Comparative

Antognoli-Toland, Paula Lucia. 2024. "Parent-Child Relationship, Family Structure, and Loneliness among Adolescents." Ph.D. Thesis, Texas Woman's University.
Abstract: Loneliness is a prevalent and serious problem among adolescents. Changing family structure and characteristics of the parent-child relationship influence attachment sentiments of adolescents predisposing them to the experience of loneliness. In the present study, parent-child relationship was analyzed as a predictor of adolescent loneliness. A theoretical model provided the framework for the individual and multi-factorial analyses of parent-child relationship factors and family structure on loneliness prediction. A subset of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) provided the study sample of 5,201 with 1,750 adolescents reporting loneliness. Lonely adolescents were more likely to be female and older than adolescents who were not lonely. Black adolescents were lonelier than White non-Hispanic or Hispanic adolescents. Adolescents with high religiosity scores were less likely to be lonely than adolescents with lower scores. Using logistic regression analyses, it was found that parent-adolescent connectedness, parent-adolescent presence, parent-adolescent activities, closeness to the non-residential parent, and family structure are significant predictors of adolescent loneliness. Lonely adolescents were more likely to be from one-parent or blended families, feel less connected to residential and non-residential parents, have few opportunities during the day to be with parents, and engage in few parental activities. [Source: DA]

Boggess, S. and C. Badner. 2024. "Trends in Adolescent Males' Abortion Attitudes, 1988-1995: Differences by Race and Ethnicity." Family Planning Perspectives vol. 32, pp. 118-123.
Abstract: CONTEXT: Studying how adolescent males view abortion and how their attitudes toward abortion have changed over time can improve our understanding of the sexual, contraceptive and abortion behavior of these males and their partners. METHODS: Data from the 1988 and 1995 National Survey of Adolescent Males are used to describe changes in young males' attitudes toward abortion over time, as well as differences in abortion attitudes by race and ethnicity. Multivariate models are used to examine the relationship between religiosity and abortion attitudes. RESULTS: Between 1988 and 1995, young males' approval of abortion decreased significantly. In 1995, 24% of U.S. males aged 15-19 agreed that it was all right fora women to have an abortion "for any reason," down from 37% in 1988. This decrease was driven almost entirely by non-Hispanic white males; there was little change in the abortion attitudes of non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics. The decrease in white males' approval of abortion coincides with a significant increase in the self-reported importance of religion and in the proportion of whites who identified themselves as born-again Christians. The proportion of non-Hispanic white males indicating that religion was very important increased from 28% in 1988 to 34% in 1995, while the proportion identifying themselves as born-again increased from 18% to 24%. Multivariate analyses indicate that religiosity was more strongly related to the abortion attitudes of non-Hispanic whites than to those of Hispanics or non-Hispanic blacks. CONCLUSIONS: The large decrease in approval of abortion among white teenage males has closed the racial and ethnic gap in attitudes toward abortion that was evident in 1988, when such youth held significantly more liberal attitudes toward abortion than did either Hispanics or blacks. This trend toward more conservative abortion-related attitudes among whites coincides with increasingly conservative attitudes regarding premarital sex and greater religiosity among white male adolescents. [Source: CI]

Chapman, Paula L. and Ronald L. Mullis. 2024. "Racial Differences in Adolescent Coping and Self-Esteem." Journal of Genetic Psychology vol. 161, pp. 152-160.
Abstract: Racial differences in coping strategies and self-esteem were examined for 361 male and female adolescents in Grades 7-12. Coping strategies were assessed with the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (J. M. Patterson & H. I. McCubbin, 1986). Self-esteem was assessed by the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (S. Coopersmith, 1987). Multivariate analysis revealed racial differences in adolescent coping strategies of ventilating feelings, seeking diversions, developing self-reliance, avoiding problems, seeking spiritual support, investing in close friends, engaging in demanding activities, solving family problems, and relaxing. In particular, African American adolescents reported using diversions, self-reliance, spiritual support, close friends, demanding activities, family problems, and relaxation more frequently than Caucasian adolescents did. Implications for professionals and recommendations for future research are discussed. [Source: AS]

Cook, K. V. 2024. ""You Have to Have Somebody Watching Your Back, and If That's God, Then That's Mighty Big": The Church's Role in the Resilience of Inner-City Youth." Adolescence vol. 35, pp. 717-730.
Abstract: This study was designed to explore Freeman's (1986) finding that the institution that made the greatest contribution to male African-American youths' socioeconomic success was the church. Thirty-two African-American, Haitian-American, and Latino male and female teenagers - 16 drawn from inner-city Protestant churches and 16 comparison teenagers from the same communities - were interviewed. The interviews revealed that churched teenagers were less stressed and less likely to have psychological problems than were teenagers in the comparison group. They also appeared more likely to be living with both biological parents, less likely to have a family member on welfare, and more likely to have a job when compared with the other teenagers. They described the church as being central to their lives and as having multiple functions, many of which have been identified in the resilience literature as contributing to positive developmental outcomes. Results are interpreted in light of the transactional model, and recommendations are made, such as expanding the role of the church within these ethnic communities. [Source: SC]

Miller, K. S., R. Forehand, and B. A. Kotchick. 2024. "Adolescent Sexual Behavior in Two Ethnic Minority Groups: A Multisystem Perspective." Adolescence vol. 35, pp. 313-333.
Abstract: Adolescents are at high risk for a number of negative health consequences associated with early and unsafe sexual activity, such as infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, as well as unintended pregnancy. In the present study, a multisystem model was applied to one adolescent sexual behavior, penile-vaginal intercourse. Nine hundred seven Black and Hispanic adolescents (aged 14 to 17 years) and their mothers were interviewed. Factors from three systems (self, family, and extrafamilial) that are influential in the lives of adolescents were evaluated using four outcome measures. Factors from most or all systems emerged as predictors of each outcome measure. A cumulative risk index suggested a linear relationship between the number of systems identified as being at risk and indicators of adolescent sexual behavior. The implications for prevention are discussed. [Source: ML]

Samaan, R. A. 2024. "The Influences of Race, Ethnicity, and Poverty on the Mental Health of Children." Journal of Health Care For the Poor and Underserved vol. 11, pp. 100-110.
Abstract: Sufficient evidence demonstrates that poverty has a negative effect on the psychological well-being of children, but most research has focused only on white populations. The purpose of this literature review is to gain a better understanding of the positive and negative influences of socioeconomic factors, cultural/ethnic characteristics, and racial differences on the mental health of children. A review of the literature on the influence of race, ethnicity, and poverty on the mental health of children found that (1) children whose parents are in poverty or who have experienced severe economic losses are more likely to report or be reported to have higher rates of depression, anxiety, and antisocial behaviors; and (2) after controlling for socioeconomic status, African-Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics are less likely to report or be reported to have such mental health problems. A theoretical construct for this protective effect is related to cultural factors, such as perceived social support, deep religiosity/spirituality, extended families, and maternal coping strategies as buffers against psychological distress. [Source: SC]

Walker, Elizabeth Anne. 2024. "Spiritual Support in Relation to Community Violence Exposure, Aggressive Outcomes, and Psychological Adjustment among Inner-City Young Adolescents." Ph.D. Thesis, University of California Los Angeles.
Abstract: The present study utilized a Spiritual Support Scale developed by the author to examine the relations among spiritual support, exposure to community violence, psychological adjustment, and aggressive outcomes in inner-city, young adolescents (N = 131). The relative effects of spiritual, parent, and peer support were also examined. Results indicated that the Spiritual Support Scale has good reliability and predictive validity. Analyses also indicated high levels of spiritual support, especially among girls and African-Americans. Adolescents with more spiritual support reported significantly higher levels of self-esteem and lower levels of aggressive beliefs, reckless behaviors, and physical aggression. Analyses further indicated high rates of violence exposure, with higher rates of violence exposure being linked with increased adjustment problems, reckless behaviors, gang involvement, and physical aggression. Spiritual support, but neither parent nor peer support, appeared to moderate the effects of violence exposure, at least in the areas of self-esteem and aggressive beliefs. Multivariate analyses suggest that spiritual, parent, and peer support may each play a unique role in determining psychological adjustment and aggressive outcomes among inner-city adolescents. The role of spiritual support among inner-city youth is discussed, and suggestions for ways to bridge Psychology and Religion are made. [Source: DA]

Epstein, J. A., C. Williams, G. J. Botvin, T. Diaz, and M. Ifill-Williams. 1999. "Psychosocial Predictors of Cigarette Smoking among Adolescents Living in Public Housing Developments." Tobacco Control vol. 8, pp. 45-52.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Adolescents residing in low-income public housing developments in inner-city regions may be particularly vulnerable to a variety of risk factors associated with cigarette smoking. OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the aetiology of cigarette smoking among adolescents living in public housing developments. DESIGN, SETTING, AND SUBJECTS: We examined predictors of smoking from four domains: background characteristics, social influences, behavioural control, and psychosocial characteristics using a sample of seventh graders (mean age 12.9 years) who reside in public housing developments in New York City (n = 624). The addresses of participants in a larger investigation of the aetiology and prevention of smoking were checked to determine if they lived in one of 335 public housing developments in New York City. All participants living in public housing developments were included in the current study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: African-American and Hispanic students completed questionnaires about their cigarette use, social pressures to smoke, smoking attitudes, smoking knowledge, and smoking resistance skills. Students also provided information on demographic and behavioural control (such as church and school attendance). RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses indicated that social influences from friends and family members predicted smoking. Psychosocial characteristics such as advertising resistance skills, anti-smoking attitudes, and refusal skills lowered the odds of smoking. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that smoking prevention approaches targeted at these young people should increase their awareness of social pressures to smoke, correct misperceptions about the prevalence of smoking among friends, and teach relevant psychosocial skills. [Source: ML]

