Alicia Doyle Lynch

Bio: Alicia Doyle Lynch is an academic researcher from Boston College. The author has contributed to research in topics: Psychology & Adolescent health. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 20 publications receiving 649 citations.

Relations between Housing Characteristics and the Well-Being of Low-Income Children and Adolescents.

Abstract: Extant research has highlighted the importance of multiple characteristics of housing but has not comprehensively assessed a broad range of housing characteristics and their relative contributions to children's well-being. Using a representative, longitudinal sample of low-income children and adolescents from low-income urban neighborhoods (N = 2,437, ages 2-21 years) from the Three-City Study, this study assessed housing quality, stability, type (i.e., ownership status and subsidy status), and cost simultaneously to delineate their unique associations with children's development. Hierarchical linear models found that poor housing quality was most consistently associated with children's and adolescents' development, including worse emotional and behavioral functioning and lower cognitive skills. These associations operated in part through mothers' psychological functioning. Residential instability showed mixed links with functioning, whereas housing cost and type were not consistently predictive. Results suggest that housing contexts are associated with functioning across the developmental span from early childhood through late adolescence, with some differences in patterns by child age.

Adolescent Academic Achievement and School Engagement: An Examination of the Role of School-Wide Peer Culture

Abstract: During adolescence, peer groups present an important venue for socializing school-related behaviors such as academic achievement and school engagement. While a significant body of research emphasizes the link between a youth’s immediate peer group and academic outcomes, the current manuscript expands on this idea, proposing that, in addition to smaller peer groups, within each school exists a school-wide peer culture that is comprised of two components (a relational and a behavioral component), each of which is related to individual academic outcomes. The relational component describes the aggregate of students’ perceptions of the quality of peer relationships within each school. The behavioral component is an aggregate representation of students’ actual behaviors in regard to academic tasks. We used data from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, which surveyed 1,718 5th grade students (45.9 % male, 51.4 % White, 17.8 % Hispanic, 7.6 % African American) in 30 schools, to explore the idea that, during adolescence, the relational and behavioral components of a school’s peer culture are related to students’ academic achievement and school engagement. Results suggested that above and beyond a variety of individual, familial, peer, and school characteristics that have previously been associated with academic outcomes, aspects of behavioral peer culture are associated with individual achievement while components of both relational and behavioral peer culture are related to school engagement. Implications for future research are discussed.

Changes in health risk behaviors for males and females from early adolescence through early adulthood.

Abstract: Objective: We sought to identify (a) the course of changes in smoking, alcohol and marijuana use, violence, and sexual behavior from early adolescence through young adulthood for males and females, (b) points of divergence and convergence for 5 health risk behaviors between males and females, and (c) whether the trajectories of change in health risk behaviors differed for males and females. Method: Data from four waves of the nationally representative National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) followed 18,911 youth from early adolescence through the transition to adulthood (ages13 through 31 years) and were analyzed using zero-inflated negative binomial growth models and logistic growth models. Results: Generally, health risk behaviors steadily increased through adolescence into the early 20s, subsequently leveling off or decreasing. Results indicated early adolescent females were more likely to smoke and have more sexual partners, and 14- and 18-year-old females had higher rates of increase for getting drunk. The majority of findings, however, indicated that adolescent and young adult males engaged in more risk behaviors and were increasingly likely to engage over time. Among youth engaged in health risk behaviors, males reported greater frequency and increases in rates over time for most risk behaviors. Conclusions: We identify several critical groups for health professionals to address: early adolescent females not previously identified as more engaged in health risks; adolescent females "catching up" to male health risks; early and mid-adolescent males shifting into adult patterns of heightened health risk behaviors; and the group of risk-taking males across age groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved). Language: en

In a Different Voice. Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge, MA (Harvard University Press) 1982.

Abstract: Introduction 1. Woman's Place in Man's Life Cycle 2. Images of Relationship 3. Concepts of Self and Morality 4. Crisis and Transition 5. Women's Rights and Women's Judgment 6. Visions of Maturity References Index of Study Participants General Index

Great American city: Chicago and the enduring neighborhood effect

Abstract: Sampson, Robert J. 2012. Great American city: Chicago and the enduring neighborhood effect. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN-13: 9780226734569. pp. 552, $27.50 cloth. Robert J. Sampson’s ...

Group-Based Modeling of Development

Abstract: Find the secret to improve the quality of life by reading this group based modeling of development. This is a kind of book that you need now. Besides, it can be your favorite book to read after having this book. Do you ask why? Well, this is a book that has different characteristic with others. You may not need to know who the author is, how well-known the work is. As wise word, never judge the words from who speaks, but make the words as your good value to your life.

Handbook of positive psychology in schools

Abstract: Understanding the factors that encourage young people to become active agents in their own learning is critical. Positive psychology is one lens that can be used to investigate the factors that facilitate a student's sense of agency and active school engagement. In the second edition of this groundbreaking handbook, the editors draw together the latest work on the field, identifying major issues and providing a wealth of descriptive knowledge from renowned contributors. Major topics include: the ways that positive emotions, traits, and institutions promote school achievement and healthy social and emotional development; how specific positive-psychological constructs relate to students and schools and support the delivery of school-based services; and the application of positive psychology to educational policy making. With thirteen new chapters, this edition provides a long-needed centerpiece around which the field can continue to grow, incorporating a new focus on international applications of the field.