The rapidly moving frontiers of neuroscience, molecular biology, and epigenetics--combined with extensive research in the behavioral and social sciences--are dramatically expanding our understanding of how children develop, how that process can be disrupted, how to get it back on track when it does get derailed, and how to keep it from going off…

This commentary engages the three elements of a social justice framework in the study of African American Boys and Men's (AABM) positive development, proposed by Barbarin, Tolan, and Gaylord-Harden (2019). In agreement with the importance of and in support of employing a social justice framework in developmental science, we offer theoretical and…

Whether discussing the process involved in positive youth development (PYD), articulating an approach (or philosophy) of youth programs associated with PYD, or enacting a program aimed at promoting PYD, ideas derived from relational developmental systems (RDS) metatheory are pertinent. Accordingly, we discuss the RDS metamodel and explain the…

This article synthesizes foundational knowledge from multiple scientific disciplines regarding how humans develop in context. Major constructs that define human development are integrated into a developmental system framework, this includes--epigenetics, neural malleability and plasticity, integrated complex skill development and learning, human…

In this article we present a framework for understanding the indirect effects of fathering on child development in the context of the marriage. We discuss three central pathways of influence: through relations between marital quality and fathering, through children's exposure to father expressions of marital discord, and through relations between…

Modeling the Dynamics of Paternal Influences on Children over the Life Course Is a heuristic model, which identifies sets of variables that predict father involvement, variables that interact to predict involvement, and variables that influence father characteristics and thereby influence involvement. It also suggests moderators and mediators of…

This article describes a developmental systems approach to applied developmental science (ADS), which provides a framework to design and evaluate technology-rich programs that promote positive development by emphasizing the strengths and assets of young people instead of focusing on diminishing or preventing risk-taking behaviors. Until now, most…