The last decade has yielded an unprecedented amount of new science relating to the unique strengths and weaknesses of the adolescent and young adult brain. It is now crystal clear that when it comes to the brain, adolescents are not simply adults with fewer miles on them. In fact, the brain is the last organ in the body to mature, and is finally…

Creativity is a multifaceted construct that recruits different cognitive processes. Here, we summarize studies that show that creativity develops considerably during adolescence with different developmental trajectories for insight, verbal divergent thinking, and visuospatial divergent thinking. Next, these developmental time courses are mapped to…

Despite consensus that development shapes every aspect of coping, studies of age differences in coping have proven difficult to integrate, primarily because they examine largely unselected age groups, and utilize overlapping coping categories. A developmental framework was used to organize 58 studies of coping involving over 250 age comparisons or…

This article examines youth transitions and youth offending in tandem. It argues that the transition to adulthood is heavily implicated in the fact that most offending occurs in the youth phase. Drawing on a study of 20 male and 20 female persistent young offenders in Scotland, it explores young people's desire for integration with others in the…

This study compared early parenting practices and adolescent behavior to determine whether parental attachment-promoting behaviors in the first year of life were associated with psychosocial adjustment in teenagers. The mothers of 22 adolescents completed a behavioral assessment of their teenager and an inventory of their recollected parenting…

Pioneers in reclaiming youth sought to build relationships and environments that responded to the needs of "wayward youth." Now, neuroscience and trauma research show the primacy of human connections in assessment, treatment, and youth development. Interventions with challenging children and youth are now being evaluated against principles…

When the Commission on Children At Risk--a group of 33 children's doctors, research scientists, mental health and youth service professionals--presented to the Nation its report on the crises of deteriorating mental and behavioral health of children in the US, the 83-page report was entitled "Hardwired to Connect: The New Scientific Case for…

This editorial discusses the "Child Development" journal's 25 percent manuscript acceptance rate, the publishing of good papers, the absence of editorial bias in the journal, and the conservatism of scientific research. The increase in studies of adolescent development is noted. Editorial and writing standards are stressed. (BC)

The authors focus on the moral development of the early adolescent (ages 10 to 15). The ways in which early adolescents develop morally, social influences on such development, and the expression of morality behaviorally are discussed. (Editor/KC)

Examines the independent and joint contributions of three core dimensions of authoritative parenting - acceptance-involvement, strictness-supervision, and psychological autonomy granting - to adolescent adjustment. Findings are discussed with regard to behavior problems, psychosocial development, and academic achievement. Provides evidence that…

Distinguishes between relevant domains (school vs. leisure) and conventional versus non-conventional personal characteristics and skills in a sample of 219 delinquent boys. Uncovers differences in the formation of the self concept of societally at-risk boys and provides implications for prevention, management, and further research. (EMK)

Investigates the effects of early tobacco and alcohol use on adolescent sexual behaviors 2 years after initiation among 73 adolescent girls, 79 adolescent boys, and their parents. A relationship exists between age-related deviant behaviors and sexual activity and the effects of early transitions to adult behaviors such as tobacco and alcohol use.…

To explore potential bases of positive development among gang youth, attributes of positive individual and social behavior were assessed in individual interviews with 45 African American adolescent male members of inner-city Detroit gangs and 50 African American adolescent males from the same communities but involved in community-based…

Behavior analyst teaching child development courses would do well to look into this book as the main text for the course. It represents the most comprehensive attempt to date to try and integrate the developmental literature with the study of basic mechanisms of learning. The book is written in a clear and concise manner that can be understood by…

Close relationships among children and adolescents are ordinarily considered to encompass friendliness and fun. Recent studies, however, reveal that many friendships have dark sides consisting of competitiveness, hostility, and conflict. Relationships based on aversion and antipathy may turn out to have major developmental implications, but more…