Michel Claes

Developmental trajectories of boys' delinquent group membership and facilitation of violent behaviors during adolescence

Being part of a delinquent group has been shown to facilitate the expression of an individuals own delinquent propensities. However, this facilitation effect has not been investigated from a developmental perspective within a population heterogeneity model. Using a semiparametric mixture model with data from the Montreal Longitudinal Experimental Study, this article addresses important issues in the developmental trends of membership to delinquent groups. We explore how the rate of violent behaviors follows delinquent peer group trajectories and investigate a differential facilitation effect of delinquent peers on violence across multiple developmental pathways. Results suggest that 25% of males followed a childhood or an adolescence delinquent group affiliation trajectory. These two groups account far most of the violent acts assessed during adolescence. In addition, the rate of violent behaviors follows these developmental trajectories. Controlling for these delinquent group trajectories, we also found that being involved in a delinquent group at any specific time during adolescence is associated with an increased rate of violent behaviors, and that leaving these groups results in a decrease in violent behaviors. This facilitation effect appears homogeneous over time and across developmental trajectories. Results are discussed from a social interactional perspective.

Friendship and personal adjustment during adolescence.

A questionnaire evaluating the friendship network, the expectations towards friends, the level of intimacy and attachment with friends, as well as the presence of conflicts with friends, was administered to 349 adolescents. The sample consisted of both males and females, age ranging from 12 to 18 years. Subjects were also given various personal adjustment indices that were obtained from the Offer Self Image Questionnaire. The results demonstrate that there are small differences in the friendship network across age and gender. Analysis of the qualitative aspects of friendship are generally constant with respect to age, but demonstrate marked differences with respect to gender: girls expect more from their friends than boys and their level of attachment and intimacy with friends is greater. The results also indicate that the number of friends in the network is not significantly correlated with the personal adjustment variables. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the quality of attachment maintained with friends and the absence of conflict experiences in friendship account for a low but significant proportion of the score variance obtained from the personal adjustment scale. The possibility to confer personal problems and the preoccupations to friends seems beneficial for the acquisition of adaptive behavior. Deficiencies in communication with friends or confrontation experiences and feelings of alienation are related to some forms of maladaptive behavior.

Heavy Metal Music and Adolescent Suicidal Risk

This study probes the differentiating characteristics (family relationships, social–psychological attitudes, drug use, and suicidal risk) of youth who prefer heavy metal (HM) music, worship music, and use music for vicarious release. Data analysis was based on a sample of 275 secondary school students between the ages of 14 and 18. Logistic regressions revealed that HM music preference and worshipping is not significantly related to suicidal risk when controlling for other risk factors. These findings were found for both boys and girls. Surprisingly, the use of music for vicarious release was inversely related to suicidal risk for girls. These findings are discussed within the framework of Arnetts alienation theory (Arnett, J. (1991). J. Youth Adolesc. 20(6): 573–592) and Roes uses-gratification theory (Roe, K. (1995). J. Youth Adolesc. 24(5): 617–631) regarding adolescent socialization and media purposes.

Adolescents' Closeness with Parents, Siblings, and Friends in Three Countries: Canada, Belgium, and Italy

This study compared interpersonal relationships of adolescents from Canada, Belgium, and Italy. The sample of 377 subjects was composed almost equally of boys and girls, grouped into three age groups ranging from 11 to 18 years. Each subject participated in a semistructured interview designed to examine the levels of closeness with the mother, father, siblings, and close friends. The study revealed important discrepancies among the adolescents from the three countries. Family was found to occupy a more central role in the relational world of Italian adolescents, whereas friends were found to occupy a more important place for Canadian youth. Belgian adolescents were found to adopt a middle position between these two extremes. Variations in cultural context and cultural practices are explored as a possible interpretation of these differences. The study also revealed significant consistencies across the three countries: the importance of friends in the relational life of adolescents, the privileged position of the mother in the family, and the distant position of the father.

Parental practices in late adolescence, a comparison of three countries: Canada, France and Italy

The objective of this study was to examine parental practices, such as affection, control and conflict, in three countries: Canada, France and Italy. The sample was composed of more than 900 late adolescents with an average age of 17 years, from three large cities: Montreal, Paris and Rome. Participants answered a self-report questionnaire that assessed five measures: emotional bonds with the father and mother, parental supervision, tolerance towards friends, punitiveness for violation of rules, and conflict frequency. Analyses of the results indicated that the country of origin discriminated for most of the parental practice dimensions. Canadian adolescents considered their parents to be more tolerant and rated them as using less punitive measures when rules were broken. Canadian parents also seemed to adopt comparable norms for boys and girls, which could be interpreted as a form of sexual egalitarianism, whereas Italian and French parents appeared less tolerant towards girls. Italian adolescents reported strong emotional bonds with each parent, and also identified more conflicts in their relationships with parents. French adolescents reported weaker emotional bonds with each parent and less parental supervision. Results were interpreted in the light of studies that have reported an influence of cultural background on both parental practices and parental decisions in each of these countries.

