Using a structured dilemma-discussion interview procedure, we presented 90 middle-class adolescents age 11-19 (45 boys and 45 girls) with eight hypothetical dyadic interpersonal dilemmas to assess the interpersonal negotiation strategies (INSs) they suggested using to resolve interpersonal problems. Each dilemma focused on the way a protagonist could deal with a significant other in a dyadic context. Responses were scored using an integrated structural developmental (four levels) by functional (four information processes) model of social-cognitive development. In addition, the eight dilemmas were constructed to systematically vary with respect to three contextual factors. It was hypothesized that INS level would be higher for older subjects and female subjects, and would be moderately associated with IQ. In addition, it was predicted that the level of negotiation would vary systematically with variation in contextual factors. In addition, the results provided information relevant to the thesis put forth by Sullivan (1953) that adolescence is a period for the consolidation of collaborative approaches to interpersonal relationships.

This study uses an ecological framework to examine how adolescents’ perceptions of school climate in 6th grade covary with the probability and frequency of their engagement in problem behaviors in 7th and 8th grades. Tobit analysis was used to address the issue of having a highly skewed outcome variable with many zeros and yet account for censoring. The 677 participating students from 8 schools were followed from 6th through 8th grade. The proportions of students reporting a positive school climate perception decreased over the middle school years for both genders, while the level of problem behavior engagement increased. The findings suggested that students who perceived higher levels of school discipline and order, or more positive student–teacher relationships were associated with lower probability and frequency of subsequent behavioral problems.

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This study examines the relation between the developmental social-cognitive capacity for interpersonal negotiation and both parental-risk and adolescent-outcome variables in 172 adolescents 11 to 19 years of age. The sample was divided into two groups: those at risk because of affective disorder in one or both of their parents and a comparison group whose parents have never experienced affective illness. Adolescents' interpersonal negotiation strategy (INS) levels were negatively associated with the duration of parental affective illness (and with associated lower socioeconomic status and marital discord). INS level significantly predicted adolescents' adaptive social functioning (AFR) even after controlling for age, sex, intelligence, number of adolescent diagnoses, and parental-risk factors. Two additioaal patterns were found in the risk group: adolescents with both high AFR and high INS, and adolescents who have disturbed functioning despite high INS, These findings are consistent with a risk model in which social-cognitive capacity mediates between parental disorder and adaptive child behavior, and they suggest the importance of assessing children at risk with a developmental measure of relational capacity to complement the more traditional diagnostic and behavioral outcome measures.Recently, a number of studies of children and adolescents in families in which the parents have diagnosable affective disorder have been conducted using structured diagnostic interviews with both parent and child that are scored according to criterion diagnostic systems (e.g., Beardslee, Keller, & Klerman, 1985;Weissman, Prusoff, & Gammon, 1984;Welner & Garrison, 1985). These studies concur in demonstrating high rates of diagnosable psychopathology in the children of parents with affective illness, particularly, high rates of major depression, the disorder of many of their parents. Another important outcome that tends to be impaired in these children is adaptive functioning, their current behavior in relationships and activities (Beardslee, 1986;Keller et a!., 1986). In addition to the simple presence of affective disorder in the parents, severity and chronicity of parental illness, marital discord, and low social status are associated with higher rates of both mental disorder and impairment in adaptive functioning in the children (Keller et ah, 1986).Less, however, is understood of how developmental processes

While American educators fret about the mediocre educational performance of American students in international contests (e.g. the Program for International Student Assessment) and wonder why the Chinese education system produces such high-achieving students, educators, journalists, and public officials in China want to know what causes and how to prevent the high levels of academic stress that Chinese students, their families, and their school systems experience. So far, much of the blame for these toxic levels of stress has been directed to the Gaokao, the Chinese national college entrance exam that takes place in June each year. But to date, top-down Chinese educational reforms have been ineffective in reducing the problem. In this article, we build a case for strengthening bottom-up efforts at the school level in China and propose an evidence-based approach for addressing the challenge of academic stress experienced by Chinese students.