Massey, Steven Duane. 1999. "A Study of the Relationship between Resilience and Spirituality among High Risk Youth." Ed.D. Thesis, University of Minnesota.
Abstract: This study explored the relationship between resilience and spirituality among at-risk students attending three urban alternative high schools. Resilience was defined according to three domains: academic competence, social competence, and behavioral competence. Three means of measurement were used to assess these resilience domains. The first was a set of two rating systems completed by students—The Social Skills Rating System (Gresham & Elliott, 1990) and the Self- Perception Profile for Adolescents (Harter, 1988). The second was a set of teacher ratings of students on the same resilience domains using the same instruments. The third was students' attendance records and California Achievement Test scores for the purpose of measuring academic performance only. Spirituality was defined as a positive sense of life purpose, a sense of one's life meaning, and a sense of hope for one's future. Spirituality was measured by the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (Palautzian & Ellison, 1991) and the Purpose in Life scale (Crumbaugh & Maholick, 1964). One hundred and thirty-nine students participated in this study and provided self-report information regarding their exposure to or experience of at-risk variables. Additionally, teachers rated students on the same resilience domains using the teacher portion of the same at-risk survey instrument. Quantitative data analysis was used to analyze and study the relationship between resilience and spirituality. Students' perception of their academic, social, and behavioral competence was found to be associated with spirituality. No relationships were found between belonging to a religious community and spirituality, and only a minimal relationship was found between being religious and spirituality. African American students appeared to be more spiritual than White American students. The relationship between resilience and spirituality was evident in a regression analysis where the competence variables served as the dependent variable and spirituality served as the independent variable and in a regression analysis where spirituality served as the dependent variable and the competence variables served as the independent variable. This study is the first to quantify the link between resilience and spirituality. These findings have important implications related to teacher training and professional development, school organizational structure, and pedagogy. [Source: DA]

Vakalahi, Halaevalu F. 1999. "Adolescent Substance Use in Utah: The Influence of Family-Based Risk and Protective Factors." Ph.D. Thesis, The University of Utah.
Abstract: This study examined the influence of family-based risk and protective factors on adolescent substance use. Adolescents were classified as nonusers, experimenters, and users. Experimenters were examined only in relation to adolescent tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use. In examining other drugs, users included those who may be experimenting with substances, as well as those who may be using substances regularly. Based on a theory-driven framework and empirical studies, research questions focused on the influence of family-related variables on adolescent substance use. These variables included parental education level, ethnic background, religious affiliation, sibling substance use, family conflict, and family involvement. The sample consisted of 5,009 adolescents randomly surveyed in the state of Utah. Responses of 4,983 adolescents met the criteria for inclusion; thus, they were included in the data analysis. Overall, this study supported prior research, indicating that adolescent substance use is influenced by family-based variables. Family attributes and relationships served as risk or protective factors. Findings suggest that high parental education level, nonminority background, being religiously affiliated, and family involvement are protective factors for adolescent substance use. On the other hand, low parental education level, minority background, being nonreligiously affiliated, sibling substance use, and family conflict are risk factors for adolescent substance use. Whites and Asian/Pacific Islanders reported the highest percentage in nonuse of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs, whereas Whites, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and American Indians reported the highest percentage in nonuse of marijuana. Moreover, LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) adolescents reported the highest percentage of nonuse of all substances. Possible explanations are offered, and implications for future research and practice are suggested. Future research is recommended, especially in relation to ethnic minority-related protective factors. Moreover, this study underscores the importance of research using the risk-focused model as a framework for addressing and understanding adolescent substance use. [Source: PI]

Brewster, Karin L., Elizabeth C. Cooksey, David K. Guilkey, and Ronald R. Rindfuss. 1998. "The Changing Impact of Religion on the Sexual and Contraceptive Behavior of Adolescent Women in the United States." Journal of Marriage and the Family vol. 60, pp. 493-504.
Abstract: Studied the impact of religious affiliation on intercourse risk and contraceptive use among adolescent women during the 1980s when church-based groups were increasingly involved in debates over reproductive and family issues. However, adolescent nonmarital intercourse and birth rates were rising, suggesting that religious organizations, even as their visibility increased, became less effective at transmitting their values. The authors pooled data from 2 national surveys conducted in 1982 and 1988 and found that affiliation had modest, but stable, effects among Black teens. Among Whites, the impact of a fundamentalist Protestant affiliation increased. White fundamentalists were less likely to be sexually active in 1988 than in 1982. [Source: PI]

Copeland, Sam. 1998. "The Impact of Family Processes on Adolescent Depression." Ph.D. Thesis, University of Houston.
Abstract: This study explores family factors and adolescent depression. Disorders present during adolescence may be related to emotional impairment within the parental subsystem. Additional study is needed to examine other caregivers as the head of household and to explore emotional distress within the family (Zahn-Waxler, 1995). This study investigates adolescent depression and five family process components, family structure, family functioning, parental depression, poverty or socioeconomic status (SES), and ethnicity. The sample included 73 Mexican American, African American, and Non-Hispanic Whites families with adolescents age 12-17. The hypotheses of this study include the following: Hypothesis 1 family structure. Adolescent depression is greater in single parent families than in families with more than one adult parent figure. Hypothesis 2a family functioning. Adolescents from families with moderate family cohesion have significantly lower levels of depression than those from families with either high or low cohesion. Hypothesis 2b family functioning. Adolescents from families with moderate family adaptability have significantly lower levels of depression than those families with either high or low adaptability. Hypothesis 2c family functioning. Adolescents from families with moderate family cohesion and moderate family adaptability have significantly lower levels of depression than those from families with either high or low cohesion and adaptability. Hypothesis 3 parental depression. The greater the level of parental depression, the greater the level of depression for adolescents in the family. Hypothesis 4 poverty. The greater the level of family poverty, the greater the level of adolescent depression. Hypothesis 5 ethnicity. Adolescent depression differs significantly among Mexican-Americans, African Americans, and Anglos. The Family Adaptation Cohesion and Evaluation Scale (FACES-III), Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) and the Center for Epidemiological Study of Depression (CES-D) Scale and the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) were employed. A theoretical model including gender and race accounted for 35% of the variance in adolescent depression. An exploratory model included, gender, race, parental language preference, and parental church attendance accounted for 44% of the variance. A trimmed model includes only the significant family process variables which influence adolescent depression. Family structure, parents level of depression and family functioning are related to adolescent depression. [Source: DA]

Dentith, Audrey Marie. 1998. "Identities through Agency, Accommodation and Resistance: A Multi-Ethnic Study of Urban Adolescent Girls in Las Vegas, Nevada." Ph.D. Thesis, The Pennsylvania State University.
Abstract: Las Vegas, Nevada was the setting for this multi-ethnic study of urban adolescent girls. New forms of capitalism in the postmodern context of this city lend ambiguity to the labor practices and consumer logic which influences young women's social relations, career choices and cultural understandings. Cultural practices apparent in casino life and the sex industry place women on the margins of society and the conservative ideologies apparent through the highly visible Christian Right and public schooling practices within the city reinforce patriarchy and women's subordinate position. This ethnographic investigated the lives of nine girls, ages 13 through 18 years from White, Asian and Latina heritage. It examined girls' lives and the production and transmission of cultural phenomena as well as the reception and response to cultural knowledge from within the context of a specific community and in relationship to the wider social movements and mediated information. A multi-theoretical framework was used to capture the disruptions and intricacies of adolescent social life in this context. Postmodernism as an aesthetic descriptor of the changing cultural landscape within the Western world; critical postmodernism and feminism as discourses of social critique were used to describe contemporary life and as tools to disrupt notions within it. Girls exercised agency through close-knit friendships, schooling practices, and sexuality. Measures of resistance were seen in the formation of counterculture groups, alternate sexual mores, and defiance of conservative religions. Girls negotiated tenuous relations between traditional gender roles and sexual behaviors. [Source: DA]

Reddie, Anthony. 1998. Growing into Hope: Christian Education in Multi-Ethnic Churches. Peterborough: Methodist Publishing for the Birmingham Initiative and Methodist Church Connexional Team.

