Search

Objectives This study aimed to analyze the association between body dissatisfaction and sports participation from childhood to adolescence in a school-based sample of adolescents, according to sex. Methods A total of 1011 adolescents of 13.1 ± 2.3 years of age were evaluated. Body dissatisfaction was assessed by the Silhouettes Scale and sports participation for at least one consecutive year was retrospectively assessed by closed specific questions related to childhood and adolescence periods. Body mass index (BMI) and abdominal obesity were objectively measured. Habitual practice of physical activity (PA), socioeconomic status (SES), and ethnicity were assessed through questionnaires. Results Sports participation from childhood to adolescence was observed in 55.1% of boys and in 41.2% of girls. Boys with body dissatisfaction showed lower habitual PA in leisure time (Baecke score = 4.38 ± 2.27 vs. 5.15 ± 2.25, p < 0.05) and in total (Baecke score = 9.34 ± 2.64 vs. 9.96 ± 2.68, p < 0.05) than those who were satisfied. No differences were observed among girls. Sports participation from childhood to adolescence was associated with 42% less chance of having body dissatisfaction in boys (OR = 0.58 [95%CI = 0.36-0.94]). No significant association was observed among girls. Conclusions for Practice Sports participation from childhood to adolescence was negatively associated with body dissatisfaction in boys. The continuity of physical activity during youth may be an important modifiable factor to reduce body dissatisfaction., Author(s): William R. Tebar [sup.1] , Fernanda C. S. Gil [sup.2] , André O. Werneck [sup.3] , Leandro D. Delfino [sup.1] , Diego Augusto Santos Silva [sup.4] , Diego G. [...]

Background: Several patterns of grey and white matter changes have been separately described in young adults with first-episode psychosis. Concomitant investigation of grey and white matter densities in patients with first-episode psychosis without other psychiatric comorbidities that include all relevant imaging markers could provide clues to the neurodevelopmental hypothesis in schizophrenia. Methods: We recruited patients with first-episode psychosis diagnosed according to the DSM-IV-TR and matched controls. All participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis and mean diffusivity voxel-based analysis (VBA) were used for grey matter data. Fractional anisotropy and axial, radial and mean diffusivity were analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) for white matter data. Results: We included 15 patients and 16 controls. The mean diffusivity VBA showed significantly greater mean diffusivity in the first-episode psychosis than in the control group in the lingual gyrus bilaterally, the occipital fusiform gyrus bilaterally, the right lateral occipital gyrus and the right inferior temporal gyrus. Moreover, the TBSS analysis revealed a lower fractional anisotropy in the first-episode psychosis than in the control group in the genu of the corpus callosum, minor forceps, corticospinal tract, right superior longitudinal fasciculus, left middle cerebellar peduncle, left inferior longitudinal fasciculus and the posterior part of the fronto-occipital fasciculus. This analysis also revealed greater radial diffusivity in the first-episode psychosis than in the control group in the right corticospinal tract, right superior longitudinal fasciculus and left middle cerebellar peduncle. Limitations: The modest sample size and the absence of women in our series could limit the impact of our results. Conclusion: Our results highlight the structural vulnerability of grey matter in posterior areas of the brain among young adult male patients with first-episode psychosis. Moreover, the concomitant greater radial diffusivity within several regions already revealed by the fractional anisotropy analysis supports the idea of a late myelination in patients with first-episode psychosis., Introduction Altered connectivity referring to abnormal functional integration between different brain regions has been considered a cardinal feature of schizophrenia. (1) In line with the idea of an early default [...]

Byline: Erin A. Casey (1), Blair Beadnell (2) Keywords: Intimate partner violence; Perpetration; Peer networks Abstract: Although peer networks have been implicated as influential in a range of adolescent behaviors, little is known about relationships between peer network structures and risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) among youth. This study is a descriptive analysis of how peer network 'types' may be related to subsequent risk for IPV perpetration among adolescents using data from 3,030 male respondents to the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Sampled youth were a mean of 16 years of age when surveyed about the nature of their peer networks, and 21.9 when asked to report about IPV perpetration in their adolescent and early adulthood relationships. A latent class analysis of the size, structure, gender composition and delinquency level of friendship groups identified four unique profiles of peer network structures. Men in the group type characterized by small, dense, mostly male peer networks with higher levels of delinquent behavior reported higher rates of subsequent IPV perpetration than men whose adolescent network type was characterized by large, loosely connected groups of less delinquent male and female friends. Other factors known to be antecedents and correlates of IPV perpetration varied in their distribution across the peer group types, suggesting that different configurations of risk for relationship aggression can be found across peer networks. Implications for prevention programming and future research are addressed. Author Affiliation: (1) University of Washington, Tacoma, 1900 Commerce, Box 358425, Tacoma, WA, 98402, USA (2) School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle, 4101 NE 15th, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA Article History: Registration Date: 27/05/2009 Received Date: 10/03/2009 Accepted Date: 27/05/2009 Online Date: 09/06/2009

