The development of scientific thinking was assessed in 1,581 second, third, and fourth graders (8-, 9-, 10-year-olds) based on a conceptual model that posits developmental progression from naïve to more advanced conceptions. Using a 66-item scale, five components of scientific thinking were addressed, including experimental design, data…

Chinese parents exert more control over children than do American parents. The current research examined whether this is due in part to Chinese parents' feelings of worth being more contingent on children's performance. Twice over a year, 215 mothers and children (M[subscript age] = 12.86 years) in China and the United States (European…

The relation between cultural socialization and ethnic pride during the transition to middle school was examined for 674 fifth-grade students (50% boys; M[subscript age] = 10.4 years) of Mexican origin. The theoretical model guiding the study proposes that parent-child relationship quality is a resource in the transmission of cultural values from…

This study examined how peer relationships (i.e., sociometric and perceived popularity) and teacher--child relationships (i.e., support and conflict) impact one another throughout late childhood. The sample included 586 children (46% boys), followed annually from Grades 4 to 6 (Mage.wave1 = 9.26 years). Autoregressive cross-lagged modeling was…

Data from 1,364 children and families who participated in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were analyzed to track the early correlates and later academic outcomes of planning during middle childhood. Maternal education, through its effect on parenting quality when…

Prior research has demonstrated a male advantage in spatial skills and science achievement. The present research integrated these findings by testing the potential role of spatial skills in gender differences in the science performance of eighth-grade students (13-15 years old). In "Study 1" (N = 113), the findings showed that mental…

The proportion of eighth graders in United States public schools enrolled in algebra or a more advanced mathematics course doubled between 1990 and 2011. This article uses Early Childhood Longitudinal Study's Kindergarten Cohort data to consider the selection process into advanced middle school mathematics courses and estimate the effects of…

To examine the unique functions of same- and cross-ethnic friendships, Latino (n = 536) and African American (n = 396) sixth-grade students (M[subscript age] = 11.5 years) were recruited from 66 classrooms in 10 middle schools that varied in ethnic diversity. Participants reported on the number of same- and cross-ethnic friends, perceived…

This study investigated contextual antecedents (i.e., cross-ethnic peers and friends) and correlates (i.e., intergroup attitudes) of social identity complexity in seventh grade. Social identity complexity refers to the perceived overlap among social groups with which youth identify. Identifying mostly with out-of-school sports, religious…

This study examined longitudinal trajectories of parental involvement across middle and high school, and how these trajectories related to adolescents' academic, behavioral, and emotional adjustment. In addition, ethnic and socioeconomic status differences in longitudinal associations and the potential moderating role of parental warmth were…

This study examined the influence of earlier neighborhood experiences on trajectories of racial centrality and regard among Black youth. Data were drawn from a sample of Black 11-to 14-year-old youth (N = 718) in the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study, a data set that permits the examination of structural and subjective neighborhood…

This study examined the developmental trajectories of maladaptive perfectionism over a 7-year period among African American youth living in an urban setting (N = 547). In particular, the study attempted to determine whether two maladaptive aspects of perfectionism (socially prescribed and self-critical) changed over time and could be distinguished…

This research examined the reciprocal pathways between youth's sense of responsibility to parents and disclosure to them during early adolescence in the United States and China. Four times over the seventh and eighth grades, 825 American and Chinese youth (M[subscript age] = 12.73 years) reported on their sense of responsibility to parents…

Analyses examined academic achievement data across third through eighth grades ("N" = 26,474), comparing students identified as homeless or highly mobile (HHM) with other students in the federal free meal program (FM), reduced price meals (RM), or neither (General). Achievement was lower as a function of rising risk status (General greater than RM…

Children and adolescents evaluated group inclusion and exclusion in the context of generic and group-specific norms involving morality and social conventions. Participants ("N" = 381), aged 9.5 and 13.5 years, judged an in-group member's decision to deviate from the norms of the group, whom to include, and whether their personal preference was the…