Recent evidence has suggested that aggressive boys demonstrate a bias toward attributing hostility to peers in unwarranted circumstances. This study explored two aspects of cognitive processing that might be related to attributional bias: speed of decision making and selective recall of hostile cues. Groups of aggressive and nonaggressive boys at three age levels participated in a detective game in which the task was to accumulate evidence in order to decide whether or not a peer had acted with benevolence or hostility. Aggressive boys were found to respond more quickly and with less attention to available social cues than nonaggressive boys. Aggressive boys also overattributed hostility to peers in unwarranted circumstances, but only when they responded quickly. This restriction suggested that training aggressive boys to respond more slowly could lead to fewer biased attributions on their part. Selective recall was also related to biased attributions, for both groups of boys. This suggested that training boys to recall all cues nonselectively could reduce the frequency of their biased attributions. The results are discussed in terms of a cognitive model of aggressive behavior. Because of the correlational nature of this study, the conclusions are stated as tentative. Recently, researchers have suggested that biases in children's social perceptions may act as mediators of deviant interpersonal aggressive behavior. Nasby, Hayden, and DePaulo (1980), for example, found that institutionalized aggressive boys display an attributional bias toward interpreting social cues from others as displays of hostility, even when the cues were meant to be benign. Similarly, Dodge (1980) found that in reaction to an ambiguously intended frustrating event, aggressive boys responded behaviorally as if the peer instigator had malevolently intended the act, whereas nonaggressive boys responded as if the peer had acted benignly. In a second study, Dodge also found that aggressive boys were more likely to attribute hostility to peers in ambiguous situations than nonaggressive boys were. The importance of this attributional bias in understanding interpersonal behavior is reflected in the work of Kelley and Stahelski (1970), who demonstrated in a different context that such attributional biases could lead to interpersonal conflicts that perpetuate the biased judgments. Support for this research was provided by a grant from the Spencer Foundation. The authors would like to acknowledge the support of administrators and teachers of the Monroe County Community School Corporation and the individual contributions of Cynthia Frame, Bryan Burke, and Scott Robbins.
BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence suggests a close association between early sexual maturation (SM) and obesity in girls and female adults. Earlier maturing girls are more likely to be obese than nonearly maturers. However, limited research has been conducted in boys. OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence of early SM on fatness in boys and compare it with girls, and to test the hypothesis that the associations differ by gender because of the differences in growth and SM patterns in boys and girls. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS: One thousand five hundred one girls and 1520 boys (aged 8-14 years) who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey survey (1988-1994) and had complete anthropometry (weight, height, skinfold thickness) and SM data. METHODS: Based on each individual's age and SM status (Tanner stages: genitalia stages for boys and breast stages for girls), the subjects were classified as: 1) early maturers (those who reached a certain Tanner stage earlier than the median age for that stage), and 2) the others (average and later maturers). Overweight was defined as a body mass index (BMI) > or =85th percentile, and obesity > or =95th percentile. Logistic regression analysis was to test how early maturation affected the risks for overweight and obese. Using multiple linear regression models, the associations between fatness (BMI and skinfold thickness) and SM were systematically examined. Covariates including age, ethnicity, residence, family income, energy intake, and physical activity were adjusted. RESULTS: Early SM was positively associated with overweight and obesity in girls, but the associations were reverse for boys. The prevalence of overweight in early maturers versus the others was 22.6% versus 31.6% in boys and 34.4% versus 23.2% in girls; the figures for obesity were 6.7% versus 14.8% and 15.6% versus 8.1%, respectively. Odd ratios and 95% confidence intervals for obesity were 0.4 (0.2, 0.8) for boys and 2.0 (1.1, 3.5) for girls, and covariates were adjusted. Most significant differences in overweight and obesity among ethnic groups disappeared after controlling for SM. Fatness (BMI and skinfold thickness) was associated with SM stages and with early maturation in boys and girls, but the associations were in opposite directions. Compared with their counterparts, early maturing boys were thinner, whereas early maturing girls were fatter. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity is associated with sexual maturation in both boys and girls, but the association differs. There is positive association in girls, but a negative one in boys. Maturation status should be taken into consideration when assessing child and adolescent obesity.
