Showing papers by "Reed W. Larson published in 1991"

Daily companionship in late childhood and early adolescence: changing developmental contexts.

Abstract: The study employs time-sampling data to examine age differences in the quantity and quality of children's and young adolescents' daily experience with their families, friends, and alone. Participants (ages 9-15) carried electronic pagers for 1 week and reported their companionship, location, and affect at random times when signaled by the pagers. Findings show a dramatic decline in amount of time spent with family, with older students reporting half as much time with their families as younger students. Among boys, this family time was replaced by time spent alone; among girls, by time alone and with friends. Affect reported when with family became less positive between the fifth and seventh grade, but was more positive again in the ninth grade for boys. Affect with friends became more favorable across this age period; affect when alone did not vary. These age differences suggest changes in adolescents' daily opportunities for cognitive growth, emotional development, and social support.

Boredom in the Middle School Years: Blaming Schools versus Blaming Students.

Abstract: This article uses time-sampling data to evaluate fifth to ninth graders' experiences of boredom both as a state, related to specific school and nonschool activities, and as a trait, related to individual dispositions that students bring to school. Data come from a study in which 392 youths carried pagers and reported on their activities and emotions at random times over a week when signaled. Results show that, while boredom is reported frequently during schoolwork, it is also prevalent outside school and the same persons report boredom across these contexts. High rates of boredom were correlated with high ability and, when ability is controlled, with oppositional behavior, but not with onset of adolescence. These findings suggest that individual dispositions are an important contributor to boredom. Nonetheless, variations in rates of boredom across school task situations suggest that schools might be structured to reduce, though not eliminate, student boredom.

The Quality of Family Time among Young Adolescents in Single-Parent and Married-Parent Families.

Abstract: The opportunities children have for interaction with, support from, and transmission of values from family members are partly circumscribed by daily patterns of time use and emotional states; therefore, attempts to understand effects of single- and married-parent family life upon children need to take these into account. In a study using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), 396 young adolescents from single-parent and married-parent families carried pagers for one week and reported on their daily activities, companionship, and quality of subjective experience. Findings show that adolescents' overall patterns of time use and subjective experience are similar in single- and married-parent families, although this similarity is achieved by a reorganization of activities within family subsystems. When children in single-parent families are with their mothers, they are more likely to be engaged in instrumental tasks than are children in married-parent families; when with their fathers, they are more likely to be engaged in discretionary activities. Youth in single-parent families perceive both their mothers and fathers as more friendly than do youth in married-parent families.