Friendship Characteristics of Delinquent Adolescents

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to compare the main friendship characteristics of delinquent adolescents and non-delinquents. The results were collected by a questionnaire given to a group of 92 delinquents who were in a delinquent shelter and 352 non-delinquent adolescents in high school. The questionnaire systematically examined the network and nature of friendships: the level of attachment and intimacy with friends and the possible presence of conflicts. The comparative analysis identified a certain number of differences. Delinquents have more friends and more friends of the opposite sex than non-delinquents. The history of friendships indicates the process of marginalisation of friendships for delinquent adolescents. Whereas the majority of non-delinquent subjects make their friends in school, delinquents make their friends outside of school and commit a great number of antisocial acts with these friends. The study did not find differences in the level of attachment or the degree of intimacy ...

Personality traits, music preferences and depression in adolescence.

ABSTRACT This six-month longitudinal study was conducted with 311 adolescents and verifies: (1) if music preferences can predict depression; (2) if personality traits can predict music preferences; (3) if music listening can represent a protective factor against depression. Results indicate that Soul music listening (e.g., hip hop, R&B) is a predictor of lower depression levels in adolescent girls. Personality dimensions from the Big Five reveal various predictive relations with music preferences, for instance Openness predicts music eclecticism. Soul music listening is a moderator of the predictive relationship between Neuroticism and depression levels in adolescent girls, thus pointing to a possible protective effect. Research paths for studies on music and adolescent development, personality traits, and evolutionary psychology are succinctly discussed.

Adolescents' Relationships with Members of the Extended Family and Non-related Adults in Four Countries: Canada, France, Belgium and Italy

ABSTRACT This study examines the relationships that adolescents from Canada (province of Quebec), France, Belgium, and Italy have with members of their extended family and non-related adults in their social milieu. The sample of 593 subjects was composed of boys and girls from three age groups, ranging from 11 to 18 years. In each country, subjects came from a large city (Montreal, Brussels and Rome) or from a small city of less than 30,000 inhabitants. Three types of information were gathered: the number of people identified as significant, the frequency of contacts with these people, and their principal roles and functions. In the four countries, adolescents identified a number of people whom they considered to be significant within their extended family. The roles played by these people were mainly within the emotional realm. Adolescents identified few significant non-related adults. These adults came mainly from outside of school, and acted primarily as mentors. In the European countries, particularly in Italy, contacts with members of the extended family were frequent, almost weekly. Intergenerational relationships were structured differently in Europe than in Canada, where they were closer and contacts were more frequent.

Musical preferences and depression in adolescence

ABSTRACT This study investigates the links between musical preferences (metal, soul, electronic, pop, and classical) and depression in adolescence. Research participants were 329 adolescents (179 girls and 150 boys) from Montreal (Canada). Analyses controlled for state anxiety, drug use, academic problems, importance given to lyrics, and time spent listening to music per week. In adolescent girls, preference for metal music was linked with higher depression levels, whereas preferences for soul music and pop music were linked to lower depression levels. The links between musical preferences and depression levels were not significant in boys. The five musical preferences were not associated with an episode of clinical depression in adolescence. Theoretical explanations for the influence of music on depression in adolescence are further discussed.

L’étude scientifique de l’adolescence : d’où venons-nous, où allons-nous ?

Resume Cet article entreprend une reflexion sur la conception contemporaine de l’adolescence dans le cours de l’existence humaine, en examinant l’evolution historique de la psychologie scientifique de l’adolescence depuis les premiers travaux de Stanley Hall qui ont profondement marque la vision de l’adolescence au cours du XXe siecle. Meme si la seconde partie du XXe siecle est caracterisee par l’emergence de grandes theories explicatives, c’est l’accumulation de travaux empiriques examinant des aspects specifiques du developpement qui a permis l’eclosion progressive de l’etude scientifique de la seconde decennie de l’existence comme champ specifique. La psychologie de l’adolescence offre aujourd’hui un champ privilegie pour l’etude de questions-cles qui logent au cœur du developpement humain. En effet, les travaux recents ont permis diverses avancees theoriques qui ont mis l’accent sur la plasticite du developpement humain et la necessite d’aborder le developpement dans une perspective qui prenne en compte les realites genetiques, les particularites psychologiques individuelles et le contexte social et culturel.