Purpose: This study aims to analyze and compare selected physical fitness, physiological, and psychological variables among boys from government, government- aided, and private schools in the Chennai district. The purpose is to understand how different school environments impact these variables and to provide insights that can inform policy and practice in physical education and health promotion. Methodology: A sample of 300 boys aged 12-15 years was selected through stratified random sampling, with 100 boys from each school type (government, government-aided, and private schools). Physical fitness was measured using the Fitness Gram test battery, physiological variables such as BMI, resting heart rate, and blood pressure were assessed using standard clinical procedures, and psychological variables were evaluated using the Rosenberg Self- Esteem Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale. Data were analyzed using ANOVA to compare the means across the three school types, with post-hoc tests conducted to identify specific group differences. Conclusion: The study found significant differences in physical fitness, physiological health, and psychological well-being among boys from different types of schools. Boys from private schools exhibited better physical fitness and lower stress levels compared to their peers in government and government-aided schools. These findings highlight the influence of socio-economic factors and access to resources on students' health and suggest the need for targeted interventions in government and government- aided schools to improve physical and psychological well- being among students.
Mixed longitudinal data on the physical changes at puberty in 228 normal boys are presented together with normal standards for stages of genital and pubic hair development. The genitalia began to develop between the ages 9½ years and 13½ years in 95% of boys (mean = 11.6 ± 0.09) and reached maturity at ages varying between 13 and 17 (mean = 14.9 ± 1.10). The age at which pubic hair first appeared was not accurately determined, but its development through the later stages was studied. It reached the equivalent of an adult female distribution at a mean age of 15.2 ± 0.01 years. On average the genitalia reached the adult stage 3.0 years after they first began to develop; but some boys completed this development in as little as 1.8 years while others took as much as 4.7 years. Some boys complete the whole process in less time than others take to go from Stage G2 to Stage G3. The genitalia begin to develop before pubic hair is visible in photographs in practically all boys. The 41 boys in whom it could be studied reached their maximum rate of growth (peak height velocity) at a mean age of 14.1 ± 0.14 years. Very few boys (about 5%) reached peak height velocity before their genitalia were in Stage 4 and over 20% did not do so until their genitalia were adult. Peak height velocity is reached, on the average, nearly 2 years later in boys than in girls, but the boys9 genitalia begin to develop only about 6 months later than the girls9 breasts. Pubic hair appears about 1½ years later in boys than in girls.
COIE, JOHN D., and KUPERSMIDT, JANIS B. A Behavioral Analysis of Emerging Social Status in Boys' Groups. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1983, 54, 1400-1416. 4 fourth-grade boys, each different social status types-rejected, popular, neglected, and average--met in play groups once a week for 6 weeks. 5 groups were of boys from the same classroom, and 5 of the boys were from 4 different schools. Within 3 sessions, social status in the groups was highly correlated with school-based status for boys from both familiar and unfamiliar groups. Observations of behavior coded from videotapes revealed significant distinctive patterns of social interaction for the social status types. Rejected boys were extremely active and aversive, but no more physically aversive than average boys, although group members perceived rejected boys as starting fights. Popular boys engaged in more norm setting and were more prosocial in the unfamiliar groups. Although neglected boys were the least interactive and aversive, they were more visible and active in the unfamiliar group and seemed most affected by the new social context. The findings underscore the importance of distinguishing between behaviors associated with the emergence of social status in contrast to those associated with the maintenance of social status.
