These findings are explained in terms of psychosocial maturation during adolescence. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)

Using data from the Add Health, this study examined multilevel factors of adolescent smoking after controlling for the baseline smoking behavior and individual characteristics. Results showed that peer, family and school were all important life domains contextually influencing subsequent smoking behavior among adolescents. Time spent with peers, best friend smoking and household member smoking were associated with higher risk. Parent-child closeness, parental control, attending a private school and having a higher percentage of Hispanic students at school were protective factors. Significant interaction effects were found between parental control and household member smoking and between parent-child closeness and communication. None of the neighborhood- and state-level factors were significant in the final full model but they were significant in reduced models. More proximate social contexts appear to play a more direct and immediate role in adolescent smoking than macro-level factors. An ecological model incorporating multiple social systems seems more fruitful than single-system models to reveal etiology of adolescent smoking. (Contains 4 tables.)

This article is based on research commissioned by the UK Government's Teenage Pregnancy Unit. The Living on the Edge (LOTE) study qualitatively explored factors that shape young people's experiences and attitudes towards sexual behaviour and young parenthood in three linked seaside and rural areas in England. It identifies embarrassment as a key risk factor in young people's sexual behaviour and demonstrates why engaging in protective behaviour and seeking information and advice, can be constrained by fear of embarrassment and concerns about how they are regarded by others. This paper also argues that embarrassment around condom use is not necessarily restricted to adolescence. Embarrassment is a deeply unpleasant experience for everyone and people (young and old) are motivated to avoid it. Implications and recommendations for future policy and service provision are highlighted. (Contains 4 tables.)

The purpose of the current study was to examine adolescents' perceptions of negative and positive peer influence (i.e., indirect peer association and direct peer pressure) as they related to adolescent behavior. Regression analyses were conducted using a sample of African American, European American, and Hispanic adolescents (N=1659, M age=16.06, SD=1.10). The study found differences and similarities in relation to respondents' ethnicity vis-a-vis indirect peer association and adolescent behavior. Although few ethnic-based differences occurred as a function of indirect negative peer association, indirect positive peer association was not as consistently or as strongly related to behaviors for minority youth as it was for European American youth. (Contains 2 tables.)

The current study examines the contextual effects of community structural characteristics, as well as the mediating role of key social mechanisms, on youth suicidal behavior in Iceland. We argue that the contextual influence of community structural instability on youth suicidal behavior should be mediated by weak attachment to social norms and values (anomie), and contact with suicidal others (suggestion-imitation). The data comes from a national survey of 14-16 years old adolescents. Valid questionnaires were obtained from 7018 students (response rate about 87%). The findings show that the community level of residential mobility has a positive, contextual effect on adolescent suicidal behavior. The findings also indicate that the contextual effect of residential mobility is mediated by both anomie and suggestion-imitation. The findings offer the possibility to identify communities that carry a substantial risk for adolescent suicide as well as the mechanisms that mediate the influence of community structural characteristics on adolescent risk behavior. (Contains 4 tables.)

The impact of countervailing social network influences (i.e., pro-social, anti-social or HIV risk peers) on problem behaviors (i.e., HIV drug risk, HIV sex risk or anti-social behaviors) among 696 homeless youth was assessed using structural equation modeling. Results revealed that older youth were less likely to report having pro-social peers and were more likely to have HIV risk and anti-social peers. A longer time homeless predicted fewer pro-social peers, more anti-social peers, and more HIV risk peers. Heterosexual youth reported fewer HIV risk peers and more pro-social peers. Youth recruited at agencies were more likely to report pro-social peers. Having pro-social peers predicted less HIV sex risk behavior and less anti-social behavior. Having HIV risk peers predicted all problem behavior outcomes. Anti-social peers predicted more anti-social behavior. Once the association between anti-social and HIV risk peers was accounted for independently, having anti-social peers did not independently predict sex or drug risk behaviors. (Contains 2 figures and 2 tables.)

