Sumru Erkut
Biographic Data
| ID | 83552 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sumru Erkut |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sumru |
| FAMILY NAME | Erkut |
| SIGNATURE | ERKUT S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Wellesley College |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 161 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1981 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Do as I Say, Not as I Did: How Parents Talk With Early Adolescents About Sex
Communication between parents and teens about sexuality can reduce early sexual behavior. However, little research investigates how parents who were adolescents when they had children (early parents) talk with their teens about sex. In-depth interviews were conducted with a racially/ethnically diverse sample of 29 parents of seventh graders. Salient themes of conversations with adolescents were risks of early parenthood, sexually transmitted infe…
Comparing Sexuality Communication Among Offspring of Teen Parents and Adult Parents: A Different Role for Extended Family
How have researchers studied multiracial populations? A content and methodological review of 20 years of research
The U.S. Census shows that the racial-ethnic makeup of over 9 million people (2.9% of the total population) who self-identified as multiracial is extremely diverse. Each multiracial subgroup has unique social and political histories that may lead to distinct societal perceptions, economic situations, and health outcomes. Despite the increasing academic and media interest in multiracial individuals, there are methodological and definitional challe…
The Role of Extended Family in Teen Sexual Health
Despite increasing extended family involvement in childrearing, particularly in minority families, few studies investigate their role in talking with teens about sex or how this relates to teens' sexual behavior. This mixed methods study assesses extended family sexuality communication through a survey of 1492 diverse middle school students and interviews with 32 students. Logistic regression shows that participants who report having had sex are …
Can Sex Education Delay Early Sexual Debut
In this study, we examine whether a nine-lesson sex education intervention, “ Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Education That Works,” implemented in sixth grade, can reduce the number of adolescents who might otherwise become “early starters” of sexual activity (defined as heterosexual intercourse) by seventh grade. Participants were 548 boys and 675 girls who completed surveys in both sixth grade (baseline) and seventh grade (follow-up). The sample w…
Developing Multiple Language Versions of Instruments for Intercultural Research
This article examines the strengths and weaknesses of several translation techniques currently in use through the lens of emerging opinions on the science and ethics of intercultural research. Broad scientific and ethical dimensions relevant to translating instruments and a distinction between generating multiple language forms of two kinds of instruments are introduced: those in which wording in the source language cannot be altered and those in…
Critical Mass
Use of a storytelling context to improve girls' and boys' geometry skills in kindergarten
Discrimination and Puerto Rican children's and adolescents' mental health
Two studies of Puerto Rican youths' development on the U.S. mainland examined the consequences of perceived racial/ethnic discrimination on mental health. In Study I, children were found to have a low likelihood of perceiving discrimination, whereas in Study 2, nearly half of the adolescent sample reported perceiving racial/ethnic discrimination. Although both groups scored high on multiple indicators of mental health, perceiving discrimination a…
Predicting Adolescent Self-Esteem from Participation in School Sports among Latino Subgroups
Data from the in-school survey ofthe National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health on girls and boys who claim a Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban heritage were employed to test two hypotheses: (1) Participating in a school-based sport is associated with self-esteem, and (2) school attachment and a sense ofphysical well-being mediate this relationship. The first hypothesis was partially confirmed in that participation in school sports was associ…
Gender and Race Patterns in the Pathways from Sports Participation to Self-Esteem
Athletics is the most prominent extracurricular activity in U.S. secondary schools in terms of student participation and school budgets. The latter is often justified on the grounds that healthy bodies produce healthy minds, that school sports boost school spirit, and that participation in school-based sports increases students' self-esteem. In this article we examine the interrelationships among participation in a school-based sport and the bene…
The Color of My Skin: A Measure to Assess Children's Perceptions of Their Skin Color
The Color of My Skin is an instrument developed to assess children's internalized idea (abstraction) of the color of their skin; their satisfaction with that color; the desire, if any, to change the color of their skin; and their affect regarding their skin color. The assessment is part of a questionnaire utilized in a 3-year longitudinal study that examines psychosocial development, physical health, and behavioral adjustment of Puerto Rican chil…
Puerto Rican Early Adolescents' Self-Esteem Patterns
