La mesure de perfectionnisme: Validation canadienne-fran?aise du Positive and Negative Perfectionism Scale.

The purpose of this study was to verify the validity of a French version of the Positive and Negative Perfectionism Scale developed by L. A. Terry-Short (1995). This instrument measures the type as well as the level of perfectionism in adolescents. The instrument was first administered to 734 7th, 9th, and 11th grade students. Four weeks later, 596 Ss were invited to answer the questionnaire once more. The factorial structure, temporal stability and internal consistency of each subscales of the translated version of the instrument correspond to those of the original version. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mothers' and children's expectations for adolescence: The impact of perceptions of an older sibling's experience.

The present study examined the role of perceived experience with an older child in mothers' expectations for subsequent children's adolescence as well as the impact of perceived experience with an older sibling on young adolescent children's expectations for their own adolescence. Participants were 305 sixth- and seventh-grade adolescents and 287 of their mothers. Participants were interviewed via telephone. For both mothers and children, the quality of experience with an older child/sibling was a better predictor of target-based expectations for the young adolescent than was the simple presence or absence of an older sibling. In some cases the link between quality of experience with an earlier born adolescent and mothers' expectations for the target child's adolescence was modified by the target child's temperament. In general, the results support a modeling hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal changes in the time parents spend in activities with their adolescent children as a function of child age, pubertal status and gender.

This study examined the time Dutch mothers (N=301) and fathers (N=255) spend per day engaging in 4 activities (going somewhere, doing something, watching TV, and eating together) with their adolescent children both concurrently and 5 years later. Also assessed was whether parent-child shared time was related to parent or child gender and whether age-related differences could be explained by adolescent pubertal status, family conflict, adolescent and parent work or volunteer hours, parental work stress, and adolescent computer use. Finally, the study examined whether family conflict predicted changes in shared time and whether shared time predicted changes in conflict. The findings showed that age changes depended on the activity and that pubertal status mediated age differences in TV viewing among mixed-gender parent-child pairs. Shared time during pre-, early, and mid-adolescence was linked to decreases in family conflict 5 years later. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cardiovascular reactivity during social and nonsocial stressors: Do children's personal goals and expressive skills matter?

The relationships between social competence and cardiovascular reactivity were evaluated in 180 children (ages 8-17; 52% female; 53% Caucasian). Participants performed a social task (Social Competence Interview [SCI]) and 2 nonsocial tasks while reactivity measures were obtained. Social competence was coded from SCI audiotapes. Among adolescents, higher scores on the Acceptance-Affiliation subscale were associated with increased heart rate (HR) and blood pressures and with decreased HR variability during the SCI. Among boys, greater Acceptance-Affiliation scores were associated with increased vascular reactivity during the SCI. During the nonsocial tasks, higher Self-Defensiveness and Expressiveness scores were associated with increased cardiac output and stroke volume among African American children. Personal strivings and expressive skills do matter for understanding cardiovascular responses in children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship of ethnic identity and gender role attitudes to the development of career choice goals among black and Latina girls.

This study is a preliminary exploration of how individual differences in gender role attitudes and ethnic identity might be related to career decision self-efficacy and the gender traditionality of career choice goals in a sample of 102 9th-grade Black and Latina girls. Extending social-cognitive career theory, the authors examined 2 path models in which career decision self-efficacy mediated the effects of gender role attitudes and ethnic identity on the traditionality of the participants' career choice goals. Models depicting full and partial mediation were considered. The results of the path analyses provided confirmation for an extension of the social- cognitive career theory model, indicating that for this sample, career decision self-efficacy fully mediated the influence of egalitarian gender role attitudes and ethnic identity on gender traditionality in career choice goals. These findings offer support for consideration of the role of gender role attitudes and ethnic identity in career self-exploration and vocational guidance with Black and Latina girls. Limitations, implications for counseling, and suggestions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validation chez les adolescents d'une version francophone d'un instrument de mesure de la peur du jugement négatif d'autrui.

