Correlates of verbally aggressive communication in adolescents

This investigation identifies demographic, media, and social correlates of verbally aggressive communication in adolescence. Mail surveys were completed and returned by 2,300 adolescents between the ages of 13 and 15. These adolescents were asked about the prevalence of verbal and physical aggression, the context in which it occurred, demographics, and the interpersonal and media influences in their lives. The results indicate that verbal aggression is widespread, that committing and experiencing verbal aggression is largely reciprocal, that there is a strong relationship between committing verbal and physical aggression, and that peer social influence and listening to violently oriented music are mildly related to verbal aggression in adolescents. These findings suggest more resources should be allocated to teaching adolescents to understand and control verbal aggression. Further, they provide important answers to many prevention and intervention programmatic questions, including context, content, and targeting concerns. Since the negative consequences of verbal aggression are severe and long lasting, decreasing this destructive communication behavior should significantly improve the lives of many adolescents. These and other practical implications are expanded upon and discussed.     

Among the eminent,the aspiring,and the young: A short history of new world writing

New World Writing, a magazine founded by New American Library in 1952, quickly became an important vehicle for liberal intellectual and literary thought. In addition to providing an outlet for new writing, the magazine became an important acquisitions tool for NAL. Throughout its lifetime, New World Writing remained a showcase for many of the finest writers of the 1950s, including Christopher Isherwood, Louis Auchincloss, Tennessee Williams, Flannery O’Connor, Jack Kerouac, and Gore Vidal. He is the author of Under Cover: An Illustrated History of American Mass Market Paperbacksand Heavy Traffic and High Culture: The New American Library as Literary Gatekeeper. He is working on a study of American literary agents     

Adolescent Stress and Management Strategies: Some Lessons for Schooling and Society

The research discussed in the present paper, set out to find how a sample of Singaporean adolescents perceived and managed different sources of stress. The sample totalled 212 pre-university students with equal numbers of boys and girls, and a mean age of 17 years 5 months. The students attended a number of junior colleges in the republic, with the sample ethnicity reflecting national proportions. Measures of stress included Behaviour Profile, Life Events, School Stress Factors, Home-School Stress Conditions and Stress Symptoms. All measures were administered as questionnaires.

The results showed that several features of Type A behaviour emerged and that school examinations, job aspirations, school work and homework were the principal stressors. Fear of the unexpected, exhaustion and lack of concentration were the most quoted stress symptoms. Science students appeared to be more stressed than arts students.

Among the main management strategies employed by these adolescents at home, were listening to music, reading and exercise, while stress in school was managed through self control, self-sufficiency and sharing problems with peers. In the main, most students seemed to be able to cope by adapting to stressful situations as they arose at a particular time.

Some of the more important implications of the above findings are discussed in the context of schooling in Singapore and in the wider context of society.