Peer group dynamics associated with iatrogenic effects in group interventions with high-risk young adolescents.
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Adolescent↗
Biomedical subjects
T J Dishion
Publications and source records attributed to T J Dishion.
Aggression toward female partners by at-risk young men: the contribution of male adolescent friendships.
Deviancy training was examined as a risk factor for physical and psychological aggression toward a female partner among boys and young men in the Oregon Youth Study. Hostile talk about women during videotaped male friendship interactions was hypothesized to indicate a process by which aggression toward women is reinforced within male peer networks. Both antisocial behavior and hostile talk were predicted to be associated with later aggression toward a female partner. Prospective developmental models were tested from 9-10 years of age through young adulthood. Findings indicated that the relation of deviant peer association in adolescence and later aggression toward a partner was mediated by antisocial behavior; observed hostile talk about women with male peers explained additional variance in aggression toward a partner.
Adolescent↗
Adolescent growth in new forms of problem behavior: macro- and micro-peer dynamics.
Longitudinal data from an at-risk sample were used to analyze individual linear trend scores for each of three new forms of problem behavior that emerges during the interval from age 10 through 18 years. Growth in substance use, health-risking sexual behavior and police arrests defined a latent construct for growth in adolescent problem behavior. A structural equation model (SEM) showed a significant path from early involvement with deviant peers to a latent construct for growth in new forms of antisocial behavior. A second SEM showed that the contribution of early involvement to later growth was mediated by a latent construct for deviancy training assessed at age 14 years. The relative rates of reinforcement for deviancy, amount of time spent with deviant peers, and deviancy level of the peer network defined a deviancy training construct that accounted for 53% of the variance in later growth in new forms.
Adolescent↗
Cross-setting consistency in early adolescent psychopathology: deviant friendships and problem behavior sequelae.
This study examines adult reports of externalizing and internalizing psychopathology at home and school in a sample of 224 high-risk adolescent boys and girls (average age 12 years). Four groups of young adolescents were defined, based on the consistency of the teacher and parent Child Behavior Checklist reports: normal, internalizing, externalizing only, and comorbid. Group comparisons revealed the comorbid and externalizing groups were more engaged in a deviant peer group and were observed in higher levels of deviancy training with their friends, compared to other young adolescent groups. In general, elevated levels of arrest, drug use, and sexual promiscuity were associated with cross-setting consistency in externalizing disorders. Comorbid youth, however, showed the highest levels of sexual promiscuity in middle adolescence, compared to all other groups. These findings are consistent with a developmental account of adolescent maladjustment and suggest that emotional disturbance in early adolescence might exacerbate youth vulnerability, especially to deviancy training within friendships.
Adolescent↗
When interventions harm. Peer groups and problem behavior.
This article explored developmental and intervention evidence relevant to iatrogenic effects in peer-group interventions. Longitudinal research revealed that "deviancy training" within adolescent friendships predicts increases in delinquency, substance use, violence, and adult maladjustment. Moreover, findings from 2 experimentally controlled intervention studies suggested that peer-group interventions increase adolescent problem behavior and negative life outcomes in adulthood, compared with control youth. The data from both experimental studies suggested that high-risk youth are particularly vulnerable to peer aggregations, compared with low-risk youth. We proposed that peer aggregation during early adolescence, under some circumstances, inadvertently reinforces problem behavior. Two developmental processes are discussed that might account for the powerful iatrogenic effects.
Adolescent↗
Model building in developmental psychopathology: a pragmatic approach to understanding and intervention.
Proposes model building as a pragmatic and integrative approach to developmental psychopathology. The model-building process is iterative within a program of research, cycling through the following phases of research: theory, field observation, construct definition, measurement development, construct analysis, model testing, experimental field trials, and model revision. Research on the development of and interventions for antisocial behavior is discussed as a tool for reflecting on the model-building process. The ecological framework is offered as a science-based heuristic that integrates various levels of analysis and theoretical perspectives.
