Adolescenceâ€"beginning with the onset of puberty and ending in the mid-20sâ€"is a critical period of development during which key areas of the brain mature and develop. These changes in brain structure, function, and connectivity mark adolescence as a period of opportunity to discover new vistas, to form relationships with peers and adults, and to explore one's developing identity. It is also a period of resilience that can ameliorate childhood setbacks and set the stage for a thriving trajectory over the life course. Because adolescents comprise nearly one-fourth of the entire U.S. population, the nation needs policies and practices that will better leverage these developmental opportunities to harness the promise of adolescenceâ€"rather than focusing myopically on containing its risks. This report examines the neurobiological and socio-behavioral science of adolescent development and outlines how this knowledge can be applied, both to promote adolescent well-being, resilience, and development, and to rectify structural barriers and inequalities in opportunity, enabling all adolescents to flourish.

This multidisciplinary handbook, edited by the premier scholars in the field, reflects the empirical work and growth in the field of adolescent psychology.

Educators will find much useful information in this book. It offers insights for program and curriculum planning and suggests numerous topics for stimulating discussions with teens. It also raises provocative issues about how the developmental needs of youth can be served more effectively by families, communities, and educators. The book holds the potential to define personal relations as an integrated line of study that serves to develop theory and research beyond contextual boundaries. The contributors analyze the ways in which critical interpersonal bonds are forged and maintained. The relationships discussed are: The parent-teen connection; the impact of cultural diversity on teens' social development; same-sex friends as well as opposite-sex friends during adolescence; heterosexual, bisexual, gay and lesbian romantic relationships; adolescent crowds (or cliques); and relationships involving non-kin adults. The authors also explore conceptual issues that cut across relationships and the problem of integrating the views of both individuals in a relationship.

Close Relationships: Functions, Forms and Processes provides an overview of current theory and research in the area of close relationships, written by internationally renowned scholars whose work is at the cutting edge of research in the field. The volume consists of three sections: introductory issues, types of relationships, and relationship processes. In the first section, there is an exploration of the functions and benefits of close relationships, the diversity of methodologies used to study them, and the changing social context in which close relationships are embedded. A second section examines the various types of close relationships, including family bonds and friendships. The third section focuses on key relationship processes, including attachment, intimacy, sexuality, and conflict. This book is designed to be an essential resource for senior undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers, and practitioners, and will be suitable as a resource in advanced courses dealing with the social psychology of close relationships.

Parent-adolescent discord is often handled from a unitary perspective, whether the focus is on enhancing parenting skills, resolving conflicts in family relationships, or working to improve the behavior of the individual child. This important work shows the clinician how to incorporate all of these crucial elements into a single, research-based treatment program. Presented is the authors' influential integration of cognitive-behavioral constructs and family systems theory, grounded in consideration of adolescent developmental concerns. The book describes effective ways to conceptualize and assess the problems of embattled parents and teens; use assessment data in treatment planning; overcome resistance and other therapeutic hurdles; and implement carefully sequenced skills training, cognitive restructuring, and functional/structural interventions. The theoretical and empirical bases of the treatment approach are also discussed in depth.

Handbook of Adolescent Development fills a gap in the literature on adolescent development and behaviour: all of the authors of the various chapters were invited to include as many findings on European adolescents as possible. Through this specific emphasis, the handbook provides a complement to other reviews of the literature that are mostly based on North American samples. The contributors are all eminent researchers in the field and the individual chapters cover their specific areas of expertise. Theories of adolescence, along with emotional, physical and cognitive issues, are explored. Topics covered include families, peer relations, school and leisure time, as well as problem areas such as depression, drug consumption and delinquency. Handbook of Adolescent Development also incorporates a comprehensive review of the literature in the area and considers avenues for future research. This multidisciplinary text will be of interest to those studying and researching in the fields of developmental psychology, sociology, demography, epidemiology and criminology.