This Unit will study the transitions of adolescence with special focus on the development of cognitive expectations, self-concepts, and social competence of minority youth in urban and rural settings. This Unit continues a program of research initiated in the initial settings. This Unit continues a program of research initiated in the initial grant period. We have found contrary to popular and scientific stereotype that minority youth in severely depressed, high-crime rate areas show patterns of social and cognitive competence similar in proportion and type to those found in more advantaged populations. The phenomenon holds for both inner-city and rural minority youth, and for males and females. In this extension of the work, we propose to examine in depth the course of the development of patterns of competence during adolescent transitions. To this end, we propose to examine the links between cognitive constructions of the self and measures of adaptation beyond the self, and how these constructions of the self and identity are linked to social and academic adaptation at the successive stages of development. We will also critically evaluate the mechanisms that mediate relations between self-constructions and social adaptations. The goal is to better understand the roles played by social context, families, social networks, and self-identify in the development of competence and healthy behaviors in youth as they are becoming adults. Two research projects are described, both of which address the social and cognitive development of youth in inner-city circumstances. One project Urban 200-continues the accelerated longitudinal design initiated in the first project period in Birmingham, AL. This research involves four cohorts of children-adolescents who have been tracked annually for four years, extending from the first grade through post-high school. A second project uses a parallel accelerated longitudinal research design, but it focuses on the transitions from early adolescence to adolescence to late adolescence. This work continues the studies initiated in Durham, NC, in the first five years of the Center. in summary, the five aims of this work are: 1. To determine whether a reasonably homogeneous subset of minority children and adolescents may be identified who share a configural profile of high adaptive competence. 2. To track these subsets of females and males over a three-year period in order to plot the developmental trajectory of their self-construction, social networks, and cognitive and social adaptations. 3. To explore age-related developmental shifts in the correspondence between the cognitive beliefs and behaviors. 4. To examine the development of ethnic identify from middle childhood through late adolescence and its role as a protective factor in enhancing the healthy adaptation of minority youth or, conversely, as a factor that challenges conventional adaptation. 5. To conduct a multi-level assessment to examine the factors related to academic competence in youth. Peer affiliations have been presumed to serve as a protective mechanism enhancing school engagement and the development of cognitive competence. 6. To define what constitutes everyday adaptation and adjustment for urban youth. We suspect that the majority of youth are fulfilling the day-to-day adaptational requisites of their environments, and thus will illustrate competence in their daily functioning.
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