Little is known about adolescent boys' motives for dating, although stereotypical portrayals highlight a desire for sexual behavior. This issue was examined from a normative perspective that connected dating motives to intercourse motives, masculinity, and dating and sexual behaviors. Data from 105 racially and economically diverse 10th-grade boys were analyzed. Results indicated that the most commonly endorsed motives for dating and intercourse focused on the boys' partners and relationships, and that boys' motives tended to be consistent across dating and sexual behavior. Peer conformity motives were less frequently endorsed and typically co-occurred with other motives. Findings revealed few connections between motives, masculinity ideology, and sexual behaviors. Discussion highlights the importance of moving beyond stereotypes when examining boys' romantic and sexual motives.

While adolescents tend to under-use professional mental health services for depression, they informally seek health-related information from parents and peers. In this study, we interviewed 15 adolescents to examine how the views and behaviours of others influence teens' decisions about seeking care for depression. Using a grounded theory approach, we found that teens' families, peers, and siblings contributed uniquely to teens' decisions in seeking care for depression. Families may disclose a ''heritage'' of depression, and their choices about disclosing family mental health issues, previous treatment, and coping strategies affected teens' understanding of depression. Peer ''depression guides,'' who had themselves experienced depression, provided teens with advice on recognizing depression, managing stigma, and seeking care. Siblings bridged the roles of peer and family, influencing teens' choices about accessing treatment. These findings suggest that family and peers should be included during teens' depression treatment.

This is an exploratory study of the associations among parental warmth, peer support, gender, and emotional distress in a sample of 308 adolescents in the United States. Parental warmth was associated with less emotional distress, whereas turning to peers for support during family conflict was associated with more emotional distress. Gender moderated these associations in multivariate analyses. Emotional distress was highest among females who reported low levels of parental warmth and who turned to peers for support, in comparison with females who also turned to peers for support but had higher parental warmth. Findings contribute to a growing literature on contextual factors associated with adolescent psychosocial well-being.

Concern has been mounting about the increasing numbers of adolescents who engage in risky behaviours. This qualitative study aimed to identify adolescents' perception of risk and explored the factors that adolescents felt influenced their decisions about engaging in risky behaviours. The results indicated that adolescents perceived risk to be something where the outcome was uncontrollable. In contrast, challenges were thought of as having a known end point that was difficult to achieve. They considered themselves to be well-informed about health risks facing them, yet mentioned occasions when they lacked the ability to state that they did not want to engage in certain ''risky'' behaviours. The implications of the findings for future interventions are discussed.

The goal of this study was to examine both the direct and indirect relations of parent and peer attachment with self-esteem and to examine the potential mediating roles of empathy and social behaviour. 246 college students ("Mage" = 18.6 years, s.d. = 1.61) completed self-report measures of parent and peer attachment, empathy, social behaviour, and self-esteem. Structural equation modelling revealed that parental attachment had mostly direct effects on self-esteem. Among females, the links between peer attachment and self-esteem, however, were entirely mediated by empathy and prosocial behaviour. The findings from this study suggest that although close supportive relationships with parents and peers are related to adolescent self-esteem, these links are complex.

Almost all shapes of adolescent risky and deviant behaviour take place in the context of peer-relations. The present study examined the role of parents and peer-relations with respect to two indicators of deviant political development. In the fall 1998, directly after the German parliamentary elections, 1309 East German adolescents were asked about their voting for a right-wing extremist party and their readiness to use violence in political action. Friend's voting was a strong predictor of individual voting for a right-wing extremist party, particularly when the friend was the best friend with a reciprocal nomination, and when the friends frequently communicated about political themes. In addition, voting behaviour and willingness to use violence were associated with membership in peer groups who met frequently. Finally, the violence-disposed adolescents spent more of their spare time with peers and less with their parents. Similarities of our results with the findings of research on deviant behaviour in non-political areas support the idea that deviant political behaviour could be an expression of a problematic life situation.