BACKGROUND: Effective ways to prevent arthropathy in severe hemophilia are unknown. METHODS: We randomly assigned young boys with severe hemophilia A to regular infusions of recombinant factor VIII (prophylaxis) or to an enhanced episodic infusion schedule of at least three doses totaling a minimum of 80 IU of factor VIII per kilogram of body weight at the time of a joint hemorrhage. The primary outcome was the incidence of bone or cartilage damage as detected in index joints (ankles, knees, and elbows) by radiography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). RESULTS: Sixty-five boys younger than 30 months of age were randomly assigned to prophylaxis (32 boys) or enhanced episodic therapy (33 boys). When the boys reached 6 years of age, 93% of those in the prophylaxis group and 55% of those in the episodic-therapy group were considered to have normal index-joint structure on MRI (P=0.006). The relative risk of MRI-detected joint damage with episodic therapy as compared with prophylaxis was 6.1 (95% confidence interval, 1.5 to 24.4). The mean annual numbers of joint and total hemorrhages were higher at study exit in the episodic-therapy group than in the prophylaxis group (P<0.001 for both comparisons). High titers of inhibitors of factor VIII developed in two boys who received prophylaxis; three boys in the episodic-therapy group had a life-threatening hemorrhage. Hospitalizations and infections associated with central-catheter placement did not differ significantly between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Prophylaxis with recombinant factor VIII can prevent joint damage and decrease the frequency of joint and other hemorrhages in young boys with severe hemophilia A. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00207597 [ClinicalTrials.gov].).
We hypothesized that results of previous investigations indicating an increased prevalence of reading disability in boys compared with girls reflected a bias in subject selection. In an epidemiologic sample of 215 girls and 199 boys, we identified two groups of reading-disabled children: research identified and school identified. Results indicated no significant differences in the prevalence of reading disability in research-identified boys compared with research-identified girls in either second (17 [8.7%] of 196 boys; 15 [6.9%] of 216 girls) or third grade (18 [9.0%] of 199 boys; 13 [6.0%] of 215 girls). In contrast, school identification resulted in the classification of 27 (13.6%) of 198 boys and seven (3.2%) of 216 girls in second grade and 20 (10.0%) of 199 boys and nine (4.2%) of 215 girls in third grade. Our data indicate that school-identified samples are almost unavoidably subject to a referral bias and that reports of an increased prevalence of reading disability in boys may reflect this bias in ascertainment. These findings caution against relying solely on schools for identification of reading-disabled children. (<i>JAMA</i>. 1990;264:998-1002)
This study examined subtypes of popular 4th-6th grade boys (N = 452). Popular-prosocial (model) and popular-antisocial (tough) configurations were identified by means of teacher ratings and compared with peer and self-assessments and social centrality measures. Peers perceived model boys as cool, athletic, leaders, cooperative, studious, not shy, and nonaggressive. Peers perceived tough boys as cool, athletic, and antisocial. Model boys saw themselves as nonaggressive and academically competent. Tough boys saw themselves as popular, aggressive, and physically competent. Tough boys were disproportionately African American, particularly when African Americans were a minority in their classrooms. Model and tough boys were overrepresented at nuclear social centrality levels. These findings suggest that highly aggressive boys can be among the most popular and socially connected children in elementary classrooms.
Statistics show that black males are disproportionately in and being suspended from the nation's school systems. Based on three years of participant observation research an elementary school, Bad Boys offers richly textured account of daily interactions between teachers and students to understand this serious problem. Ann Arnett Ferguson demonstrates how group of eleven- and twelve-year-old males are identified by school personnel as bound for and how the youth construct sense of self under such adverse circumstances. The author focuses on the perspective and voices of pre-adolescent African American boys. How does it feel to be labeled unsalvageable by your teacher? How does one endure school when the educators predict one's future as a jail cell with your name on it? Through interviews and participation with these youth in classrooms, playgrounds, movie theaters, and video arcades, the author explores what getting into trouble means for the boys themselves. She argues that rather than simply internalizing these labels, the boys look critically schooling as they dispute and evaluate the meaning and motivation behind the labels that have been attached to them. Supplementing the perspectives of the boys with interviews with teachers, principals, truant officers, and relatives of the students, the author constructs disturbing picture of how educators' beliefs in natural difference of black children and the criminal inclination of black males shapes decisions that disproportionately single out black males as being at risk for failure and punishment.Bad Boys is powerful challenge to prevailing views on the problem of black males in our schools today. It will be of interest to educators, parents, and youth, and to all professionals and students in the fields of African-American studies, childhood studies, gender studies, juvenile studies, social work, and sociology, as well as anyone who is concerned about the way our schools are shaping the next generation of African American boys.Anne Arnett Ferguson is Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies and Women's Studies, Smith College.
