The study reported in this paper, a Multistage Longitudinal Comparative (MLC) Design Stage II evaluation conducted as a planned preliminary efficacy evaluation (psychometric evaluation of measures, short-term controlled outcome studies, etc.) of the Changing Lives Program (CLP), provided evidence for the reliability and validity of qualitative…

The efforts of the Miami Youth Development Project reported in this special issue illustrate how Developmental Intervention Science (DIS; a fusion of the developmental and intervention science) extended to include outreach research contributes to the development of community-supported positive youth development programs. In the process, the…

The study reported in this article, a Multi-Stage Longitudinal Comparative Design Stage II evaluation conducted as a planned preliminary efficacy evaluation (psychometric evaluation of measures, short-term controlled outcome studies, etc.) of the Changing Lives Program (CLP), provided evidence for the reliability and validity of the qualitative…

This paper describes work directed toward creating community-supported positive youth development interventions that draw on a developmental intervention science outreach research approach. With respect to developmental interventions, this approach focuses on creating evidence-based longitudinal change intervention strategies for promoting…

Although prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programs are predicated on maternal behavior change, little is known about sociocultural factors affecting maternal-child care practices in this arena. The authors used narrative methods (key informant workshops, questionnaires, focus groups, and case study analysis) to explore how…

Career development theories suggest that social-contextual experiences are influential in individuals' career interests, aspirations, and skill development and may be a source of gender and ethnic differences in certain career fields. In this mixed methods study, we examine the supportive and obstructive career-related experiences of 13 men and 13…

Encouraging a teenager to have a conversation in a semistructured research interview is fraught with difficulties. The authors discuss the methodological challenges encountered when interviewing adolescents of European Canadian, African Canadian, and Punjabi Canadian families who took part in the Family Food Decision-Making Study in two regions of…

This research assessed the extent to which sociocultural factors implicated in explanations of weight dissatisfaction among young Western females extend to sources of body image concern in emerging adult and adolescent males from the People's Republic of China. In Study 1, 219 Mainland Chinese male university students completed measures of stature…

Contextualizing Latina girls' body image development requires an appreciation of mainstream body ideals, Latino/a cultural values, and the process by which Latina girls traverse the borders between them. The current study examines how media use and acculturation act across adolescence to shape the development of body image among Latina girls.…

Public policy efforts to restrict children's access to electronic games with violent or sexual content are often predicated on assumptions about parental concerns. As an initial step in determining whether those assumptions are accurate, the authors conduct focus groups of 21 adolescent boys and 21 of their parents or guardians to explore parents'…

Numerous policies have been proposed at the local, state, and national level to restrict youth access to violent video and computer games. Although studies are cited to support policies, there is no published research on how children perceive the uses and influence of violent interactive games. The authors conduct focus groups with 42 boys ages 12…

This qualitative study of 14 Southern Baptist mother-daughter dyads uses grounded theory to explore the attitudes these mothers and daughters hold toward sexuality, religiosity, and spirituality, in addition to how they communicate with each other about these topics. Themes that emerge from the data include abstinence before marriage, lack of…

This study examined correlates of pornography acceptance and use within a normative (nonclinical) population of emerging adults (individuals aged 18-26). Participants included 813 university students (500 women; M age = 20 years) recruited from six college sites across the United States. Participants completed online questionnaires regarding their…

The authors used qualitative research methods to explore the context and sexual risk behavior associated with sexual intercourse involving multiple males and one female, commonly called "running a train." Participants were 20 adolescent males aged 14 to 22 years who were either perpetrators of dating violence or perceived by teachers to be at risk…

Hmong American adolescents' perceptions of their parents were examined using the parenting styles and family ecologies models. Individual interviews of forty 11- to 18-year-old Hmong American teenagers resulted in open-ended and fixed-choice responses. In the open-ended responses, adolescents emphasized themes of parental involvement and depending…