This study examined associations among early adolescent romantic relationships, peer standing, problem behaviors, and gender as a moderator of these associations, in a sample of 320 seventhgrade students. Popular and controversial status youth were more likely to have a romantic partner, whereas neglected status youth were less likely to have a romantic partner. Similarly, youth perceived as conventional and unconventional leaders were also more likely to have a romantic partner than were non-leaders. Youth who had a romantic partner drank more alcohol and were more aggressive than were youth who did not have a romantic partner. Among those youth who had romantic partners, those who reported having more deviance-prone partners were themselves more likely to use alcohol and to be more aggressive, and those who engaged in deviant behavior with their partners used more alcohol. However, these associations varied somewhat by gender. These findings underscore the salience of early romantic partner relationships in the adjustment of early adolescents. Keywords romantic relationships; dating; peer relations; problem behaviors; early adolescenceThe importance of peer affiliations for adolescents' adjustment has been well established (Kupersmidt & Dodge, 2004). Peers provide a context in which adolescents can explore new roles, experiment with different identities, and learn about intimate relationships outside of the family (Sharp, Coatsworth, Darling, Cumsille, & Ranieri, 2007). Although peers may serve many positive functions, several studies have shown that affiliation with problem-prone friends is a strong predictor of a youth's own involvement in problem behaviors (Pratt & Cullen, 2000;Warr, 2002). Furthermore, susceptibility to the influences of peers is particularly high during early adolescence (Urberg, Luo, Pilgrim, & Degirmencioglu, 2003). NIH Public AccessAuthor Manuscript J Early Adolesc. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 January 13. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptDuring adolescence, affiliations with romantic partners emerge as new, salient relationship contexts. Recent studies suggest that not only are adolescents' romantic relationships more common and less transitory than previously believed but that these relationships relate to many aspects of adolescents' development (Florsheim, 2003;Furman & Shaffer, 2003). Furthermore, early adolescent romantic interests appear to unfold from existing peer affiliations (Connolly, Craig, Goldberg, & Pepler, 2004). However, there has been only limited study of links between peer affiliations and romantic relationships, particularly in early adolescence when such mixedgender affiliations are emerging. Furthermore, although there is evidence for associations between peer deviance and problem behaviors in the broader peer group, less is understood about how romantic relationships during early adolescence may be related to engagement in problem behaviors. This study brings together these peer and romantic relation...

Key Points Question Is parental incarceration associated with increased odds of offspring receiving psychiatric diagnoses during young adulthood and experiencing obstacles that can derail a successful transition to adulthood (eg, in health, legal, financial, and social domains)? Findings This cohort study, using data from a community-representative, longitudinal study, found that parental incarceration was associated with young adults’ increased odds of having an anxiety disorder, having a felony charge, spending time in jail, not completing high school, becoming a parent when younger than 18 years, and being socially isolated. Meaning The findings suggest that parental incarceration is associated with offspring’s functional outcomes during young adulthood.

The current study involved an examination of the impact of a peer-led substance use intervention program on the peer leaders beyond the substance use-related goals of the intervention. Specifically, unintended consequences of an adult-sanctioned intervention on the targeted peer leader change agents were investigated, including whether their participation affected their peer status, social influence, or self perceptions. Twenty-two 7th grade peer-identified intervention leaders were compared to 22 control leaders (who did not experience the intervention) and 146 cohort peers. Three groups of measures were employed: sociometric and behavioral nominations, social cognitive mapping, and leadership self-perceptions. Results indicated that unintended consequences appear to be a legitimate concern for females. Female intervention leaders declined in perceived popularity and liked most nominations over time, whereas males increased in total leader nominations. Explanations for these results are discussed and further directions suggested.

In adolescent social groups, natural peer leaders have been found to engage in more frequent experimentation with substance use, and to possess disproportionate power to affect the behavior and social choices of their associated peer followers. In the current exploratory study, we used sociometrics and social cognitive mapping to identify natural leaders of cliques in a seventh grade population and invited the leaders to develop anti-drug presentations for an audience of younger peers. The program employed social-psychological approaches directed at having leaders proceed from extrinsic inducements to intrinsic identification with their persuasive products in the context of the group intervention process. The goals of the intervention were to induce substance resistant self-persuasion in the leaders and to produce a spread of this resistance effect to their peer-followers. To test the intervention, we compared the substance use behaviors of the selected leaders and their peers to a control cohort. The study found preliminary support that the intervention produced changes in the substance use behavior among the leaders who participated in the intervention, but did not detect a spread to non-leader peers in the short-term. This descriptive study speaks to the plausibility of employing self-persuasion paradigms to bring about change in high risk behaviors among highly central adolescents. In addition, it highlights the viability of applying social psychological principles to prevention work and calls for more research in this area.