Statistics show that black males are disproportionately getting in trouble and being suspended from the nation's school systems. Based on three years of participant observation research at an elementary school, Bad Boys offers a richly textured account of daily interactions between teachers and students to understand this serious problem. Ann Arnett Ferguson demonstrates how a group of eleven- and twelve-year-old males are identified by school personnel as "bound for jail" and how the youth construct a sense of self under such adverse circumstances. The author focuses on the perspective and voices of pre-adolescent African American boys. How does it feel to be labeled "unsalvageable" by your teacher? How does one endure school when the educators predict one's future as "a jail cell with your name on it?" Through interviews and participation with these youth in classrooms, playgrounds, movie theaters, and video arcades, the author explores what "getting into trouble" means for the boys themselves. She argues that rather than simply internalizing these labels, the boys look critically at schooling as they dispute and evaluate the meaning and motivation behind the labels that have been attached to them. Supplementing the perspectives of the boys with interviews with teachers, principals, truant officers, and relatives of the students, the author constructs a disturbing picture of how educators' beliefs in a "natural difference" of black children and the "criminal inclination" of black males shapes decisions that disproportionately single out black males as being "at risk" for failure and punishment. Bad Boys is a powerful challenge to prevailing views on the problem of black males in our schools today. It will be of interest to educators, parents, and youth, and to all professionals and students in the fields of African-American studies, childhood studies, gender studies, juvenile studies, social work, and sociology, as well as anyone who is concerned about the way our schools are shaping the next generation of African American boys. Ann Arnett Ferguson is Assistant Professor of Afro-American Studies and Women's Studies, Smith College.
OBJECTIVE: Both scientific research and popular attention have begun to focus on the neglected issue of body image in boys. We reviewed the findings of this emerging literature. METHOD: Using computer and manual search techniques, we located 17 studies that assessed body image attitudes in boys under age 18. RESULTS: We located 17 studies, most performed within the last 10 years. Eight studies used exclusively questionnaires or interviews; the rest also used figure drawings from which the subjects could choose specific images in answer to questions. Although boys generally displayed less overall body concern than girls, many boys of all ages reported dissatisfaction with their bodies, often associated with reduced self-esteem. Whereas girls typically wanted to be thinner, boys frequently wanted to be bigger. However, most studies failed to distinguish between "bigness" due to increased muscle and that due to fat. CONCLUSIONS: Body image dissatisfaction in boys is common and often associated with distress. To better assess this phenomenon, future studies should take care to separate the indices of muscle and fat.
3 studies are reported which assess the nature and limits of a known bias on the part of aggressive boys to overattribute hostile intentions to peers. The first study determined that this bias is restricted to attributions of a peer's behavior toward an aggressive boy, and not to attributions of a peer's behavior toward a second peer. Biased attributions were implicated as a direct precedent to aggressive responses. The second study assessed the role of selective attention to and recall of hostile social cues in the formation of a biased attribution. It was found that selective recall of hostile cues did lead to a biased attribution, but that selective recall did not fully account for the attributional differences between aggressive and nonaggressive boys. Also, specific deficits in recall by aggressive boys were identified. The third study involved naturalistic observation of the peer-directed aggressive behaviors of boys in a controlled setting. It was found that the biased attributions of aggressive boys may have some basis in their experience, in that they were frequently the targets of peers' aggressive behavior. Their own aggressive behavior toward peers, however, occurred at a much higher rate than the rate at which they were the targets of aggression. These findings led to the formation of a social-information-processing model of aggressive behavior.