The effect of cannabis use is examined using a sample of Dutch and American adolescent boys who participated in working memory (WM) and associative memory (AM) tasks. Findings show normal performance of cannabis users in both WM and AM activities and overactivity in prefrontal brain regions during new WM tasks.

The primary objective of this research is to understand peer influence on adolescent boys' appearance management behaviors and their risk perception of these behaviors; 155 adolescent boys, average age 14.3, participated in the study. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests revealed that adolescent boys engaged in many types of behaviors, although they perceived some of them as unhealthy. When compared with adolescent boys who showed low peer influence, those with high peer influence engaged in the following behaviors more frequently: sunbathing, using tanning booths, waxing skin, and spa treatments. The findings suggest a need for further investigation regarding the motivation for and impediments to adolescent boys' appearance management behaviors., Appearance is defined as all observable aspects of a person (Damhorst, 2005). Appearance management behaviors encompass alterations to the body, such as clothing, personal grooming, and makeup (Roach-Higgins & Eicher, [...]

This study examines the past year prevalence rate of psychiatric disorders in detained male adolescents and the relation between psychiatric disorders and type of offending. The Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC-IV) was administered in a sample (N = 245) of male detained adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. Based on lifetime official criminal history, participants were classified into property, violent, and versatile subgroups. High rates of psychiatric disorders were found in all groups. In addition, property offenders reported significantly higher rates of depression, disruptive behavior disorders, substance use disorders and comorbidity than violent and versatile offenders. Overall, versatile offenders did not differ from violent offenders, with the exception of more marijuana use disorder found in violent offenders. This study once more emphasizes that detained boys have substantial mental health needs, a finding that is generalizable across countries. In addition, the current study suggests that classifying detained juveniles by offense subgroups may carry clinical relevance. The long-term impact of these differences, and the possible effects of intervention, should be subject of further research. Keywords: forensic psychiatry, violent, property, versatile

A study to test whether psychopathic traits are associated with reduced attention to the eye region of other people's faces is conducted. It is seen that attention to other people's eyes is reduced in young people with high psychopathic traits which accounts for their problems with fear recognition.

This study tested the hypothesis that violent video games are especially likely to increase aggression when players identify with violent game characters. Dutch adolescent boys with low education ability (N = 112) were randomly assigned to play a realistic or fantasy violent or nonviolent video game. Next, they competed with an ostensible partner on a reaction time task in which the winner could blast the loser with loud noise through headphones (the aggression measure). Participants were told that high noise levels could cause permanent heating damage. Habitual video game exposure, trait aggressiveness, and sensation seeking were controlled for. As expected, the most aggressive participants were those who played a violent game and wished they were like a violent character in the game. These participants used noise levels loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage to their partners, even though their partners had not provoked them. These results show that identifying with violent video game characters makes players more aggressive. Players were especially likely to identify with violent characters in realistic games and with games they felt immersed in. Keywords: aggressive behavior, wishful identification, violent video games, realism, immersion, adolescent boys

Research has demonstrated that experiences with attachment to and psychological separation from parents predict men's reports of masculine gender-role stress and conflict. This article extends the literature by examining possible variations in these links that may be accounted for by men's core personality characteristics. The author hypothesizes that Big Five personality traits mediate the association between parental relationship quality and masculine role strain. Results from structural equation modeling with data from 307 young men generally were consistent with these hypotheses, with several key findings: (a) Replicating past research, the author observed several associations between parental relationship quality and masculine role-strain variables; (b) as expected, indirect effects were obtained for neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, though those for openness and extraversion were not statistically significant; (c) comparison of alternate models suggested that a fully mediated model fit the data reasonably well; and (d) this model accounted for a large proportion of variance in masculine role strain (41%).

