Social Adjustment

Averett, Kim C. 2024. "Personal Social Networks, Social Capital, and the Transition of Adolescents into Young Adulthood in an Lds Population." Ph.D. Thesis, Brigham Young University.
Abstract: This study examined factors affecting the transition between adolescence and young adulthood in a sample of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The combined effects of social capital during early teenage years on subsequent young adult competency was analyzed using statistical techniques of structural equation modeling. Social capital was viewed by James Coleman and others as the collective resources that reside in the network exchanges that people engage in. Social capital is aggregate power allowing people to accomplish things they would otherwise be unable to do individually. Data from the first (1989) and last (1996) waves of a longitudinal study of Latter-day Saint youth was used. There were 856 total respondents who completed surveys for both years. Respondents ranged in age from 12 to 15 years of age in 1989, and 18 to 22 years old during the last period of the survey collection (1996). Data collection focused on areas of education, home and family, self-esteem, social relations, religious devotion, service activity, connectedness to parents, peers, and church association. Statistical methods performed on the data found no significant general effects correlating adolescent social capital and later success in competency as young adults. Social capital was found however to be very high among the sample during early teenage years. Also, these young people demonstrated, seven years later, that they had acclimated to competent roles as they made the transition to young adulthood. There were, as well, several significant beta coefficients for individual paths between exogenous and outcome variables. For instance, the role of father during the young peoples adolescent years was an important factor affecting subsequent Church activity, social relations, and emotional well-being. The role of father during adolescence appeared to be an important basis of resources allowing for greater success as the young people matured. Although this study failed to support the research hypothesis of the generalized effects of social capital on future outcomes, the resources emanating from personal social networks should be considered as an important factor in youth development especially in the area of the role of father. [Source: DA]

Levine, Stephanie Wellen. 2024. "Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: The Inner Worlds and Daily Lives of Hasidic Adolescent Girls." Ph.D. Thesis, Harvard University; 0084.
Abstract: I spent one year in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, headquarters of the Lubavitchers, a sect of Hasidim famous for their messianic fervor and their efforts to inspire secular Jews to become more observant. I explored the daily lives and inner worlds of the community's adolescent girls. Participant observation (spending time with the young women at school, home, and social activities) and intensive interviews with individual girls provided my data. Some key questions drove my research: Do these girls develop independent voices--unique desires, thoughts, and emotions? If so, how do they express them within the confines of an ostensibly all-encompassing Orthodox Judaism? How far can they go in thought and behavior before they are deemed rebellious? I also considered these young women in light of the psychological fragility that plagues so many American adolescent girls. As mainstream girls brave their teenage years, their attempts to achieve appropriately feminine personalities and bodies often overwhelm them. I wondered whether Lubavitch girls suffer similarly. Here is a brief summary of my findings: Yes, these young Hasidim certainly have unique ideas, quirks, preferences, and desires. In fact, they often develop more forceful, secure personalities than girls in mainstream America. On the whole, Lubavitch young women are louder and brasher, with a knack for introspection and self-insight that is rare among secular girls. They do suffer from all the insecurities and obsessions common in America at large; they fear that they are unattractive, overweight, unpopular... However, they generally seem more confident than mainstream American girls and less likely to let these worries rule their lives. I have many possible explanations--the camaraderie and safety of their single-sex social worlds, their close-knit community, the power of their religious faith, their unusually close families, values within Hasidism, the Lubavitch zeal for nurturing every Jew's unique and vibrant soul. Most likely, all these factors play a complex and interrelated role. [Source: DA]

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]

Brega, Angela G. and Lerita M. Coleman. 1999. "Effects of Religiosity and Racial Socialization on Subjective Stigmatization in African-American Adolescents." Journal of Adolescence vol. 22, pp. 223-242.
Abstract: The direct effects of religiosity and racial socialization on subjective stigmatization among 50 African-American adolescents were investigated. A stigma is a characteristic about which others hold negative attitudes and stereotypes. Subjective stigmatization measures the degree to which an individual internalizes such negative attitudes and stereotypes toward a social group of which he or she is a member. Participants who showed strong commitment to the church were more destigmatized than were participants who did not. Further, participants who received racial socialization messages stemming from a single "primary" category were more destigmatized than those who did not. Unexpectedly, the more racial socialization messages participants received, the more self-stigmatized they were. The importance of religiosity and racial socialization in the lives of African-American adolescents are discussed. [Source: SS]

Doebler, Melanie Kay. 1999. "Successful Outcomes for Rural Young Women: A Longitudinal Investigation of Social Capital and Adolescent Development." Thesis, The Pennsylvania State University.
Abstract: The concept of social capital, and the theory of social structure and interpersonal relations that undergirds it, has emerged as an increasingly popular explanation for the successful transition from adolescence to young adulthood. It provides a unique theoretical approach for examining successful youth development because it attempts to integrate seemingly disparate disciplinary explanations into a unified theory. According to Coleman (1988), the capital that is generated through family and community social relations is an essential factor in the successful transition to adulthood. Using longitudinal data collected over 11 years from a sample of rural, white, socially and economically disadvantaged adolescent girls from a single community in Pennsylvania's Appalachian mountains (N = 244), this study investigated the relationship between family-based and community-based social capital in adolescence and positive outcomes in young adulthood. Social capital was assessed by examining data collected during the adolescent phase of the study. Indicators of family-based social capital included family structure, mother working outside the home, number of siblings, and family relations. Community-based social capital measures included family mobility, church attendance, and participation in extra-curricular school activities, vocational activities, and volunteer activities. Outcome data were collected as part of a followup survey administered to the same sample of girls when they reached young adulthood. Indicators of positive outcomes included delaying parenthood beyond age 18, educational attainment which included participation in post-secondary education and graduating from high school, and workforce participation. Logistic regression analyses, which controlled for parental human capital and behavioral trajectory at ninth grade, revealed that family-based and community-based indicators of social capital had no effect on delaying pregnancy or parenthood beyond the age of 18. However, indicators of family-based and community-based social capital were found to be significantly related to post-secondary educational participation, high school graduation, and workforce participation. In other words, those who possessed higher degrees of social capital in adolescence were more likely to further their educations in post-secondary settings, graduate high school, and participate in the workforce as young adults. Participation in extra-curricular school activities, a measure of community-based social capital, had the strongest effect in each of the statistically significant models. [Source: PI]

Lawrence, William W., Enid Jones, and Frederick Smith. 1999. "Students' Perceived Needs as Identified by Students: Perceptions and Implications." Journal of Instructional Psychology vol. 26, pp. 22-29.
Abstract: Surveyed the needs of young people and how they thought their needs could be best met. A 2nd objective of the study was to compare what young people thought adults would say about their needs and how they could be best met. 1,066 14-19 yr olds completed questionnaires assessing these issues. The results show that young people identified their greatest needs as the "need to be loved," the "need for someone to listen," and the "need for acceptance," and that needs could be best met by having good parents, the church and friends. Young people believed adults would say that their greatest needs were "need for spiritual guidance," "need for leadership," and "need for discipline" and that the needs could be best met by "strong role models," "good problem-solving skills," and "good religious training." [Source: PI]

Lindner Gunnoe, Marjorie, E. Mavis Hetherington, and David Reiss. 1999. "Parental Religiosity, Parenting Style, and Adolescent Social Responsibility." Journal of Early Adolescence vol. 19, pp. 199-225.
Abstract: Determined whether parental religiosity would predict authoritative parenting and adolescent social responsibility using data from fathers, mothers, and adolescents aged 10-18 yrs from 486 middle-class families participating in the Nonshared Environment Study. Ratings of authoritative and authoritarian parenting were provided by trained observers using the Family Interaction Global Coding System. Survey instruments included measures of adolescent adjustment and a new index of religiosity that assessed the degree to which religious beliefs were manifested in parents' daily lives. Religiosity was associated positively with authoritative parenting for both parents. Mothers' religiosity was associated negatively with authoritarian parenting; religiosity was unrelated to fathers' authoritarian parenting. Structural equation modeling indicated both direct effects and indirect effects of mothers' and fathers' religiosity on adolescent social responsibility. [Source: PI]

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]

