One morning in 1969, out of the blue, I received a letter which both distressed and astonished me. It was from a Prof. S. R. Das in Calcutta, who requested me to accept, for eventual analysis, a mountain of anthropometric data he had accumulated, as he was ill and did not expect to survive to analyse it himself. The data provided the astonishment; twenty-two anthropometric characters recorded every six months or a year, over a period of 14 years, in a mixed longitudinal study of some 560 children, aged six months to twenty years. Most were in families with siblings also in the study, and every child was measured every time by S. R. Das himself. The archive was unique, combining the personal anthropometry of R. H. Whitehouse in the Harpenden Growth Study and the family approach of the Fels Growth Study. This was a study of which neither I, nor anyone of my acquaintance, had heard. Even in India, Prof. Das' work was scarcely known. It turned out Das was a scholarly man, quiet and unassuming, absolutely committed to his Sarsuna-Barisha Growth Study,just the obverse of the professional showman. Clearly this was not a request I could refuse, although I already had in hand enough projects to occupy Siva himself.

Offering a study of biological, biomedical and biocultural approaches, this book is suitable for researchers, professors and graduate students across the interdisciplinary area of human development. It is presented in the form of lectures to facilitate student programming.

More children born today will survive to adulthood than at any time in history. It is now time to emphasize health and development in middle childhood and adolescence--developmental phases that are critical to health in adulthood and the next generation. Child and Adolescent Health and Development explores the benefits that accrue from sustained and targeted interventions across the first two decades of life. The volume outlines the investment case for effective, costed, and scalable interventions for low-resource settings, emphasizing the cross-sectoral role of education. This evidence base can guide policy makers in prioritizing actions to promote survival, health, cognition, and physical growth throughout childhood and adolescence.

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.

A revised edition of an established text on human growth and development from an anthropological and evolutionary perspective.

Child and Adolescent Psychology provides an accessible and thorough introduction to human development by integrating insights from typical and atypical development. This integration cements understanding since the same processes are involved. Knowledge about atypical development informs the understanding of typical development, and knowledge about typical development is a necessary basis for understanding atypical development and working with children with disorders. Based on international research, and informed by biological, social and cultural perspectives, the book provides explanations of developmental phenomena, with a focus on how children and adolescents at different age levels actually think, feel and act. Following a structure by topic, with chronological developments within each chapter, von Tetzchner presents and contrasts the major theoretical ideas in developmental psychology and discusses their implications for different aspects of development. He also integrates information about sensory, physical and cognitive disabilities and the main emotional and behavioral disorders of childhood and adolescence, and the developmental consequences of these disabilities and disorders. Child and Adolescent Psychology is accompanied by online resources for lecturers and students to enhance the book, including essay questions for each chapter, Powerpoint slides and multiple-choice questions. The book and companion website will prove invaluable to developmental psychology students.