The study examined the impact of body mass index (BMI), negative affect, self-esteem, and sociocultural influences in the development of weight and muscle concerns among preadolescent boys. Body dissatisfaction, importance placed on weight and muscles, weight loss strategies, and strategies to increase muscles were evaluated. Participants were 237 boys aged between 8 and 11 years who were tested at three assessment periods 8 months apart. The main predictor of boys' body change strategies was their perceived pressures to modify weight and muscles from parents, peers, and the media. The other main predictor of boys' body change strategies and the sole predictor of body dissatisfaction was BMI. Self-esteem and negative affect were found to be weak and generally nonsignificant predictors of boys' body image concerns and body change strategies. Additional studies that examine the risk and protective factors associated with boys' weight and muscle concerns are needed to assist in the development of prevention programs for preadolescent boys. KEYWORDS: weight and muscle concerns; body change strategies; boys; sociocultural influences; longitudinal.

This research evaluated a dual pathway model for body dissatisfaction among adolescent boys. The study provides empirical support for the importance of distinguishing between weight and muscularity concerns in understanding male body image. A total of 128 boys from grades 8 and 11 completed a self-report questionnaire. Results indicated that weight and muscularity concerns each made unique contributions to body dissatisfaction and were associated with distinct individual and peer context characteristics. Weight concern was associated with elevated BMI and more frequent appearance conversations with friends. Muscularity concern was significantly greater among boys who reported more frequent muscle-building conversations, had lower BMI, and were older. The results support the importance of distinguishing between and assessing both muscularity and weight concerns in the development of body image dissatisfaction among adolescent boys. KEY WORDS: body image; adolescent boys; muscularity; weight concerns; BMI.

Concurrent comorbidity between affective and behavioral disorder is examined by testing developmental sequences among disorders. Although each disorder shows homotypic continuity, a clear developmental sequence of heterotypic continuity also emerges.

The absence or weakness of the father role is considered by many authors as one of the principal explaining factors of disruptive behavior and other psychopathologies among children. However, empirical studies on the specific role of the father are rare. Boys with stable disruptive behavior from age 5 until age 15 were compared to boys who have never been disruptive during the same time period. The perceptions that boys have regarding their relationships with their fathers from childhood to adolescence was compared to, perceptions concerning their relationships with their mothers. The results indicate that boys from both groups generally feel less loved and less appreciated by their fathers than by their mothers in adolescence but not in childhood. The boys perceived that their two parents love and appreciate them a lot less at age 15, than at age 9 and age 11. They felt less loved and appreciated by their fathers than their mothers. At age 15, disruptive boys considered they were less loved by their two parents than non-disruptive boys did. The differences in the perceptions by the boys concerning the quality of relationships with their parents appear during adolescence. KEY WORDS: Children; Adolescents; Boys; Fathers; Mothers; Disruptive behavior.

After more than 30 years of research on identity, the links between identity and disruptive behaviors are not clear. This study compared the identity formation of boys with stable disruptive behaviors from age 6 to age 15 (n = 16), with the identity formation of boys that were never disruptive during the same period (n = 25). All boys came from low socioeconomic status families. At age 9 and 11, identity was assessed with the The Self-Perception Profile for Children (Harter, 1985). At age 15, identity was assessed with the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (Adams, Bennion, & Huh, 1989) and two scales of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (Offer, Ostrov, & Howard, 1981). Differences between disruptive and non-disruptive boys were found only for behavior in childhood and identity in ideological domains at age 15. Explanations for the weakness of the link between identity and disruptiveness are discussed. KEY WORDS: Children; Adolescents; Boys; Identity; Self-concept; Disruptive behavior.

This article initially reviews the psychoanalytic and empirical literature on the facilitative role that fathers play in children's development and functioning. Empirical evidence is presented comparing the academic performance of 25 nonresident-father boys and 25 resident-father boys between the ages of 14 and 17. The study also assesses whether the degree of psychological separation from mother and father, quality of mother-son/father-son relationship, and frequency of contact with father had a mediating effect on academic performance. The study found that boys living in nonresident-father homes were under-functioning when compared to boys living in father-resident homes. Results also showed that boys living in nonresident father homes who were more similar in regard to their father's attitudes and beliefs, performed better academically. In assessing the group as a whole, results revealed that academic performance improved when boys were more dependent on father in regard to having concrete needs met and when their attitudes and beliefs were similar to father's. In regard to the perceived quality of mother-son/father-son relationship, results for nonresident-father boys showed a positive correlation between the quality of relationship with father and academic performance. Similarly, when assessing the group as a whole, a positive correlation was found between the quality of father-son relationship and academic performance. Finally, for nonresident-father boys, a positive correlation was found between frequency of father-son contact and academic performance. KEY WORDS: Fathers; Father-absence; Nonresident-father; Children.