Nicholson, J. M., D. M. Fergusson, and L. J. Horwood. 1999. "Effects on Later Adjustment of Living in a Stepfamily During Childhood and Adolescence." Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines vol. 40, pp. 405-416.
Abstract: This paper examines the effects of living in a stepfamily during childhood and adolescence on a range of psychosocial outcomes at age 18 years. Data collected during an 18-year longitudinal study were used to examine a sample of 907 children with respect to: exposure to living in a stepfamily during the period from age 6 to 16 years; measures of psychosocial outcomes including mental health, antisocial behaviour, substance use, restricted life opportunities, and sexual risk-taking at age 18 years; and measures of prospectively collected confounding factors. The analyses revealed that children exposed to living in a stepfamily for the first time between ages 6-16 years had elevated risks of a range of psychosocial outcomes at 18 years. These included elevated risks of: (1) juvenile offending; (2) nicotine dependence; (3) abuse or dependence on illicit substances; (4) leaving school without qualifications; (5) early onset of sexual activity; and (6) multiple sexual partners. However, these risks were reduced substantially when psychosocial outcomes were adjusted for the confounding effects of antecedent factors such as: family socioeconomic characteristics: family history of instability, adversity, and conflict; mother's age, religiosity, and smoking; child gender; and preexisting child conduct and attentional problems. After adjustment, the odds ratios between exposure to a stepfamily and adolescent outcomes were nonsignificant. Additional analysis revealed that there were no significant differences in outcomes for boys and girls exposed to stepfamilies. It was concluded that although young people exposed to living in a stepfamily had increased risks of poor psychosocial outcomes, much of this association appeared to be spurious, and arose from confounding social, contextual, and individual factors that were present prior to the formation of the stepfamily. [Source: ML]

Thompson, David Alan. 1999. "The Role of Religiosity in the School Behavior of Adolescents with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders." Thesis, Florida State University, Tallahassee.
Abstract: This study explored the role of religiosity in the school behavior of adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). These adolescents were all between the ages of 16 and 18 and were students at a school designated to serve individuals classified by a North Florida county school system as "severely emotionally disturbed" This qualitative and exploratory research used a case study and naturalistic-ethnographic design to examine the role of religiosity in their school behavior as well as the congruency between expressed (written or spoken) religiosity and the school behavior of the adolescents in the study. Two measures of religiosity, a self-report survey (Faith Maturity Scale (FMS)) and a structured interview (Religious Status Interview (RSI)) provided the religiosity data, while several forms of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Youth Self-Report (YSR), Teacher Report Form (TRF) and Direct observation Form (DOF)), two informal observations (one in-class and one out of class) and a review of the school records provided the school behavior data. Resulting data indicated that the subjects, religiosity may have a restraining and pro-social role as well as a potential role in sociopathy and pathology. Congruency was noted more for the type of religiosity expressed (e.g. horizontal (people-centered) versus vertical (God-centered)) and seen in school behavior than for the level of that expressed religiosity seen in the school behavior. Subjects, in general, reported a higher degree of religiosity than was evident in their school behavior. Aspects of religiosity present for all or most of the subjects included an awareness of God, receiving God's love and forgiveness and a reframed Golden Rule (Do unto others as they Do unto you). Subjects in the study reported difficulty integrating their faith into their day to day lives and an inability to obtain guidance and direction from God. Other findings included a high reported stress level for these adolescents and academic achievement commensurate with their assessed abilities. [Source: PI]

Varon, Stuart R. and Anne W. Riley. 1999. "Relationship between Maternal Church Attendance and Adolescent Mental Health and Social Functioning." Psychiatric Services vol. 50, pp. 799-805.
Abstract: Compared maternal attendance at religious services with standard demographic characteristics such as race, type of religion, and mother's education in terms of their relative association with the behavioral and social functioning of young adolescents. 143 youths in which approximately two-thirds were at risk of having a psychiatric disorder and the remaining third were unlikely to have a psychiatric disorder. The Ss and their mothers were interviewed at home to determine the mothers' frequency of participation in religious services and the youths' self-reported health and mental health status and social role functioning. Youths whose mothers attended religious services at least once a week had greater overall satisfaction with their lives, more involvement with their families, and better skills in solving health-related problems and felt greater support from friends compared with youths whose mothers had lower levels of participation in religious services. Maternal attendance at religious services had a strong association with the youths' outcome in overall satisfaction with health and perceived social support from friends, although family income was the strongest predictor of 5 other aspects of functioning, including academic performance. [Source: PI]

Crawford, David Wayne. 1998. "The Relation of Religious Family Background and Ego Identity Development in Late Adolescence." Thesis, University of Houston.
Abstract: This study was designed to extend the literature relative to adolescent ego identity development in family context, looking specifically at how significant religious family background interacts with identity development. Results of this study were based on responses to the Family Environment Scale and the Extended Version of the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status. The study sample comprised 304 highly religious adolescents from a fundamentalist Christian college. Data analysis was accomplished in two main ways. First, the continuous scores from the religious sample were compared to norm scores provided by the test manuals for the OMEIS and the FES. Second, without reference to the norm groups, scores from the OMEIS and the FES were correlated. The groups differed significantly on both measures, and canonical correlation facilitated identification of potential relations among family characteristics and identity statuses. Overall results indicated that the religious subjects were characterized by high levels of commitment and conviction, leading very directed and purposeful lives. At times, this commitment is balanced and genuinely individual, being preceded by personal search and introspective consideration of alternative commitments. There was also evidence that the religious subjects are often characterized by unreflective commitment typical of the Foreclosure identity status. They perceived their families as highly religious and morally directed, and tending to be very structured, organized and controlled. Very little conflict is experienced, such that expressiveness is also relatively low in this family environment. The numerous significant relations that emerged from the canonical correlations indicate that the religious structure, control and organization is associated with identity low in emptiness and aimlessness (i.e. identity diffusion) and high in identity direction and commitment. However, a relatively unreflective commitment style was found in frequent association with this family environment. Importantly, when independence contributed significantly to family style, more advanced identity functioning was related. In general, it appears that supported individuality and balanced religiosity are most conducive to more advanced identity functioning while highly structure religious control which minimizes expressiveness tends to be associated with less mature identity development. [Source: PI]

Frison, S. L., J. L. Wallander, and D. Browne. 1998. "Cultural Factors Enhancing Resilience and Protecting against Maladjustment in African American Adolescents with Mild Mental Retardation." American Journal of Mental Retardation vol. 102, pp. 613-626.
Abstract: Researchers have found elevated risk for maladjustment associated with being an African American adolescent in an urban environment as well as being an individual with mental retardation. The culturally relevant factors of ethnic identification, intergenerational support, and church support were investigated in relation to high risk exposure on maladjustment in 147 urban African American adolescents enrolled in EMR special education classes. Maladjustment was measured with both self- and parent-report. Risk exposure was measured in the personal, social, and community domains. Results indicate that presence of cultural factors were associated with better adjustment generally. Furthermore, ethnic identification appeared to protect adolescents exposed to high-risk conditions against experiencing significantly elevated maladjustment. Implications of culture on intervention and prevention were discussed. [Source: ML]

Ancona, Grace Ann. 1997. "Contemporary Problems Facing Adolescents in Missouri High Schools." Ed.D. Thesis, University of Missouri, Columbia, Columbia.
Abstract: Adolescence covers approximately that period of time between childhood and adulthood. During these years of dramatic physical and intellectual change and growth, young people are expected to learn new ways of responding to others and also to come to terms with themselves as individuals. During this time, the young person moves toward decisions about his/her occupation, marriage, family life and morality which will influence, if not determine, his/her future. Purpose of the study. The purpose of this study was to examine the problems which most often plague young adolescents in almost every area of their lives as they approach adulthood and to compare these problems by school type and grade level. Procedures. Two hundred fifty-five students who attend Public, Private Parochial, and Private Non-Parochial comprehensive high schools throughout the Greater Kansas City, Missouri area were surveyed to gather evaluative data related to the instrument called the Mooney Problem Check List (MPCL), high school form. This instrument contained 330 items or problems. The sample students met the assumptions underlying the statistics used in this study; the groups were independent from one another; the participants were randomly sampled; and there was homogeneity of variance. Findings. Statistical analysis of the data included descriptive statistics, four way analysis of variance with repeated measures between and within subjects, interaction between schools and gender, grade level and gender, interaction between problem areas and grade levels and between problem areas and gender. There was no difference among the schools as to the problems of adolescent boy and girls in grades nine and twelve. There were significant differences between male and female students, between schools and gender, and grades and gender. Significant differences were also found within subjects, especially in the problem areas. There were also significant differences found within grades and problem areas as well as gender and problem areas. Girls were significantly more concerned about interpersonal relationships than were boys. Girls showed a greater willingness to express problems in general. This study can be of value to the professional of various disciplines working with youth; such as education, social work, medicine, law, recreation, and religion. It can also be useful to parents seeking to understand and assist young adolescents toward competent and satisfying adulthood. [Source: DA]

