Resist Peer Pressure Research Articles

Longitudinal Impact of Perceived Self-Regulatory Efficacy on Violent Conduct

The present study examined the longitudinal impact of perceived self-regulatory efficacy and parental communication on violent conduct. Adolescents' perceived efficacy to resist peer pressure for transgressive activities counteracted engagement in violent conduct both directly and by fostering open communication with parents. Parental communication was linked to violent conduct concurrently but not longitudinally. There were gender differences in level of engagement in violent activities, but the causal structures were the same. Perceived self-regulatory efficacy contributed to violent conduct both concurrently and longitudinally after controlling for prior level of violent conduct and openness of parental communication.

Keepin' it R.E.A.L.!: program description and results of baseline assessment.

In this article, the authors present the results of the analysis of the baseline data from Keepin' it R.E.A.L.!, an HIV prevention project developed for mothers and their adolescents. Six hundred twelve mostly male (60.6%) and African American (98.2%) adolescents completed baseline assessments. Eleven percent of the adolescent participants reported initiating sexual intercourse. Adolescent participants expressing higher levels of self-efficacy to resist peer pressure, more favorable outcome expectancies, less communication about sex with their mothers, higher levels of self-concept related to their behavior, lower levels of self-concept related to popularity, and less stress reported fewer types of intimate sexual behaviors. Adolescent participants who reported higher self-efficacy to resist peer pressure to have sex and lower levels of stress were less likely to have initiated sexual intercourse. Selected characteristics of mothers did not contribute to understanding factors associated with intimate sexual behaviors or initiation of sexual intercourse among adolescent participants.

Niceness and the Limits of Rules

Teachers (and parents), responsible for the acculturation of young children, have an investment in "niceness". While the moral worthiness of this norm is obvious, niceness when enshrined as a set of rules is questionable. Because we want children to be honest, strong-minded and bold, to resist peer pressure and speak out against wrongdoing, protection against hurt must sometimes give way to other priorities. Through the presentation of two early childhood scenarios - a small child asks questions of strangers that insult them; a somewhat older one rejects the overture of a child who wants to join his play - I explore the downside of tactfulness and the difficulties of determining who is injured by bluntness. The argument proceeds that in order to balance both the interests of the parties and the different values at stake - fairness as well as niceness - we need to contextualise our judgements by avoiding general rules. Finally, I suggest several benchmarks that should be incorporated into this contextualised decision-making - the act itself, its consequences and the motives and personal history of the players.

The Structure of Children's Perceived Self-Efficacy: A Cross-National Study

Summary: The present study investigated the replicability of the factor structure of the Children's Perceived Self-Efficacy scales (CPSE; Bandura, 1990 ) in Italy, Hungary, and Poland. The findings of this cross-national study support the generalizability of the factor structure of children's social and academic efficacy. Perceived efficacy to resist peer pressure to engage transgressive conduct had a somewhat different factor structure for Hungarian children. Gender and national differences in the pattern of efficacy beliefs underscore the value of treating perceived self-efficacy as a multifaceted attribute. There were no overall gender differences in perceived social efficacy, but girls in all three societies have a higher sense of efficacy for academic activities and to resist peer pressure for transgressive activities. Italian children judge themselves more academically efficacious than do Hungarian children and more socially efficacious than their counterparts in both of the other two countries. An analysis of the facets of academic efficacy revealed that Hungarian children have a high sense of efficacy to master academic subjects but a lower efficacy than their Italian and Polish counterparts to take charge of their own learning. Polish children surpassed their counterparts in academic self-regulatory efficacy.

Emotional intelligence and giftedness

This article examines the relation between concepts of emotional giftedness and emotional intelligence, and attempts to relate a person's level of emotional intelligence to the actual ways they cope with challenging social situations. Emotional intelligence and social behavior were explored in a pilot study with adolescents. Emotional intelligence was measured with the Multifactor Emotional Intelligence Scale (Mayer, Salovey, & Caruso, 1997), an ability‐based measure of emotional perception, facilitation, understanding, and management. General intelligence was measured with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Scale (Dunn & Dunn, 1981). Each of the 11 adolescents also answered questions about how he or she had handled a difficult social encounter. Those with higher emotional intelligence were better able to identify their own and others’ emotions in situations, use that information to guide their actions, and resist peer pressure than others.