The dominant theories about the development of antisocial behaviour during adolescence are based almost entirely on research conducted with mainstream, white, middle-class adolescents. The present study addresses this significant gap in the literature by examining whether the same model of family and peer influence on antisocial behaviour is applicable to adolescents belonging to different ethnic groups. The sample included 603 adolescents (318 females and 285 males) from four ethnic groups: 68% of adolescents were Dutch, 11% were Moroccan, 13% were Turkish and 8% were Surinamese. The questionnaires assessing antisocial behaviour, quality of parent-adolescent relationship and involvement with deviant peers were completed by adolescents individually at schools. Results show few ethnic differences in the mean level of the assessed constructs: adolescents from different ethnic groups show similar levels of antisocial behaviour, are to a similar degree satisfied with their relationships with parents, disclose as much information to them, and do not differ in their involvement with deviant peers. However, the associations of parent and peer relations with antisocial behaviour differed across the ethnic groups.

Using a sample of 1227 Swedish adolescents we examined peer relations across contexts and for multiple peer targets (three ''Very Important Persons'', VIPs). Specifically, we examined the relations between antisocial behaviour and the types of relationships individuals had with their VIPs (e.g. friend, romantic partner), the contexts in which they had met, and where they spent time (e.g. school, neighbourhood, club). Additionally, we tested an ''additive homophily'' hypothesis, or the idea that youths would show unique similarities to multiple peers. Results showed that individuals who nominated romantic partners as their first VIPs were the most antisocial (both boys and girls), and individuals who had met and spent time with their first VIPs in the neighbourhood were also the most antisocial. Similar results were found for the antisocial behaviour of the first VIP. Finally, results supported the additive homophily hypothesis, showing that significantly more variance in individual behaviour is explained when including second and third VIPs.

Concerning the role of parental smoking on development of adolescent smoking, most studies have exclusively focused on the direct effects of parents' smoking on youths' smoking. However, parental smoking may also play an indirect role by affecting youths' susceptibility to peer influences and by affecting friendship selection. Data were from a three-wave short-term longitudinal study of 1595 adolescents. Findings showed high similarities in smoking between reciprocal friends. Additionally, friend's smoking and parents' smoking were moderately related to adolescent smoking onset, but parents' smoking did not moderate the prospective association between best friend's smoking and adolescent smoking. Finally, parental smoking seemed to affect the selection of new friends: In particular, adolescents with smoking parents were most likely to become affiliated with smoking friends. There was no evidence that parental smoking affected termination of friendships.

In a study of adolescents in the 1970s, girls were high in normbreaking if they attended youth recreation centers "and" were heavily involved with peers or boys (Stattin et al., 2003). The present study investigated whether these results could be replicated on a modern sample, and then examined parent-child relationships and personality characteristics as explanations why some girls and not others go to the youth centers and become heavily involved with peers and boys. Participants were 1279 14-year olds from a city in central Sweden. The results showed that personality characteristics and experiences at home partly explained youth center attendance, and personality characteristics partly explained involvement with boys, but neither explained why those who attended the centers "and" were involved with boys were highest on normbreaking. Thus, personality characteristics and experiences at home seem to be involved when girls choose the youth center context, but socialization by peers at the centers might better explain normbreaking among center goers.

Aim: To identify social and neighbourhood correlates of drunkenness among adolescents. Design: A cross-sectional, community study. Participants: A multi-stage cluster sampling strategy was used to select 90 adolescents aged 11-17 years from nine distinct communities in Cape Town, South Africa. The sample was stratified by race, income, and gender. Randomly selected adolescents from each household were interviewed by trained interviewers. Instrument: A questionnaire that included questions on substance use behaviour, peers, neighbourhood factors and recreational activities. Results: A third of the sample indicated having been drunk at least once in their lifetime. Older adolescents and adolescents whose friends drink were significantly more likely to have been drunk. The risk of having been drunk was also associated with being white and with being exposed to public drunkenness on a daily or at least weekly basis. Gender was not associated with reporting of lifetime drunkenness. Attendance at religious services (at least weekly) was found to be a significant protective factor against drunkenness. Conclusion: The study highlights a number of environmental factors that should be considered in tackling adolescent drunkenness.