McLaughlin, Caitlin S., Chuansheng Chen, Ellen Greenberger, and Cornelia Biermeier. 1997. "Family, Peer, and Individual Correlates of Sexual Experience among Caucasian and Asian-American Late Adolescents." Journal of Research on Adolescence vol. 7, pp. 33-53.
Abstract: Explores ethnic & gender differences in sexual behavior among Caucasian & Asian-American state university students in CA (total N = 350), drawing on survey data. Consistent with previous studies, Caucasians reported having more sexual partners than did Asian-Americans, & males reported having more sexual partners than females. Peer interactions & attitudinal & dispositional factors were consistently related with number of sexual partners, while family factors were not. Discriminant analysis of five variables (eg, risky behaviors, casual sex endorsement, & religiosity) yielded two functions capable of predicting levels of sexual experience for 61%-92% of participants. [Source: SA]

Russo, N. F. and A. J. Dabul. 1997. "The Relationship of Abortion to Well-Being: Do Race and Religion Make a Difference?" Professional Psychology Research and Practice vol. 28, pp. 23-31.
Abstract: Relationships of abortion and childbearing to well-being were examined for 1,189 Black and 3,147 White women. Education, income, and having a work role were positively and independently related to well-being for all women. Abortion did not have an independent relationship to well-being, regardless of race or religion, when well-being before becoming pregnant was controlled. These findings suggest professional psychologists should explore the origins of women's mental health problems in experiences predating their experience with abortion, and they can assist psychologists in working to ensure that mandated scripts from ''informed consent'' legislation do not misrepresent scientific findings. [Source: SC]

Amey, Cheryl H., Stan L. Albrecht, and Michael K. Miller. 1996. "Racial Differences in Adolescent Drug Use: The Impact of Religion." Substance Use and Misuse vol. 31, pp. 1311-1332.
Abstract: Investigated the extent to which differences in religiosity are responsible for racial differences in adolescent drug use, using data from the Monitoring the Future survey of high school seniors (N = 11,728, average age 17 or 18 yrs). Specifically, this study examined: (1) in a bivariate context, the relationship between race and 3 measures of religiosity: religious affiliation, attendance, and importance; (2) the relationship between these measures of religiosity and cigarette smoking, drinking, marijuana use, and the use of other illegal drugs; and (3) drug use in a multivariate context. Statistical analyses show that religion does provide some protection from drug use by adolescents. However, religiosity has less of an impact on the drug use of Black adolescents, perhaps as a result of the diverse roles of the Black church. [Source: PI]

Henshaw, S. K. and K. Kost. 1996. "Abortion Patients in 1994-1995: Characteristics and Contraceptive Use." Family Planning Perspectives vol. 28, p. 140.
Abstract: Results of a 1994-1995 national survey of 9,985 abortion patients reveal that women who live with a partner outside marriage or have no religious identification are 3.5-4.0 times as likely as women in the general population to have an abortion. Nonwhites, women aged 18-24, Hispanics, separated and never-married women, and those who have an annual income of less than $15,000 or who are enrolled in Medicaid are 1.6-2.2 times as likely to do so; residents of metropolitan counties have a slightly elevated likelihood of abortion. When age is controlled, women who have had a live birth are more likely to have an abortion than are those who have never had children. Catholics are as likely as women in the general population to have an abortion, while Protestants are only 69% as likely and Evangelical or born-again Christians are only 39% as likely. Since 1987, the proportion of abortions obtained by Hispanic women and the abortion rate among Hispanics relative to that for other ethnic groups have increased. The proportion of abortion patients who had been using a contraceptive during the month they became pregnant rose from 51% in 1987 to 58%. Nonuse is most common among women with low education and income, blacks, Hispanics, unemployed women and those who want more children. The proportion of abortion patients whose pregnancy is attributable to condom failure has increased from 15% to 32%, while the proportions reporting the failure of other barrier methods and spermicides have decreased. [Source: SC]

Maton, Kenneth I., Douglas M. Teti, Kathleen M. Corns, Catherine C. Vieira Baker, and Jacqueline R. Lavine. 1996. "Cultural Specificity of Support Sources, Correlates and Contexts: Three Studies of African-American and Caucasian Youth." American Journal of Community Psychology vol. 24, pp. 551-587.
Abstract: Three experiments examined levels and correlates of parental support (PNS), peer support (PRS), partner support (PTS), and/or spiritual support (SPS) with additional variables (well being, self esteem, and institutional and goal commitment) among a total of 235 Black and 351 White adolescents and young adults in 3 contexts: adolescent pregnancy (Exp 1), 1st yr of college (Exp 2), and adolescence and young adulthood (ages 15-29 yrs; Exp 3). Partially consistent with a cultural specificity perspective, in different contexts different support sources were higher in level and/or more strongly related to adjustment for 1 ethnic group than the other. Among pregnant adolescents, levels of SPS were higher for Black Ss; additionally, PRS was positively related to well-being only for Black Ss, whereas PTS was positively related to well-being only for White Ss. Among college freshmen, PNS was more strongly related to institutional and goal commitment for Black Ss; conversely, PRS was more strongly related to institutional and goal commitment among White Ss. Among 15-29 yr olds, levels of PNS and SPS were higher among Black Ss; additionally, SPS was positively related to self-esteem for Black Ss but not for White Ss. [Source: PI]

Mott, Frank L., Michelle M. Fondell, Paul N. Hu, Lori Kowaleski Jones, and Elizabeth G. Menaghan. 1996. "The Determinants of First Sex by Age 14 in a High-Risk Adolescent Population." Family Planning Perspectives vol. 28, pp. 13-16.
Abstract: Study indicates several factors, including mother's early sexual activity and extensive work, to determine whether person would have sex by age of 14. A study using data for mothers from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and their children aged 14 or older indicates that, after accounting for a wide range demographic and socioeconomic antecedents, children are significantly more likely to become sexually active before age 14 if their mother had sex at an early age and if she has worked extensively. In addition, early sexual debut is eight times as likely among black boys as among-non- Hispanic white boys. Children who use controlled substances at an early age are more than twice as likely to have sex before age 14 as those who do not, although the type of substance having an effect is different for girls (cigarettes) and boys (alcohol). Church attendance is an important determinant of delayed sexual activity, but only when a child's friends attend the same church. [Source: CW]

Van Schooten, Cynthia Clifton. 1996. "The Relationship between Locus of Control, Spiritual Well-Being, and Runaway Behavior among Female Adolescents in a Residential Treatment Center." Thesis, Talbot School of Theology.
Abstract: This study investigated the relationship between locus of control, spiritual well-being, and runaway behavior among female adolescents in a residential treatment center. The population consisted of 100 females, ages 12-18, who were living in a large residential treatment center in Southern California. The demographic variables included: age, diagnoses, religious affiliation, and current pregnancy. The Spiritual Well-being Scale was used to measure Religious Well-being and Existential Well-being. The Nowicki-Strickland Internal/External Locus of Control Scale was used to measure internal and external locus of control. Both instruments were inserted into a questionnaire regarding runaway behavior. Both Anova and Pearson Product-Moment correlations were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated there were significant differences between locus of control and diagnoses. Specifically, there were significant differences between locus of control and Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Other Diagnoses, and between Locus of control and Depression and Adjustment Disorder. However, due to the low cell size, the findings are questionable. There was a significant difference between ethnic group and locus of control. African-Americans scored consistently higher on internal locus of control than did Caucasians. These findings may be indicative of differences in socio-economic backgrounds. [Source: PI]

Zhang, J. and S. H. Jin. 1996. "Determinants of Suicide Ideation: A Comparison of Chinese and American College Students." Adolescence vol. 31, pp. 451-467.
Abstract: A LISREL model that incorporates both social and psychological factors was used to explain Chinese and American college students' suicide ideation. Questionnaire data were obtained from one Chinese sample (N = 320) from four universities in Beijing and one American sample (N = 452) from one university in the Rocky Mountain area. As in the American sample, Chinese females score higher on the ideation scale than Chinese males, but the overall rate is lower for the Chinese than for the American college students. The findings in the American data support previous Literature that family cohesion and religiosity are inversely related to suicide ideation, while the Chinese data suggest a positive correlation between religiosity and suicide ideation. This article offers a comparison of different cultural environments for Chinese and American adolescent development. [Source: SC]

Moore, Kristin A. and Dana Glei. 1995. "Taking the Plunge: An Examination of Positive Youth Development." Journal of Adolescent Research vol. 10, pp. 15-40.
Abstract: Offers 2 measures that address the avoidance of multiple forms of risk taking or determinants of positive development in youth: a missteps scale in which multiple forms of risk taking are assessed through the adolescent years and a Positive Well-Being Index that includes multiple measures of positive development, ranging from satisfaction with life to community involvement. Demographic, family, school, and neighborhood characteristics were included in multivariate models estimated on a national survey of 2,301 children (aged 7-21 yrs). Youth who experienced fewer family disruptions, were closer with their parents, and had fewer behavior problems in elementary school, and whose parents were better educated, were at lower risk. Children in high-poverty neighborhoods experienced lower well-being and higher misstep hazards. Black youth scored higher on the well-being scale due to greater religiosity and concern for correcting social inequalities. [Source: PI]

Murry, Velma McBride. 1995. "An Ecological Analysis of Pregnancy Resolution Decisions among African American and Hispanic Adolescent Females." Youth and Society vol. 26, pp. 325-350.
Abstract: Examined the effect of individual, family, sociocultural, and social structural factors on decisions to terminate or to not terminate 1st pregnancies of 347 African-American and 108 Hispanic unmarried, sexually active 15-21 yr old females. Interview data regarding sexual and reproductive activities and socioeconomic and familial characteristics were from the 1988 National Survey of Family Growth (D. Judkins et al, 1991). Termination of the pregnancy was associated with ineffective contraceptive use, self-disclosure of the pregnancy to the S's mother, family sexuality communication, family income, and church attendance. In contrast to African-American Ss, Hispanic Ss who terminated the pregnancy tended to be younger at time of 1st sexual intercourse and pregnancy than those who did not terminate the pregnancy. Regardless of race/ethnicity, Ss deciding not to terminate the pregnancy reported family incomes at or below poverty status. [Source: PI]

