The Journal of Early Adolescence

The authors test biosocial models that posit interactions between biological variables (testosterone, estradiol, pubertal status, and pubertal timing) and social context variables (family, peer, school, and neighborhood) in predicting adolescent involvement with cigarettes and alcohol in a sample of 409 adolescents in Grades 6 and 8. Models including the biological and contextual variables and their interactions explain significantly more variance in adolescent cigarette and alcohol involvement than do models including only the main effects of the biological and contextual variables. Post hoc analyses of significant interactions suggest that, in most cases, moderation occurred in the hypothesized direction. Consistent with dual hazards models of adolescent antisocial behaviors, the relationships between the biological and substance use variables become positive and stronger as the context becomes more harmful. Considerations of adolescent substance use should recognize the possible role of biological variables and how their influence may vary by social context.

We examined the influence of income source within the context of persistent poverty on children's disruptive classroom behavior at age 12 and whether these associations were mediated by maternal supervision at ages 10 and 11. Using a subsample (N = 1,112) from the Quebec Longitudinal Study, we coded four economic circumstances indicating persistent poverty (income-toneeds ratio less than 1.5 times the poverty line) and income source (working poor, welfare dependent, work and welfare dependent, vs. never poor working) from ages 8 through 11. Children in welfare-dependent families showed an increase of 2.23 points on the disruptive scale compared with children in never-poor families, which could not be prospectively explained by maternal supervision. These results are above and beyond the influence of family structure, maternal characteristics, and early childhood disruptiveness.

Rates of mental health problems in mothers and children in families affected by maternal HIV as compared to those not affected by maternal HIV but living in similar inner-city, low-SES, primarily ethnic-minority neighborhoods were examined. In addition, correspondence between mother and child mental health was explored. Interviews were conducted with 220 mother/child dyads regarding symptoms of depression and anxiety. Participants included HIV-negative early adolescents (ages 10 through 14 years) and their mothers, approximately half of whom were HIV-positive. Overall, mothers with HIV exhibited more depressive symptomatology than uninfected mothers. There were no significant differences, however, in depressive symptomatology between children of mothers who were HIV-positive and children of mothers who were HIV-negative. Among families directly affected by HIV, mothers who disclosed their status to their children endorsed greater depressive symptomatology than those who did not disclose and children who had been disclosed to were more likely to score in the clinically depressed range on the Child Depression Inventory than those who did not know. Latina mothers and their children were at increased risk for both depression and anxiety symptoms, particularly in families where the mother was not born in the United States. The results corroborate previous findings with HIV-infected women that highlight the mental health needs of HIV-infected mothers and their children, particularly children that know their mothers' status.

A modern clustering technique was applied to age-10 and age-13 sociometric data with the purpose of identifying longitudinally stable peer status clusters. The study included 445 girls from a Swedish longitudinal study. The identified temporally stable clusters of rejected, popular, and average girls were essentially larger than corresponding groups identified according to the frequently used Coie, Dodge, and Coppotelli (CDC) classification method. It was further shown that all stably rejected and all (but one) stably popular CDC girls were members in corresponding clusters. Although no stable clusters of neglected or controversial girls were identified, some temporally volatile clusters were found, which were interpreted as largely accidental groupings. Rejected and popular clusters showed similar associations to some childhood adjustment correlates as the CDC groups and also have been documented by earlier sociometric research. The conclusion was that the clustering technique seems to be a promising classification method in longitudinal sociometric research.

The purpose of this study is to compare the inter-ethnic and co-ethnic friend-ships of 390 junior high school students in multi-ethnic neighborhoods of Montreal and Toronto. Friendship dyads were identified on the basis of reciprocal nomination as close friends. The quality of the friendships was measured by questionnaires completed by both members of each friendship dyad. Co-ethnic friendships were characterized by greater closeness and more conflict than interethnic friendships. Co-ethnic friendships were more likely than inter-ethnic friendships to survive during a 6-month interval. Inter-ethnic friendships that survived after 6 months tended to increase in conflict. Regardless of sex composition, friendships characterized by conflict and lacking in overall positive quality were more likely than others to dissolve later in the school year. Male friends who enjoyed competing with each other in nonhostile ways tended to maintain their relationships.