Adolescent↗
Parental monitoring and the prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior: a conceptual and empirical formulation.
The present report accomplishes three goals. First, to provide an empirical rationale for placing parental monitoring of children's adaptations as a key construct in development and prevention research. Second, to stimulate more research on parental monitoring and provide an integrative framework for various research traditions as well as developmental periods of interest. Third, to discuss current methodological issues that are developmentally and culturally sensitive and based on sound measurement. Possible intervention and prevention strategies that specifically target parental monitoring are discussed.
Adolescent↗
The analysis of intervention change in children and families: methodological and conceptual issues embedded in intervention studies.
This article provides an overview of methodological and conceptual issues underlying the assessment of change during psychotherapy with children and families. Three central considerations are discussed: (1) What changes do we measure? (2) When do we measure change? (3) How do we measure change? The difficulties with the traditional methods of assessing change are highlighted, and suggestions for a new paradigm that calls for expansion of the nomological network relevant to the analysis of change, as well as the inclusion of more assessment points and more reliable and valid measures of the change process, are presented. Illustrations of key points are provided from the Adolescent Transitions Program, a theoretically based intervention program targeting high-risk youth.
Adolescent↗
Parent monitoring and the incidence of drug sampling in urban elementary school children.
An epidemiologic study of urban-dwelling children aged 8-10 years in Baltimore, Maryland, was undertaken to test the hypothesis that close monitoring and supervision by parents might signal a reduced risk of drug use in the elementary school years. Drug use, monitoring by parents, peer drug use, and other suspected risk factors for early drug use were first assessed in 1989, identifying 947 children with no prior history of drug use. One year later, 4.2 percent of these children were found to have started using alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs on their own for the first time during the follow-up observation interval. Risk of starting drug use was higher for children with lower levels of parent monitoring (relative risk = 4.39, 95% confidence interval 1.48-13.0). In addition, for children with declining levels of parent monitoring, there was an increased risk of starting to use drugs on their own.
Baltimore↗
Preventing escalation in problem behaviors with high-risk young adolescents: immediate and 1-year outcomes.
The study tested alternative intervention strategies to reduce escalation in problem behaviors among high-risk young adolescents (11 to 14 years old). A total of 158 families with young adolescents (male and female) participated in this study. Of these, 119 families were randomly assigned to 1 of the following intervention conditions: (a) parent focus, (b) teen focus, (c) parent and teen focus, (d) self-directed change (materials only). In addition, 39 families of young adolescents were recruited as a quasi-experimental control. Parent focus and teen focus interventions resulted in immediate beneficial effects in observed and reported family conflict. The parent intervention conditions showed immediate beneficial effects on behavior problems at school. Longitudinal trends suggest that the parent focus condition may reduce subsequent tobacco use, compared with all other approaches. Interventions that aggregated high-risk youths into groups, however, showed the highest escalations in tobacco use and problem behavior at school, beginning at termination and persisting to follow-up. These findings are discussed with respect to the need to re-evaluate strategies that aggregate high-risk youths into intervention programs and focus more on strategies to engage parents in prevention.
Adolescent↗
Antisocial boys and their friends in early adolescence: relationship characteristics, quality, and interactional process.
This study examines the close friendships of early adolescent boys in relation to antisocial behavior. 186 13-14-year-old boys and their close friends were interviewed, assessed at school, and videotaped in a problem-solving task. Similarity was observed between the demographic characteristics and antisocial behavior of the boys and their close friends. There was a tendency for the close friends of antisocial boys to live within the same neighborhood block and to have met in unstructured, unsupervised activities. Direct observations of interactions with close friends revealed a reliable correlation between antisocial behavior, directives, and negative reciprocity. Positive interactions within the friendship were uncorrelated with antisocial behavior and relationship quality. Implications of these findings for clinical and developmental theory are discussed.