The popularity of the Fear of Negative Evaluation scale (FNE; Watson & Friend, 1969) stems from the centrality of this construct in personality, social and clinical psychology. In order to meet the needs of the Francophone researchers community, Kéroack, Boisvert, and Prévost (1987) traduced the short version of this instrument. Since social anxiety is most salient in adolescence, there is a need for normative and psychometric data for this population. This research aims at documenting the psychometric properties and norms for Francophone adolescents. Five hundred and seventy-eight participants aged from 14 to 19 years completed the French versions of the short FNE and the Social Avoidance and Distress scale. The factorial structure, the internal consistency and the convergent validity analyses confirm the traduction's quality and the questionnaire's validity. Norms are presented separately for females and males. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social ecological model of illness management in high-risk youths with type 1 diabetes.

In this study, the authors tested a social ecological model of illness management in high-risk, urban adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. It was hypothesized that management behaviors would be associated with individual adolescent characteristics as well as family, peer, and provider relationships. Questionnaires were collected from 96 adolescents in poor metabolic control and their primary caregivers. Variables in each system were correlated with illness management. Multiple regression demonstrated that higher externalizing symptoms, poorer family relationships, lower satisfaction with providers, and greater age contributed to the variance in illness management. Internalizing symptoms and peer relationships were no longer significant in the model. Results support a social ecological model of illness management in high-risk youths. Interventions grounded in social ecological theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Autonomy Over Smoking Scale.

Our goal was to create an instrument that can be used to study how smokers lose autonomy over smoking and regain it after quitting. The Autonomy Over Smoking Scale was produced through a process involving item generation, focus-group evaluation, testing in adults to winnow items, field testing with adults and adolescents, and head-to-head comparisons with other measures. The final 12-item scale shows excellent reliability (αs = .91–.97), with a one-factor solution explaining 59% of the variance in adults and 61%–74% of the variance in adolescents. Concurrent validity was supported by associations with age of smoking initiation, lifetime use, smoking frequency, daily cigarette consumption, history of failed cessation, Hooked on Nicotine Checklist scores, and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) nicotine dependence criteria. Potentially useful features of this new instrument include (a) it assesses tobacco withdrawal, cue-induced craving, and psychological dependence on cigarettes; (b) it measures symptom intensity; and (c) it asks about current symptoms only, so it could be administered to quitting smokers to track the resolution of symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Are adolescents less mature than adults?: Minors' access to abortion, the juvenile death penalty, and the alleged APA "flip-flop."

The American Psychological Association’s (APA’s) stance on the psychological maturity of adolescents has been criticized as inconsistent. In its Supreme Court amicus brief in Roper v. Simmons (2005), which abolished the juvenile death penalty, APA described adolescents as developmentally immature. In its amicus brief in Hodgson v. Minnesota (1990), however, which upheld adolescents’ right to seek an abortion without parental involvement, APA argued that adolescents are as mature as adults. The authors present evidence that adolescents demonstrate adult levels of cognitive capability earlier than they evince emotional and social maturity. On the basis of this research, the authors argue that it is entirely reasonable to assert that adolescents possess the necessary skills to make an informed choice about terminating a pregnancy but are nevertheless less mature than adults in ways that mitigate criminal responsibility. The notion that a single line can be drawn between adolescence and adulthood for different purposes under the law is at odds with developmental science. Drawing age boundaries on the basis of developmental research cannot be done sensibly without a careful and nuanced consideration of the particular demands placed on the individual for “adult-like” maturity in different domains of functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Daily family conflict and emotional distress among adolescents from Latin American, Asian, and European backgrounds.

The authors employed a daily diary method to assess daily frequencies of interparental and parent–adolescent conflict over a 2-week period and their implications for emotional distress across the high school years in a longitudinal sample of 415 adolescents from Latin American, Asian, and European backgrounds. Although family conflict remained fairly infrequent among all ethnic backgrounds across the high school years, its impact on emotional distress was significant across ethnicity and gender. In addition, parent–adolescent conflict significantly mediated the association between interparental conflict and emotional distress. These associations were observed at both the individual and the daily levels, providing evidence for both the chronic and episodic implications of family conflict for adolescents’ emotional adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)