A
LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF THE TRANSITION FROM CHILDHOOD INTO ADOLESCENCE
WHAT WE ARE ABOUT
The
Family Life Project is a study of the transition from childhood into
adolescence. The study is funded by the National Institute of Mental
Health and will last through 2006. The first part of the study includes
1,700 youth from 12 middle schools in Knox County. These youth completed
questionnaires during school and then had a pizza party. The second
part involves 400 of these youth who presently live with two parents.
We focus on several aspects of youth adjustment: behavior at home
and school, academic achievement, and emotional well-being. We ask
youth, parents, and teachers to give us their thoughts about the youth’s
adjustment. We also ask parents and youth to complete questionnaires
that ask about various aspects of family life – parenting, the
marital relationship and how parents share parenting tasks, and parent’s
emotional well-being. We also ask for information about the youth’s
friendships and their feelings about school. In addition to completing
questionnaires, families in the study also complete a discussion activity
that involves parents and the youth discussing various issues about
family life. These discussions are videotaped and then coded using
a system developed at Iowa State called the Iowa Family Interaction
Rating Scales. One of the major contributions of this project willbe
a greater understanding of how youth change as they move through middle
school and what affects these changes. This information will be useful
to parents and teachers as they each care for and educate early adolescent
youth.
2101
TERRACE
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 37916
PHONE (865) 974-8308
FAX (865) 974-8306
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