This study examines self-esteem as a multidimensional construct in 1 Latino subgroup, Puerto Rican girls and boys during early adolescence, using Harter's (1985b) Self-Perception Profile for Children. The results show that in its English and Spanish versions-the latter developed by the present research team-the Self-Perception Profile for Children has adequate reliability for use with 13- to 14-year-old Puerto Rican youth living on the mainland. …
Psychological Acculturation: Development of A New Measure for Puerto Ricans on the U.S. Mainland
Most instruments designed to measure acculturation have relied on specific cultural behaviors and preferences as primary indicators of acculturation. In contrast, feelings of belonging and emotional attachment to cultural communities have not been widely used. The Psychological Acculturation Scale (PAS) was developed to assess acculturation from a phenomenological perspective, with items pertaining to the individual’s sense of psychological attac…
Stereotyped perceptions of adolescents' health risk behaviors
Are youths particularly youths of color engaged in high levels of health risk behaviors and is public perception regarding these behaviors accurate? In answer to the 1st question 2 analytic samples were drawn: (a) 14-15-year-old 9th graders (N = 94) from the Puerto Rican Adolescent study conducted in the greater Boston area and (b) 14-15-year-old 9th graders (N = 876) from the Massachusetts 1995 Youth Risk Behavior (YRB) survey. The samples were …
The Dual-Focus Approach to Creating Bilingual Measures
The dual-focus approach to creating bilingual research protocols requires a bilingual/bicultural research team, including indigenous researchers from the cultures being studied. The presence of indigenous researchers as full and equal members of the research team can guard against an unexamined exportation of ideas and methods developed in one culture to other cultural/linguistic communities. The team develops the research plan and a research pro…
Professors as Models and Mentors for College Students
A questionnaire study among sophomores and seniors in five coeducational and one women’s liberal arts college provided the data for this research. A return rate of 66% was achieved, yielding 723 subjects, all of whom were able to identify a professor who had demonstrated the kinds of qualities and skills they considered important for themselves. The results show that female students neither gravitate toward nor avoid female role models. They choo…
Exploring sex differences in expectancy, attribution, and academic achievement
Moral judgment-situation interaction as a basis for predicting prosocial behavior1
In a situation where an “ailing” confederate needed help, three experimental conditions varied the permissibility of interrupting a task to perform prosocial acts. A Situation by Moral Judgment interaction was predicted: Stage 3 and 4 subjects defining right action in accordance with conventional expectations and obligations, respectively, would not help in any of the three conditions; stage 5 subjects defining right action in accordance with hum…
Discrimination and Puerto Rican children's and adolescents' mental health
Two studies of Puerto Rican youths' development on the U.S. mainland examined the consequences of perceived racial/ethnic discrimination on mental health. In Study I, children were found to have a low likelihood of perceiving discrimination, whereas in Study 2, nearly half of the adolescent sample reported perceiving racial/ethnic discrimination. Although both groups scored high on multiple indicators of mental health, perceiving discrimination a…
Predicting Adolescent Self-Esteem from Participation in School Sports among Latino Subgroups
Data from the in-school survey ofthe National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health on girls and boys who claim a Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban heritage were employed to test two hypotheses: (1) Participating in a school-based sport is associated with self-esteem, and (2) school attachment and a sense ofphysical well-being mediate this relationship. The first hypothesis was partially confirmed in that participation in school sports was associ…
Gender and Race Patterns in the Pathways from Sports Participation to Self-Esteem
Athletics is the most prominent extracurricular activity in U.S. secondary schools in terms of student participation and school budgets. The latter is often justified on the grounds that healthy bodies produce healthy minds, that school sports boost school spirit, and that participation in school-based sports increases students' self-esteem. In this article we examine the interrelationships among participation in a school-based sport and the bene…
Exploring sex differences in expectancy, attribution, and academic achievement
Use of a storytelling context to improve girls' and boys' geometry skills in kindergarten
Puerto Rican Early Adolescents' Self-Esteem Patterns
This study examines self-esteem as a multidimensional construct in 1 Latino subgroup, Puerto Rican girls and boys during early adolescence, using Harter's (1985b) Self-Perception Profile for Children. The results show that in its English and Spanish versions-the latter developed by the present research team-the Self-Perception Profile for Children has adequate reliability for use with 13- to 14-year-old Puerto Rican youth living on the mainland. …
Professors as Models and Mentors for College Students