Bartle, Nathalie Akin Vanderpool. 1994. "The Spoken and Unspoken Word: Ways in Which Mothers and Adolescent Daughters Communicate About Issues of Sexuality." Ed.D. Thesis, Harvard University, Cambridge.
Abstract: In this study, I explored ways in which black and white mothers and adolescent daughters from different social settings and cultural groups communicate about sexuality. I also examined how their interactions may influence daughters' decisions related to sexual behavior. This research is framed by the theoretical perspective on female development that female identity is integrated with relationship. Daughters continue an important connection with their mothers during adolescence even as they begin to differentiate their identities from their mothers (Chodrow, 1974, Gilligan, 1977, 1982; Miller, 1976). I addressed issues that are pivotal for building on and expanding this theoretical framework. Building on previous research that mothers and adolescent daughters do communicate about sexual issues (Fisher, 1986a; Fox & Inazu, 1980; Hepburn, 1983), I administered a brief questionnaire to groups of young adolescent girls and their mothers in two school settings--an urban public high school and a suburban private coed secondary school. From this pool I selected mother-daughter pairs for individual interviews and for participation in focus groups. The interview respondents included six black and five white mother-daughter dyads affiliated with the public school and five black and seven white mother-daughter pairs from the private school. Methods used to analyze the data obtained included: (a) content coding, where specific features were clustered into matrices and themes were constructed; (b) the Reading Guide (Brown et al., 1988), which complemented the content coding strategy; and (c) quantitative analyses of the mother-daughter questionnaires focusing on openness and problems in communication. These three methods allowed me to present descriptive analyses of communication patterns mothers and adolescent daughters reported they experienced in addressing sexual issues and permitted an in-depth analysis for capturing essential elements of meaning from the qualitative data. The triangulation of these different methods supported an integrated data analysis and contributed to the offset of biases of any one particular method. Results demonstrated that mothers and daughters are communicating about sexual topics. They speak explicitly about most issues, although the pleasurable aspects of sex are rarely addressed. Both parties acknowledge difficulty in communicating about sex, and as daughters reach mid-adolescence and become interested in sexual activity, communication is less frequent. A number of factors influence the communication process including: developmental age of daughters, mothers' education, mother-daughter relationships, income level, cultural values, family structure and religious beliefs. Daughters' knowledge of sexual issues is broad. Mothers do influence daughters' knowledge, attitudes and decisions about becoming sexually active and about contraceptive use. However, daughters generally make decisions about their sexual behavior without communicating explicitly with their mothers. At a time when concerns are escalating about the sexual behavior of youth, this study provides valuable insights into ways sexual knowledge and values are transmitted between mothers and daughters in various racial and cultural groups. [Source: DA]

Lottes, I. L. and P. J. Kuriloff. 1994. "Sexual Socialization Differences by Gender, Greek Membership, Ethnicity, and Religious Background." Psychology of Women Quarterly vol. 18, pp. 203-219.
Abstract: Socialization theories have included parents and peers as important determinants of the initial sexual standards and sexual behavior of teenagers and young adults. The purpose of the research reported here was to examine how parental and peer sexual socialization influences are related to gender, ethnicity, religious background, and college membership in a fraternity or sorority. A sample that included a majority of Caucasian university students and about 13% Asian and 7% Black students completed questionnaires both as entering first-year students and as seniors. Results indicated that compared to women, men continue to experience a more permissive sexual socialization from both parents and peers. Greek membership was associated with a more permissive socialization from peers but not parents. Asian students reported a more restrictive socialization than Blacks or Caucasians. Findings are discussed with respect to concerns of social scientists regarding the influence of fraternities and differential gender socialization. [Source: SC]

Ortiz Torres, Blanca. 1994. "The Ecology of Empowerment for at-Risk Youth." Ph.D. Thesis, New York University.
Abstract: The study examined: (1) the measurement of empowerment, in terms of psychological and behavioral dimensions; (2) the relationship of reported participation in microsystems and empowerment; and (3) how the effects of participation differ by race/ethnicity and gender in a sample of poor, urban, and culturally diverse youth. The psychological dimension of empowerment was indexed by academic and social efficacy expectations and self- esteem. Behavioral empowerment was assessed by examining adolescents' negotiation strategies with important aspects of their social environment. Transactions with microsystems was measured by the frequency of involvement/participation with five critical microsystems: family, peers, school, church and neighborhood. Data were drawn from a longitudinal investigation of the pathways to adaptive and maladaptive outcomes of adolescents from at-risk schools in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and New York (N = 1333). The sample was 58% female. The ethnic composition was 27% Black, 23% White, 38% Latino, 3% Black/Latino, 6% Asian, and 3% other. Results showed that empowerment was composed of psychological and behavioral dimensions. Males reported higher psychological empowerment than females. Females were more effective in their interpersonal negotiation skills; that is showed higher levels of behavioral empowerment. Blacks and Whites adolescents did not significantly differ in psychological empowerment levels; it was Blacks and Latinos who differed in this outcome. Latinos reported the lowest levels of psychological empowerment. Involvement and participation in activities with peers was the most important predictor of behavioral empowerment across groups. This relationship was always negative: the more involvement with peers, the less behaviorally empowered. For Blacks and Whites involvement/participation in none of the microsystems seemed to facilitate psychological empowerment. For Latinos, family involvement is positively related to psychological empowerment for both males and females. Family was an important predictor of behavioral empowerment only for White females. For Black females, involvement with the neighborhood was positively associated with behavioral empowerment. Within the Latino female group, church involvement was negatively related to behavioral empowerment. [Source: DA]

Hammond, J. A., B. S. Cole, and S. H. Beck. 1993. "Religious Heritage and Teenage Marriage." Review of Religious Research vol. 35, pp. 117-133.
Abstract: Teen marriage may be a way of legitimately culminating a sexual relationship and attaining adult status. Our purpose is to investigate whether the religion in which a young person was raised has an impact on the decision to marry early. Extrapolating from our findings on premarital sex as well as previous research of others, we hypothesized that Fundamentalist and Institutional Sect backgrounds produce higher rates of teen marriage. We utilized data from the NLSY between 1979 and 1984 for Whites and female Blacks. The logistic regressions indicated substantial differences in the likelihood of teen marriage by religious heritage category for male and female Whites, but not for female African-Americans. Using mainline Protestants as the comparison group, we find that young Whites with Fundamentalist and Sect-like backgrounds are much more likely to marry by age 19, while Catholics and non-Christians are significantly less likely to marry early. These differences persist even when controlling for geographic factors, parental and family characteristics, church attendance, and expectations for adult roles. [Source: SC]

Nakkula, Michael James. 1993. "Toward Methodological Dialogue in Adolescent Risk Research." Ed.D. Thesis, Harvard University.
Abstract: This study examined whether the clustering, prediction and self-reported meaning of various forms of high-risk behavior differed within two divergent high school cultures. 406 students were sampled, 242 from an urban high school in a low-income, working-class community, and 164 from a suburban high school in a middle-income, working-class and professional community. The urban subsample was largely African-American (35%) and Hispanic (30%), with smaller numbers of Haitian (15%) and Caucasian (7.5%) students. The suburban subsample was almost exclusively Caucasian (86%). Females comprised 55% of the sample within each school; males 45%. Sampling was largely random. Nine forms of high-risk behavior were included in the assessment of clustering differences: Cigarette smoking, alcohol use, marijuana use, harder drug use, multiple substance use, crime, depressive behavior, school-related problems, and sexual behavior. Involvement in each of these behaviors was assessed by the Risk and Prevention Questionnaire and Interview (RAP QI) (Nakkula, Way, Stauber, & London, 1989), a lickert-type survey, developed in consultation with high school students representing a broad range of reading levels. Multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis uncovered three clusters of behaviors within each school. The cluster of depressive behavior and school-related problems was found within both schools, while the two unique urban school clusters were sexual behavior with crime and the substance use cluster of cigarette smoking, alcohol use, marijuana use and multiple substance use. The two unique suburban school clusters were cigarette smoking, alcohol use and sexual behavior; and marijuana use, multiple substance use, harder drug use and crime. Within each school, cluster scores were best predicted, via multiple regression, by different combinations of risk and resiliency factors, including family functioning, quality of relationships with parents and friends, hopefulness/hopelessness, religiosity, and friends' and family substance use, each of which was assessed by the RAP QI. Qualitative analyses of indepth research interviews were conducted to interpret the meaning of selected regression findings for each school. The particular strategy for using quantitative and qualitative methods interactively, designed and exemplified here, represents movement toward a methodological dialogue that can deepen our understanding of adolescent high-risk behavior. [Source: DA]

Newman, B. S. and P. G. Muzzonigro. 1993. "The Effects of Traditional Family Values on the Coming out Process of Gay Male Adolescents." Adolescence vol. 28, pp. 213-226.
Abstract: The development of a gay or lesbian identity (often referred to as the coming out process) has been widely studied in adults; however, few studies have examined the process in gay adolescents. Even among these studies, little research has investigated the effects of race or family values on the coming out process. A small sample of African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian/Eurasian, and Caucasian gay male adolescents participated in this survey study. Coming out was operationalized in three stages: sensitization; awareness with confusion, denial, guilt, and shame; and acceptance. The majority of respondents reported feeling different from other boys as children. The average age of first crush on another boy was 12.7 years; average age for realizing they were gay was 12.5 years. Most respondents reported feeling confused during their first awareness that they were gay. Denial of identity was a coping strategy for about half the sample. Traditional family values played a greater role in predicting coming out experiences than did race. Families were categorized as having high or low traditional values based upon (1) the importance of religion, (2) emphasis on marriage, (3) emphasis on having children, and (4) whether a non-English language was spoken in the home. Families with a strong emphasis on traditional values were perceived as less accepting of homosexuality than were the low traditional families. Those who work with adolescents need to be aware that some will recognize their sexual orientation as gay, lesbian, or bisexual during this time of their lives. These youth need support in the coming out process because they may encounter stigmatization and disapproval not only from the larger society, but also from their families, peers, and sometimes the gay community itself. [Source: ML]

