The current investigation cross-nationally examined the relationship between adolescent reports of family or parenting processes and a series of developmental outcomes in a sample of adolescents (N 5 8,417) from Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. Based on confirmatory factor analyses and tests of scalar equivalence, results suggest that the Adolescent Family Process Measure (AFP), which assesses maternal and paternal closeness, support, monitoring, communication, conflict, and peer approval, was valid and reliable for males, females, middle adolescents, and late adolescents in all four national contexts. In addition, based on model-free LISREL analyses, findings suggested that the relationships between these family processes and measures of adolescent externalizing (alcohol use, drug use, school misconduct, and total deviance) and internalizing (anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and low well-being) behaviors were similar cross-nationally. Findings are discussed in terms of their importance for the conceptualization and measurement of family and parenting processes.In the current investigation, three important gaps in the literature were addressed. First, consistent with a recent call issued by Gray and Steinberg (1999;Steinberg, 2001) to ''unpack'' the most frequently studied parenting typologies (e.g., authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive; Baumrind, JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, 13(2), 129-160

The generality of a multilevel factorial model of social competence (SC) for preschool children was tested in a 5-group, multinational sample (N = 1,540) using confirmatory factor analysis. The model fits the observed data well, and tests constraining paths for measured variables to their respective first-order factors across samples also fit well. Equivalence of measurement models was found at sample and sex within-sample levels but not for age within sample. In 2 groups, teachers' ratings were examined as correlates of SC indicators. Composites of SC indicators were significantly associated with both positive and negative child attributes from the teachers' ratings. The findings contribute to understanding of both methodological and substantive issues concerning SC in young children.

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Studies have demonstrated the positive impacts of both parent and adolescent religiosity on adolescent outcomes; however, the relationships among these variable have not been studied. Our study was conducted to assess whether adolescent religiosity mediates the relationship between parent religiosity and adolescent emotional and behavioral health outcomes. A sample of 491 late adolescents ages 18-22 completed surveys that assessed their parents' religious practices, their own religious practices, deviant behaviors, and internalizing behaviors. Findings suggest that adolescent religiosity mediates the relationship between parents' religiosity and adolescent health outcomes such as drug and alcohol use and depression.

Based on the conceptual argument that the European apprenticeship might explain cross-national variability in adolescent adjustment, the current investigation tested the relationships between mentoring experiences, namely joint activities with mentors as well as perceived mentoring behaviors by unrelated adults in the work setting, and measures of both psychosocial competencies (job skills, self esteem, and well-being) and measures of adjustment (alcohol use, drug use, and deviance). Data were collected from n = 2735 Swiss apprentices and n = 368 U.S. part-time employees who attended high school. Findings provide evidence that perceived mentoring behaviors by unrelated adults in the work setting in both developmental contexts were associated with both psychosocial competencies and adjustment indicators. Contrary to the idea that the European apprenticeship may provide a unique “protective” developmental experience for youth in comparison with U.S. adolescents who work part-time, adolescents in both contexts benefited equally from good mentoring experiences.