Bennett, Philip R. 1997. "Adventure Recreation and Adolescent Identity Development." Psy.D. Thesis, Fuller Theological Seminary School of Psychology.
Abstract: This study examined the impact of adventure recreation programming on adolescent identity development. It utilized the identity statuses of foreclosure and achievement proposed by James Marcia (1980), and operationalized by Bennion and Adams (1986) in the revised version of the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOMEIS-2). Twenty-eight adolescents between the ages of 15 and 20, completed the EOMEIS-2 immediately prior to, and following an adventure recreation program. Fourteen of the subjects participated in a 6-day whitewater rafting experience, and 14 participated in a 5-day winter camping experience. It was hypothesized, that due to the disequilibrium which the programs would encourage, exploration would increase, thus lowering the interpersonal foreclosure and achievement subscales of the participants involved in the study. While there was a significant finding with regard to foreclosure for subjects participating in the whitewater rafting, it was not in the anticipated direction as scores increased from pre to postmeasurements. Furthermore, when the influence of religiosity was accounted for, the change in foreclosure of the whitewater group was reduced to a nonsignificant level, thus indicating that religiosity played a role in their change in foreclosure scores. [Source: DA]

Calvert, W. J. 1997. "Protective Factors within the Family, and Their Role in Fostering Resiliency in African American Adolescents." Journal of Cultural Diversity vol. 4, pp. 110-117.
Abstract: Violence has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, with African American males residing in urban areas bearing the brunt of this epidemic. The violence permeating our society emanates from a variety of societal ills, including poverty, racism, substance abuse and exposure to violence. Traditionally, methods of research on adolescent violence have focused on an identification of associated risk factors. The majority of African American adolescents living in communities with widespread and chronic violence grow up to be law-abiding citizens. The reason for this may be due to resiliency within these adolescents. Resiliency has been defined as the ability to experience adverse circumstances and successfully overcome them. Resiliency is enhanced through three mechanisms identified as protective factors: individual characteristics/traits; familial traits; and extrafamilial relationships. The risks faced may be altered, and even ameliorated, through the presence of these protective factors. The purpose of this paper is to identify protective factors within the family that foster resiliency. Protective factors within they family may be categorized as having three broad characteristics: caring and support, high expectations, and encouragement of participation and involvement for the adolescent. [Source: CI]

Emavardhana, Tipawadee and Christopher D. Tori. 1997. "Changes in Self-Concept, Ego Defense Mechanisms, and Religiosity Following Seven-Day Vipassana Meditation Retreats." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion vol. 36, pp. 194-206.

Fulton, Aubyn S. 1997. "Identity Status, Religious Orientation, and Prejudice." Journal of Youth and Adolescence vol. 26, pp. 1-11.
Abstract: Investigated hypothesized relationships between identity status and religious orientation and anti-Black and anti-homosexual prejudice. 176 Christian undergraduate students were administered measures of ego identity, religious orientation, and prejudice. Significant mean differences and correlations were found, mostly in the expected directions, for the relationship between identity status and religious orientation. Expected relationships between identity status and prejudice were not found, with the exception of the relationship between foreclosure and both types of prejudice. These results are discussed in light of recent theoretical developments in the identity status paradigm. [Source: PI]

Gilfort, April Jackson. 1997. "The Relationship of Cultural Theme Discussion to Engagement with Acting out, African-American Male Adolescents in Family Therapy." Ph.D. Thesis, Temple University.
Abstract: The following study examines the relationship between cultural theme discussion within the therapy session and adolescent behaviors that characterize engagement and disengagement (i.e. therapeutic relationship, patient participation, exploration, and negativity). Discussion of nine cultural themes (trust/mistrust, anger/rage, alienation, respect/disrespect, spirituality, the journey from boyhood to manhood, issues of racial identity and socialization, racism, and hopelessness) with substance using, conduct disordered, African American male adolescents in family therapy was examined as a way to enhance the therapy engagement of these adolescents within Multidimensional Family Therapy. During sessions when these adolescents were judged to be the most engaged, when they were rated to have the highest level of collaboration with their therapist, and when they were judged to be exploring their feelings and emotions to the highest level, it was found that these young, African American men discussed their Journey from Boyhood to Manhood in the very next session. Additionally, it was found that when adolescents and their therapists spend more time discussing the themes of anger/rage, alienation, and Journey from Boyhood to Manhood they show more behaviors characterizing engagement and less behaviors which characterize disengagement in the same session and in the session following their highest level of discussion. [Source: DA]

Bankston, C. L. and M. Zhou. 1996. "The Ethnic Church, Ethnic Identification, and the Social Adjustment of Vietnamese Adolescents." Review of Religious Research vol. 38, pp. 18-37.
Abstract: This article examines the effect of participation in an ethnic religious institution on ethnic identification and social adjustment to American society by Vietnamese adolescents. It considers to what extent ethnic identification and social adjustment may be the product of church attendance and church- sponsored formal educational programs. Our results show that church attendance has a consistently significant influence on ethnic identification and that church-sponsored formal educational programs contribute to stronger ethnic identification (chiefly by increasing use of the Vietnamese language) and to better adjustment (by positively influencing scholastic performance). However, the relationship between church attendance and ethnic identification is not merely determined by the formal educational programs sponsored by the church. We suggest rather that the ethnic church serves as a network focus for the ethnic community and that participation in the ethnic church binds youth more closely to the ethnic network. The close association with the ethnic community, in turn, facilitates positive adjustment of immigrant adolescents to American society by increasing the probability that they will do well in school, set their sights on future education, and avoid some of the dangers that confront contemporary young people. We conclude that the immigrant congregation should be viewed as promoting adjustment to American society because it encourages the cultivation of ethnic group membership. [Source: SC]

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]

Donohue, Michael J. and L. Peter. 1995. "Religion and the Well-Being of Adolescents." Journal of Social Issues vol. 51, pp. 145-160.

Gamble, G. Thomas. 1995. "A Study of Self-Concept between Sixth Graders Included in the Children's Ministry of the Local Church and Sixth Graders Included in the Youth Ministry of the Local Church." Ph.D. Thesis, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Abstract: Problem. This study sought to determine the differences in self-concept of selected sixth graders categorized by "church program" and "school structure." "Church program" refers to whether sixth graders are part of the children's ministry or youth ministry. "School structure" refers to whether sixth graders are part of public elementary school or public middle school. Procedures. The Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale was administered to sixth graders in selected Southern Baptist churches in the State of Texas. Sixth graders selected were grouped into four categories according to "church program" and "school structure": public middle school/children's ministry, public middle school/youth ministry, public elementary school/children's ministry, and public elementary school/youth ministry. The total self-concept score was used for the comparative data. A two-way analysis of variance, with.05 level of significance, was used to test the primary hypothesis. Subsequent hypotheses also were determined by the two- way analysis of variance. Findings and conclusions. There was no interaction between "church program" and "school structure." Interaction depicts the degree to which one factor depends on the level of the other factor. There was no significant difference between sixth graders who were in the youth ministry of a local church and sixth graders who were in the children's ministry of a local church. There was no significant difference between sixth graders who were in public middle school and sixth graders who were in public elementary school. The two variables, "church program" and "school structure," were not found to affect the total self-concept of sixth graders in selected Southern Baptist churches in the State of Texas. [Source: DA]

Low, Cynthia A. and Paul J. Handal. 1995. "The Relationship between Religion and Adjustment to College." Journal of College Student Development vol. 36, pp. 406-412.
Abstract: Investigated the relation between religion and adjustment to college through the use of Personal Religiosity Inventory (PRI) and the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ). 500 Ss (aged 16-47 yrs) from 3 different universities were asked to complete these questionnaires. Results reveal that for young adults, sex differences were evident on the PRI, with females scoring significantly higher than males on some of the subscales. In the SACQ, gender and school differences were present on the Attachment subscale and integration contributed significantly to the prediction of academic adjustment. An overall significant relationship existed between religion and college adjustment for college freshmen. Regression analyses for the total sample reveal that various religion dimensions were significant predictors of several adjustment subscales. [Source: PI]

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]