OUTCOMES OF AN ECOLOGICAL AND PARTICIPATORY APPROACH TO PREVENT ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUG “ABUSE”* AMONG MULTIETHNIC ADOLESCENTS†

This study presents outcomes related to adolescents' alcohol use from an evaluation study testing the effectiveness of The Coalition for Youth Quality of Life Project (Le Regroupement pour la qualité de vie des jeunes). This project is an ecological and participatory approach developed to prevent alcohol and other drug use and misuse among multiethnic youth. The intervention was implemented through four channels of program delivery: families, schools, community organizations, and local government. The study involved 411 sixth graders from eight elementary schools and 380 eighth graders from two junior high schools, in two school districts of the Island of Montreal (province of Quebec, Canada). All students were enrolled in regular classes. Follow-up data were collected 18 months and 30 months after pre-test using a school survey. The findings indicated that the program had no significant impact on alcohol use. The program was, however, capable of producing a significant effect on several hypothesized mediating variables. At first follow-up, the sixth graders showed a higher self-esteem, better peer pressure resistance skills, and a more positive relationship with their father than the controls. The eighth graders were also more inclined to get involved in community activities related to substance abuse prevention and to choose more alternatives to “substance abuse” in their leisure time than the controls. The results are discussed by examining attrition effects and also reasons for program failure. Issues are raised about the evaluation of an ecological and participatory approach. [Translations are provided in the International s Section of this issue.]

Changing Emphases in Sexuality Education in U.S. Public Secondary Schools, 1988-1999

Since the late 1980s, both the political context surrounding sexuality education and actual teaching approaches have changed considerably. However, little current national information has been available on the content of sexuality education to allow in-depth understanding of the breadth of these changes and their impact on current teaching. In 1999, a nationally representative survey collected data from 3,754 teachers in grades 7-12 in the five specialties most often responsible for sexuality education. Results from those teachers and from the subset of 1,767 who actually taught sexuality education are compared with the findings from a comparable national survey conducted in 1988. In 1999, 93% of all respondents reported that sexuality education was taught in their school at some point in grades 7-12; sexuality education covered a broad number of topics, including sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), abstinence, birth control, abortion and sexual orientation. Some topics--how HIV is transmitted, STDs, abstinence, how to resist peer pressure to have intercourse and the correct way to use a condom--were taught at lowergrades in 1999 than in 1988. In 1999, 23% of secondary school sexuality education teachers taught abstinence as the only way of preventing pregnancy and STDs, compared with 2% who did so in 1988. Teachers surveyed in 1999 were more likely than those in 1988 to cite abstinence as the most important message they wished to convey (41% vs. 25%). In addition, steep declines occurred between 1988 and 1999, overall and across grade levels, in the percentage of teachers who supported teaching about birth control, abortion and sexual orientation, as well as in the percentage actually covering those topics. However, 39% of 1999 respondents who presented abstinence as the only option also told students that both birth control and the condom can be effective. Sexuality education in secondary public schools is increasingly focused on abstinence and is less likely to present students with comprehensive teaching that includes necessary information on topics such as birth control, abortion and sexual orientation. Because of this, and in spite of some abstinence instruction that also covers birth control and condoms as effective methods of prevention, many students are not receiving accurate information on topics their teachers feel they need.

Smoking acquisition: peer influence and self-selection.

The study examined and contrasted the extent that peer influence and self-selection for smoking peers may affect acquisition of smoking by adolescents. Data for a U.S. national cohort sample of adolescents (N = 4,444) who were nonsmokers in the 1989 Teenage Attitudes and Practices Surveys and were re-interviewed in 1993 were included. The information included measures of smoking behavior and smoking status of both boys' and girls' best friends. Analysis demonstrated that, although the effects of both peer influence and self-selection of smoking friends occurred, self-selection may play a greater role in adolescents' beginning to smoke. This implies that, while teaching adolescents to resist peer pressure may be necessary, it is perhaps more important to identify factors that influence adolescents' decisions in choosing friends who smoke. This could lead to more effective preventive strategies.

Smoking Acquisition: Peer Influence and Self-Selection

The study examined and contrasted the extent that peer influence and self-selection for smoking peers may affect acquisition of smoking by adolescents. Data for a U.S. national cohort sample of adolescents ( N = 4,444) who were nonsmokers in the 1989 Teenage Attitudes and Practices Surveys and were re-interviewed in 1993 were included. The information included measures of smoking behavior and smoking status of both boys’ and girls’ best friends. Analysis demonstrated that, although the effects of both peer influence and self-selection of smoking friends occurred, self-selection may play a greater role in adolescents’ beginning to smoke. This implies that, while teaching adolescents to resist peer pressure may be necessary, it is perhaps more important to identify factors that influence adolescents’ decisions in choosing friends who smoke. This could lead to more effective preventive strategies.

