Suchergebnisse

This was a study of adolescent deviance from a family and developmental perspective. Seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade boys and girls from Mexican American (N = 2549), African American (N = 1837), and Euro-American (N = 3025) ethnic groups were surveyed about their family relationships, parental behavior, and their deviant activities. Some significant ethnic and gender differences were found. Implications for practice and prevention are discussed.

More knowledge is needed about the etiology and treatment needs of adolescent sex offenders. The current study compared adolescents who had offended against children (defined as below the age of 12 and at least 5 years younger than the adolescent), adolescents who have offended against peers or adults, and adolescents who had victims in both age groups. Based on Seto and Lalumière's meta-analytic findings, participants were compared on theoretically derived factors, including childhood sexual abuse, atypical sexual interests, sexual experience, social competence, psychiatric history, and general delinquency factors (past criminal history, substance abuse history, and offense characteristics). The study sample consisted of 162 court-referred male adolescent sexual offenders aged 12 to 17 years. Of the six identified domains, groups significantly differed on five of them; the exceptions were variables reflecting social competence. The results further support the validity of distinguishing adolescent sex offenders by victim age.

AbstractHeritability of age at menarche (AAM) in African populations remains largely unknown. A question on AAM was given to 1803 [454 monozygotic (MZ), 823 same-sex dizygotic (DZ), and 526 female members of opposite sex] adolescent twins attending public schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. The age range of the sample was 12–18 years, with a mean (SD) of 14.57 (±1.70) years. The data included 905 missing cases consisting of those who had not experienced menarche and did not recall AAM. Missing values were imputed using the Expectation-Maximization algorithm. Kaplan–Meier analysis based on the imputed data yielded 13.23 years [95% CI [13.18, 13.28] for the mean and 13.00 years [95% CI [12.96, 13.04] for the median of AAM. Twin correlation and model-fitting analyses were performed on the basis of those who reported AAM (MZ = 82 complete pairs and 38 cotwin missing cases; DZ = 157 complete pairs and 99 cotwin missing cases). Maximum likelihood MZ and DZ twin correlations for AAM were .63 (95% CI [.48, .74]) and .33 (95% CI [.19, .45]) respectively. Model-fitting analyses indicated that 58% (95% CI [46, 67]) of the variance of AAM was associated with additive genetic influences with the remaining variance, 42% (33−54) being due to nonshared environmental influences including measurement error. The heritability estimate found in this study was within the range of those found in Asian and Western twin samples.

Self-determination theorists (SDT) argue that the satisfaction of the need for relatedness is essential for growth and well-being. However, the current research has yet to account for the unique ways in which adolescent males engage in behaviors to fulfill their need for relatedness within their peer groups. This qualitative study investigates relatedness in six 16-to 17-year-old adolescent males. Independent observations of videotape data and a collaborative analysis revealed 13 main indicators of moment-to-moment relatedness. These indicators include expressing belonging, referring to shared experiences, and helping others out. The indicators of relatedness are discussed in the context of SDT, and additional theoretical frameworks provide an integrative understanding of the construct. Implications for research on the need for relatedness across diverse settings and populations are discussed and the utility of the indicators for professionals who work with adolescent males is considered.