Paloutzian, Raymond F. and Lee A. Kirkpatrick. 1995. "Introduction: The Scope of Religious Influences on Personal and Societal Well-Being." Journal of Social Issues vol. 51, pp. 1-11.
Abstract: Introductory essay for a special journal issue focusing on religious influences. Religious belief & behavior have farreaching influences on personal & social life, in both beneficial & deleterious ways. Religious influences on a variety of aspects of well-being, broadly defined to include both personal & societal levels of analysis, are examined. Religion & well-being are both multifaceted constructs, & the empirical relationships between them are highly complex. A diverse sampling of conceptualizations of well-being (coping, mental health, physical health, & substance abuse & recovery), social issues & problems (religion-related & ritualistic child abuse, prejudice & right-wing authoritarianism, & human immunodeficiency virus infection), & special populations (adolescents & the elderly) are presented. [Source: SA]

Collins, Randall and Rebecca Li. 1994. "Can Emotional Rituals Solve the Coleman Problem of Undersocialized Youth?" Paper presented at American Sociological Association (ASA).
Abstract: Coleman has proposed that a variety of social ills, from gang violence to school & career failure, are rooted in declining incentives for parents to socialize their children. Coleman proposes that society should provide alternative means of socialization. Such socialization must create ties of emotional solidarity to groups & career paths. The most likely place to foster such ties is by interaction rituals in the elementary & secondary schools. Possible sources of ritualized emotion are examined: competitive groups (rather than competitive individuals) analogous to athletic teams in such areas as music, scholastics, or the production of mass-media-style entertainment; noncompetitive high density structures that foster friendship groups; & groups experimenting in producing religious experience. Comparisons are made to sources of group solidarity in Asian schools. Unintended consequences of investing in group emotional solidarity are also discussed. [Source: SA]

Hannings, Glenda Lee. 1994. "Predicting Adolescent Quality of Life Satisfaction from Parent-Adolescent Relationship Factors, Locus-of-Control, and Relationship Satisfaction." Ph.D. Thesis, Kansas State University.
Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to determine the contribution of parent-adolescent relationship factors to adolescent quality of life satisfaction. This data was originally collected as part of a national study and represents Kansas data only. The samples included 98 adolescents from an urban area and 83 adolescents from a rural community, with a higher response rate from the rural sample. Approximately one half of the teens were males. The instruments used were compiled by 26 professional researchers from 14 universities. A backwards elimination regression was used to determine the contribution of the predictor variables, age, sex, income, rural/urban residence, religiosity, hostility, parents' communication, adolescents' communication, locus of control, and relationship satisfaction to the dependent variable, adolescent quality of life satisfaction. Separate regressions were performed for rural and urban samples and the male and female samples. Three variables emerged as the strongest predictors of adolescent quality of life satisfaction: hostility, locus of control, and relationship satisfaction with parents. Some minor differences were found between the urban and rural samples and male and female samples. Some quadratic relationships were found between adolescent quality of life satisfaction and some predictor variables. Recommendations for future research were discussed. [Source: DA]

Zhang, Jie and Darwin L. Thomas. 1994. "Modernization Theory Revisited: A Cross-Cultural Study of Adolescent Conformity to Significant Others in Mainland China, Taiwan, and the USA." Adolescence vol. 29, pp. 885-903.
Abstract: Tests the viability of modernization theory's explanation of adolescent conformity behavior across 3 different cultural settings. Analysis of questionnaire survey data from college students in mainland China, Taiwan, & the US (total N = 1,026) does not support modernization theory. Contrary to modernization theory's predictions, the social institution of education is less important, but religion is highly valued in US society, while the reverse is true of the 2 Chinese societies. It is concluded that modernization theory tests with cross-cultural data should take into consideration cultural characteristics. [Source: SA]

Resnick, M. D., L. J. Harris, and R. W. Blum. 1993. "The Impact of Caring and Connectedness on Adolescent Health and Well-Being." Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health vol. 29, pp. S3-S9.
Abstract: This study of over 36000 7(th)-12(th) grade students focused on protective factors against the quietly disturbed and acting out behaviours, which together represent the major social morbidities of adolescence. Multivariate models developed separately for girls and boys repeatedly demonstrated the protective function of caring and connectedness in the lives of youth, particularly a sense of connectedness to family and to school. A sense of spirituality, as well as low family stress (referring to poverty, unemployment, substance use and domestic violence) also functioned as protective factors. Measures of caring and connectedness surpassed demographic variables such as two parent vs single parent family structure as protective factors against high risk behaviours. Interventions for youth at-risk must critically examine the ways in which opportunities for a sense of belonging may be fostered, particularly among youth who do not report any significant caring relationships in their lives with adults. [Source: SC]

Swaim, Randall C., Eugene R. Oetting, Pamela Jumper Thurman, Fred Beauvais, and Ruth W. Edwards. 1993. "American Indian Adolescent Drug Use and Socialization Characteristics: A Cross-Cultural Comparison." Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology vol. 24, pp. 53-70.
Abstract: Examined are the links between drug use & the socialization characteristics of family, religious identification, school adjustment, & peer drug associations in a group of American Indian youth. Previous research (Oetting, Eugene R., & Beauvais, Fred, "Peer Cluster Theory, Socialization Characteristics and Adolescent Drug Use: A Path Analysis," Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1987, 34, 3, 205-213) using a path model to test the relationships between these variables among Anglo youths demonstrated that peer drug associations mediate the influence of the other variables, & that peers are likely to be the primary factor in youth drug abuse. Here, the same path model is applied to a group of 477 northern Plains & southwest American Indian students in grades 11 & 12 from 2 reservations. Ss were administered an anonymous drug & alcohol survey during regular school classes. The findings of the study on Anglo youths were replicated with two important exceptions: peer drug associations were not as highly correlated with drug use for Indian youths, & family sanctions against drugs had a direct influence on drug use in addition to an indirect influence. It is suggested that differences in family dynamics among Indian youth may account for these discrepancies. [Source: SA]

Grubbs, Susan, Sally B. Hardin, Sally Weinrich, and Martin Weinrich, et al. 1992. "Self-Efficacy in Normal Adolescents." Issues in Mental Health Nursing vol. 13, pp. 121-128.
Abstract: Examined the influence of gender, race, socioeconomic status (SES), and self-reported religiosity on self-efficacy in adolescents. Ss were 432 9th and 10th graders (51% male, 49% female). Results indicate that Ss as a group had a moderately high degree of self-efficacy. Contrary to expectations, no significant differences in self-efficacy levels were associated with gender, race, SES, or religiosity. [Source: PI]

Werner, Emmy E. 1992. "The Children of Kauai: Resiliency and Recovery in Adolescence and Adulthood." Journal of Adolescent Health vol. 13, pp. 262-268.
Abstract: A prospective study of all 698 babies born on Kauai, HI, in 1955 & followed at ages 1, 2, 10, 18, & 32, documenting the course of all pregnancies & their outcomes in the community until the surviving offspring had reached adulthood & assessing the long-term consequences of perinatal complications & adverse rearing conditions on the individual's adult adaptation. About 30% of this cohort were considered high-risk children; about 60% of these Ss developed serious coping problems in the first two decades of life. By age 32, most of the high-risk youths with problems in childhood had staged a recovery of sorts. Five clusters of protective factors contributed to positive outcomes among the high-risk youth: (1) temperamental characteristics of the individual that elicited positive responses from caring persons; (2) skills that led to an efficient use of their abilities; (3) caregiving styles of the parents; (4) supportive elders; & (5) opportunities at major life transitions, eg, community college, a church group, or national service. Individuals selected environments that reinforced & sustained their temperamental dispositions & rewarded their competencies. [Source: SA]

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]

Alam, Javed and Saeeduzzafar. 1991. "Dependence Proneness in Relation to Prolonged Deprivation." Journal of Personality and Clinical Studies vol. 7, pp. 49-53.
Abstract: Investigated the influence of prolonged deprivation and religious affiliation on the development of dependence proneness. A 2 * 2 factorial design was used in which 1 personality variable (prolonged deprivation) and 1 sociological variable (religion) varied in 2 ways. There were 4 groups of undergraduates (aged 15-28 yrs), with 50 Ss in each group: nondeprived Hindus, deprived Hindus, nondeprived Muslims, and deprived Muslims. Ss completed a measure of dependence proneness. Deprived and nondeprived Ss did not differ with respect to dependence proneness. Muslims were found to be more dependent prone than Hindus. There was no interactional effect of religion and prolonged deprivation on the degree of dependence proneness. [Source: PI]