Nucci, Larry and Elliot Turiel. 1993. "God's Word, Religious Rules, and Their Relation to Christian and Jewish Children's Concepts of Morality." Child Development vol. 64, pp. 1475-1491.
Abstract: In Study 1, 64 Amish-Mennonite children (aged 10, 12, 14, and 16 yrs) were asked to evaluate 4 moral and 7 nonmoral religious rules as to rule alterability, generalizability, and whether the status of the acts was contingent on the word of God. As a 2nd aspect of Study 1, 64 age-matched Dutch Reform Calvinist children were asked to determine whether God's commands could make a harmful act morally right. Study 2 replicated the basic design of Study 1 with 64 Conservative and 32 Orthodox Jewish children. Ss differentiated between moral and nonmoral religious issues. Moral rules and some nonmoral rules were seen as nonalterable by religious authorities. The status of moral (but not nonmoral) acts was generalized to members outside the religion and was not viewed as contingent on the existence of statements from God. Judgments regarding moral issues were justified in terms of justice and human welfare considerations; nonmoral issues were evaluated in terms of their normative status. [Source: PI]

Langer, L. M., R. S. Zimmerman, and R. McNeal. 1992. "Explaining the Association of Race and Ethnicity with the HIV Aids-Related Attitudes, Behaviors and Skills of High-School Students." Population Research and Policy Review vol. 11, pp. 233-247.
Abstract: This study deals with intervening factors such as family composition, religiosity, and HIV/AIDS knowledge in understanding the association of race and ethnicity with HIV/AIDS-related attitudes and behaviors. Data represent Wave 1 of a five-month panel design involving 10th grade students in eight public high schools in Dade County (greater Miami) Florida. Significant differences in attitudes and behaviors were found among racial/ethnic groups. Specifically, Hispanics had more negative attitudes about condom use than blacks or whites. Whites had the most permissive, and blacks the least permissive. sexual attitudes. Hispanics felt least confident and blacks felt most confident about interpersonal sexual skills. Blacks were most likely to have had sexual intercourse, and whites least likely. Religiosity was found to be a significant intervening variable in the less permissive sexual attitudes of both blacks and Hispanics. The most significant implication of this study is that racial/ethnic differences in sexual behavior can be explained more fully by socio- environmental factors such as family structure or religiosity than by knowledge or attitudes. Thus, interventions directed toward minority populations should focus on the development of alternative social environments that would support more positive behaviors. More specifically, extended family. religious youth groups, and other community organizations should be brought into the HIV/AIDS risk reduction arena. [Source: SC]

Lottes, Ilsa L. and Peter J. Kuriloff. 1992. "The Effects of Gender, Race, Religion, and Political Orientation on the Sex Role Attitudes of College Freshmen." Adolescence vol. 27, pp. 675-688.
Abstract: 556 1st-yr undergraduates completed a questionnaire examining the effects of gender, race (Asian, Black, and White), religion (Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant), and political orientation (liberal and conservative) on 4 areas of sex-role ideology. They were (1) traditional attitudes toward female sexuality, (2) justification of male dominance, (3) negative attitudes toward homosexuality, and (4) attitudes toward feminism. The study assumed a social learning perspective: that sex-role beliefs are culturally determined. Of the 4 independent variables, religion and political orientation produced significant differences on all 4 sex-role measures. Liberals as compared to conservatives, and Jews as compared to Protestants were less traditional in their attitudes toward female sexuality, less accepting of male dominance and negative attitudes toward homosexuality, and more accepting of feminist attitudes. [Source: PI]

Tremba, Randall Wayne. 1992. "Bringing White and Black Youth Together in Christian Fellowship." D.Min. Thesis, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton.
Abstract: This project aimed to overcome the historical separation (actually, de facto segregation) of a White Presbyterian church and a Black (African-American) United Methodist church in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. There was no hidden agenda to merge the two churches organizationally. The value of separate denominations and traditions, even racially distinct traditions, was respected throughout. Two adult and two youth representatives from each church plus myself planned a series of four interchurch events for their respective junior high youth. I intended to show that meaningful contact under the auspices of the church would lower barriers between the participants and pave the way for more cooperative programs between the two churches. By means of various activities, including icebreakers, games, discussions and meals, the youth became better acquainted and at the final event voted unanimously to continue the united meetings on a regular basis. In the five-week long process of planning these events, the planning team itself discovered a remarkable kindred spirit. The team had hoped for bi-racial friendships to emerge from the united youth events. None did. Upon reflection, however, I realized that the "friendship model" for a Christian faith community was unrealistic and unbiblical. Friendships are "accidental" and rare. Kinship proves to be a better model for the church. Since we are made brothers and sisters in the community of faith through baptism (no matter what our race, gender or denomination), we have a moral obligation to perceive each other as siblings and to act accordingly. This project enabled a few Christian people to begin seeing and treating each other as siblings in the Lord. The effort to achieve reconciliation between two racially divided people and churches proved to be arduous and incomplete. Yet having begun, there is momentum to extend our efforts and even to expand them to the wider community. In addition, as trust and reconciliation increases between these two congregations, they may find it possible to address the more subtle and pernicious matters of social injustice. [Source: DA]

Zhang, J. I. E. 1992. "Modernization, Interpersonal Power, and Conformity: A Cross-Cultural Study of Significant Others' Influence on Adolescents." Ph.D. Thesis, Brigham Young University.
Abstract: This dissertation was intended to test modernization theory's explanation of adolescent conformity behavior, and to discover conformity patterns in three different cultural settings. Questionnaire survey data were collected from college students in mainland China, Taiwan, and the USA. ANOVA, ONEWAY ANOVA, factor analyses, and LISREL were used to analyze the data. Modernization theory was not well supported by the data. Analyses of the findings suggested that modernization theory tests with cross-cultural data should take into consideration cultural characteristics, since much of human behavior is culturally determined. Contrary to modernization theory's predictions, the social institution of education is less important but religion is highly valued in American society, while the reverse was found in the two Chinese societies. Significant findings of the project were different patterns in the three societies of adolescent conformity to the three types of significant others. [Source: DA]

Farber, Naomi B. 1991. "The Process of Pregnancy Resolution among Adolescent Mothers." Adolescence vol. 26, pp. 697-716.
Abstract: Data collected in Chicago, Ill, during in-depth interviews with black & white unmarrried adolescent mothers (N = 28) from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds are drawn on to explore their pregnancy resolution. Results reveal the importance of family members & other significant adults in the decision process. Personal, familial, & religious values were primary considerations in deciding to bear & keep their children. [Source: SA]

Wallace, John M. and Jerald G. Bachman. 1991. "Explaining Racial/Ethnic Differences in Adolescent Drug Use: The Impact of Background and Lifestyle." Social Problems vol. 38, pp. 333-357.
Abstract: Replicated earlier research (J. G. Bachman et al, 1981) by studying 77,500 high school seniors from 1985 to 1989 to explore whether racial/ethnic differences in cigarette, alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine use may be attributable to racial/ethnic differences in background and/or in important lifestyle factors. Results indicate that controlling for background alone did not account for most racial/ethnic differences in drug use. Black, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Asian youth smoked significantly less than White youth. Heavy alcohol use among native American and White Ss was similar, with the same pattern for marijuana; cocaine use among Mexican and Puerto Rican males was slightly higher than average. Several lifestyle factors, including educational values and behaviors, religious commitment, and time spent in peer-oriented activities, strongly relate to drug use and help to explain the subgroup differences. [Source: PI]

Woods, Dorris Stubbs. 1990. "Risk Factors Associated with Suicidal Ideation in Adolescent and Young Adult Substance Abusers." Ph.D. Thesis, Claremont Graduate School.
Abstract: This study examined risk factors associated with suicidal ideation in adolescent and young adult male substance abusers with regard to the self-reported drug- use behavior and other factors. The subjects who participated in the study consisted of the study group and a comparison group. The study group included clients in treatment for substance abuse. The comparison group included students in various educational institutions in Los Angeles County. Each of the two groups had approximately equal numbers of black, white and Hispanic subjects. The subjects ranged in age from 18-29 years. It was hypothesized that: (1) the drug-abuse group would show more suicidal ideation than the non-abuse group (comparison) as measured by Beck's Hopelessness Scale; (2) suicidal ideation would have a positive association with problem-family communication and negative association with open-family communications as measured by Olson's Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (PACS); (3) suicidal ideation will show a significant and negative association with achieved ego identity measure but a significant and positive association with diffused ego identity measure as measured by Adams' Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (OMEIS); (4) there is a significant and positive association between intensity of drug abuse and the degree of suicidal ideation; (5) more suicidal ideation will be found in black and white youths who abuse drugs than Hispanic youths who abuse drugs; (6) Hispanics who are Catholic will have less suicidal ideation than black or white youth who are Protestant or of other religious affiliation; (7) there is a positive association between social conflict and suicidal ideation. The data were analyzed utilizing several statistical procedures: correlation analyses, analyses of variance and factorial analyses of variance and content analysis for non-quantified data. As stated above, the variables under consideration for this study were the use and non- use of drugs, ethnicity, religion, family structure, social conflict, and ego identity status. [Source: DA]

Adams, Carol Markstrom. 1989. "A Qualitative Analysis of the Impressions and Experiences of Religious Minority Adolescents." Religious Education vol. 84, pp. 417-427.

