New advances in neurobiology are revealing that brain development and the learning it enables are directly dependent on social-emotional experience. Growing bodies of research reveal the importance of socially triggered epigenetic contributions to brain development and brain network configuration, with implications for social-emotional…

The articles of this special issue are summarized. A new model for schooling is calling for a change in which adults in schools can inquire into and reflect on their own and their students' skills and on dispositions that need to be developed as well as on adult development. (SLD)

Literature on preadolescent friendships is reviewed to examine the relationship between preadolescent friendship and social support in adulthood. Present research is suggestive of the importance of preadolescent friendships in adult social relatedness, but it is not sufficient to validate the period as critical to social support in adulthood. (SLD)