The preceding article by Hawton and colleagues reporting on a prospective study of adolescents presenting with self-harm to Accident and Emergency departments (A&E) is one of the largest epidemiological studies to examine the long-term outcomes of self-harm in children and adolescents. After a median of 6 years nearly 30% re-presented to A&E with…

Steinberg and Monahan's (2011) reanalysis of the Teen Media longitudinal survey of adolescents does not meet prevailing standards for propensity score analysis and therefore does not undermine the original conclusions of the Brown, L'Engle, Pardun, Guo, Kenneavy, and Jackson (2006) analysis. The media do matter in the sexual socialization of…

Adolescent risk-taking can be illuminated through an understanding of the development of the brain, of dual-processing theories, and of social norms and meanings. When adolescents take unjustified risks, it is often because of the weakness of their analytic systems, which provide an inadequate check on impulsive or ill-considered decisions. Social…

Across the country, youth advocates, civic activists, community builders, and young people themselves have been calling for more meaningful roles for young people in society. This special issue brings the voices of researchers into that conversation. In doing so, it builds in important ways on a small but growing evidence base that underscores the…

Examines the Rodgers, Rowe, and Buster (1998) epidemic model of the onset of social activities for adolescent sexuality. Maintains that its strengths include its theoretical potential to generate new hypotheses for further testing at the individual level. Asserts that its limitations include the lack of a well-developed statistical framework and…

Reviews and comments on Stoolmiller's (1998) criticisms of an epidemic model of the onset of social activities (EMOSA) and about nonlinear modeling in general. Discusses the idea of social contagion as a general theoretical tool. (Author)

Expands an existing nonlinear dynamic epidemic model of onset of social activities (EMOSA), motivated by social contagion theory, to quantify the likelihood of pregnancy for adolescent girls of different sexuality statuses. Compares five sexuality/pregnancy models to explain variance in national prevalence curves. Finds that adolescent girls have…

Most youth in America have a good chance of becoming productive members of adult society. However, for a particular group of young people, at-risk youth, the probability of maturing into responsible adulthood is less certain. "At-risk youth" is a term commonly used to describe those adolescents for whom there is a high probability (risk)…

A systems perspective on the development of disruptive behavioral disorders is presented and discussed with an emphasis on correlated constraints. The concept of correlated constraints suggests that behavior development involves the interconnected contributions of multiple factors working together as a system. Implications are considered in…

This article reviews the literature on early admission to college and describes two high-schools-within-college institutions. It critiques a paper by Dewey G. Cornell and others (EC 601 042) on predictive measurement of socioemotional adjustment of accelerated adolescent females. The article also questions the value of social adjustment for…

This article replies to comments made in EC 601 043 concerning the authors' research on predictive measurement of socioemotional adjustment of adolescent girls enrolled in an early college entrance/acceleration program. The article notes that research on early college entrance has emphasized academic adjustment over socioemotional adjustment and…

This report, the third annual publication of Iowa Kids Count, proposes that, by building upon effective system of support, and moving decision-making to the family and community level, solutions to the problems confronting today's youth can be found. The first section of this report summarizes the framework paper developed for the Kids Count…

Considers the increase in research on adolescence, with attention to its transitional aspects during the adolescent period and as a bridge between childhood and adulthood. In addition, discusses the effort to examine interactional processes between parent and child and between environment and genes, with respect to the articles of this special…

Comments on problems raised in this special issue, focusing on the distinctive aspects of the risk research reported. Highlights issues like sample characteristics, measurement strategies, specificity of risk factors, and risk mechanisms. Discusses the challenges of integrating alternative models of risk, with special references to research into…

Describes research that measured personal, national, and occupational identity among Jamaican postsecondary students. Observes that the variable of attitudes toward minorities was strongly related to personal and national identity, and suggests encouragement of positive attitudes toward ethnic groups in order to foster acceptance of differences in…