A questionnaire study among sophomores and seniors in five coeducational and one women’s liberal arts college provided the data for this research. A return rate of 66% was achieved, yielding 723 subjects, all of whom were able to identify a professor who had demonstrated the kinds of qualities and skills they considered important for themselves. The results show that female students neither gravitate toward nor avoid female role models. They choo…
Can Sex Education Delay Early Sexual Debut
In this study, we examine whether a nine-lesson sex education intervention, “ Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Education That Works,” implemented in sixth grade, can reduce the number of adolescents who might otherwise become “early starters” of sexual activity (defined as heterosexual intercourse) by seventh grade. Participants were 548 boys and 675 girls who completed surveys in both sixth grade (baseline) and seventh grade (follow-up). The sample w…
The Dual-Focus Approach to Creating Bilingual Measures
The dual-focus approach to creating bilingual research protocols requires a bilingual/bicultural research team, including indigenous researchers from the cultures being studied. The presence of indigenous researchers as full and equal members of the research team can guard against an unexamined exportation of ideas and methods developed in one culture to other cultural/linguistic communities. The team develops the research plan and a research pro…
The Role of Extended Family in Teen Sexual Health
Despite increasing extended family involvement in childrearing, particularly in minority families, few studies investigate their role in talking with teens about sex or how this relates to teens' sexual behavior. This mixed methods study assesses extended family sexuality communication through a survey of 1492 diverse middle school students and interviews with 32 students. Logistic regression shows that participants who report having had sex are …
Stereotyped perceptions of adolescents' health risk behaviors
Are youths particularly youths of color engaged in high levels of health risk behaviors and is public perception regarding these behaviors accurate? In answer to the 1st question 2 analytic samples were drawn: (a) 14-15-year-old 9th graders (N = 94) from the Puerto Rican Adolescent study conducted in the greater Boston area and (b) 14-15-year-old 9th graders (N = 876) from the Massachusetts 1995 Youth Risk Behavior (YRB) survey. The samples were …
Do as I Say, Not as I Did: How Parents Talk With Early Adolescents About Sex
Communication between parents and teens about sexuality can reduce early sexual behavior. However, little research investigates how parents who were adolescents when they had children (early parents) talk with their teens about sex. In-depth interviews were conducted with a racially/ethnically diverse sample of 29 parents of seventh graders. Salient themes of conversations with adolescents were risks of early parenthood, sexually transmitted infe…
Moral judgment-situation interaction as a basis for predicting prosocial behavior1
In a situation where an “ailing” confederate needed help, three experimental conditions varied the permissibility of interrupting a task to perform prosocial acts. A Situation by Moral Judgment interaction was predicted: Stage 3 and 4 subjects defining right action in accordance with conventional expectations and obligations, respectively, would not help in any of the three conditions; stage 5 subjects defining right action in accordance with hum…
Exploring sex differences in expectancy, attribution, and academic achievement
Professors as Models and Mentors for College Students
A questionnaire study among sophomores and seniors in five coeducational and one women’s liberal arts college provided the data for this research. A return rate of 66% was achieved, yielding 723 subjects, all of whom were able to identify a professor who had demonstrated the kinds of qualities and skills they considered important for themselves. The results show that female students neither gravitate toward nor avoid female role models. They choo…
Psychological Acculturation: Development of A New Measure for Puerto Ricans on the U.S. Mainland
Most instruments designed to measure acculturation have relied on specific cultural behaviors and preferences as primary indicators of acculturation. In contrast, feelings of belonging and emotional attachment to cultural communities have not been widely used. The Psychological Acculturation Scale (PAS) was developed to assess acculturation from a phenomenological perspective, with items pertaining to the individual’s sense of psychological attac…
Stereotyped perceptions of adolescents' health risk behaviors
Are youths particularly youths of color engaged in high levels of health risk behaviors and is public perception regarding these behaviors accurate? In answer to the 1st question 2 analytic samples were drawn: (a) 14-15-year-old 9th graders (N = 94) from the Puerto Rican Adolescent study conducted in the greater Boston area and (b) 14-15-year-old 9th graders (N = 876) from the Massachusetts 1995 Youth Risk Behavior (YRB) survey. The samples were …
The Dual-Focus Approach to Creating Bilingual Measures
The dual-focus approach to creating bilingual research protocols requires a bilingual/bicultural research team, including indigenous researchers from the cultures being studied. The presence of indigenous researchers as full and equal members of the research team can guard against an unexamined exportation of ideas and methods developed in one culture to other cultural/linguistic communities. The team develops the research plan and a research pro…
The Color of My Skin: A Measure to Assess Children's Perceptions of Their Skin Color