Grandin, Elaine and Merlin B. Brinkerhoff. 1991. "Does Religiosity Encourage Racial and Ethnic Intolerance?" Canadian Ethnic Studies / Etudes Ethniques au Canada vol. 23, pp. 32-47.
Abstract: Questionnaire data collected in 1989 from 273 secondary students from a south-central Alberta farming community are used to describe the relationship between religiosity & ethnic & racial intolerance. Results indicate that of the 6 "target groups," the East Indians are least acceptable to these youth. Contrary to US research, fundamentalism was not found to be significantly related to racial & ethnic intolerance. However, as predicted, a significant negative relationship was found between an intrinsic religious orientation & social distance. [Source: SA]

Cornwall, Marie and Darwin L. Thomas. 1990. "Family, Religion, and Personal Communities: Examples from Mormonism." Marriage and Family Review vol. 15, pp. 229-252.
Abstract: Examines the role of personal communities in the family and religion interface, using empirical data from Mormon populations. Topics discussed include (1) religious communities and the church-sect continuum, (2) religious socialization, (3) religion and family influence on adolescent social competence, and (4) religion, family, and adult well-being. [Source: PI]

Gullotta, Thomas P., Gerald R. Adams, and Raymond Montemayor (eds.). 1990. Developing Social Competency in Adolescence. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications Inc.
Abstract: (from the preface) Regardless of the difficulty [in troubled adolescents]--whether it was substance abuse, delinquency, suicide, truancy, and the list sadly goes on and on--a cluster of negative factors were ever present. The absence of a warm and caring family, faith in a God, caring school officials, and positive peer relationships were evident with troubled youth as were the presence of poor individual characteristics such as low self-esteem and self-concept, an external locus of control, and little or no interest in the welfare of the community. This volume in the Advances in Adolescent Development series explores the relationship of these factors to the development of social competency in adolescence. [Source: PI]

Hossack, Robert C. 1990. "Ego Identity Status, Locus of Control, and Tolerance of Ambiguity in Late Adolescent Youth in Religious and Secular Academic Settings." M.A. Thesis, The University of Manitoba (Canada), Winnipeg.
Abstract: Ego identity statuses were assessed globally by Adams' (Bennion & Adams, 1986) Extended version of the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status-Revised (EOM- EIS) and domain--specifically by the Dellas Identity Status Inventory (1981). It was hypothesized that (a) the ideologically homogeneous group would contain a significantly larger number of Foreclosures, (b) Achievers would be significantly more Internal on locus of control, (c) Foreclosures would be significantly more intolerant of ambiguity, (d) for religiously oriented subjects, the Collaborative religious problem-solving style would be more closely associated with Achievers, while the Deferring style with Foreclosures, and (e) the Religiously Foreclosed individuals capable of self- reflective and exploratory skills would show greater Internality, Tolerance of Ambiguity, and a Collaborative religious problem-solving style in contrast to Foreclosures lacking in these skills. The results supported hypotheses a, b, and c, but not d, while hypothesis e, though not supported, showed some trends in the expected direction. [Source: DA]

Jahan, Qamar. 1990. "Study of Communal Prejudice as Related to Adjustment." Manas vol. 37, pp. 31-39.
Abstract: Tested the hypothesis that maladjusted persons are more prejudiced than well-adjusted persons. A 2 * 2 factorial design was used in which adjustment (good adjustment or maladjustment) and religion (Hindu or Muslim) varied. 850 female undergraduates (aged 15-20 yrs) completed the Bell Adjustment Inventory and a prejudice scale. Adjusted Ss were less prejudiced than maladjusted Ss, and Muslims were more prejudiced than Hindus. Hindu Ss were significantly better adjusted than Muslims, and there was an interactional effect of adjustment and religion on the degree of communal prejudice. [Source: PI]

Lastoria, Michael D. 1990. "A Family Systems Approach to Adolescent Depression." Journal of Psychology and Christianity vol. 9, pp. 44-54.
Abstract: Discusses key concepts and terms within family systems theory as they relate to depression in adolescents. The adolescent stage of the family life cycle is described as requiring structural changes within the family. Two major dynamics are addressed: (1) the differentiation of the adolescent self from the family system and (2) the sacrificial roles that adolescents may acquire within a family structure that arrest or slow the process of differentiation. Integrative reflections are offered for the therapist working with Christian families. [Source: PI]

Thomas, Darwin L. and Craig Carver. 1990. "Religion and Adolescent Social Competence." Pp. 195-219 in Developing Social Competency in Adolescence. Advances in Adolescent Development, Vol. 3, edited by Thomas P. Gullotta and Gerald R. Adams. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Abstract: (from the chapter) assesses the relative influence of religious variables on adolescent prosocial development an attempt is made to situate the increasing interest in the study of religion and the social sciences with the renewed interest in charting the stages of religious growth and development along with adolescent growth and development the effect of religion in the life of the adolescent is developed by considering both theory and research as they contribute to our understanding of why and how the religion variables seem to lead to prosocial developments in the areas of self-esteem, academic and occupational achievement, sexual attitudes and behavior, and substance addiction and abuse as well as in the various belief and behavioral dimensions of religiosity per se attempts to derive central theoretical propositions by looking at the basic relationships that emerge in each of the above areas. [Source: PI]

Archer, Sally L. 1989. "Gender Differences in Identity Development: Issues of Process, Domain and Timing." Journal of Adolescence vol. 12, pp. 117-138.
Abstract: Gender differences in the process, domain, & timing of identity formation were studied. In study 1, the Ego Identity Interview was used with 20 males & 20 females from each of grades 6, 8, 10, & 12 to measure process variables & ego identity status in 4 domains: vocational choice, religious belief systems, political ideology, & sex-role orientation. Process variables were rated on a 4-point scale: moratorium, foreclosure, diffusion, & achievement. No significant gender differences were found on any variable. In study 2, 12 volunteer males & females from each of grades 6, 8, 10, & 12 were interviewed to measure process variables & ego identity status in sex-role preference, vocational choice, & family choice. While significant differences were found in the process, vocational choice, or sex-role preference domains, females were more likely to be in the moratorium, identity achievement, or foreclosure status; significant timing differences were also obtained. In study 3, the Ego Identity Interview was used with 32 male & 46 female high school juniors. No significant differences were found for the diffusion, moratorium, or identity achievement identity status, though males were significantly more likely to be foreclosed. Gender differences were found in the political ideology domain, though no difference in timing or any other variable was discovered. Discussion is provided on the overall absence of gender differences. [Source: SA]

Daly, Doris L. 1989. "The Relationship between High School Class, Grades, Extracurricular Activities and Adolescent Concerns." Ph.D. Thesis, Temple University.
Abstract: This research was conducted to increase knowledge of a population of adolescents by means of an assessment of their concerns. Research has demonstrated that environmental conditions impact on adolescent concerns, and therefore, a local survey provides knowledge relevant to each population. In addition to a survey of concerns, demographic variables--grade level, grade point average and participation in extracurricular activities were included to determine the mediating role of each variable on adolescent concerns. To add knowledge to the contemporary complex problems of adolescent suicide, alcoholism, and drug abuse, an analysis of specific items relating to these problems were included in this study. Comparative studies to determine if concerns are mediated by community differences and by time (zeitgeist) were also conducted. To assess concerns, the Mooney Problem Check List (MPCL) (Mooney & Gordon, 1950) was used. This instrument contains 330 items of concerns grouped into 11 distinct categories. A new category, "Drugs and Alcohol," was added by the researcher and contained 30 items relating to drug and alcohol concerns. The sample consisted of 356 students (grades 9-12) who attended a private male college-preparatory high school. These students responded to the MPCL, the new category, and a questionnaire including the demographic information. The data was analyzed by means of descriptive and inferential statistics. Results revealed the top three ranking categories of concerns in this population were: "Adjustment to School Work," "Social/Psychological Relations," and "Morals and Religion." Multivariate discriminant analyses revealed groups differentiated by each demographic variable--grade level, grade point average, and participation in extracurricular activities were significantly different, with the exception of 11th and 12th grade groups. The tenth grade, low grade point average, and "no" activity groups had higher levels of total concerns with academic concerns the major category. In addition, t tests revealed respondents to each of the suicide, alcohol, and drug items of concern showed significantly higher levels of concerns in the majority of categories in comparison to nonrespondents. Finally, comparisons with earlier research demonstrated that students in this current study (1987) responded to a higher level of total concerns. [Source: DA]

Margolis, Gary. 1989. "Beyond Me: Fostering Images and Actions Beyond the Self." Journal of College Student Psychotherapy vol. 4, pp. 45-53.
Abstract: Challenges the view that college students are too self- and career-focused, to the exclusion of social, political, and spiritual concerns. The developmental sequence of young adults (separation, depression, intimacy, and psychological and vocational individuation) is explored to understand the necessity for adolescent self-absorption. Ways in which students go beyond their personal selves in dreams, art, prayer, and feeling are discussed, and ways in which institutions can recognize and support these activities are reviewed. Changes in the development of the self in each year of college are outlined. [Source: PI]

