Assesses the social image of cigarette smoking held by early- and middle-adolescent smokers and examines whether that social image serves to motivate smoking initiation. Results indicate that the social image of both male and female smokers is an ambivalent one. (Author/MP)

Investigates the hypotheses that among adolescents an inverse relationship exists between parent and peer involvement, and that conflict with parents is associated with peer orientation. Data obtained from 64 male and female adolescents through telephone interviews did not support these hypotheses. (Author/MP)

Investigates indirect socialization effects of parents' occupational conditions on children's school behavior. Subjects were 60 women of lower socioeconomic status and their adolescent and preadolescent children. As predicted, mothers' job autonomy and skill utilization were significantly associated with their children's academic behaviors.…

Results indicated that masculine and androgynous individuals had higher levels of self-esteem than feminine and undifferentiated individuals. Analysis also revealed that the effect of sex-role orientation on self-esteem was greater for females than for males. Implications for theories of androgyny and sex-role development are discussed. (Author/MP)

In order to investigate sex-role identity and learned helplessness as possible mediating factors affecting performance on formal operational tasks, the responses of 60 male and female adolescents were assessed. Contrary to expectations, the performances of individuals with feminine versus masculine sex roles did not differ significantly.…

Reports two studies in which 12- to 13-year-old girls, half of whom were premenarcheal and half postmenarcheal, responded to pictures of infants. Concurrent assessments of interest in motherhood, cognitive sophistication about the relationship between menarche and childbearing, attitudes toward menarche, and sex-role self-image did not…

One-hundred-and-forty early and midadolescent males and females were interviewed to document the lower age boundaries of ego identity development in the content areas of vocational choice, religious beliefs, political philosophies, and sex-role preference. (Author/MP)

Examines reactions to menarche and the subsequent effects of this experience as a function of preparation for and timing of menarche. A questionnaire including measures of responses about first menstruation, current symptoms, and self-image was completed by 639 girls in fifth through twelfth grades. (Author/MP)

A cross-sectional and a longitudinal study were conducted to answer questions about (1) the development and nature of premenstrual adolescent girls' expectations about menstrual symptoms, (2) expectations for and beliefs about menstrual symptoms as they relate to the actual experience of menarche, and (3) sources of information about menstruation…

Examines the effects of age, sex, and communicative situation on several comforting communication skills of first- through twelfth-grade subjects. Results indicated that the number, variety, and sensitivity of comfort-intended message strategies increased significantly with age and that strategies were used differently by males and females.…

Tests the hypothesis that 14-year-olds do not differ from persons defined by law as adults in their capacity to provide competent informed consent and refusal for medical and psychological treatment. Results obtained from 96 subjects (ages 9, 14, 18, and 21) support this assumption. (MP)

Three studies investigate the role of competence factors (defined as acquisition of Piagetian formal reasoning) and performance factors (defined as influences from content and expectations) with respect to adolescents' reasoning about advertisements reporting product tests. (Author/MP)

A chronometric mental rotation paradigm was applied to examine manipulation of visual imagery in early adolescents in relation to age, sex, mental rotation ability, and socioeconomic background. Subjects were fifth- and seventh-grade boys and girls from a middle and lower socioeconomic background. (Author/MP)

Reviews four major ways of measuring children's fearful behavior (through behavioral rating scales, self-report measures, projective techniques, and physiological measures). Makes the point that disruptive behaviors in dental settings are seen in relatively few children, with marked diminutions in anxiety occurring in the preschool years. (RH)

A total of 193 basically healthy working-class and middle-class mothers and their infants participated in a four-year longitudinal study. The study focused on the relative potency of several clusters of variables for predicting intellectual and language outcomes during the preschool years. (Author/RH)