An exploration of young adolescents' social achievement goals and social adjustment in middle school.

Two studies investigated the proposition that social achievement goals (different orientations toward social competence) are an important aspect of young adolescents' social motivation. Study 1 (N=153 6th-grade students) established that different orientations toward developing or demonstrating social competence can be seen in young adolescents' responses to open-ended questions about their social goals and social competence. Study 2 (N=217 6th-grade students) evaluated a new survey measure of social achievement goals for young adolescents. Exploratory factor analyses indicated a 3-factor model (social development, demonstration-approach, and demonstration-avoid goals). Different social achievement goals were associated with distinct patterns of subsequent self- and teacher-reported social adjustment (prosocial, aggressive, and anxious solitary behaviors, as well as social worry, best-friend quality, and perceived popularity). Effects for social achievement goals were independent of perceived social competence and gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal expectations, social support, and adjustment to chronic illness.

Chronic illness places considerable burdens on patients and their interpersonal relations with families. In this study, patients' perceptions of family and medical staff expectations regarding responsibility for care and routine functions were examined. The authors hypothesized that a patient's perceived inability to meet others' expectations about coping with illness would lead to poorer adjustment. Forty-two chronically ill patients were assessed prospectively for perceptions of others' expectations, social support, and psychological adjustment. Findings confirmed that expectations predicted subsequent decreases in psychological adjustment over a 3-month period, even when social support was controlled. A test of the reverse hypothesis showed that poorly adjusted patients did not misperceive others' expectations. Theoretical interpretations of the findings and their relation to social support research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Like father, like son? Predicting male adolescents' adjustment from parents' distress and self-restraint.

Mothers' and fathers' own subjective distress and self-restraint when their sons were preadolescents were related to 14 measures of sons' outcomes 4 yrs later. A sample of 82 adolescent boys, including 55 from 2-parent families, participated. Consistent with expectations, the sons of fathers prone to low self-restraint uniformly had subsequent difficulties across domains, including poor academic achievement (e.g., low grades, truancy), poor peer relations (e.g., low emotional support and intimacy), at-risk behaviors (e.g., drug and alcohol use, multiple sexual partners, poor conflict resolution skills), and adjustment problems (e.g., symptoms of depression). In 2-parent families, the associations between mothers' adjustment and sons' outcomes became nonsignificant once differences in fathers' self-restraint were taken into account. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group membership in the elementary school classroom.

Investigated the relationships between the quality of a student's group membership and 4 student outcomes in elementary school classrooms. J. Jackson's (1959) model of person–group relationships was employed for describing a student's membership relations with his or her classroom peers. In addition, this study sought to determine if relationships between group membership and student outcomes varied in classrooms with different social structures. Data from 621 5th- and 6th-grade students were treated by 4?×?2 and 2?×?2?×?2 analyses of covariance. Results indicate significant main effects for group membership and social structure. It is concluded that Jackson's conceptual model is a useful framework for contributing to an understanding of student attitudes and behaviors in elementary school classrooms. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Case study training for seeing school through adolescents' eyes

The first of two years of training in case study activities, adapted from the program originally developed by Fritz Redl, Daniel A. Prescott, and others at the Universities of Chicago and Maryland in the 1940s, is described. Excerpts from the case study of a 16-year-old female provide examples of activities, such as: (1) identifying recurring patterns of behavior, (2) selecting a pattern of behavior for analysis by the multiple hypotheses method, and (3) summarizing the case study record. The significance of this process is that high school personnel can learn to see what adolescents are up against in and out of school.     

Friendships, peer acceptance, and group membership: relations to academic achievement in middle school

Polypharmacy is commonly encountered in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients, and the risk and frequency of drug-drug interactions are significant in this patient population. Most HIV-positive patients receive the antiretroviral drug zidovudine (3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine, ZDV), the first drug to be approved for the treatment of HIV. Many drug interactions with ZDV have already been reported. As HIV pharmacotherapy becomes more complex, the potential for drug-drug interactions is likely to increase significantly.     

Peer harassment, psychological adjustment, and school functioning in early adolescence.

The relations between peer harassment, psychological adjustment, and school functioning were investigated with an ethnically diverse sample of middle school students. A conceptual model, which proposed that self-perceived peer harassment predicts psychological adjustment (loneliness, depression, and self-worth), which in turn predicts school outcomes (GPA and attendance), was tested using concurrent data (n?=?244). Structural equation modeling supported the proposed model. Longitudinal analyses with a subsample (n?=?106) of students revealed that subjective self-views of victimization were moderately stable across a 1-year period. Comparisons across stable and unstable victim groups suggested that concurrent (rather than earlier or chronic) perceptions of victimization predicted loneliness and self-worth. Finally, changes in subjective perceptions of victimization, self-worth, and loneliness across the 1-year period predicted subsequent GPA, absenteeism, and teacher-rated social adjustment. Findings are discussed in terms of the short- and long-term effects of peer harassment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of a brief measure of school membership

School membership is the extent of personal belonging, respect, and support students feel in school. To evaluate this construct, Goodenow (1993) developed the Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) questionnaire. In a recent factor analytic study, Hagborg (1994) found that the PSSM measured three dimensions rather than one. The present investigation examined the psychometric properties of a shortened version--the PSSM-Brief. This unidimensional measure of school membership was administered to 120 middle school students (grades 5 to 8). The PSSM-Brief demonstrated high internal consistency. In addition, a median sample split was performed to investigate the scale's criterion validity. Consistent with prior PSSM research, the high-scoring group reported higher grades, more time spent on homework, and greater school motivation than did the low-scoring group. Supportive of Wehlage's theoretical model of school membership (Wehlage, Rutter, Smith, Lesko, & Fernandez, 1989), the high group reported a more internal locus of control. A small but statistically significant positive correlation was also found between school membership and educational aspirations.     

