The Journal of Early Adolescence

Stability and change in early adolescents' friendship conceptions were examined in a one-year longitudinal study. Once during sixth grade, and again during seventh grade, 99 girls and 98 boys were asked to rate 14 items according to how important each item was for friendship. These items were grouped according to the results of a factor analysis into three clusters referred to as Commonality, Help/Support, and Intimacy. A multivariate analysis of variance, followed by planned comparisons and simple effects tests, revealed: (a) a decrese over time in the importance ascribed to the Commonality cluster; (b) a decrease over time in the boys' ratings on the Help/Support cluster, but no change in the girls' ratings on this cluster; (c) no change over time in the ratings on the Intimacy cluster; (d) higher ratings from the girls than the boys for the Intimacy and Help/Support clusters, with the differences on the Help/Support cluster becoming larger over time; and (e) relatively higher ratings for the Help/Support cluster than for the Intimacy or Commonality clusters. The correlations computed between respective clusters across the one year interval indicate a moderate degree of stability in early adolescents' friendship conceptions. These results are discussed in light of previous research on children's friendship conceptions and in regard to the social experiences of boys and girls during early adolescence.

This study examined whether early adolescents in four sociometric groups (peer-rejected, -neglected, -popular, and -controversial) vary in their perceptions of peer social support and in their behavioral, psychosocial, and scholastic adjustment. Subjects were 101 sixth-graders who participated in the Pennsylvania Early Adolescent Transitions Study. Sociometric groups were formed using results from a peer nomination questionnaire. Self-ratings were used to index subjects' perceptions of social support from peers, and teacher-, parent-, and self-ratings of subjects' scholastic, behavioral, and psychosocial functioning served as indices of adjustment. The results indicated that peer-rejected youngsters were most deficient in perceived peer social support and exhibited the highest rate of adjustment problems. The effect of peer status on the social support received from peers and the importance of peer support in early adolescence are discussed.

This study examines the effects of early adolescents' perceptions of parents' efficacy and parents' behaviors on the self-efficacy of early adolescents. Eighty-two young people between the ages of 9 and 15 years provided data on themselves and their parents in structured interviews. Separate path analyses for same and opposite sex parents for boys and girls provide evidence that perceived efficacy of parents has a greater influence on the self-efficacy of boys and that parental behaviors more strongly affect the self-efficacy of girls. It is concluded that the origins of this dimension of self-esteem in boys is more strongly influenced by modeling, while for girls, reflected appraisals are more important.

Data from 265 early adolescents (seventh graders) were analyzed to examine the relationship between gender, family status, and ego identity. Analysis of variance results indicated that females were more mature than males on a measure of moratorium (exploration of alternatives); that early adolescents living in an intact family environment were more likely to make commitments without examining alternatives (high foreclosure scores) than were their cohorts who reported living in disrupted family environments; and males from the former condition were more diffused (not questioning and noncommital). Overall, the impact of family disruption was more notable among males than females. Findings support Erikson's contention that identity development is a lifelong prospect which is mediated by change (internal and external).

This investigation focused on the effects of divorce on the nature of adolescent possible future selves, marital expectations, and self-reported problems. The subjects were 48 adolescents, ages 13 to 15 years, and their mothers. Half of the adolescent subjects came from intact and half from divorced families; and half were males and half were females. Subjects were interviewed and administered questionnaires. Results suggested that early adolescents from divorced families exhibit greater apprehension about entering marriage and greater willingness to consider leaving a faltering marriage than do intact family adolescents. Divorced family adolescents also reported greater disobedience at home than did intact family adolescents. The most striking differences between divorced and intact family adolescents were found in the differences in correlations between possible selves/expectations variables and problem variables. Self-reported problems were more closely linked to possible future selves and marital expectations in divorced than in intact family adolescents. These results appeared to support the theory that possible selves can serve to mediate the effects of stressful life-events.

Depression is increasingly being recognized as a significant problem among adolescents. With documentation of its prevalence in clinic and non-clinic samples, researchers are beginning to identify correlates and possible risk factors. To that end, this study assesses the relationship between depression, indicated by scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, and two measures of body image in a sample of over 500 early adolescent girls attending public school. As predicted, moderately to severely depressed girls were significantly less satisfied with their bodies overall and viewed their bodies as significantly less attractive, less competent, and less a familiar part of the self, than minimally depressed girls. This relationship between depression and body image did not vary with developmental markers such as age and menarcheal status.

Previous research on psychological intervention with adolescents has focused on psychiatric, inpatient populations, or the population of adolescents that exhibit serious debilitating psychological disorders. In contrast, this study considers adolescent clients of private practice psychologists. The research explores demographic variables associated with this population of adolescents; included are age, sex, nature and severity of the presenting problem(s), family marital status, siblings, school progress, therapy goals, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III, 1980) diagnosis, and assessment characteristics. The findings reveal that in the sample studied early adolescence is the stage at which most adolescents are seen by private practitioners. Trends and conclusions regarding the data are presented and discussed.

Student and teacher perceptions of actual and preferred student decision-making opportunities in mathematics classrooms are assessed before and after the transition to junior high school in a longitudinal sample of 2210 students in 117 pre-transition and 137 post-transition classrooms. The findings include: (a) students and teachers perceive fewer actual student decision-making opportunities after than before the transition; (b) students express a preference for more decision-making opportunities while teachers believe students should have fewer opportunities after than before the transition; and (c) the congruency between students' actual and preferred perceptions declines after the transition while teacher perceptions both before and after the transition are highly congruent. It is suggested that there is a "developmental mismatch" between maturing children and the classroom environments they experience before and after the transition. This mismatch may be related to the negative changes in student beliefs and behaviors that have been observed when students enter junior high school.

Studies of educational computing have reported both gender and socioeconomic status (SES) differences in access to microcomputers and for their use in schools. Gender differences are usually related to student-oriented, motivational concerns, while SES differences in educational uses of the computer generally reflect institutional issues, such as the number and types of computers available and school-related uses of the machines. This survey measured computer interest and use for high- and low-SES middle-school students and examined motivational processes predicted to affect these outcomes. The results showed that there were both gender and SES differences for the outcome variables and for the processes predicted to affect them. Gender differences, however, were mediated by SES level of the students. The findings suggest that it may be important to consider gender and SES together when attempting to understand their effects on computer interest and use.