Browsing by Subject "Adolescence"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    The development of a sense of identity during the adolescent period
    (1972) Short, Ann Margaret; Grover, V M; Abramovitz, Arnold
    This study was motivated by an interest in young people which stemmed from working with ordinary high school pupils and not from the academic study of adolescent psychology. In order to find a suitable subject for research I turned to those books which were likely to give a cross-section of the literature in the field, for example, the survey provided by Gottlieb & Reeves (1963) and various books of 'readings' (Seidman, 1953; Bier, 1963; Mussen,,Conger & Kagan, 1965; Grinder, 1969; Gold & Douvan, 1969). This created an impression of a large number of narrow, insulated empirical studies pragmatically ordered according to various dominant 'themes' (e.g., physical and cognitive development, family and peer relations, values, problems, interests) and relatively few isolated 'theoretical' articles. Few of the empirical studies were grounded in theory or attempted to relate their findings to any theoretical framework, while most of the theoretical articles seemed, to be speculative. The empirical research concerning the development of a self-concept during adolescence aroused my interest but much of it also lacked a theoretical framework. It was then suggested that Erik Erikson's theory of identity formation in adolescence might provide a more comprehensive and coherent framework for an empirical investigation.
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    Open Access
    Effectiveness of early interventions for substance-using adolescents: findings from a systematic review and meta-analysis
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2012) Carney, Tara; Myers, Bronwyn
    BACKGROUND: Information on the impact of available interventions that address adolescent substance use and delinquency can inform investment choices. This article aims to identify and evaluate early interventions that target adolescent substance use as a primary outcome, and criminal or delinquent behaviours as a secondary outcome.METHOD:A systematic review of early interventions for adolescent substance use and behavioural outcomes was conducted. RESULTS: We identified nine studies using specific search strategies. All but one of the studies reported the use of brief intervention strategies. Only seven studies contained information which allowed for the calculation of an effect size, and were therefore included in the meta-analysis. The overall effect size for all outcomes combined was small but significant (g=0.25, p<0.001). The overall outcome for substance use was also small but significant (g=0.24, p<0.001). For studies with behavioural outcomes, the overall effect size reached significance (g=0.28, p<0.001). In general, subgroup analysis showed that individual interventions with more than one session had a stronger effect on the outcomes of interest. CONCLUSIONS: Early interventions for adolescent substance use do hold benefits for reducing substance use and associated behavioural outcomes. Interventions are most promising if delivered in an individual format and over multiple sessions. One intervention in particular had large effect sizes. As all the interventions were tested in developed countries, further testing is needed in low- and middle-income countries where there is a lack of research on evidence-based interventions for adolescent risk behaviours. Additional recommendations for policy and practice are provided in this paper.
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    Psychometric properties of the Self-Esteem Questionnaire for South African adolescents
    (2005) Wild, Lauren G; Flisher, Alan J; Bhana, Arvin; Lombard, Carl
    This article describes two studies investigating the reliability and factorial validity of scores on the Self-Esteem Questionnaire (SEQ) for assessing self-evaluations relating to peers, school, family, sports/athletics, body image and global self-worth in South African adolescents. Participants were 900 learners enrolled in Grades 8 and 11 at public schools in Cape Town, and 116 Grades 8 and 11 learners attending independent schools. The results provided general support for the six-factor structure proposed by DuBois, Felner, Brand, Phillips and Lease (1996) and indicated that SEQ scores have good internal consistency and adequate test-retest reliability for English-speaking South Africans. However, minor revisions are needed for all scale scores to have acceptable internal consistency when translated into isiXhosa or Afrikaans.