Cooksey, Elizabeth Constance. 1989. "Adolescent First Premarital Pregnancy Resolution: The Influence of Family." Paper presented at Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP).
Abstract: Data from the National Longitudinal Survey - Youth Cohort (N = 1,946 young women whose first premarital pregnancy was conceived between Mar 1973 & Apr 1985, & who were under 24 at the time) are used to determine if aspects of family background influence whether a premaritally pregnant adolescent chooses to bear her child out-of-wedlock, to legitimate the birth, or to abort. Polytomous logit models estimate the effects of explanatory variables (family structure, parental education, religious affiliation, age at first conception, number of siblings, & whether the girl's mother worked) on the likelihood of each outcome relative to the others. Since there are marked racial/ethnic differences in how pregnancies are resolved, & because the effects of predictor variables differ among whites, blacks, & Hispanics, each group is modeled separately. For whites, all variables, with the exception of religious affiliation, emerge as significant predictors. For blacks, parental education, age at first conception, & number of siblings differentiate between resolutions. For the Hispanic sample, only parental education is statistically significant, but the effect is a strong one. Predicted probabilities for selected background variables highlighted by the regression analysis are also presented. Some policy-related conclusions are drawn concerning the formation of new nonintact families, & the special needs of unwed mothers. [Source: SA]

Hoge, Dean R. 1989. "Five Differences between Black and White Protestant Youth." Affirmation vol. 2, pp. 75-83.

Singh, A. K. and N. Singh. 1989. "Gender and Religion Related Differences in Alienation and Anxiety." Indian Journal of Current Psychological Research vol. 4, pp. 57-61.
Abstract: Compared a group of 380 adolescents as to religion (240 Hindus and 140 Muslims) and sex (200 males and 180 females) and the effects of these variables on personality characteristics. Data indicate that the Muslims and boys were more alienated and more anxious than Hindus and girls. [Source: PI]

Ryan, Ione J. and Patricia C. Dunn. 1988. "Association of Race, Sex, Religion, Family Size, and Desired Number of Children on College Students' Preferred Methods of Dealing with Unplanned Pregnancy." Family Practice Research Journal vol. 7, pp. 153-161.
Abstract: Surveyed 238 Black and 466 White college students (43% male, 57% female) to assess their order of preference of 5 methods for dealing with an out-of-wedlock, unplanned pregnancy: (a) marriage, (b) abortion, (c) adoption, (d) raising the child as a single parent, and (e) having grandparents raise the child. Results indicate that the majority of Ss would prefer to marry, if possible. Abortion was their second preference. Of the remaining options, raising a child as a single parent was preferable to allowing a third party to raise the child, either through adoption or extended family. Race, sex, religiosity, religious preference, number of siblings, and number of desired children were significantly associated with Ss' preferences. [Source: PI]

Lewis Ruggiero, Brenda Mahoney. 1987. "Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Justice." Ph.D. Thesis, University of California Los Angeles.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine if Islamic students who were recent immigrants from the Middle East differ from a similar-aged U.S. population in their evaluation of selected corrective justice issues which could be raised in law-related education classes and U.S. courts. The subjects for the study were fifteen 12-15 year-old U.S. born, non-minority males and fifteen 12-15 year-old Muslim males born and raised in the Middle East and living in the U.S. no more than 3.5 years. The subjects were drawn from schools in a large urban area. All subjects evaluated four corrective justice cases. Each subject was interviewed individually. The evaluation consisted of (1) a series of structured questions required a "yes"/"no" or scaled response and (2) open-ended questions designed to elicit the subject's thinking about the factors of intent, consequences, negligence, foreseeability, justification, and contributory negligence as they related to each case. After analyzing each factor separately, the subject was asked (1) if the person involved was guilty of a crime; (2) how important each factor was to the decision he made; and (3) the impact each factor had on his decision. Quantitative data were analyzed using repeated measures analyses of variance followed by tests of simple main effects. The qualitative data were analyzed by comparing subjects' responses to the open-ended questions. Statistical analysis revealed a significant three-way interaction in the importance and weight subjects placed upon the factors. Subsequent tests of simple main effects revealed that Intent, Foreseeability and Justification contributed to the significant between- groups differences noted. These differences were not substantiated, however, by the responses to the open- ended questions. A statistically significant between- groups difference was also found in the assignment of guilt in one of the four cases. Analysis of the qualitative data revealed that the punishment decisions of the Muslim youth were less harsh on the whole than those of the U.S.-born subjects. The only statistically significant finding substantiated by the qualitative data was the assignment of guilt in one of the four cases. [Source: DA]

Miller, Denise R. 1987. "Shame/Guilt Proneness, Symptoms and Treatment Satisfaction in Irish and Jewish Families." Thesis, New School for Social Research, NY.

Slonim Nevo, Vered. 1987. "Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use and Pregnancy among Mexican-American and White Non-Hispanic Adolescent Women." D.S.W. Thesis, University of California Los Angeles.
Abstract: This research focuses on the premarital sexual behavior of Mexican-American teenage women, while comparing their behavior to that of their white non-Hispanic counterparts. Three aspects of sexual behavior are examined: first intercourse, first use of contraceptives, and first conception. A data set derived from a multistage probability sampling design, with a core group of 675 unmarried Mexican-American female adolescents and a comparison group of 313 white non-Hispanics is used for the analysis. The methodology of life table and survival analysis is used in the study. Unmarried Mexican-American teenage women are less likely to experience intercourse, and sexually-active Mexican-American adolescents are less likely to use contraceptives but more likely to conceive than their white non-Hispanic counterparts. The likelihood of experiencing premarital sex is best explained, in both groups, by attitudes toward premarital sex, with greater permissiveness associated with higher likelihood. Among Mexican-Americans, a higher level of acculturation is associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing premarital sex. None of the study's independent variables including SES and sexual knowledge could predict contraceptive use among sexually-active white non-Hispanic teenagers. Among Mexican-Americans, those who are more amenable toward premarital contraceptive use, and those who use health services that provide family-planning services are more likely to contracept. Use of medical contraceptives by sexually-active teenage women can be best predicted, in both groups, by use of health services that provide family-planning services, with higher use of services being associated with higher use of medical devices. The higher probability of premarital conception among sexually-active white non-Hispanic teenagers is associated with lower education of mothers, and among Mexican-Americans, with lower level of religiosity. Ethnic differences in SES cannot solely explain ethnic differences in adolescent sexual behavior. Differences in cultural values are important to the explanation of ethnic differences in the likelihood of experiencing premarital sex, while ethnic differences in sexual knowledge, use of health services and mother's level of education are important in the explanation of ethnic differences in contraceptive use and the likelihood of experiencing premarital pregnancy. [Source: DA]

Abraham, Kitty G. 1986. "Ego-Identity Differences among Anglo-American and Mexican-American Adolescents." Journal of Adolescence vol. 9, pp. 151-166.
Abstract: Potential differences in ideological/occupational & interpersonal ego identity among Anglo- & Mexican-American adolescents were investigated among a sample of 841 high school students in a southwestern state. All Ss were administered the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status to determine their level of identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, & identity achievement. Multivariate analyses of covariance with discriminant analysis were conducted separately for the two types of identity; mothers' & fathers' education were included as covariates. Results indicate that Mexican-American youth are more foreclosed than Anglo-American youth in ideological/occupational identity, & may be more inclined to adopt their parents' commitments to religious & political beliefs, occupational preferences, & philosophical lifestyles. Results also indicate that Mexican-American youth differ from Anglo-American youth in interpersonal identity as a function of grade (9-12). Interpretation of these results from both cultural & minority status perspectives are discussed. [Source: SA]

Marsiglio, W. and F. L. Mott. 1986. "The Impact of Sex Education on Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use and Premarital Pregnancy among American Teenagers." Family Planning Perspectives vol. 18, pp. 151-162.
Abstract: Sixty percent of women and 52 percent of men now in their 20s took a sex education course by age 19, according to the 1984 National Longitudinal Survey of Work Experience of Youth. Whites are more likely than either blacks or Hispanics to have had a course by that age--57 percent compared with 53 percent and 48 percent, respectively. The survey also shows that large proportions of teenagers initiate coitus before they have taken a sex education course. Among young women who first have sex at age 15, for example, only 48 percent have already taken a course (i.e., have taken it at a younger age or at the same age); and among young women who first have intercourse at age 18, the proportion is 61 percent. Young men are even less likely than young women to take a course before they begin coitus--at age 15, the figure is 26 percent, and at age 18, 52 percent. Adolescent women who have previously taken a sex education course are somewhat more likely than those who have not to initiate sexual activity at ages 15 and 16 (though they are no more likely to do so at ages 17 and 18). However, the effect of prior sex education is small, and is weaker than that of virtually every other variable found to have a significant relationship with first intercourse at ages 15-16. Among the strongest determinants of first coitus at those ages are infrequent church attendance, parental education of fewer than 12 years and black race. Older sexually active girls who have previously had a course are significantly more likely to use an effective contraceptive method (73 percent) than are those who have never taken a course (64 percent). This relationship may offset any effect that a sex education course may have in raising the likelihood of early first coitus, since no significant association can be found between taking a sex education course and subsequently becoming premaritally pregnant before age 20. [Source: ML]

Newell Withrow, Cora. 1986. "Identifying Health-Seeking Behaviors: A Study of Adolescents." Adolescence vol. 21, pp. 641-658.
Abstract: Investigated how 354 female and 393 male adolescents' health-seeking behaviors, which include self-management and information-seeking behaviors, differed according to age, race, socioeconomic status (SES), gender, and religion. The study was based on 2 assumptions: (1) self-management and information-seeking behaviors are fundamental to adolescents' health-seeking behaviors, and (b) Ss answer self-management and information-seeking questions in terms of past behaviors and their behavioral intent. A 142-item questionnaire was administered. Findings included confirmation of (a) gender as a differentiating variable for the performance of information-seeking behavior, and (b) positive health behaviors among Black adolescents. Ss reported an overall positive composite of health-seeking behaviors. [Source: PI]