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]

Francis, Leslie J. and Paul R. Pearson. 1988. "Religiosity and the Short-Scale Epq--R Indices of E, N and L, Compared with the Jepi, Jepq and Epq." Personality and Individual Differences vol. 9, pp. 653-657.
Abstract: The short-scale Eysenck Personality Questionnaire--Revised (EPQ--R) proposes 12 item indices of Extraversion (E), Neuroticism (N), and Lie (L) scale scores. The reliability and validity of these short indices and their relationship with religiosity were explored among 181 15- and 16-yr-olds and in comparison with scores on the EPQ, the Junior EPQ (JEPQ), and the Junior Eysenck Personality Inventory (JEPI). Results show that there were no significant relationships between N or E scores and religiosity; L scores were significantly related to religiosity. The value of the short-scale EPQ--R is recommended for further research. [Source: PI]

Gonzalez, Rocio Revuelta. 1988. "The Impact of Family Support System and Strength of Religious Affiliation on Levels of Alienation and Acculturation among Mexican-American Adolescents." Ph.D. Thesis, California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles.
Abstract: This study examined the importance of family support and strength of religious affiliation on levels of alienation and acculturation among Mexican-American adolescents. Previous studies have attempted to prove that more acculturated individuals were psychologically healthier. Another previous study showed an inverse correlation between acculturation and feelings of alienation towards the New Mexico educational system. Ninety-two subjects (33 males and 59 females) between the ages of 14 and 18 responded to questionnaires measuring acculturation, alienation, family support, and religious affiliation. Forty-six subjects were members of youth ministry programs in Los Angeles County and the other 46 subjects were randomly selected from the same geographic areas. The results of this study indicated no significant correlations between type of acculturation and alienation. There was a significant positive correlation between cultural incorporation and family support, a significant inverse correlation between religious affiliation and alienation, and a significant negative correlation between religious affiliation and powerlessness for the total sample. For the teenagers who were members of youth ministry programs, there was a significant positive correlation between religious affiliation and social isolation. For those teenagers who were not members of youth ministry groups, there was a significant inverse relationship between family support and alienation. [Source: DA]

Fetro, Joyce V. 1987. "Adolescent Alienation: Verifying a Web of Causation through Path Analysis." Ph.D. Thesis, Southern Illinois University At Carbondale.
Abstract: The purposes of this two-part study were: (1) to develop a web of causation for adolescent alienation based on person, place, and time factors identified in existing theoretical and empirical studies on alienation, and (2) to analyze direct and indirect relationships between selected person variables in the web of causation and feelings of alienation in adolescents. In Part I, a content analysis of 319 available studies about alienation (88 theoretical and 231 empirical) was conducted. The content analysis sample was identified through library searches of social and behavioral science periodicals between 1969 and 1986. Two hundred statistically significant (p $<$.05) person, place, and time factors were identified through the content analysis. The most frequently identified person, place, and time factors were: age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, grade point average, school environment, and workplace environment. A web of causation of adolescent alienation was developed to represent interrelationships among identified person, place, and time factors. In Part II, 15 person factors identified in Part I were selected for inclusion in a causal model of adolescent alienation. They were: age, religion, race, grade in school, gender, church attendance, family structure, family mobility, both parents employed, number of siblings, drug use, participation/involvement, school tardiness, school absences, and school suspensions. Eighteen items were developed to measure these 15 variables. The dependent variable, adolescent alienation, was measured by the Fetro Adolescent Alienation Scale (Fetro, 1985). Path analysis was used to test the fit of the proposed causal model to the data. Data were collected from 644 sixth through twelfth grade students in a small city school district in upper New York state. Meaningful direct relationships (criterion of meaningfulness =.05) with adolescent alienation with age, grade, family structure, drug use, participation/involvement, and number of siblings. Variables with indirect relationships were: age, religion, race, gender, church attendance, family structure, number of siblings, and participation/involvement. The trimmed model explained 91.45 percent of the variance. [Source: DA]

McKeon, Marsha Jeanne. 1987. "Toward a Theory of Sibling Relationships: A Conceptual Model Applied to the Crisis of Pediatric Cancer." Ph.D. Thesis, California School of Professional Psychology - Los Angeles.
Abstract: A conceptual model is presented for understanding the meaning and influence of the sibling relationship in normal development; this model is then applied to the crisis of pediatric cancer. While the model is designed as a tool to address a vast array of sibling situations, its application to the cancer experience provides a demonstration of its usefulness and a conceptual understanding of the dramatic impact a crisis of this nature has on sibling relationships. Two bodies of literature are extensively reviewed: the research describing the role of the sibling relationship in normal development and the literature relating to the psychosocial adjustment of well siblings of pediatric cancer patients. While the research suggests that siblings can have a powerful and enduring influence on one another and that well siblings of cancer patients are often gravely affected by their siblings' illness, the findings remain primarily descriptive and atheoretical. The purpose of the model proposed here is to help organize, within a plausible framework, this growing body of knowledge about sibling behavior. In the present model, the ambivalent nature of the sibling relationship is conceptualized as a dialectical tension between the opposing poles of conflict and harmony. In the well-functioning sibling relationship there exists a constant balancing of and interaction between these poles. Rigid, entrenched sibling relationships, in contrast, are marked by exclusively conflictual or exclusively harmonious interactions. Parental influence provides the essential "fulcrum" that supports and facilitates the sibling interaction. Salient variables influence the dynamics of the relationship and determine the unique nature of any particular sibling bond. These include sibling contextual variables (e.g., degree of sibling access), parental contextual variables (e.g., parental expectations, parental sibling history), family contextual variables (e.g., coalitions, structure), and sociocultural variables (e.g., ethnicity, religion). The model is then applied to pediatric cancer, illustrating the dynamics of the sibling relationship in crisis. Suggestions for clinical interventions are given, and strategies are provided for using the sibling relationship as an important resource to facilitate the adjustment of the entire family. [Source: DA]

Harrison, Tommy R. 1986. "Adolescents' and Teachers' Views of the Adolescent in Western Society as Portrayed in Selected Popular Novels of Adolescence: An Ethnographic Study." Ph.D. Thesis, The University of Alabama.
Abstract: The popular and traditional view of adolescence as a time of emotional upheaval has existed for many years. While psychologist G. Stanley Hall offered support for this view, not everyone has agreed with the storm and stress view of adolescence. Margaret Mead (1928) disagreed. Also suggesting that adolescence is not necessarily and uniformly stressful, Bandura and Walters (1963) considered the importance of symbolic modeling on the social learning of individuals and stressed the role played by the mass media in the acquisition of attitudes, emotional responses, and styles of conduct. With Grossberg (1977) asserting that individuals are socially and culturally prepared by reading for the roles society expects them to play and with Kerlinger (1973) noting that education could be enhanced through an analysis of educational information assimilated from the mass media, the researcher examined the content of ethnographic interviews involving popular novels of adolescence to uncover the authors' and the participants' views of the adolescent in Western culture. A review of the related literature revealed skepticisms about the import of popular novels of adolescence but indicated that they have become more accepted by professional groups and have become an integral part of adolescent life. With foreshadowed questions in mind, the researcher conducted a pilot study and determined that a qualitative research design involving semistructured interviews was both practical and appropriate. The study was begun; ethnographic research procedures were followed. An analysis of data revealed that the area of psychosocial development, particularly the subdivisions of self-reliance and identity, posed the greatest concern for adolescents. Adolescent loneliness, a concern for poor family relationships, and the importance of religion constituted recurrent themes. Reflecting their cultural environment, the participants reiterated the importance of the family to the developing adolescent. Participant commentary revealed that firmly established male and female sex roles have influenced the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of the adolescent within this particular ethnographic environment. The prominence of a religious theme within the participant commentary revealed a commitment to the traditional, Southern way of life. Although life in Western society is, the participants agreed, filled with storm and stress, adolescent life in the rural, Southern setting is less difficult. [Source: DA]

