Adolescent Social Relationships Research Articles

The co-occurrence of depression and substance abuse in late adolescence.

This article examines the role of adolescent social relationships in fostering the occurrence and co-occurrence of depression and substance abuse, using two waves of data from a community sample of adolescents (N = 900). Multinomial logistic response models were estimated to identify the extent to which risk and protective features of youths' family and peer relations were differentially linked with depressive symptoms, substance abuse, and their co-occurrence. Taking a within-person, configurational approach to adolescent adaptation, contrasts involved four subgroups of adolescents: those high on both depressed mood and substance abuse, those who experience neither problem, those evidencing high levels of depressive symptoms only, and those high on substance abuse only. Risk for depressive symptoms was differentiated by its association with conflict and lack of support in the friendship domain. Substance abuse was associated with negative peer pressure, but these youth were otherwise little different from youths with no problems. Whereas co-occurrence of depression and substance use was associated with more difficulties in both the family and peer environments, the most distinctive risk was that of low family support. Discussion centers on the developmental antecedents of co-occurring problems and family relations during adolescence.

The Stability of Social Groups in Childhood and Adolescence: The Role of the Classroom Social Environment.

AbstractThis study provides a developmental analysis of childhood and adolescent social relationships within the school context. The social groups of 220 fourth graders and 475 seventh graders were tracked over a one year interval. The initial results indicated that approximately 30% of the social groups were identified as stable in that they maintained at least 50% of their membership over the one year interval. However, the stability in group affiliations was a function of the stability of the composition of the classroom. When schools did not promote classrooms as a unit, only 6.8% of social groups were stable, as compared to 55% of groups being stable when the school did promote classrooms as a unit. This school effect in group stability was demonstrated by a high correlation (rs = .97) between classroom stability and group stability. Even in unstable classrooms, individuals were more likely to maintain affiliations when group members were assigned to the same classroom. This work suggests that stable environments promote stable relationships, which in turn, may promote greater continuity in the organization of behavioral patterns.

Influences of character-based coping style on psychological health

This study explores the moderating effects of early adult character style on correlations between social relationships in adolescence and midlife psychological health. Participants were drawn from the ongoing longitudinal studies at the Institute of Human Development. Individuals who beat the odds of an adverse environment and those who failed to capitalize on beneficial environments were identified and compared at age 30 on the California Psychological Inventory, the Meredith-Millsap Component Scores, and the Thematic Apperception Test. Social relatedness and personal independence were characteristics at age 30 of all subjects who went on to develop good psychological health by age 50. Social relatedness was more associated with overcoming a difficult environment, while self-assurance was more associated with capitalizing on a good one.

The Adolescent as decision-maker: applications to development and education

Concepts of Development in Adolescence: J. Worell and F. Danner, Adolescents in Contemporary Context. P.H. Miller, Theories of Adolescent Development. Journey through Adolescence: F. Danner, Cognitive Development in Adolescence. A. de Armas and J.A. Kelly, Social Relationships in Adolescence: Skill Development and Training. D.K. Lapsley, R.D. Enright, and R.C. SerlinMoral and Social Education. J. Suls, Self-Awareness and Self-identity in Adolescence. R. Ames and C. Ames, Adolescent Motivation and Achievement. Transitions to Adulthood: A. Boxer, R.A. Levinson, and A.C. Petersen, Adolescent Sexuality. J. Worell, Sex Roles in Transition. G.B. Melton, Are Adolescents People? Problems of Liberty, Entitlement, and Responsibility. Index.

The Relation of Home Background and Social Relations to Personality Adjustment

Two scales have been constructed to measure the home background and the social relationships of adolescents in terms of their tendency to produce well-adjusted personalities. The device for classifying children as to emotional and social adjustment was a brief personality test of the neurotic inventory type. A schedule was developed containing questions on the home and on social relationships which differentiated the well-adjusted from the maladjusted children. Values were assigned to the various possible answers to the questions and the sum of these values gave two scores for each child, one indicating the type of home background, the other the type of social relationships. The reliability and validity of the scales have been established by approved methods.