Byline: Nada O. Kassem (1), Jerry W. Lee (1) Keywords: adolescents; soda; soft drink; carbonated beverage; cola Abstract: This study identified factors that influence regular soda consumption among 564 male students, aged 13--18 years, attending North Los Angeles County public high schools. Participants completed a group-administered Theory of Planned Behavior based questionnaire. Almost all of the participants, 96.5%, reported that they currently drink soda, 60.2% reported drinking two glasses of soda or more per day during the past year. Students reported drinking regular soda more than diet soda and reported drinking phosphoric acid containing soda (cola) more than nonphosphoric acid containing soda (noncola). Attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control were significant predictors of intention to drink regular soda and together explained 61% of its variance. Our results suggest that parents, teachers/coaches, and health professionals should encourage the perception that there are other healthier drinks that quench thirst better than soft drinks and taste good, and that soda should not be excessively available at home. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Health Promotion and Education, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California Article History: Registration Date: 28/09/2004

Veneziano, Veneziano and LeGrand (2000) found support for the victim to victimizer hypothesis of sexual aggression with 74 sexually abusive youth. This project, a further step in examining this theory (Burton, 2000, Burton, Miller, & Shill, 2002) builds on their ideas with data from 179 adolescent sexual abusers, and supports their findings. In an examination of relationships, gender, modus operandi, and acts, the sexually abused youth were likely to repeat what was done to them. This project also offers a further analysis of how victimization accounts for a significant portion of the variance in perpetration by these youth. Implications for research and practice are offered. KEY WORDS: Intergenerational Transmission; Social Learning Theory; Sexual Offender.

Relations between depressed mood and delinquency were investigated in a longitudinal sample of 506 urban adolescent males across ages 13.5-17.5, while adjusting for common risk factors. Adolescents provided yearly reports of their delinquent activities and depressed mood, as well as reports of peer delinquency at age 13.5 (i.e., baseline). Primary caregivers and teachers provided reports of risk factors for depressed mood and delinquency such as aggressive behavior problems and low academic achievement. Two-level hierarchical generalized linear models of concurrent relations indicated that depressed mood predicted concurrent variety of delinquent acts, and more variety of delinquent acts predicted concurrent depressed mood, even after controlling common risk factors. Longitudinal analyses indicated that after controlling for common risk factors, depressed mood had a more robust effect on delinquency variety trajectories than delinquency variety had on depressed mood trajectories. Time-averaged depressed mood significantly predicted a more positive rate of change in delinquency variety across time. Baseline delinquency variety predicted baseline depressed mood and time-averaged delinquency variety predicted a more positive rate of change in depressed mood; however, both effects were marginally significant. Implications of the results for theory and intervention are discussed. KEY WORDS: delinquency; depression; comorbidity; longitudinal.

In the wake of violent episodes committed by male youths in schools, many male adolescents grapple with the traditional norm of masculinity and the role it might play in contributing to such violence. School counselors need to address the developmental needs of all male youth, because schools play a significant role in the construction of male identities. This article formulates an overarching, inclusive model of integral counseling that enables school counselors to help male adolescents challenge the norm of conventional masculinity The model draws from 3 areas: transpersonal counseling, holistic education, and mindful social action. The aim is to move the students&apos; level of self-development and identity toward higher and more integrative realms., In U.S. society today, many male youths struggle with a restrictive norm for masculine success that hampers their development and can harm others (Garbarino, 1999; Kindlon & Thompson, 2000; Pollack, [...]

This investigation examined variables that might qualify or detail the widely accepted relation between negative affectivity and drug use in adolescent boys. In Study 1, 311 boys (15-17 years old) completed inventories of negative affectivity, positive affectivity, constraint, delinquency, peer delinquency, and drug use. Negative affectivity was positively related to drug use, but only for individuals exhibiting high peer delinquency or low constraint. Study 2 examined mechanisms for this relation by following up 143 of the participants at ages 17-20 years. Delinquency and peer delinquency mediated the relation between negative affectivity and later drug use. These findings suggest that the relation between negative affectivity and drug use is best understood within the context of other drug use risk factors.

