One particular developmental task during adolescence is to regulate fluctuating moods to successfully transition through this period. The aim of this person-centered study was to identify distinct developmental trajectories of adolescent mood variability and to compare adolescents in different trajectories on changes in depressive symptoms,…

In the international debate surrounding transitions from school to employment, Japan and Germany are regularly cited as examples of success. This article draws on the Japanese concepts represented by two problematic groups--freeters and NEETs--to demonstrate that over recent years, young people in both countries have also been facing serious…

Home-leaving is considered an important marker of the transition to adulthood and is usually framed as an individual decision. We move beyond this limited assumption to examine a broader conceptualization that might better illuminate home-leaving among youth in impoverished circumstances. We adopt the Problem Behavior Theory-framework to…

The investigators compared the perceived attainment of developmental tasks by 181 German adolescents with hearing loss and 254 peers without hearing loss. The adolescents with hearing loss were attending special schools for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. On average, the two groups perceived similar levels of success across the assessed…

Although drinking motives have been largely studied, research taking into account the Mediterranean drinking culture and focusing on motives specifically associated to adolescents' developmental tasks is lacking. For these reasons the study investigates drinking motives in a group of Italian adolescents and their relationships with drunkenness and…

This study compared the achievement of developmental tasks by 158 adolescents with visual impairments to that of 158 sighted adolescents. The groups did not differ in the fulfillment of 9 of 11 tasks. However, those with visual impairments were less successful in peer-group integration and forming intimate relationships. (Contains 4 tables.)

Previous studies with adults have shown that age has an important influence on laypeople's wisdom theories. However, children's and adolescents' understanding of the concept of wisdom has hardly been investigated. In the current study, 80 children and adolescents completed a questionnaire concerning an event where they had been wise and an event…

The objective of this study was to explore what adolescent grandchildren have learned from having a grandparent who suffers dementia and what coping strategies they might recommend for other adolescents in similar situations. We also present information on background factors influencing lessons learned and coping strategies. Adolescent…

Previous studies of childhood fear, worry, and ritualistic behaviour have been limited by restricted age ranges, narrow ranges of anxiety phenomena, non-comparable methodologies, and assessment of typical behaviour within a pathological context. Content and intensity of fear, worry, and ritualistic behaviour, and associations among these…

The transition from school to work is a central developmental task with long-term implications for the financial and social status of individuals. We argue that dynamic adjustments of aspirations play a decisive role for a successful outcome of the school to work transition, particularly in the context of the German vocational training system.…

Individuation in relation to father and mother is one of the key developmental tasks of adolescence, and has been conceptualized as gaining autonomy while maintaining relatedness to parents. Research on high-conflict, divorced and step-families suggests that specific stressors in these family types may compromise successful individuation by…

Examined relationship between coping styles and psychological distress in nonclinical sample of 832 Hong Kong Chinese adolescents. Factor analyses suggest adolescents used relatively similar coping strategies. Four broad coping styles were identified. Avoidance/blaming was found to be a significant and moderately strong predictor of psychological…

This study applied a social identity perspective to the study of adolescent self-concept and social development. British adolescents aged 14-15 years (N=114) completed a questionnaire which asked them to: (i) rate their degree of identification with a school-based friendship group; (ii) complete a measure of multi-dimensional self-concept; and…

This paper defines "adventure-based intervention,""young people," and "trouble and risk" in light of the therapeutic work done at Bryn Melyn Community (Bala, Wales), a therapeutic treatment center. Bryn Melyn provides intensive individualized therapy to young people, aged 15-18, who are in the care of social services…

The Brief Intervention Program (BIP) is a mental health day program in Melbourne (Australia) for adolescents with severe mental health problems who are at risk for suicide. The 10-week program serves closed groups of 6-8 adolescents aged 13-18 years and has 3 phases: engagement and orientation (week 1), treatment (weeks 2-9), and integration (week…