Attachment--and loss.

Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling (2nd ed.)

Meanwhile, the authors' antidote to the American sicknessa quest for democratic community that draws on our diverse civic and religious traditionshas contributed to a vigorous scholarly and popular debate. Attention has been focused on forms of social organization, be it civil society, democratic communitarianism, or associative democracy, that can humanize the market and the administrative state. In their new Introduction the authors relate the argument of their book both to the current realities of American society and to the growing debate about the country's future. With this new edition one of the most influential books of recent times takes on a new immediacy.\

Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life

“WHAT can men do, what do they do, and what do they want to do ?”—these are the uestions that Prof. Thorndike seeks to answer in a very comprehensive and elaborate treatise. His undertaking is inspired by the belief that man has the possibility of almost complete control of his fate if only he will be guided by science, and that his failures are attributable to ignorance or folly. The main approach is through biological psychology, but all the social sciences are appealed to and utilized in an effort to deal with the human problem as a whole. The relative immaturity of the sciences dealing with man is continually stressed, but it is claimed that they provide a body of facts and principles which are “far above zero knowledge”, and that even now they are capable of affording valuable guidance in the shaping of public policy. Human Nature and the Social Order By E. L. Thorndike. Pp. xx + 1020. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1940.) 18s. net.

Human Nature and the Social Order

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Human Nature and the Social Order.

This study evaluated the factor structure of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) with a diverse sample of 1,248 European American, Latino, Armenian, and Iranian adolescents. Adolescents completed the 10-item RSES during school as part of a larger study on parental influences and academic outcomes. Findings suggested that method effects in the RSES are more strongly associated with negatively worded items across three diverse groups but also more pronounced among ethnic minority adolescents. Findings also suggested that accounting for method effects is necessary to avoid biased conclusions regarding cultural differences in self-esteem and how predictors are related to the RSES. Moreover, the two RSES factors (positive self-esteem and negative self-esteem) were differentially predicted by parenting behaviors and academic motivation. Substantive and methodological implications of these findings for cross-cultural research on adolescent self-esteem are discussed.

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Factor Structure of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale:

As part of the ongoing longitudinal "Arizona Perinatal Acculturation Project" this study of Mexican-American pregnant adolescents sought to determine the effect of traditional Mexican cultural orientation versus US acculturation on risk of psychosocial or health problems during pregnancy. Data were collected via questionnaire from a sample of 141 pregnant Mexican-American women aged 22 or younger (54% born in Mexico 43% single 6% completed high school and 89% received public assistance). The acculturation status scale was based on verbal language ability written language ability country of childhood current friends and pride in Hispanic background. Acculturation stress coping strategies family cohesiveness and family support measures were also scaled and the data were submitted to statistical analysis. Acculturation levels were high for 78 adolescents and low for 63 who were more likely to be older to have fewer relatives living in their homes to be married or have a cohabitating partner and to have "extended" relatives who contributed to immediate family incomes. The more highly acculturated group was substantially more likely (in the past year) to have smoked cigarettes drunk alcohol or smoked marijuana and were more likely to have experienced previous fetal or postnatal death. The acculturated groups also reported more stress resulting from the acculturation process; used more coping strategies; and received greater support from family friends and relatives. The less acculturated adolescents reported however that their families were highly cohesive. Additional research is needed to explore how acculturation and familism work as protective mechanisms or to create vulnerability in pregnant Mexican-American adolescents. Additional acculturation variables also merit exploration as does the predictive value of the degree of acculturation and acculturative stress on risk-taking behavior.

Acculturation and health-related risk behaviors among Mexican American pregnant youth.

The AA. examine the educational and occupational attainment of young women from low-income, Appalachian families who resided in rural areas. Data from a 10-year longitudinal study from 3 southeastern states were examined. Path analysis was used to test relative contribution of family-of-origine, family life-cycle, and social psychological variables as predictors of young women's status attainment. The variables unique to women's attainment (i.e. significant other influence on marriage and fertility plans, actual marriage and fertility plans, age at mariage, number of children, and household size) were not predictive. Several finding were interpreted as resulting from traditional gender-role expectations, family socialization processes, and the structural limitations faced by low-income women from rural areas.

The Process of Educational and Occupational Attainment of Adolescent Females from Low-Income, Rural Families.

This study investigates the cross-cultural validity of a 10-item parental autonomy granting measure with samples of adolescents from the United States, China, Mexico, and India. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis suggested a moderately high degree of cross-cultural equivalence, particularly for the United States and China. Invariance in item loadings was found across samples, with the exception of items assessing freedom regarding career choices and encouragement to participate in family decisions. Correlations between autonomy granting and three criterion factors suggested that, across cultures, parental autonomy granting is associated with higher perceptions of parental support and greater effort exerted in school. Correlations varied in reference to associations between parental autonomy granting and reports of love withdrawal from mothers and fathers. Results also suggested that mean levels of autonomy granting from parents were highest in the U.S. sample and lowest in China. Results provide supp...

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Assessing the Cross-Cultural Validity of a Parental Autonomy Granting Measure Comparing Adolescents in the United States, China, Mexico, and India

This study examined whether early adolescents identified parents or peers as sources of intimacy and influence for developmental choices having both long-and short-term consequences. Short-term choices were adolescents' daily lifestyle preferences for clothing, music, and hairstyles that are important for peer identification, whereas, long-term choices were preferences having more distant consequences in the lives of early adolescents consisting of success in school, sexual involvement, and substance use. A sample of 135 adolescents was surveyed in seventh-grade classrooms about whether parents or peers were sources of influence and intimate relationships. Results provided some evidence that peers (friends) tended to have somewhat greater influence on the broadest array of developmental choices and on short-term (or lifestyle) developmental choices. However, parents tended to have stronger overall influence over adolescents' choices having longer-term developmental consequences. Moreover, early a...

Gary W. Peterson

Papers

Factor Structure of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale:

Acculturation and health-related risk behaviors among Mexican American pregnant youth.

The Process of Educational and Occupational Attainment of Adolescent Females from Low-Income, Rural Families.

Assessing the Cross-Cultural Validity of a Parental Autonomy Granting Measure Comparing Adolescents in the United States, China, Mexico, and India

Who Is More Important for Early Adolescents' Developmental Choices?: Peers or Parents?