Eighth-grade Adolescents Research Articles

Resilient and Stress-Affected Adolescents in an Urban Setting

Studied 185 seventh- and eighth-grade inner-city adolescents. Participants were categorized as low and high in exposure to stressors (stressful events or neighborhood disadvantage) and externally exhibited competence (self-, teacher, and school reports). We predicted that resilient (high-stress/high-competence) and stress-affected (high-stress/low-competence) youth would differ across three domains of hypothesized protective resources: internal resources (i.e., coping skills, perceived competence), familial support, and extrafamilial support. We also predicted that there would be an emotional cost to resilient youth in terms of experiencing internalizing problems (depression, anxiety). There were direct effects for stressor level on several protective resources; however, the hypothesized protective resources did not discriminate resilient from stress-affected youth. Both Resilient and stress-affected youth experienced equivalent levels of internalizing symptoms, and these groups' scores were higher than those of low-stress participants. These results are possibly reflective of the effects of chronic stressors.

In the eyes of the beholder: how adolescents, teachers and school counselors construct adolescent images

This study had two objectives: (a) to examine the adolescent image teachers and school counselors construct (category-based images) by comparing it with the adolescent's self-image (self-as-target based), and (b) to explicate the discrepancy between category-based adolescent images as constructed by teachers, counselors, and adolescents by underlying social cognitive processes. To this end, 269 eighth-grade adolescents and 104 junior high school teachers and school counselors responded to the self-image questionnaire for young adolescents (SIQYA). Adolescents responded either to self-image questionnaires or to an adolescent-your-age version and school staff to an eighth-grader image version. One-way MANOVAs comparing the nine SIQYA scales indicated that overall, teachers' and school counselors' adolescent images were less positive than adolescents' adolescent images (as reported both regarding the self or another adolescent). These findings were interpreted in terms of two social psychological processes: positive illusion and adolescent stereotypes. Discussion also addresses the implications of these findings for educators' knowledge regarding normal adolescent processes and psychological hardships intensified during adolescence.

Intelligent, Attractive, Well-Behaving, Unhappy: The Structure of Adolescents' Self-Concept and Its Relations to Their Social Behavior

The self-concept (SC) structures of adolescent girls and boys were examined and related to their social behavior in situations of bullying. The participants were 281 eighth-grade adolescents, aged 14 to 15 years, from 15 school classes. The measures used were the Participant Role Questionnaire and an applied version of the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. A cluster analysis was performed to form groups with similar SC profiles. The ultimate solution consisted of six clusters, which differed significantly from each other in how much their members tended to bully others, assist the bully, reinforce the bully, and withdraw from bullying situations. Adolescents who tended to bully others typically had high social and physical SC, although their view of themselves was rather negative on the other SC domains. Youngsters who tended to assist or reinforce the bully either had an SC structure similar to that of the bullies, or they scored low on all SC domains. Withdrawing from bullying situations was m...

Stress, Social Support, and Adjustment of Adolescents in Middle School

Examined in this study were middle school stress, social supports, and adjustment of 482 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade adolescents. Multiple regression analyses were used to relate differing types of stress and social support to students' self-concept, feelings of depression, and liking of school. The effects of adolescent characteristics (gender, grade level, grade point average, and education placement status) also were assessed. Results showed that higher academic stress and less emotional support from the family were related to lower academic self-concept, and higher peer stress and less companionship support from peers were associated with lower social self-concept. Emotional support from the family moderated the influence of peer stress on feelings of depression. Problem-solving support from adults outside the family moderated the effects of teacher/rules stress on adolescents' liking of school. The importance of identifying the linkages between types of stress, social support, and adjustment, using a developmental perspective, is discussed.

An assessment of the cardiovascular health education program in primary health care

Primary health care is an effective means of improving health for all while at the same time containing rising health care costs. In an effort to improve the health of one community, the Cardiovascular Health Education Program (CHEP) was implemented in a study of 44 eighth-grade adolescents. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of the CHEP on adolescents' cardiovascular health knowledge. It was found that participants' knowledge improved significantly, whereas a control group showed no comparable improvement. This study showed that community-based health education programs for targeted populations can influence health knowledge.

Adjustment of antisocial and nonantisocial rejected adolescents

AbstractThis study was designed to expand the investigation of peer-rejected subgroup differences to adolescence. A sample of 501 eighth-grade adolescents (age 13–14 years) were assessed. These students and their classmates (1,082 15–16-year-olds) were assessed at 10th grade. Rejected-antisocial and rejected-nonantisocial subgroups were identified at both time periods using peer ratings of social status and antisocial behavior. They were compared with accepted, accepted-antisocial, and accepted-nonantisocial subgroups. Results are consistent with past research indicating significant heterogeneity within the rejected population. Rejected-antisocial adolescents exhibited elevated problem behavior (substance use and deviant peer involvement), depression, and school adjustment difficulties (low attendance, low achievement, and school discipline problems). Rejected-nonantisocial students in contrast exhibited little problem behavior, but were characterized by low physical attractiveness and lower involvement in athletics. Discussions of psychopathological risk associated with peer rejection must account for the heterogeneity and extreme differences between antisocial and nonantisocial-rejected adolescents. Comparison of antisocial and nonantisocial-rejected children with their respective antisocial and nonantisocial-accepted comparison groups revealed few differences. This calls into question the unique contribution of rejection in the development of psychopathology.

Liberal Gender Role Attitudes and Academic Achievement among Mexican-Origin Adolescents in Two Houston Inner-City Catholic Schools

This study examines the relation of liberal attitudes toward women to academic achievement among 97 seventh-and eighth-grade Mexican-origin adolescents attending two Houston inner-city Catholic schools. These liberal attitudes refer to views regarding the rights and roles of women in society. Results show that liberal attitudes toward women are significantly related to Mexican-originfemales'academic achievement, as measured by their grades in mathematics and language arts. This association suggests thatfemales modify their achievement as a result of theirperceptions of compatibility between liberal attitudes and academic success or socioeconomic mobility. Moreover, to the degree that such attitudes reflect the social and cultural resources of educational institutions, they may correspond implicitly to cultural capital.

Stress among Early Adolescents in Two-Earner Families

This study investigated the emotional stress reported by early adolescents in two-earner families in family, peer, and student roles. Data were collected from 173 eighth-grade adolescents (79 males and 94 females) and their two-earner parents. Role strain, coping strategies, psychological resources, and parental work characteristics were examined as determinants of adolescent emotional stress. Gender also was included in the analyses as a control variable. Overall, the adolescents sampled reported low to moderate levels of emotional stress across roles. Role strain was found to be a key factor in explaining early adolescent stress levels. Results were less supportive of the influence of psychological resources and gender as moderators of stress. Coping strategies were found to be especially important in explaining stress outcomes as an adolescent family member. Parental work characteristics did not explain any of the variance in emotional stress in family, peer, or student roles. Implications of these findings are discussed.