This longitudinal study examined individual, family, and peer covariates of distinctive trajectories of juvenile delinquency, using data from a community sample of 318 German adolescents (mean age at the first wave was 11.45 years). Latent growth mixture modelling analysis revealed four trajectory groups: high-level offenders, medium-level offenders, low-level offenders, and rare offenders. The trajectory groups were discriminated better by time-averaged covariates than by initial status covariates. High peer tolerance of deviance and low parental empathy were consistently linked to varying offending trajectories, whereas gender, low academic achievement, and low parental monitoring appeared to be trajectory-specific covariates.

Longitudinal analysis by McGee and Williams (2000, "Journal of Adolescence", 23, 569-582, doi: 10.1006/jado.2000.0344) indicates that global self-esteem is not related to substance use in early youth. In the case of tobacco use Glendinning and Inglis (1999, "Journal of Adolescence", 22, 673-682, doi: 10.1006/jado.1999.0262) have looked at the "problem" of self-esteem in youth and its relevance for smoking, and they also note that the evidence from the survey literature has been inconclusive. However, rather than suggest that the survey methods and data have been inadequate, Glendinning and Inglis argue that an explanation is provided by looking at the relationship between global self-esteem and smoking in much greater detail, specifically within the peer context, and at peer culture, and the meanings that different groupings of young people attach to smoking or not smoking. That is, rather than a direct link between global self-esteem and smoking behaviour in youth, both are bound up with peer status and differentiation in early youth, although it must be said, not necessarily in the "expected" way. In the present study longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Study (BHPS, 2001, "Economic & Social Science Research Council, Research Centre on Micro-Social Change." British Household Panel Survey Colchester, Essex: The Data Archive, 28 February 2001.SN: 4340.) confirm this more complex picture, and qualify the conclusions of McGee and Williams, in that global self-esteem year-on-year at around age 12-14--when young people take up smoking in increasing numbers--is clearly linked to experimentation and to smoking in subsequent years, in the shorter term. However, a longer-term linkage between self-esteem in early youth and smoking in later youth is less clear cut, and less compelling; but then, pursuing the longitudinal analysis still further, the findings lend force to the argument that putative links between self-esteem and smoking must be understood in context, specifically the peer context.

Examines school troubles, attitudes, and performance of same-sex attracted youth within the context of four relational domains: family, teacher, social, and peer. Results indicate that each domain plays a role in the negative attitudes about school held by sexual minority youth. However, feelings about teachers play an important role in explaining school troubles. (MKA)

Explores the use of homophobic terms by boys and young men and the meanings they invoke when using them by interviewing young men (N=30). Results show that homophobic terms come into use in primary school. Early homophobic experiences may provide a key reference point for comprehending forthcoming adult identity formation. (MKA)

Study assessed the incidence of bullying of students in Years 7, 9, 10, and 11. Significant reductions in victimization were reported only for Year 7 students. A significant increase in support for anti-bullying initiatives was found among students Grade 10 and 11. Anti-bullying activities directed and undertaken by students themselves received the most approval from peers. (Author/JDM)

Distinguishes between relevant domains (school vs. leisure) and conventional versus non-conventional personal characteristics and skills in a sample of 219 delinquent boys. Uncovers differences in the formation of the self concept of societally at-risk boys and provides implications for prevention, management, and further research. (EMK)

Drawing on two studies, investigated how students' (N=471) school adjustment and sense of school membership related to future expectations. Results indicate that students' social acceptance and school experiences, especially with their peers, predicted future expectations, suggesting that students' individual experiences during school hours guide expectations. (RJM)

Compared the characteristics of friends, the environments of the friendship network, and the nature of peer relations of students (N=191) at-risk and not at risk of leaving high school. Results indicate that at risk students had more dropout friends, more working friends, fewer school friends, and fewer same-sex friends. (RJM)

Reports a large-scale survey (N=1985) of 9- to 12-year-olds' representations of parents' and friends' views about the nature of smoking. Results indicate that young smokers have access to sets of beliefs about others' smoking views that may differ from those available to nonsmokers. Other results are reported. (RJM)