Competence skills help deter smoking among inner city adolescents

OBJECTIVETo test whether higher levels of general competence are linked to more frequent use of refusal assertiveness that is in turn related to less subsequent smoking among inner city adolescents.METHODSLongitudinal...

Long-Term Effects of Drugs Education in Primary School

The long-term effects of a drug education programme (Project Charlie) taught in primary school were examined. Children who had received weekly lessons for a year in primary school, when they were aged nine and ten, were followed up four years later in their secondary schools. Three samples were studied. In the first (Subset 1), children were randomly assigned to intervention (n=20) or control conditions (n=14) and pre-tested before some received the drugs education programme. They were followed up immediately post-intervention and again as they approached fourteen years of age. In Subset 2, children who had been taught Project Charlie (n=21) were compared with matched controls attending the same secondary school (n=21) in their first year of secondary school and again at age fourteen years. In Subset 3 the Project Charlie children were compared at final post-test with all their classmates. By the time the children were thirteen or fourteen, the Project Charlie group were significantly more able to resist peer pressure (Subsets 1 & 2 - data not collected for Subset 3), had significantly more negative attitudes towards drugs (Subsets 1 & 3), and were significantly less likely to have smoked cigarettes (Subsets 1 & 3) or to have used an illegal drug (Subset 3).The late Professor Harry McGurk was closely involved in the initial evaluation of Project Charlie, bringing his characteristic mix of energy and enthusiasm. He maintained his interest in the follow-up but sadly died before the final draft was completed. We miss his contribution

Teaching Students with Mental Disabilities to Resist Peer Pressure

Teaching Students with Mental Disabilities to Resist Peer Pressure

Individual differences and choice of information source: Sensation seeking in drug abuse prevention

This study examined the relationship between sensation seeking and the information source an individual may select to (1) find exciting alternatives to drugs and (2) resist peer pressure to use drugs. Both high and low sensation seekers chose friends as the most preferred source of information. However, high sensation seekers, compared to low sensation seekers, were less likely to: talk with friends, parents or co‐workers; visit a drug counseling center; call an 800 hotline: contact a club, social group, or church group for prevention information. Low sensation seekers who used drugs, compared to high sensation seekers who used drugs, indicated a much higher preference for talking with parents. Implications for prevention efforts are discussed.

Skills training for pregnancy and AIDS prevention in Anglo and Latino youth

Purpose: This study tested social skills training (SST), didactic training (DT), and no training (NT) on adolescents’ social skills for resisting peer pressure to engage in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and pregnancy risk behavior. Methods: A total of 307 Latino and Anglo youth ages 13–18 years were assigned at random to receive 18 h of SST, 18 h of DT, or NT. Results: Significantly ( p < 0.05) greater increases in assertiveness followed SST compared to DT or NT for three trained skills: condom negotiation, asking a friend about their sex/drug history, and discussing a friend’s risk of AIDS. Untrained negotiation skills (e.g., purchasing a condom) did not increase significantly. SST did not result in increased assertiveness for refusal skills. DT increased knowledge of AIDS significantly more than SST; both DT and SST increased knowledge significantly more than NT. Conclusions: Social skills training can increase assertiveness for certain negotiation skills that may decrease risk of AIDS for Latino, Anglo, and male and female adolescents. Both DT and SST can increase knowledge of AIDS prevention. Differences between experimental groups were supported by differences between trained and untrained skills within the SST condition, adding to discriminant validity.

Impact of Adolescents' Perceived Self-Regulatory Efficacy on Familial Communication and Antisocial Conduct

The present study tested the hypothesis that perceived self-efficacy to resist peer pressure for high-risk activities is related to transgressive conduct, both directly and through the mediation of open familial communication. Adolescents rated their self-regulatory efficacy, openness of communication with parents, and their involvement in delinquent conduct and substance abuse. Results of structural equation modeling confirmed that a high sense of efficacy to ward off negative peer influences was accompanied by open communication with parents about activities outside the home and by low engagement in delinquent conduct and substance abuse. Both the posited direct and mediated paths of influences were replicated for males and females, although girls exhibited a slightly weaker direct relationship between self-regulatory efficacy and transgressive conduct. The combined influence of self-regulatory efficacy and supportive parental communication and monitoring accounted for a substantial share of the variance in delinquent conduct and substance abuse. A test of an alternative causal model, that engagement in transgressive activities undermines self-regulatory efficacy and familial communication and monitoring practices, provided a poor fit to the data.