BACKGROUND: Little is known about the sex-specific effects of cigarette smoking on the level and growth of lung function in adolescence, when 71 percent of people in the United States who smoke tried their first cigarette. METHODS: We studied the effects of cigarette smoking on the level and rate of growth of pulmonary function in a cohort of 5158 boys and 4902 girls 10 to 18 years of age, examined annually between 1974 and 1989 in six cities in the United States. RESULTS: We found a dose-response relation between smoking and lower levels of both the ratio of forced expiratory volume in one second to forced vital capacity (FEB1/FVC) and the forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75 percent of FVC (FEF25-75). Each pack per day of smoking was associated with a 3.2 percent reduction in FEF25-75 for girls (P=0.01) and a 3.5 percent reduction in FEF25-75 for boys (P=0.007). Whereas the FVC level was elevated in smokers, the rate of growth of FVC and FEV1 was reduced. Among adolescents of the same sex, smoking five or more cigarettes a day, as compared with never smoking, was associated with 1.09 percent slower growth of FEV1 per year in girls (95 percent confidence interval 0.70 to 1.47) and 0.20 percent slower growth in boys (95 percent confidence interval, -0.16 to 0.56), and with 1.25 percent slower growth of FEF25-75 per year in girls (95 percent confidence interval 0.38 to 2.13) and 0.93 percent slower growth in boys (95 percent confidence interval, 0.21 to 1.65). Whereas girls who did not smoke reached a plateau of lung function at 17 to 18 years of age, girls of the same age who smoked had a decline of FEV1 and FEF25-75. CONCLUSION: Cigarette smoking is associated with evidence of mild airway obstruction and slowed growth of lung function in adolescents. Adolescent girls may be more vulnerable than boys to the effects of smoking on the growth of lung function.
Book synopsis: This book examines aspects of 'young masculinities' that have become central to contemporary social thought, paying attention to psychological issues as well as to social policy concerns. Centring on a study involving in-depth exploration, through individual and group intererviews, the authors bring to light the way boys in the early years of secondary schooling conceptualise and articulate their experiences of themselves, their peers and the adult world. The book includes discussion of boys' aspirations and anxieties, their feelings of pride and loss. As such, it offers an unusually detailed set of insights into the experiential world inhabited by these boys - how they see themselves, how girls see them, what they wish for and fear, where they feel their 'masculinity' to be advantageous and where it inhibits other potential experiences. In describing this material, the authors explore questions such as the place of violence in young people's lives, the functions of 'hardness', of homophobia and football, boys' underachievement in school, and the pervasive racialisation of masculine identity construction. \n \nYoung Masculinities will be invaluable to researchers in psychology, sociology, gender and youth studies, as well as to those devising social policy on boys and young men.
The growth of every human fetus is constrained by the limited capacity of the mother and placenta to deliver nutrients to it. At birth, boys tend to be longer than girls at any placental weight. Boy's placentas may therefore be more efficient than girls, but may have less reserve capacity. In the womb boys grow faster than girls and are therefore at greater risk of becoming undernourished. Fetal undernutrition leads to small size at birth and cardiovascular disorders, including hypertension, in later life. We studied 2003 men and women aged around 62 years who were born in Helsinki, Finland, of whom 644 had hypertension: we examined their body and placental size at birth. In both sexes, hypertension was associated with low birth weight. In men, hypertension was also associated with a long minor diameter of the placental surface. The dangerous growth strategy of boys may be compounded by the costs of compensatory placental enlargement in late gestation. In women, hypertension was associated with a small placental area, which may reduce nutrient delivery to the fetus. In men, hypertension was linked to the mothers' socioeconomic status, an indicator of their diets: in women it was linked to the mothers' heights, an indicator of their protein metabolism. Boys' greater dependence on their mothers' diets may enable them to capitalize on an improving food supply, but it makes them vulnerable to food shortages. The ultimate manifestation of their dangerous strategies may be that men have higher blood pressures and shorter lives than women.