Adolescent↗
The family ecology of boys' peer relations in middle childhood.
The association between boys' peer relations, their antisocial behavior, academic skill deficit, and family ecology was examined with 2 cohorts of boys and their families (N = 206) who were interviewed, observed in the home, and assessed in school. Group comparisons revealed that rejected boys experienced poorer family management practices (i.e., monitoring and discipline practices), showed more family stress, were of lower socioeconomic status, and displayed more behavioral and academic problems than did their average peers. Correlational analyses provided similar results and showed good replication across the 2 cohorts. The hypothesis was tested that the effect of poor parent discipline on peer rejection was mediated by the boys' antisocial behavior and academic skill deficits. Structural equation analyses indicated that the mediated effect model provided a better fit to the data than did the direct effect model. The findings were discussed in relation to the need for longitudinally examining the role of parenting processes and child behavior in peer rejection at different points in development.
Achievement↗
Parent and peer factors associated with drug sampling in early adolescence: implications for treatment.
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Adolescent↗
Adolescent marijuana and alcohol use: the role of parents and peers revisited.
The present study focuses on the role of deviant peers, parent child-rearing practices, and parent alcohol use in the initiation of marijuana and alcohol use during adolescence. Composite measures of Deviant Peers and Parental Monitoring were used that incorporate both the parents' and child's report of these variables as well as the parents' report of their own alcohol use and the adolescent's report of marijuana and alcohol use. Multiple regression analyses incorporating Parental Monitoring, Mother Alcohol Use, and Deviant Peers as independent variables revealed significant standardized b coefficients for Deviant Peers predicting alcohol use, and both Parental Monitoring and Deviant Peers predicting marijuana use. A profile analysis showed that delinquent drug users had lower parental monitoring and more deviant peers than nondelinquent drug users or abstainers. However, a group of youngsters were identified who reported some substance use but were not antisocial; these youngsters resembled abstainers in respect to the degree that they were monitored by parents and exposed to deviant peers. Taking these results into consideration, along with longitudinal studies on adolescent delinquency and adult alcoholism, it is hypothesized that adolescent delinquency and drug use are outcomes of disrupted family processes and exposure to deviant peers, and that adolescents who are both antisocial and use drugs may be at higher risk for eventual substance abuse.
Adolescent↗
Skill deficits and male adolescent delinquency.
The research literature on juvenile delinquency shows that antisocial adolescents are often lacking in academic, interpersonal, and work skills. Past research on antisocial adolescents has focused primarily on the relationship between single skill deficits and official delinquency. The present report extends this body of literature by investigating the relationship between seven measures of skill and official and self-reported delinquency in a nonclinical sample of 70 white male adolescents. Youths classified as delinquent on the basis of prior police contact had a lower multivariate profile on seven measures of academic, interpersonal, and work skills. Five of the seven measures correlated significantly with both the official and self-reported criteria of delinquency. Academic skill deficits may be the strongest covariates of antisocial behavior.
Achievement↗
Boys who fight at home and school: family conditions influencing cross-setting consistency.
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Adolescent↗
A multilevel approach to family-centered prevention in schools: process and outcome.
The Adolescent Transitions Program (ATP) is a multilevel approach to family-based interventions within a middle-school setting. The intervention strategy is based on an ecological framework for studying social and emotional development in children and adolescents, emphasizing a network of contextual factors within which parenting is both directly and indirectly influential on the development of problem behavior. The ATP model includes a universal, selected, and indicated strategy for serving families with young adolescents. The model is designed to address the needs of families of young adolescents that present with a range of problem behavior and diverse developmental histories. The three interventions levels are described, and outcome data are presented, that support the effectiveness of the ATP model. This approach and the associated data are consistent with a broad literature supporting the effectiveness of family interventions, especially for high-risk youth. The effective implementation of family interventions within a school context suggests that these interventions can make a significant contribution to reducing problem behavior and substance use from a public health perspective.
Adolescent↗