Impact of Adolescents' Perceived Self-Regulatory Efficacy on Familial Communication and Antisocial Conduct

The present study tested the hypothesis that perceived self-efficacy to resist peer pressure for high-risk activities is related to transgressive con- duct, both directly and through the mediation of open familial communi- cation. Adolescents rated their self-regulatory efficacy, openness of com- munication with parents, and their involvement in delinquent conduct and substance abuse. Results of structural equation modeling confirmed that a high sense of efficacy to ward off negative peer influences was accompanied by open communication with parents about activities out-

The Impact of the Postponing Sexual Involvement Curriculum Among Youths in California

Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI) is a widely implemented middle school curriculum designed to delay the onset of sexual intercourse. In an evaluation of its effectiveness among seventh and eighth graders in California, 10,600 youths from schools and community-based organizations statewide were recruited and participated in randomly assigned intervention or control groups; the curriculum was implemented by either adult or youth leaders. Survey data were collected before the program was implemented, and at three months and 17 months afterward. At three months, small but statistically significant changes were found in fewer than half of the measured attitudes, behaviors and intentions related to sexual activity; at 17 months, none of these significant positive effects of the PSI program had been sustained. At neither follow-up were there significant positive changes in sexual behavior; Youths in treatment and control groups were equally likely to have become sexually active, and youths in treatment groups were not less likely than youths in control groups to report a pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection. The evaluation suggests that PSI may be too modest in length and scope to have an impact on youths' sexual behavior.

First coitus for adolescents: understanding why and when.

Correlates of initiation of coitus for teenagers were examined, and participants were asked their reasons for initiating or postponing the onset of coitus. Questionnaires were completed privately by 218 patients aged 13 to 18 years. Questions explored the reasons adolescents cite for their sexual decisions and the role of peer influence in these decisions. Correlation was noted in young teenagers between perception of peer sexual behavior and participant's initiation of coitus. Reasons stated for engaging in first intercourse reflect both active choices and loss of control. Reasons for refraining included fear of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, lack of developmental readiness and opportunity, and social sanctions. Morality was cited infrequently as a reason for postponing sexual behavior. Results suggest that sexuality education should address the direct and curious questions of younger teenagers about sexuality, help youth define strategies that they can use to evaluate and resist peer pressure, and give more generalized attention to ways of helping youth feel competent. Physicians and other health educators might focus on helping older youth define how and when they know they are ready to have intercourse, consider ways of expressing sexuality that do not jeopardize health, and improve communication skills when talking with friends and potential partners about sexual issues.

An Evaluation of a Primary Prevention Programme for Schools

A drug education programme, developed in the USA, for primary aged children was evaluated. Pupils attending an inner-London junior school were randomly assigned to receive Project Charlie (n = 65) or to the control group (n = 55). After one year of weekly 30 minute lessons, the children who had received Project Charlie had a greater knowledge of the effects of medicinal, social and illicit drugs. They could generate both more and higher quality solutions to hypothetical social dilemmas and were more secure in their ability to resist peer pressure to commit anti-social acts. However, Project Charlie children did not have significantly higher self-esteem than the control children, nor did the two groups differ in their intentions to use drugs, or their reported current use.

The Effectiveness of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (Project DARE): 5-Year Follow-Up Results

Background.This article reports the results of a 5-year, longitudinal evaluation of the effectiveness of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), a school-based primary drug prevention curriculum designed for introduction during the last year of elementary education. DARE is the most widely disseminated school-based prevention curriculum in the United States.Method.Twenty-three elementary schools were randomly assigned to receive DARE and 8 were designated comparison schools. Students in the DARE schools received 16 weeks of protocol-driven instruction and students in the comparison schools received a drug education unit as part of the health curriculum. All students were pretested during the 6th grade prior to delivery of the programs, posttested shortly after completion, and resurveyed each subsequent year through the 10th grade. Three-stage mixed effects regression models were used to analyze these data.Results.No significant differences were observed between intervention and comparison schools with respect to cigarette, alcohol, or marijuana use during the 7th grade, approximately 1 year after completion of the program, or over the full 5-year measurement interval. Significant intervention effects in the hypothesized direction were observed during the 7th grade for measures of students' general and specific attitudes toward drugs, the capability to resist peer pressure, and estimated level of drug use by peers. Over the full measurement interval, however, average trajectories of change for these outcomes were similar in the intervention and comparison conditions.Conclusions.The findings of this 5-year prospective study are largely consonant with the results obtained from prior short-term evaluations of the DARE curriculum, which have reported limited effects of the program upon drug use, greater efficacy with respect to attitudes, social skills, and knowledge, but a general tendency for curriculum effects to decay over time. The results of this study underscore the need for more robust prevention programming targeted specifically at risk factors, the inclusion of booster sessions to sustain positive effects, and greater attention to interrelationships between developmental processes in adolescent substance use, individual level characteristics, and social context.