Honorable Mention, 2014 Eduardo Bonilla-Silva Outstanding Book Award presented by the Society for the Study of Social Problems2012 Best Book Award, Latino/a Sociology Section, presented by the American Sociological Association2012 Finalist, C. Wright Mills Book Award presented by the Study of Social ProblemsA classic ethnography that reveals how urban police criminalize black and Latino boysVictor Rios grew up in the ghetto of Oakland, California in the 1980s and 90s. A former gang member and juvenile delinquent, Rios managed to escape the bleak outcome of many of his friends and earned a PhD at Berkeley and returned to his hometown to study how inner city young Latino and African American boys develop their sense of self in the midst of crime and intense policing. Punished examines the difficult lives of these young men, who now face punitive policies in their schools, communities, and a world where they are constantly policed and stigmatized.Rios followed a group of forty delinquent Black and Latino boys for three years. These boys found themselves in a vicious cycle, caught in a spiral of punishment and incarceration as they were harassed, profiled, watched, and disciplined at young ages, even before they had committed any crimes, eventually leading many of them to fulfill the destiny expected of them. But beyond a fatalistic account of these marginalized young men, Rios finds that the very system that criminalizes them and limits their opportunities, sparks resistance and a raised consciousness that motivates some to transform their lives and become productive citizens. Ultimately, he argues that by understanding the lives of the young men who are criminalized and pipelined through the criminal justice system, we can begin to develop empathic solutions which support these young men in their development and to eliminate the culture of punishment that has become an overbearing part of their everyday lives
This article draws on new social-scientific research on masculinity to develop a framework for understanding gender issues in the education of boys. Gender is constructed within institutional and cultural contexts that produce multiple forms of masculinity. Normally one form is hegemonic over others. Schools are active players in the formation of masculinities. Schools’ overall gender regimes typically reinforce gender dichotomy, though some practices reduce gender difference. Masculinizing practices are concentrated at certain sites: curriculum divisions, discipline systems, and sports. Pupils are also active in constructing masculinities. Pupil cultures commonly emphasize heterosexual relationships and construct gender hierarchies. Boys take up the offer of gender privilege in diverse ways, ranging from protest masculinity to anti-sexism. The goals of educational work with boys include pursuing knowledge, improving relationships, and pursuing justice. Programs may be either gender-specific or gender-relevant. Experiential methods have been most common, but are vulnerable to disruption; other methods are being explored. The main groups who shape the process of change—the pupils, their parents, their teachers, and social movements—have divided interests. Yet their interaction, plus pressure from the wider world, is likely to produce growing educational attention to issues about boys and masculinity.
This research evaluates the contributions of three dimensions of appearance culture (appearance magazine exposure, appearance conversations with friends, and peer appearance criticism) and body mass index (BMI) to internalization of appearance ideals and body image dissatisfaction. Four hundred thirty-three girls and 347 boys in Grades 7 through 10 responded to several measures on a self-report questionnaire. The results of path analyses indicated that Internalization mediated the relationship between Appearance Conversations With Friends and Body Dissatisfaction for both boys and girls. In addition, Internalization, Peer Appearance Criticism, and BMI made direct contributions to Body Dissatisfaction for boys and girls, although the strength of the relationships varied by gender. The proposed mediated relation between Appearance Magazine Exposure and Body Dissatisfaction was confirmed only for the girls. The findings provide needed information about the contributions of the peer appearance culture to internalization and body image disturbances for adolescent boys and girls.
This longitudinal study of adolescent girls and boys examined the contributions of social (peer appearance context), psychological (internalized appearance ideals and appearance social comparison), and biological (body mass) factors to the development of body dissatisfaction. Students (165 girls and 139 boys) completed questionnaires when they were either in 7th grade or 10th grade and again 1 year later. The results for the boys revealed a singular pathway to body dissatisfaction through internalized commitment to muscularity ideals. The prospective analyses of change in body dissatisfaction among the girls reflected the contributions of appearance conversations with friends, appearance social comparisons, and body mass. There was no evidence of mediation among the boys and limited support for it among the girls.
Theory and research on sex differences in adjustment focus largely on parental, societal, and biological influences. However, it also is important to consider how peers contribute to girls' and boys' development. This article provides a critical review of sex differences in several peer relationship processes, including behavioral and social-cognitive styles, stress and coping, and relationship provisions. The authors present a speculative peer-socialization model based on this review in which the implications of these sex differences for girls' and boys' emotional and behavioral development are considered. Central to this model is the idea that sex-linked relationship processes have costs and benefits for girls' and boys' adjustment. Finally, the authors present recent research testing certain model components and propose approaches for testing understudied aspects of the model.