Using the Theory of Planned Behavior as a framework, the Attitude to Leisure-time Physical Activity, Expectations of Others, Perceived Control, and Intention to Engage in Leisure-time Physical Activity scales were developed for use among high school students. The study population included 20 boys and 68 girls 13 to 17 years of age (for boys, M = 15.1 yr., SD = 1.0; for girls, M = 15.0 yr., SD = 1.1). Generation of items and the establishment of content validity were performed by professionals in exercise physiology, physical education, and clinical psychology. Each scale item was phrased in a Likert-type format. Both unipolar and bipolar scales with seven response choices were developed. Following the pilot testing and subsequent revisions, 32 items were retained in the Attitude to Leisure-time Physical Activity scale, 10 items were retained in the Expectations of Others scale, 3 items were retained in the Perceived Control Scale, and 24 items were retained in the Intention to Engage in Leisure-time Physical Activity scale. Coefficients indicated adequate stability and internal consistency with [alpha] ranging from .81 to .96. Studies of validities are underway, after which scales would be made available to those interested in intervention techniques for promoting positive attitudes toward physical fitness, perception of control over engaging in leisure-time physical activities, and good intentions to engage in leisure-time physical activities. The present results are encouraging.

This article discusses the relationship between personality, perseveration, and aggressive behavior in teenage boys. Topics include working memory, neuroticism, and hyperactivity.

Research indicates that the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) is effective in identifying psychopathy syndrome in teenage boys that is consistent with research and theory on adult men. Studies were conducted on 115 teenage boys on probation.

Three studies of Argentine girls and boys in three age groups, 13-14, 15-16, and 17-18 showed the gender difference in moods grew with age. In general, the girls in the study were more anxious, sadder and had lower self-esteem than the boys.

ABSTRACT. The authors investigated the intergroup processes of male adolescents within the context of social identity theory (SIT; H. Tajfel, 1978; H. Tajfel & J. C. Turner, 1979). The participants [...]

Much has been written about the low self-esteem of adolescent girls relative to adolescent boys, but little research has explored the role that friendship quality may play in affecting self-esteem. Ninety-seven female and 67 male 11th and 12th graders completed measures of self-esteem and of friendship quality with both same- and cross-gender best friends. Ninety-five percent of the participants were White, and ranged across the socioeconomic spectrum with the majority coming from middle-class families. We found that girls' self-esteem was significantly lower than boys' self-esteem and that girls rated their relationships as stronger, more interpersonally rewarding, and more stressful than boys did. Boys reported that their friendship with their best female friend was more interpersonally rewarding than their friendship with their best male friend, whereas girls rated the quality of their same- and cross-gender friends similarly. As expected, girls' self-esteem was positively correlated with the friendship qu ality of their cross-gender best friend. However, their self-esteem was not correlated with the quality of their same-gender friendship. Boys' self-esteem did not correlate with the quality of their same- or cross-gender best friendship. Results may help us understand the relatively low self-esteem experienced by adolescent girls.

All suicides in persons under 20 years in Norway in the time period 1990-1992 (99 males, 30 females) were included in a postmortem case-control study with seven controls for each suicide, focusing on gender differences. Few sex differences between the suicide completers were evident, in spite of the difference in suicide rates (M/F rate ratio = 3.0). Females more often attempted suicide (p = .05), more often wrote farewell notes (p = .03), and used less violent suicide methods (ns). The adjusted risk for suicide related to affective disorders (Female OR = 22,1; Male OR = 24.0, both p = .000) and disruptive disorders (female OR = 14,7, ns; male OR = 5.0, p = .002) differed little, as did the effect of frequent use of alcohol or substances (female OR = 0.4, ns; male OR = 0.4, ns).

Research examining the factor structure of the Bulimic Investigatory Test in adolescent boys and girls reveals that two factors are required to summarize boys' symptoms. These were labelled 'Emotional and Rigid/Disruptive Eating Style' and 'Food Preoccupation and Binging.' These two factors corresponded closely with C.G. Fairburn's distinction separating problem from nonproblem binge eating. Further research should be undertaken to investigate the mechanisms behind the development of bulimic behaviours in boys and men.

This article discusses how, early in the 20th century, teenage boys' preoccupation with masturbation was diagnosed and treated. The term dementia praecox analyzed as a type of adolescent insanity and psychiatrists' strategies in delineating age-specific mental diseases are explored.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the level of post-traumatic stress in juvenile male rape victims and to test for its relationships with perceived parental rearing and personality dimensions. Method: Fifteen subjects (mean age of 16 years) were recruited from a correctional camp for juvenile criminals in Arkhangelsk, Russia. They were investigated by means of the 'Revised Impact of Event Scale,' the 'Child Self-Report Post-Traumatic Stress Reaction Index,' the 'Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale,' the 'EMBU' (perceived parental rearing) and the 'Temperament and Character Inventory' (TCI). Results: The level of post-traumatic stress, in most cases moderate to high, correlated with the temperament dimensions of harm avoidance and reward dependence. As concerns parental rearing, the total level of post-traumatic stress reaction was negatively correlated with paternal emotional warmth and positively with paternal rejection. Conclusions: The experience of post-traumatic stress is influenced by temperamental characteristics as well as by perceived parental rearing practices. Assumingly. these factors also play a role in becoming a rape victim, which deserves further investigation.

