Merrill-Palmer Quarterly
Volume 48 No. 1
Abstracts
Lehman, S. J., & Koerner, S. S. (2002). Family financial hardship and adolescent girls'
adjustment: The role of maternal disclosure of financial concerns. Merrill-Palmer
Quarterly, 48, 1-24.
Abstract:
The primary purpose of the present study was to assess whether maternal disclosure of financial
concerns is related to difficulties in adolescent daughters' adjustment and whether such
disclosure acts as a mediator in the relationship between family financial hardship and adolescent
daughters' adjustment in a sample of 62 adolescent girls and their recently divorced mothers.
Descriptive analyses revealed that the majority of participating mothers have disclosed their
financial concerns to their adolescent daughters but vary with respect to the amount of detail they
offer. Regression analyses revealed a positive direct relationship between family financial
hardship and girls' psychological distress. In addition, family financial hardship was indirectly
related to girls' psychological distress through maternal disclosure of financial concerns.
Findings are discussed in terms of their relevance and significance for developmental
psychologists, counselors, and parent educators.
Thorkildsen, T. A., Reese, D., & Corsino, A. (2002). School ecologies and attitudes about
exclusionary behavior among adolescents and young adults. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly,
48, 25-51.
Abstract:
Diverse samples of adolescents (n = 643) and young adults (n = 474) reported on how often they
observed exclusionary behavior, how much they disapproved of such behavior, whether
exclusion influenced their social and academic adjustment, and their academic grades and
college plans. Perceptions of exclusion in school ecologies were distinguished from attitudes
about exclusion and age-related differences were apparent. Among adolescents, norms apparent
in school ecologies reflected concern with safety, achievement, social activism, and elitism.
Attitudes reflected concerns with censorship, ambition, and the preservation of group boundaries.
Among young adults, there were no common perceptions of school ecologies or attitudes toward
exclusion. These findings offer definition to young people's awareness of whether exclusion
promotes harm and feelings of disengagement in educational settings.
Estell, D. B., Cairns, R. B., Farmer, T. W., & Cairns, B. D. (2002). Aggression in inner-city
early elementary classrooms: Individual and peer-group configurations. MerrillPalmer Quarterly, 48, 52-76.
Abstract:
While recent investigations suggest that subtypes of aggressive youth differentially experience
social support for problem behavior, little work has examined if this holds for younger children.
This study examined the classroom social structure and social functioning of inner-city African
American early elementary school children. Ninety-two (53 boys, 39 girls) 1st graders from two
inner-city schools were followed for two years. Configural analysis uncovered considerable
heterogeneity in the relationships among overt aggression, popularity, and social network
centrality. Two subsets of aggressive students were identified, one marked by high social
prominence, the other by low levels of popularity. Peer groups marked by the behavioral
similarity of constituent members were identified, and changes in affiliation patterns over time
indicated selection criteria.
Brendgen, M., Vitaro, F., Doyle, A. B., Markiewicz, D., & Bukowski, W. M. (2002). Samesex peer relationships and romantic relationships during early adolescence:
Interactive links to emotional, behavioral, and academic adjustment. Merrill-Palmer
Quarterly, 48, 77+.
Abstract:
It was examined whether early adolescents' involvement in a romantic relationship would be
differentially related to adjustment, depending on their relations with the same-sex peer group.
Three hundred and twelve 7th graders were assessed with respect to their social acceptance by
same-sex peers, involvement in reciprocal same-sex friendships, involvement in romantic
relationships, self-esteem, antisocial behavior, and academic performance. Social acceptance by
other-sex peers and involvement in reciprocal other-sex friendships were also assessed for
control purposes. The results showed that having a boyfriend/ girlfriend was related to poorer
emotional and behavioral adjustment for those early adolescents who were unpopular among
same-sex peers. For adolescents who were popular among same-sex peers, romantic involvement
was not related to emotional and behavioral adjustment. Independently of same-sex peer
acceptance, however, romantic involvement was negatively related to academic performance,
albeit only for girls. The results are discussed in light of Sullivan's theory of social development.