The current study examined the joint effects of stress, social support, and self-esteem on adjustment to university. First-year undergraduate students (N = 115) were assessed during the first semester and again 10 weeks later, during the second semester of the academic year. Multiple regressions predicting adjustment to university from perceived social support (friends and family), self-esteem (academic, social, and global), and stress were conducted. From the fall to winter semesters, increased social support from friends, but not from family, predicted improved adjustment. Decreased stress predicted improved overall, academic, personal-emotional, and social adjustment. Increased global, academic, and social self-esteem predicted decreased depression and increased academic and social adjustment. Results are discussed with respect to potential mechanisms through which support and self-esteem may operate.

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The current study examined the joint contributions of pubertal maturation, parental monitoring, involvement in older peer groups, peer dating, and peer delinquency on dating in a sample of early adolescent boys and girls. The sample consisted of 784 adolescents (394 boys, 390 girls) enrolled in grades 5, 6, and 7 who were followed for one year. In addition to measures of pubertal maturation and parental monitoring, adolescents and their peer group members completed indices of dating and delinquency. Average dating and delinquency scores for each participant's peer group network were computed. Results indicated that it was the combination of pubertal maturation, peer delinquency, and peer dating that explained increases in early dating. For boys only, parental monitoring was a significant predictor. The more knowledgeable parents were about their boys' activities, the lower the number of dating activities reported. These results highlight the importance of considering the joint effects of these biological and social predictors in understanding early dating. When rapid changes occur in all three domains, early dating is most likely to ensue. The findings of this study have practical importance. Parents and professionals who work closely with youth should attend to the special vulnerability of early maturing adolescents in the face of peer pressure and to the important role of parental monitoring in regulating dating activities.

Objective: To determine whether adolescents' use of aggressive media is a risk for dating violence victimization and perpetration, considering extensiveness across media types (TV, movies, music, magazines, Internet) and persistence over 3 years. Method: On three occasions, 1 year apart, 238 boys and 246 girls (mean age 15.06 years) with romantic partners completed measures of media aggression, dating violence-tolerant attitudes, and victimization and perpetration of dating violence. Two models were tested: cumulative risk of extensive and persistent use and mediational role of attitudes. Results: Findings support the cumulative risk of extensive aggressive media usage on dating violence victimization and perpetration across three waves. Violence-tolerant attitudes fully mediated the longitudinal pathway between aggressive media use and perpetration and partially mediated the pathway for victimization. Conclusion: Findings indicate that aggressive media increases the incidence of dating violence over 3 years and is mediated by its effect on adolescents' attitudes about violence. Analyzing this effect for victimization and perpetration, the findings demonstrate the widespread effect of the media and have important implications for dating violence theories. The focus of dating violence prevention on youths' attitudes regarding violence is supported with the recommendation to include media awareness training in the curricula.