The present study investigated the relationship between offender type and personality in 21 juvenile males adjudicated for crimes of a sexual nature and 30 juvenile males adjudicated for nonsexual offenses including Possession of Narcotics, Burglary, Criminal Mischief, Assault, and other crimes involving property. Subjects who were aged 13 to 17 years (mean age 15) and committed to the State of Connecticut, Long Lane School, were administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent (MMPI-A). Scores on Psychopathic Deviate and Schizophrenia scales contributed most to the juveniles being classified as sex offenders, whereas scores on Hysteria and Psychasthenia contributed primarily to subjects being classified as nonsex offenders. A single discriminant function attained statistical significance, thereby correctly classifying 77% of the nonsex offenders and 71% of the sex offenders. Results indicate that sex offenders may be distinguished from nonsex offenders according to clinical scales of the MMPI-A.

Biographies on Austrian composer Alban Berg related his friendship during his adolescence with an architect named Hermann Watznauer. This man has been regarded to have had a marked influence on Berg's artistry. Although 10 years older than Berg, they became close friends. Watznauer's interest was heightened by his own sad experience at the school where Berg was studying. He was able to deflect his self-destructive behavior into a determination to help boys who were undergoing the same emotional crisis he had had. He saw in Berg these characteristics and this made him initiate the friendship.

Children who grow up without fathers are more likely to become dysfunctional both personally and socially. A document called 'Fatherbook,' based on work with early adolescent boys, has been developed specifically to help fatherless young children begin to constructively resolve the problems of growing up without a father. In creating the 'Fatherbook,' the process will hopefully aid such children to control the tendency to act out their reactions to being fatherless.

Over the past 15 years, we have acquired a more complex understanding of the relational worlds of a socioeconomically and culturally diverse group of adolescent girls as a result of feminist, qualitative research. Yet we currently have little understanding of the relational experiences of an ethnically, socioeconomically, and culturally diverse group of adolescent boys. Using a feminist, voice-centered approach to research, I sought to address this gap by exploring longitudinally the friendships of 19 urban, ethnically diverse adolescent boys from low-income families. Results suggest that as these adolescents boys grow older, they grow increasingly distrustful of their male peers. Furthermore, by their latter-year interviews, the boys spoke about not having close male friends because they did not trust their male peers. Many of the boys, however, yearned for close male friendships and recalled having had such relationships at an earlier age. Using feminist research methods with boys uncovered processes that have rarely been noted in the research literature on adolescent boys.

Stably aggressive adolescent boys with high proportion of self-reported delinquency show minimum pain sensitivity whereas the unstable aggressives show maximum pain sensitivity. At high levels of executive functioning, unstable aggressives report even more pain, while stable aggressives report even less pain. Boys having moderate level of family adversity show more pain. Enhancement in anxiety is related to increase in the pain sensitivity.

The conversations of 186 adolescent boys (13 to 14 years old) and their friends were videotaped and analyzed to understand the processes of influence associated with antisocial behavior. The videotaped discussions were coded with a system that captured the general topics (Normative vs. Rule-Breaking) as well as the reactions of the listener (Laugh vs. Pause). Matching law analyses confirmed a linear relationship between the dyadic rate of Rule-Breaking talk and contingent positive reactions. Sequential analyses revealed a statistically reliable reciprocal pattern between Rule-Breaking talk and Laugh in the delinquent (both boys arrested) dyads, whereas in the mixed (one arrested) and nondelinquent (neither arrested) dyads, reciprocation occurred between Normative talk and Laugh. Longitudinal analyses of the boys' behavior over the ensuing 2 years revealed that the deviancy training sequence was prognostic of increases in self-reported delinquent behavior, even after controlling for prior levels of delinquency. It appears that discussions of deviancy play a critical role in organizing positive affective exchanges, thereby establishing problem behavior as a common ground activity that potentially exacerbates adolescent social maladjustment. These findings are discussed with respect to developmental theory and intervention science.