Wolfson, Orna. 1986. "Adolescent Separation from Home: An Ethnic Perspective." Ph.D. Thesis, Boston University.
Abstract: This study examined ethnic aspects of the separation process for adolescents leaving home. It was assumed that separation is a critical task of adolescence. The principal hypothesis was that adolescents from different ethnic backgrounds would experience separation differently. The differences were expected to follow the relative dominance of centripetal and centrifugal forces, operating to pull family members together or push them away. This hypothesis was derived from Stierlin's transactional theory (1981), depicting the interplay between adolescents and parents in the process of separation. I attempted to relate this theory to studies of ethnic differences pertaining to attitudes toward adolescence and preferred modes of family functioning in times of stress. The subjects were 163 college students from Italian-Catholic, Irish-Catholic, and WASP backgrounds. Five measurements were used for various aspects of culture and separation: (a) a background information questionnaire; (b) the Thematic Apperception Test scored for separation themes; (c) the Fundamental Interpersonal Relation Orientation scales; (d) Moos's Family Environment Scale; (e) a questionnaire measuring the experience of going to college. Differences between the ethnic groups in the experience of separation were noted, partially supporting the major hypothesis. Italian-Catholics demonstrated dominance of centripetal forces, operating to discourage separation and resulting in a difficult experience of separation. Italian-Catholics produced more TAT stories with separation anxiety themes, tended to stay at their parents' homes while at college, and if they did leave home they expected to feel homesick at college, and started college feeling mostly sad. WASPs showed dominant centrifugal forces, making separation an encouraged and relatively easy process. WASPs produced fewer TAT stories with separation anxiety themes, tended to leave home when they attended college, preferred to go to a college far from home, and started college feeling mostly excited. Following Stierlin's description, the Italian-Catholic families were seen as binding, while WASP families were protrayed as expelling. Regarding Irish-Catholics, no systematic pattern was found consistent with Stierlin's theory. The applicability of Stierlin's theory to families with complex separation processes, like the Irish-Catholic families, was questioned, and the need for further research in this direction was noted. [Source: DA]

Dodd, David K. and Latecia L. Mills. 1985. "Fadis: A Measure of the Fear of Accidental Death and Injury." Psychological Record vol. 35, pp. 269-275.
Abstract: Investigated the validity and reliability of a fear of accidental death and injury scale (FADIS). This 25-item scale was administered to 177 high school seniors and college students. It was found to be internally consistent and related to several predictors. Significantly higher FADIS scores were obtained for non-Whites than Whites and for women than men. Religiosity and religious preference were also strongly related to FADIS for women. It is suggested that locus of control may affect the development of accidental death anxiety. [Source: PI]

Hoffer, Thomas, Andrew W. Greely, and James S. Coleman. 1985. "Achievement Growth in Public and Catholic Schools." Sociology of Education vol. 58, pp. 74-97.
Abstract: This article brings together independent longitudinal extensions of Greeley's (1982) and Coleman, Hoffer, and Kilgore's (1982b) analyses of public-school and Catholic-school student achievement differences. Drawing on a variety of analytic techniques, we find that Catholic schools have a positive effect on verbal and mathematics achievement growth from the sophomore to senior year of high school. The magnitude of the Catholic-school effects are larger for black, Hispanic, and lower-SES students, and somewhat smaller for white and higher-SES students. We find that Catholic schools produce higher achieving students because they place more students in academic programs, require more semesters of academic coursework, and assign more homework. [Source: NS]

Silber, Tomas J. and Mary Reilly. 1985. "Spiritual and Religious Concerns of the Hospitalized Adolescent." Adolescence vol. 20, pp. 217-224.
Abstract: 114 hospitalized 11-29 yr olds completed a Likert scale questionnaire on spiritual and religious concerns. ANOVA was performed to correlate responses with sex, race, religion, type of school, and severity of illness. A subgroup of Ss, those with more serious disease, experienced intensified spiritual and religious concerns. Religious concerns were more frequent among Blacks than Whites, Catholics than Protestants, and parochial school students than public school students. In response to the questionnaire, over 15% of the Ss requested further help. Findings suggest that training in adolescent health care and the provision of services to teenagers ought to include teaching in the area of spiritual and religious values of teenagers, with emphasis on the hospitalized adolescent. [Source: PI]

Billy, John O. G. 1983. "Community-Level Effects on Adolescent Sexual Behavior." Ph.D. Thesis, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Abstract: We examine whether structural properties of communities, operationalized at the county level, affect whether a female adolescent has had premarital intercourse. The guiding hypothesis is that community characteristics affect adolescent sexual involvement via two mechanisms: (1) by giving rise to a normative structure which defines boundaries of permissable or desirable sexual behavior; and (2) by creating an opportunity structure conductive to higher or lower levels of adolescent sexual activity. Appropriate databases are constructed from four extant data sets. We specify separate models for white females and black females in which individuals are the units of analysis. We first regress an adolescent's premarital intercourse behavior on community characteristics and derive the most parsimonious, "best-fitting" model. We then adopt a causal modeling approach and introduce individual characteristics of the adolescents as intermediate variables in the "best-fitting" model. The causal modeling approach is the most innovative part of our study. It provides a better understanding of how structural properties of communities affect an adolescent's sexual involvement and captures the total effects of these macro variables. Our analytic strategy deviates from that used in previous contextual analyses in which only the direct effects of community-level variables have been assessed. We find support for our guiding hypothesis that structural properties of communities affect the probability that a female adolescent has had premarital intercourse. For white females, five macro variables are included in the final "best-fitting" model. Community size and community religiosity have negative effects, while the percent voting for McGovern, divorce rate, and percent of the civilian labor force female have positive effects. The "best-fitting" model for black females also contains five community-level variables. Community size and percent Spanish heritage have negative effects, while the age of the community population, percent voting for McGovern, and crime rate have positive effects. Our causal analysis suggests that community-level variables affect adolescent sexual behavior via both the normative and opportunity structure mechanisms. By providing a better understanding of the macro processes responsible for adolescent sexual activity, our study adds theoretical clarity to the topic of adolescent sexual behavior. [Source: DA]

Singer, Mark Ian. 1983. "A Bi-Racial Comparison of Adolescent Alcohol Use." Ph.D. Thesis, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland.
Abstract: The present research effort used a survey design to implement an exploratory study comparing the drinking patterns of lower socioeconomic status, Black and White adolescents. Two public senior high schools within the City of Cleveland were selected as research sites. At both schools, questionnaires were administered to all students within all grade levels (10th-12th grades). Of the 1,547 students present in the schools during the time of study, 1,096 satisfactorily completed their questionnaires. Over 25 percent of students reported experiencing their first drink by age eleven or younger, with 15 percent drinking at nine years or younger. When mean ages of first drink were compared between Black and White students, White respondents tended to have their initial drinking experiences almost a year earlier than their Black counterparts. Blacks of both sexes exhibited the highest percentages of non-drinkers. The percentage of Black female non-drinkers was almost twice that of non-drinking White males. White males drank most frequently, with 42 percent reporting drinking at least once a week. This frequency was followed by White females (27.1%), Black males (26.2%), and Black females (14.6%). When presented with six reasons for drinking, students chose relaxation as their most popular reason. Clear differences were noted between Black and White youth with respect to two statements: "Drinking helps me be friendly" and "Drinking helps me be friends with others who drink." In both instances, White students more often than Black students were in agreement with these reasons. Conviviality therefore appeared to be a more important reason to drink for White respondents than for their Black counterparts. Clear patterns were seen between parental alcohol use and juvenile drinking. Teenagers who asserted that a parent drank too much, tended to report higher instances of drunkenness for themselves. This finding held true for both races and sexes; however, correlational procedures revealed that Black alcohol misuse was more strongly influenced by maternal drinking than was misuse among Whites. A larger percentage of Blacks than Whites felt that religion was important or very important in their lives. A racial difference was also found in the association between religiosity and times drunk. [Source: DA]

Dickinson, George E. 1982. "Changing Religious Behavior of Adolescents 1964-1979." Youth and Society vol. 13, pp. 283-288.
Abstract: Data on religious behavior were gathered through questionnaires administered to the tenth, eleventh, & twelfth grades in 1964, 1974, & 1979 (N = 367, 432, & 459 Rs, respectively) in a northeast Tex community with a 1970 population of 5,000 & a racial composition of approximately 66% white & 33% black. Chi-square, gamma, & Z tests were used in statistical analysis. Racial desegregation of the high schools was effected in 1970. Previous studies had revealed a general decrease in adolescent religious behavior in this community from 1964 to 1974. The study of 1979 showed some evidence of a reverse trend. The reversal of declining religious behavior was especially true for Ms (black & white) in all three measures of religious involvement - f of church attendance, f of Bible reading, & whether grace was said at mealtime. While the decline for Fs was more subtle over the decade 1964-1974, the decline in religious involvement generally continued in 1979. Although M religious behavior for the two races is changing in the same direction over time, & F behavior for both groups is going its way, the gap between the sexes tends to have narrowed slightly since 1974. A curvilinear pattern in religious involvement over the 15-year period exists for the Ms - both black & white. [Source: SA]

