This study examines how high school boys' and girls' academic effort, in the form of math coursetaking, is influenced by members of their social contexts. The authors argue that adolescents' social contexts are defined, in part, by clusters of students (termed "local positions") who take courses that differentiate them from others. Using course transcript data from the recent Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement Study, the authors employ a new network algorithm to identify local positions in 78 high schools in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Incorporating the local positions into multilevel models of math coursetaking, the authors find that girls are highly responsive to the social norms in their local positions, which contributes to homogeneity within and heterogeneity between local positions.The adolescent is choosing how to invest time, and … the choices depend greatly on the social system surrounding them. (Coleman 1996, p. 346) This study examines how high school boys' and girls' academic effort, in the form of mathematics coursetaking, is influenced by their social contexts. The literature on sociology of education has established how adolescent coursetaking is influenced by schools' decisions and resource allocations (e.g., Natriello, Pallas, and Alexander 1989;Hallinan 1991;Useem 1992). Other sociologists have described education, independent of the school's function as a social institution, in terms of status attainment, arguing that adolescents and young adults are influenced by their parents' education, occupations, and aspirations (Sewell and Hauser 1976;Steelman and Powell 1991). Complementing status attainment theory, standard economic models directly address parents' motivations for investing in their children for long- (Adelman 1999). But, as implied by Coleman's quote in the epigraph above, while adolescents may be influenced by adults, including school faculty, administrators, and parents, they may also respond to their peers in making short-and longterm educational decisions (see also Sizer 1984;Crosnoe, Cavanagh, and Elder 2003; RiegleCrumb, Farkas, and Muller 2006). In this article we examine how an adolescent may be influenced in particular by the cluster of students with whom she takes courses-which we term the local position. NIH Public AccessWe focus specifically on effort in the domain of math coursetaking for four reasons. First, math has gained increasing attention in the popular press (e. Simpkins, Davis-Kean, and Eccles 2006) for its potential contributions to society. Second, math is an important gateway to other advanced courses and college entry and therefore to pursuing human capital (Sells 1973;Adelman 1999;Simpkins et al. 2006;Sadler and Tai 2007). Third, math has long been a key to the social organization of the school, as it is used to delineate academic tracks (Stevenson, Schiller, and Schneider 1994;Gamoran and Hannigan 2000;Lucas and Good 2001). Fourth, although math coursetaking has been the focus of considerable empirical study, ...

Schools create environments in which some sexual feelings, behaviors, and relationships are stigmatized, and this may have negative consequences for adolescents with nonheterosexual romantic attractions. This stigma can lead them to withdraw and disengage from school at a critical time of preparation for adulthood, which can compromise opportunities for future success. Previous research has demonstrated that sexual minority youth report greater levels of school-related problems, including a weaker sense of attachment to school and more trouble with teachers and peers. This lack of social integration is likely to affect their educational success. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the newly collected Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement study provide the first opportunity to fully explore whether and to what extent same-sex attracted youth enter adulthood with an educational disadvantage. In this study, we examine (1) whether samesex attracted adolescents have lower levels of academic success, (2) if their lower academic success is explained by a lack of social integration at school, and (3) whether these relationships differ for boys and girls. Results suggest that same-sex attracted students, particularly boys, do suffer academically, and that this is in part a result of school-related problems and risk factors such as emotional distress and substance use; however, a great deal of the disadvantage fails to be explained by these factors. Additionally, while same-sex attracted boys show poorer academic performance, same-sex attracted girls do not, suggesting that gender may shape how sexual minority youth experience and respond to marginalizing school environments Keywords adolescence; sexual minority youth; same-sex attraction; academic achievement; school attachment Adolescence is a time of emerging sexuality as well as a period of preparation for the transition to adulthood. A great deal of this developmental work takes place within schools, important socializing institutions that prepare adolescents for adult roles and postsecondary education. As a proximate site of a broader normative culture that legitimizes some sexualities and deems others deviant, schools can create an unwelcoming environment for students with nonheterosexual feelings, identities, or behaviors. Adolescents who experience same-sex NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript romantic attractions may have a difficult time during this period as they weigh their feelings against a system of social norms that silences them and labels them as different.The stigmatization faced by these students can lead to social withdrawal and isolation. Indeed, adolescents with same-sex attraction report poorer attitudes toward school and more trouble with teachers and peers (Rostosky et al. 2003; Russell, Seif, and Truong 2001). These problems emerge at a critical time of increased stratification, as students prepare for postsecondary education and career paths. Academic success and...

Existing research suggests that sexual minority youth experience lower levels of well-being, in part because they perceive less social support than heterosexual youth. Sexual minority youth with strong family relationships may demonstrate resilience and increased well-being; however, it is also possible that the experience of sexual stigma may make these relationships less protective for sexual minority youth. Using two waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we explore the links between same-sex attraction, family relationships, and adolescent well-being in a sample of over 13,000 7th-12th grade adolescents (51 % female, 52 % non-Latino/a white, 17 % Latino, 21 % African American, and 7 % Asian). Specifically, we examine whether lower levels of parental closeness, parental involvement, and family support among same-sex attracted youth explain in part why these youth experience increased depressive symptoms and risk behaviors, including binge drinking, illegal drug use, and running away from home, relative to other-sex attracted youth. Second, we ask whether family relationships are equally protective against depressive symptoms and risk behaviors for same-sex attracted and other-sex attracted youth. We find that same-sex attracted youth, particularly girls, report higher levels of depressive symptoms, binge drinking, and drug use in part because they perceive less closeness with parents and less support from their families. Results also suggest that parental closeness and parental involvement may be less protective against risk behaviors for same-sex attracted boys than for their other-sex attracted peers. Findings thus suggest that interventions targeting the families of sexual minority youth should educate parents about the potentially negative effects of heteronormative assumptions and attitudes on positive adolescent development.

This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to determine what aspects of parental involvement are related to sexual initiation, whether parental involvement explains the association between family structure and sexual debut, and whether these relationships differ among boys and girls or among non-Latino/a white, African American, and Latino/a adolescents. Results indicate that among young women and non-Latino/a white adolescents, four aspects of parental involvement-shared dinnertime, participation in shared activities, relationship quality, and communication about sex-are significantly and independently related to sexual initiation. When these young people have positive relationships with their parents, share mealtimes, and participate in shared activities, they are less likely to initiate sex. With a few exceptions, these parenting practices are not related to sexual debut among young men or African American and Latino/a adolescents. Findings also suggest that parental involvement does not mediate the association between family structure and sexual debut; rather, these aspects of adolescents' family lives are independently related to adolescent sexual initiation.

Adolescents' sexual decision making is shaped by normative ideas about Bappropriate^sexual roles for women and men; consequently, the motivation and ability to engage in safer sex may be different for adolescent girls and boys. The aim of this study was to explore how social-psychological resources influence the behavior of girls and boys within the highly gendered and inequitable domain of sexual relationships. I used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine whether personal control and self-efficacy in sexual negotiation are associated with contraceptive risk (engaging in sexual intercourse or not using condoms) among adolescents and whether these associations differ for adolescent boys and girls. Results indicate that personal control and self-efficacy in sexual negotiation are significantly associated with safer sex behavior, and are often more important for girls than for boys in predicting contraceptive risk.