Pearson, Paul R., Leslie J. Francis, and Trevor J. Lightbown. 1986. "Impulsivity and Religiosity." Personality and Individual Differences vol. 7, pp. 89-94.
Abstract: Administered a junior impulsiveness inventory developed by S. B. Eysenck et al (see record 1985-11140-001) and an attitude toward religion scale developed by L. J. Francis (1978) to 569 schoolchildren (aged 11-27 yrs). Results indicate that positive attitude scores were inversely related to both impulsiveness and venturesomeness. This supports the theory that impulsivity is related to toughmindedness and supports the value of the independent operationalization of impulsiveness and venturesomeness in the discussion of social attitudes. However, while the Impulsiveness scale functioned as predicted by Eysenck's theory, Venturesomeness scale findings were problematic. It is suggested that future research on the nature of impulsivity and its relationship with social attitudes might benefit from considering the 2 components of the Venturesomeness scale, namely risk-taking and sensation-seeking, separately. [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]

Ramkumar, Vasantha. 1979. "Subject Characteristics of Adolescent Girls with Acute Self Concept." Journal of Psychological Researches vol. 23, pp. 168-176.
Abstract: Administered the Ramkumar Q-Sort Set to measure self-concept in 1,016 15-28 yr old girls. Ss with a score of 0.9 and above (the possible range of scores was +1.00 to -2.00) were classified as possessing acute self-concept. The characteristics that identified Ss with acute self-concept were backward community, high socioeconomic status, low intelligence, low personal adjustment, low social adjustment, high withdrawing tendency, low social values, and high religious, political, and aesthetic values. The relationship of some of the S characteristics to acute self-concept were different from those obtained for heterogeneous samples in earlier studies. [Source: PI]

St. Clair, Sally and H. D. Day. 1979. "Ego Identity Status and Values among High School Females." Journal of Youth and Adolescence vol. 8, pp. 317-326.
Abstract: To test the hypothesis that adolescent females who are high in ego identity have high interests in religious and political values, the relationship between the ego identity status (determined by the Identity Status Interview) of 80 high school females and their response to the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values was examined. Ss' identity in the achievement, moratorium, and foreclosure statuses had higher religious value scores than did those in the diffusion status; however, differences on political value scores were not found. Two-thirds of the identity achievers came from homes disrupted by divorce or death of 1 parent, while less than 20% of the members of the other 3 statuses came from broken homes. [Source: PI]

Becker, Tamar. 1978. "Inter-Faith and Inter-Nationality Attitudinal Variations among Youth toward Self, Family and the Collective." Review of Religious Research vol. 20, pp. 68-81.
Abstract: Two groups of American high school students, the first drawn from Catholic parochial schools and the second from public schools in the same community, are compared with regard to their attitudes to self, family, community, and nation. A third group, Israeli public high schoolers, is employed as an external standard of evaluation. Some intra-American differences were found, but their number and magnitude were much less significant than the inter-nationality differences. It is suggested that American youth culture, with its emphasis on the self and its anti-collectivity orientation, is the most potent determinant of attitudes among seventeen-year-olds and that it embraces at least those segments of American youth belonging to the "majority culture". The impact of the religious factor on the lives of Americans may be intimately related to the life cycle. [Source: RI]

Raphael, Dennis. 1978. "Identity Status in High School Females." Adolescence vol. 13, pp. 627-641.
Abstract: Identity status placement is indicative of a general mode of dealing with developmental tasks. One hundred twelfth-grade high-school Fs from a suburban high school twenty-five miles from Toronto were classified as Moratorium (open to & aware of alternatives), Foreclosure (committed in some areas but unaware of alternatives), or Diffusion (not committed to possibilities & unaware of alternatives) status based on their openness to alternatives & degree of commitment in areas of future plans, religion, & politics. Six measures including ego identity, anxiety, & intelligence were obtained to examine aspects of differing manners of dealing with adolescent issues. Performance on a behavioral measure of information search is also examined. Results indicate generality of identity status placement across content areas. Intelligence is seen as contributing to many observed status differences. Status differences were Moratorium over Diffusion & Moratorium over Foreclosure, with the fewest being Foreclosure over Diffusion. Fs open to alternatives in high school are seen as dealing with adolescent issues in the optimal manner. Further research is indicated to examine the determinants of identity status placement. [Source: SA]

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]

Cygnar, Thomas E., Cardell K. Jacobson, and Donald L. Noel. 1977. "Religiosity and Prejudice: An Interdimensional Analysis." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion vol. 16, pp. 183-191.
Abstract: Notes that the multidimensional nature of prejudice and religiosity suggests that contradictory relationships reported in the literature might stem from different operationalizations of either or both variables. Eight dimensions of religiosity and 4 of prejudice were measured with 307 White freshman and senior high school students to determine if the relationship varies as a function of the dimensions measured. Results indicate that ritual, knowledge, and orthodoxy dimensions of religiosity were not related to any dimension of prejudice. Fanaticism and importance, however, were negatively related to all 4 measures of prejudice. Consequential religiosity, by contrast, was positively correlated with all 4 measures. Results support the central hypothesis of this study, i.e., that the relationship between religiosity and prejudice varies with the dimension of religiosity measured, if not with the dimension of prejudice. [Source: PI]

Gladding, Samuel T. 1977. "Psychological Anomie and Religious Identity in Two Adolescent Populations." Psychological Reports vol. 41, pp. 419-424.
Abstract: Compared the differences, as measured by the Elmore Scale of Anomie and forced-choice questions on religious belief and school, between 2 groups of 12-28 yr old adolescents. Group 1 (112 Ss), a representative high school sample in a rural North Carolina community, had significantly lower alienation scores on anomie than Group 2 (50 Ss), adolescents referred to the community mental health center. Ss in Group 1 who reported positive feelings about school and/or religious belief had significantly lower anomie than Ss who reported negative feelings about these factors. Findings are discussed in terms of the meaningful identification a person many derive from having a connection with both an established system and a system of beliefs that are reinforced by the community. [Source: PI]

Spilka, Bernard and Michael Mullin. 1977. "Personal Religion and Psychological Schemata: A Research Approach to a Theological Psychology of Religion." Character Potential: A Record of Research vol. 8, pp. 57-66.
Abstract: Studied the relationships between the individual's orientations toward self, others, and ultimates. The 689 Ss consisted of 6 subgroups of high school students, college students, and white-collar employed persons (mean CA 27.8 yrs). Self-significance was assessed by S. Coopersmith's measure of self-esteem (1967) and B. Spilka's measure of powerlessness (1970). Orientation toward others was assessed by Rosenberg's Faith-in-People scale (1957) and the Comfortable Interpersonal Distance Scale of M. P. Duke and S. Nowicki (1972). Three measures of religious orientation were used: (a) scales of Intrinsic-Extrinsic Religion (G. W. Allport and J. M. Ross, 1967), scales of Committed-Consensual Religion (B. Spilka, 1967), and adaptations of R. L. Goruch's devices for assessment of God concepts (1966). Patterns of correlation coefficients support the view that those holding a committed, intrinsic faith have favorable psychological orientations toward self, others, and God, while those of a consensual, extrinsic faith have less favorable orientations. [Source: PI]

Wiebe, Bernie and Thomas B. Scott. 1976. "Self-Disclosure Patterns of Mennonite Adolescents to Parents and Their Perceived Relationships." Psychological Reports vol. 39, pp. 355-358.
Abstract: Mennonite parents consistently express concern to ministers and counselors about a lack of close relationships with their adolescent children, judging from a decrease in personal discussions. However, 159 Mennonite 10th, 11th, and 12th graders in 3 schools self-disclosed (according to scores on the Self-Disclosure Inventory for Adolescents) like other observed adolescents insofar as selected topics were discussed by them with their mothers, fathers, and best friends. Although amount of self-disclosure to these target persons did relate positively to the concurrent perceived relationships with them (according to scores on the Relationship Inventory), perceived relationships with parents were positive, even though self-disclosure was less to parents than to best friend, and perceived relationships and self-disclosures were qualitatively different to mothers and fathers. [Source: PI]

Glock, Charles Y., Robert Wuthnow, Jane A. Piliavin, and Metta Spencer. 1975. Adolescent Prejudice. New York, NY: Harper and Row.
Abstract: Examines the belief that interreligious and interracial contact breaks down prejudices and religious and racial stereotypes, creates opportunities for friendship across religious and racial lines, and generates norms of tolerance. However, data from American 8th, 10th, and 12th graders and their teachers show that both racial prejudice and antisemitism are rampant in these age groups. Causes, solutions, and implications for educators are discussed. [Source: PI]

Wiebe, Bernhard. 1975. "Self-Disclosure and Perceived Relationships of Mennonite Adolescents in Senior High School." Thesis, University of North Dakota.

