ERIC Number: EJ1043111
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Nov
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0033-3085
EISSN: N/A
Pursuing Perfection: Distress and Interpersonal Functioning among Adolescent Boys in Single-Sex and Co-Educational Independent Schools
Coren, Sidney A.; Luthar, Suniya S.
Psychology in the Schools, v51 n9 p931-946 Nov 2014
This study extends past findings of heightened problems among affluent youth by examining adjustment patterns among boys in two academically elite, independent high schools: one for boys only and the other co-educational. Both samples manifested disproportionately high rates of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, but only the co-educational boys showed elevations in substance use. Boys in both schools showed elevations in a new outcome domain examined: exhibitionistic narcissism. Multivariate analyses of predictors showed that parent criticism--a defining feature of youths' maladaptive perfectionism--and perceived maternal depression emerged as major vulnerability factors for both samples in relation to symptom levels. On other parenting dimensions, boys in the single-sex school seemed to be particularly sensitive to feelings of alienation from their fathers and perceived paternal depression. Envy of peers' attractiveness was associated with adolescent distress in both samples, but appeared to be especially critical for co-educational boys. Results are discussed, focusing on the costs and benefits of boys' attendance at a single-sex versus co-educational school, along with implications for practice and future research.
Descriptors: Psychological Patterns, Males, High School Students, Private Schools, Substance Abuse, Self Concept, Multivariate Analysis, Predictor Variables, Parent Influence, Anxiety, Parent Attitudes, Mothers, Depression (Psychology), Symptoms (Individual Disorders), At Risk Persons, Adolescents, Stress Variables, Cost Effectiveness, Single Sex Schools, Coeducation, Comparative Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (DHHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01DA014385-06; R01 DA010726-12