The Color of My Skin is an instrument developed to assess children's internalized idea (abstraction) of the color of their skin; their satisfaction with that color; the desire, if any, to change the color of their skin; and their affect regarding their skin color. The assessment is part of a questionnaire utilized in a 3-year longitudinal study that examines psychosocial development, physical health, and behavioral adjustment of Puerto Rican chil…
Puerto Rican Early Adolescents' Self-Esteem Patterns
This study examines self-esteem as a multidimensional construct in 1 Latino subgroup, Puerto Rican girls and boys during early adolescence, using Harter's (1985b) Self-Perception Profile for Children. The results show that in its English and Spanish versions-the latter developed by the present research team-the Self-Perception Profile for Children has adequate reliability for use with 13- to 14-year-old Puerto Rican youth living on the mainland. …
Predicting Adolescent Self-Esteem from Participation in School Sports among Latino Subgroups
Data from the in-school survey ofthe National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health on girls and boys who claim a Mexican, Puerto Rican, or Cuban heritage were employed to test two hypotheses: (1) Participating in a school-based sport is associated with self-esteem, and (2) school attachment and a sense ofphysical well-being mediate this relationship. The first hypothesis was partially confirmed in that participation in school sports was associ…
Gender and Race Patterns in the Pathways from Sports Participation to Self-Esteem
Athletics is the most prominent extracurricular activity in U.S. secondary schools in terms of student participation and school budgets. The latter is often justified on the grounds that healthy bodies produce healthy minds, that school sports boost school spirit, and that participation in school-based sports increases students' self-esteem. In this article we examine the interrelationships among participation in a school-based sport and the bene…
Discrimination and Puerto Rican children's and adolescents' mental health
Two studies of Puerto Rican youths' development on the U.S. mainland examined the consequences of perceived racial/ethnic discrimination on mental health. In Study I, children were found to have a low likelihood of perceiving discrimination, whereas in Study 2, nearly half of the adolescent sample reported perceiving racial/ethnic discrimination. Although both groups scored high on multiple indicators of mental health, perceiving discrimination a…
Use of a storytelling context to improve girls' and boys' geometry skills in kindergarten
Critical Mass
Developing Multiple Language Versions of Instruments for Intercultural Research
This article examines the strengths and weaknesses of several translation techniques currently in use through the lens of emerging opinions on the science and ethics of intercultural research. Broad scientific and ethical dimensions relevant to translating instruments and a distinction between generating multiple language forms of two kinds of instruments are introduced: those in which wording in the source language cannot be altered and those in…
Can Sex Education Delay Early Sexual Debut
In this study, we examine whether a nine-lesson sex education intervention, “ Get Real: Comprehensive Sex Education That Works,” implemented in sixth grade, can reduce the number of adolescents who might otherwise become “early starters” of sexual activity (defined as heterosexual intercourse) by seventh grade. Participants were 548 boys and 675 girls who completed surveys in both sixth grade (baseline) and seventh grade (follow-up). The sample w…
How have researchers studied multiracial populations? A content and methodological review of 20 years of research
The U.S. Census shows that the racial-ethnic makeup of over 9 million people (2.9% of the total population) who self-identified as multiracial is extremely diverse. Each multiracial subgroup has unique social and political histories that may lead to distinct societal perceptions, economic situations, and health outcomes. Despite the increasing academic and media interest in multiracial individuals, there are methodological and definitional challe…
The Role of Extended Family in Teen Sexual Health
Despite increasing extended family involvement in childrearing, particularly in minority families, few studies investigate their role in talking with teens about sex or how this relates to teens' sexual behavior. This mixed methods study assesses extended family sexuality communication through a survey of 1492 diverse middle school students and interviews with 32 students. Logistic regression shows that participants who report having had sex are …
Comparing Sexuality Communication Among Offspring of Teen Parents and Adult Parents: A Different Role for Extended Family
Do as I Say, Not as I Did: How Parents Talk With Early Adolescents About Sex
Communication between parents and teens about sexuality can reduce early sexual behavior. However, little research investigates how parents who were adolescents when they had children (early parents) talk with their teens about sex. In-depth interviews were conducted with a racially/ethnically diverse sample of 29 parents of seventh graders. Salient themes of conversations with adolescents were risks of early parenthood, sexually transmitted infe…
Psychology (16 works) · Developmental psychology (14 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Demography (7 works) · Ethnic group (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Medicine (6 works) · Demography (5 works) · Population (5 works) · Puerto rican (5 works)