Wodarski, John S. and Stephen J. Pedi. 1975. "The Comparison of Behavior among Antisocial and Normal Children in an Open Community Agency." Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice vol. 12, pp. 400-406.
Abstract: Studied the incidence of prosocial, nonsocial, and antisocial behavior in 155 antisocial and 221 normal 8-26 yr old boys in an open community agency. Antisocial Ss were primarily lower middle-class Protestants, while the normal Ss were mainly from Jewish upper middle-class backgrounds. The Ss' behavior in small groups was rated by observers, and the boys themselves and their counselors estimated the amount of pro-, non-, or antisocial behavior that would be shown during an average week. Prosocial behavior increased for both groups, the antisocial Ss showed more nonsocial behavior until the final time period, and the 2 groups did not differ in amount of antisocial behavior. However, the antisocial Ss had higher maladjustment scores than the normal Ss. The counselors estimated that the normal Ss would exhibit more prosocial behavior and less nonsocial and antisocial behavior. The boys did not differ on estimates of their own behavior. [Source: PI]

Gingrich, Dave D. 1973. "Sex, Grade Level, and Religious-Educational Environment as Factors in Peer Conformity." Journal of Genetic Psychology vol. 123, pp. 321-328.
Abstract: Randomly selected children in Grades 2-11 (N = 200) from a Catholic parochial school and a public school. Ss were tested using R. S. Crutchfield's conformity design. Results of the 2 * 2 * 5 analysis of variance design show a significant difference as a function of grade level but no other significant F ratio. Findings are discussed relative to theoretical explanations for different conformity curves when different levels of task ambiguity are presented. [Source: PI]

Schvaneveldt, Jay D. 1973. "Mormon Adolescents' Likes and Dislikes Towards Parents and Home." Adolescence vol. 8, pp. 171-178.
Abstract: Administered a questionnaire to 70 male and 91 female 12-15 yr olds and 15 male and 54 female adults from rural to semirural middle-class Mormon families. Performing home chores, use of time, and attitude toward studies were the most common of 10 areas which created conflict between youth and parents. Both adults and adolescents felt that the major problems in parent-adolescent interactions involved gaps in communication, deficiencies in understanding, and "one generation grouping toward the other, each partially blinded to the other." Both groups were ambivalent in their needs for each other. [Source: PI]

Propper, Martin M., Virginia Kiaune, and John B. Murray. 1970. "Alienation Syndrome among Male Adolescents in Prestige Catholic and Public High Schools." Psychological Reports vol. 27, pp. 311-315.
Abstract: Found dimensions of A. Davids' alienation syndrome egocentricity, distrust, pessimism, anxiety, and resentment among 40 Catholic parochial high school (CHS) males were comparable to those reported for 80 predominantly Jewish public high school (PHS) males. These dimensions were assessed by projective and direct techniques. CHS showed no significant differences from PHS on all 3 measures but significantly more variability on the direct test. These startling commonalities among adolescent populations differing in social class and religious affiliation present strong evidence that CHSs are not immune to the winds of change sweeping our universities and PHSs. Future research should determine whether these dimensions of alienation represent a normative trend, a transitory phenomena or a deviant aspect of psychological development among modern adolescents. (17 ref.) [Source: PI]

English, Joseph T. and Colman McCarthy. 1969. "Youth: Alienated and Estranged?" Journal of Religion and Health vol. 8, pp. 242-247.

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]

Bealer, Robert C., Fern K. Willits, and Gerald W. Bender. 1963. "Religious Exogamy: A Study of Social Distance." Sociology and Social Research vol. 48, pp. 69-79.
Abstract: The study investigated religious social distance among a large sample of Pennsylvania rural youth. The various religious bodies comprising the contemporary American spectrum of affiliational categories were ranked, by theological experts, in terms of their presumed sect- or church-likeness as indexed by their degree of structural formalization. It was hypothesized that marriage choices would vary directly with the similarity in degree of the "sectness" of the partners' religious affiliational category. Except for Roman Catholics and Mennonites, exogamy exceeded endogamy for the 13 religious bodies investigated. The patterning of exogamous choices did not conform to the degree of presumed religious similarity. On the contrary, whom one married seemed to reflect simply the relative availability of potential spouses in the various religious groupings. Since marriage selection is the terminal behavior on the social distance scale and since this scale has been prevoiusly validated as undimensional, it was concluded that religious affiliation is probably not important in many social situations in contemporary American society. [Source: PI]

Rhodes, Lewis A. 1960. "Authoritarianism and Fundamentalism of Rural and Urban High School Students." Journal of Educational Sociology vol. 34, pp. 97-105.
Abstract: This study is concerned with the relationships between authoritarianism and religious preference. The F Scale and Srole Scale were given to seniors in 4 high schools in a metropolitan area and 4 high schools in a town area in Tennessee. In addition, questions were asked about background. N was 1027. 3 things emerged from the study: (a) the attitudes of an authoritarian character (relating to ethnocentrism and prejudice) expressed by high school Ss are not independent of religious preference, (b) the F Scale performance of Ss was not independent of variables such as socioeconomic status and urban and rural residence, and (c) there is more variation among Protestants than between Protestants and Catholics with respect to authoritarianism. [Source: PI]

Levinson, Boris M. 1959. "The Problems of Jewish Religious Youth." Genetic Psychology Monographs vol. 60, pp. 309-348.
Abstract: An analysis of the responses of 220 Yeshiva College freshmen to the Mooney Problem Check List shows that Jewish religious youth experience the most difficulty with adjustment problems related to social and recreational activities, health and physical development, and adjustment to school work. It is hypothesized that because of the traditional Jewish emphasis on verbal learning, youth of this religious faith are exposed to extreme pressures toward academic overloading with the inevitable curtailment of social and recreational activities. 34 refs. [Source: PI]

Rosen, Bernard C. 1955. "Conflicting Group Membership: A Study of Parent Peer Group Cross-Pressures." American Sociological Review pp. 155-161.
Abstract: The entire universe, 50, of Jewish high school age boys and girls in a small city were questioned regarding their religious attitudes and membership groups. A significant relationship was found between the adolescents' attitudes and the attitudes of their familial-peer groups. When the attitudes of the family and the peer group were in conflict, the attitudes of the adolescents tended to agree with the attitudes of whichever was the reference group, as determined by independent criteria. On the whole, the peer group tended to exert more influence. [Source: PI]

McMaster, Anna Frances. 1954. "The Phenomenon of the Adolescent Peer Group and Its Bearing on Christian Education." M.R.E Thesis, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N.J.,.

Goodnow, R. E. and R. Tagiuri. 1952. "Religious Ethnocentrism and Its Recognition among Adolescent Boys." Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology vol. 47, pp. 316-320.
Abstract: "Students' recognition of ethnocentric (biased) choice of roommates was investigated among Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish boys in a preparatory school." [Source: PI]

Remmers, H and B Shimberg. 1949. "Problems of High School Youth. (Purdue Opinion Poll for Young People. Rep. No. 21.)." Purdue University.
Abstract: A 300-item Problem Checklist was administered to 15,000 high school students in all sections of the U. S. Problem areas covered were (1) school, (2) vocational, (3) personal, (4) social, (5) family, (6) sex, (7) health, (8) general. Methodology and overall results are discussed briefly. Tables are included showing what percentage of students in various sub-groups checked each item. These include breakdowns for (1) total group, (2) sex, (3) school grade, (4) region of U. S., (5) size of community, (6) religion, and (7) family income level. The analysis was based on a stratified sample of 2500 signed questionnaires. The authors compared matched samples of signed and unsigned questionnaires and found that while the unsigned questionnaires yielded slightly higher percentages on nearly all items, the results obtained from both samples were essentially the same. [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]

Boder, D. P. and E. V. Beach. 1937. "Wants of Adolescents: I. A Preliminary Study." Journal of Psychology vol. 3, pp. 505-511.
Abstract: Four questions asking what the government, parents, school, and the church might do to increase the happiness of adolescents were submitted to a group of 36 girls and 38 boys between the ages of 13 and 17 years and of "middle class" status. The answers were written in full and were anonymous. The 74 records yielded 409 demands. Of these demands 132 (in 12 categories) involve the school, indicating that the school is a frequent source or accelerator of personality conflicts. Demands upon government number 101 (9 categories) and are of the type usually considered to concern city or state governments. Demands upon parents, while fewer (89), are more individualized. The largest number were for confidence and companionship of parents, the next largest for greater freedom (dances, parties, later hours, an allowance). Of the 87 demands upon the church, 40 refer to recreation and amusement. The authors consider such a survey a fruitful method of collecting the wants of a community of children. [Source: PI]