Schab, Fred. 1982. "Early Adolescence in the South: Attitudes Regarding the Home and Religion." Adolescence vol. 17, pp. 605-612.
Abstract: Summarizes the perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs regarding religion and the home situation of 751 8th graders (180 White males, 181 Black males, 92 White females, and 198 Black females) from 22 middle schools in Georgia. Differences attributable to sex and race were evident. Living with both parents or with just one (this was usually the mother for Blacks) was an obvious cause for perceptual dissimilarities. Black mothers were seen as more restrictive than White parents. White males claimed to have more social freedom than the other 3 groups. Black females conformed to their mothers' dictates yet more had run away from home than their White counterparts, and more Black than White males had considered doing so. Black males were more adamant about having fewer children of their own and indicated that they would treat them differently from the way they themselves were treated. The Black experience in the South was an important factor in Black Ss' views on the home. Ss felt that many adults were hypocritical in their religiosity, but they did not alter their childhood ideals despite lapses in religious education. Religious traditions are still very strong in the South, perhaps more so among Blacks than Whites. [Source: PI]

Whiting, Brooke Elizabeth. 1982. "Determinants and Consequences of Mattering in the Adolescents' Social World." Ph.D. Thesis, University of Maryland College Park.
Abstract: The importance of Others to the Self has been well established in the social psychological literature and concepts from both the Symbolic Interactionist and the Reference Group perspectives have been used to describe this phenomenon. However, the reciprocal concept, the Self's importance to the Other has been a largely neglected issue until M. Rosenberg's and B. Claire McCullogh's (1979) pioneer research on parental mattering. Mattering was defined as the individual's judgements that they are the object of concern, attention or interest to the other. The present study examined other indivduals in the adolescents' social world as sources of mattering and compared the determinants and consequences of mattering to them with those of parental mattering. Variables to operationalize perceptions of mattering to parents, teachers, friends, siblings and globally were defined and posited as intervening between the socio-demographic variables (Race, Religion and Socio-Economic Level) and the outcome variables (Self Esteem, Self Concept of School Ability, Depression and Rebellious Behavior in School). Data from a nationwide study on tenth-grade boys in 1968 and a path analytic technique were utilized to examine the relationships. Only some of the hypotheses were confirmed. The results revealed: (a) mattering to one or more of the sources affected all of the outcome variables, corresponding with increased self esteem and self concept of school ability and decreased depression and rebellious behavior in school, (b) parental mattering exhibited the strongest and most consistent impact on the outcome variables, (c) although mattering to the other sources did not emerge to be as significant as expected there is some modest support for the application of the principle, which predicts that the differential strength of mattering on an outcome will be contingent upon the area of source expertise, (d) socio-economic level was the only socio-demographic variable with a consistently strong impact, and this was only evident for parental mattering, (e) a subsample analysis by race revealed that the process of mattering may be radically different between blacks and whites, (f) the reciprocal effects model indicated that global self-esteem and the self concept of school ability had nearly equivalent effects on each other. [Source: DA]

Young, Michael and Seldon Daniels. 1980. "Born Again Status as a Factor in Death Anxiety." Psychological Reports vol. 47, pp. 367-370.
Abstract: 320 rural high school students completed the Death Anxiety Scale. A 3-way ANOVA yielded significant main effects for race, sex, and born again status. Higher death anxiety was exhibited by Blacks, females, and non-Christians than by Whites, males, and Christians. [Source: PI]

Buehler, Charles J., Andrew J. Weigert, and Darwin Thomas. 1977. "Antecedents of Adolescent Self Evaluation: A Cross-National Application of a Model." Journal of Comparative Family Studies vol. 8, pp. 29-45.
Abstract: Conducted a cross-national study to (a) develop a model to analyze the development of self-evaluation among adolescents, and (b) show that this process of development occurs cross-culturally. A path model was constructed based on a symbolic interaction perspective. Seven variables assumed to be antecedents of self-evaluation were included in the model: socioeconomic status (SES), support from the mother and father, the adolescent's evaluations of his/her mother and father, self-religiosity of the adolescent, and evaluation of culturally significant religious images. The model was evaluated using Catholic high school samples from 5 cultures (Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, West Germany, and the US). The total sample included 1,069 boys and 916 girls. Results show that the same process of self-evaluation occurred cross-sexually and cross-nationally. Results also indicate that the evaluation of the parents and identification of the self with religious images were the most important positive antecedents tested. Father support was positively related to self-evaluation, but mother support, controlling for the interaction of the other dependent variables in the model, was negatively related. [Source: PI]

Maller, Allen S. 1974. "Religious Pluralism, Political Values and American Teenagers." Religious Education vol. 69, pp. 446-450.
Abstract: Presents data from a nation-wide 1971 survey of 23,000 promising 11th- and 12th-grade students who were among the top 2% of students in their high schools. Answers to questions concerning moral and social issues showed differences among Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Black youths. Whether differences are statistically significant is not stated. Comparison of results with adult surveys reveals that adolescent responses tend to differ as much as those of adults. [Source: PI]

Schab, Fred. 1974. "Adolescence in the South: A Comparison of Black and White Home, School, Religion and Personal Wishes." Adolescence vol. 9, pp. 565-568.
Abstract: Used an open-ended questionnaire to ascertain the wishes of 1,092 White and 714 Black US adolescents from the states of Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida. Results indicate that the Ss were not committed to school, home, or church. They wished for more consideration and understanding and were not completely satisfied with themselves. They had a desire to be smarter. Sex and race made little difference, except that when affluence was involved, Black males more than the others wished for more than their environment was giving them. [Source: PI]

Gecas, Victor, Darwin L. Thomas, and Andrew J. Weigert. 1973. "Social Identities in Anglo and Latin Adolescents." Social Forces vol. 51, pp. 477-484.
Abstract: Examined social identities, conceptualized as self-designations and measured by the Twenty Statement Test, for samples of high school adolescents in 3 societies: the United States, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. 4 identities (IDs) were explored in terms of salience, frequency, and valence: gender, religion, family, and peer. For both males and females in Latin and Anglo cultures gender emerged as the most prominent ID. Religious IDs were more frequent for Catholic adolescents. The strongest cultural difference was found with respect to negative religious IDs: these were significantly more frequent for Anglo adolescents. Positive gender and family IDs were more frequent for Latin adolescents, while peer IDs were slightly more common self-designations for Anglos. These tendencies were generally in the expected direction. Social and cultural differences between the Anglo and Latin societies were considered as explanations for variations in adolescent ID structures. (20 ref.) [Source: PI]

Kantner, John F. and Melvin Zelnik. 1972. "Sexual Experience of Young Unmarried Women in the United States." Family Planning Perspectives vol. 4, pp. 9-18.
Abstract: Analyzes in detail survey data from 2,839 white and 1,401 black unmarried 15-19 yr old women concerning sexual, contraceptive, and fertility knowledge. Socioeconomic status measures included family income, education of the man and woman who raised the respondent, and a per capita measure of poverty 50% higher than the official poverty level derived from relating family income to family size. Measures of residence included whether the respondent lived on a farm or in a metropolitan area, and in which region of the country. Religion and relationship of the respondent to the head of the household were also examined. Nearly 3 in 10 Ss had had sexual intercourse. Among blacks, Ss from poverty homes were more likely to be sexually experienced than those who came from more affluent backgrounds. Among whites, the opposite was the case. Generally, blacks, whatever their socioeconomic or cultural backgrounds, were more likely to have had premarital intercourse as teenagers than comparable whites. Despite the fact that a substantial number of the Ss surveyed had had sexual intercourse, only a minority correctly understood the risk of pregnancy in mid-cycle. [Source: PI]

Schab, Fred. 1968. "Adolescence in the South: A Comparison of White and Negro Attitudes About Home, School, Religion, and Morality." Adolescence vol. 3, pp. 33-38.
Abstract: Responses to a questionnaire given 1000 White and Negro high school students revealed many areas of differences, reflecting continuing differences in education, social, and economic factors. [Source: PI]

Stein, David D. 1966. "The Influence of Belief Systems on Interpersonal Preference: A Validation Study of Rokeach's Theory of Prejudice." Psychological Monographs: General and Applied p. 29.
Abstract: A full-scale test of Rokeach's theory of belief prejudice with 630 9th-grade students strongly supports the validity of the theory. When information about a stimulus person's beliefs in the area of personal values is made available, similarity or dissimilarity in beliefs is the primary determinant of attitudes of white gentiles toward Negroes and Jews. These results also hold for Negro and Jewish students' attitudes towards members of the majority. Only secondarily does racial or religious affiliation per se, or high vs. low relative socioeconomic status, influence the students' feelings (friendliness measure) and action orientations (social distance scale) toward others. In response to individual social distance items, gentile Ss showed relative unwillingness to interact with Negroes as compared with whites in "sensitive" areas of interracial contact. Similar results, but to a much lesser degree, were obtained for anticipated interaction with Jewish stimulus persons. Gentile Ss' responses on another occasion to an otherwise undescribed "Negro teen-ager" correlated substantially with their responses to a lower status Negro to whom values unlike their own were ascribed. Other data indicate strong race and religion effects and a weaker status effect in the absence of information about stimulus persons' beliefs. [Source: PI]

Engle, T. L. 1945. "Personality Adjustments of Children Belonging to Two Minority Groups." Journal of Educational Psychology vol. 36, pp. 543-560.
Abstract: A group of 101 Amish children and a group of 107 Negro children, as well as 168 children belonging in neither of these minority groups, were given the California Test of Personality--Primary, Form A. Comparisons among the groups were made for the test as a whole, for subsections, and for particular items. In general, differences in favor of the nonminority control group were found in self-, social, and total adjustment, although there was an exception in the case of Amish boys. The handicap of belonging to a minority group appeared to be somewhat greater for girls than for boys. Significant contrast between the experimental and control groups was shown in the case of specific test items. No detailed personality patterns were found to be characteristic of both minority groups. [Source: PI]