The mediational role of adolescents' friends in relations between activity breadth and adjustment.

This investigation addresses the mediational role of friends' characteristics between adolescents' activity breadth (i.e., variety in activity participation) and their later adjustment. Data were drawn from 2 longitudinal studies: the Childhood and Beyond (CAB; N = 925) study and the Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study (MADICS; N = 1,338). Adolescents at Time 2 in each study (8th, 9th, and 11th graders in CAB and 8th graders in MADICS) reported on the breadth of their participation across 5 activity settings: sports, religious, volunteering, community, and school. Friends' characteristics and adolescent adjustment were reported by adolescents at Times 1 and 3. Friends' positive characteristics significantly mediated relations between activity breadth and adolescent depressive affect, self-worth, alcohol use, and problem behavior in both studies. Friends' negative characteristics significantly mediated these relations in CAB, but not in MADICS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapeutic expectations, premorbid adjustment, and manifest distress level as predictors of improvement in hospitalized patients.

Evaluated voluntary admissions to an open psychiatric ward (N = 49) at intake and discharge in order to determine whether improvement had occurred in faulty coping styles (ego weakness). Self-report, therapists', and supervisory staff ratings were used to assess change. 26 Ss were rated by consensus to be improved, and 23 were rated to be unchanged. 3 sets of variables were used to predict favorable outcome: (a) minimal patient expectations that the therapist would be uncaring, unstructuring, and insensitive; (b) staff ratings of good premorbid social adjustment; and (c) high initial level of manifest distress as judged by self-report, therapist, nurse, and staff evaluations. The multiple correlation for these predictors associated with favorable outcome was .59 (p     

Perceived past, present, and future control and adjustment to stressful life events.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 100(4) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2011-05716-005). There is an error on page 758. In the sentence “Present control predicted later event-specific distress in Sample 1( β = .17, p     

Leadership development: The current state and future expectations.

This article discusses the common themes in this special issue of Consulting Psychology Journal on "Leadership Development" and summarizes some of the current issues in leadership development. A particular focus is on using an integrated model or framework to guide leadership development efforts. Emphasis is also placed on assessment of leadership development programs. Finally, expectations for future research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental attachment and adolescents' emotional adjustment: The associations with social skills and relational competence.

Young people learn from their interactions with their parents how to initiate and maintain satisfying and warm friendships. Attachment with parents thereby plays an important role in adolescents' social and emotional adjustment. The model tested in this study proposes that the relation between parental attachment and emotional adjustment is mediated by social skills and relational competence. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate the models and paths between concepts using data from a sample of 412 12–18-year-olds. In the 12–14-year-old age group, no effects of parental attachment on social skills and relational competence were displayed. However, in the 15–18-year-old age group, parental attachment was moderately related to social skills, which, in turn, affected middle adolescents' competence in friendships and romantic relationships. Parental attachment and relational competence were significant predictors of adolescents' emotional adjustment in both age groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early adolescent peer orientation and adjustment during high school.

The long-term consequences of early adolescents' orientation toward peers for their adjustment during high school were assessed. Approximately 1,200 adolescents completed questionnaires in the 7th grade and in the 10th or 12th grades; course grades were also obtained from the students' school records. Early adolescents who were willing to sacrifice their talents, school performance, and parents' rules engaged in greater problem behavior and evidenced lower academic achievement than did other adolescents during high school. The poorer adjustment of adolescents with this extreme orientation toward peers was mediated by their reported involvement in deviant peer groups. In contrast, a tendency to seek advice from peers more than from parents during early adolescence had little implication for later adjustment. Discussion focuses on the need to consider the role of peer dependence along with the effects of supportive friendships during adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer relations and school adjustment in ungraded primary children.

Researchers have reported a significant relationship between peer relations and school adjustment in same-age classrooms, but little is known about the contribution of peer relations to school adjustment in mixed-age classrooms. The present study investigated the contributions of peer acceptance, friendship, social status, and age relative to mixed-age classmates to children's attitudes toward school and to achievement in ungraded primary. Children's attitudes toward school were positively related to composite achievement scores. Achievement was predicted from demographic variables, children's attitudes, peer acceptance, and friendship status. With the effects of gender and race controlled, differences in school adjustment were related to both children's social status and whether they had friends. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do situational expectations produce situational inferences? The role of future expectations in directing inferential goals.

Little is known about the conditions that lead observers to adopt different inferential goals in the context of their everyday lives. Four studies examined whether future expectations created situational inferential goals. In 2 quasiexperimental studies, students made more situational inferences for targets in their expected future careers. In 2 experiments, situational expectations were manipulated, and participants made more situational inferences when they expected to be in the same situation as the target. This tendency was stronger when observers devoted minimal cognitive effort to their inferences, suggesting that when observers have situational expectations, making situational inferences is less effortful than making dispositional inferences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reviewing acculturation and Asian Americans: How acculturation affects health, adjustment, school achievement, and counseling.

The minority population in the United States is larger than the total population of all but 11 countries with Asian Americans comprising the third largest group. This review will be a useful resource for researchers or practitioners seeking information on why acculturation is important. The review will confirm how acculturation has outcomes for Asian American’s physical health, adjustment, school performance, and response to counseling or psychotherapy. The review will also suggest implications that various research findings have for future research as well as implications for practitioners working with Asian American clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)