Amidst essentialising discourses that circulate through educational spaces (e.g. that 'boys will be boys' or that boys are inherently aggressive), there is a need for more research that explores adolescent identities as complex and relational. This study considers the affective-discursive practices that both constrain and enable teenage boys to…

Gifted adolescents may identify as "gamers" who create avatars to navigate video games and cell phone apps. Avatars provide a unique venue through which gifted teens can explore the issues of self and identity in a critical time of their development. The purpose of this article is to (a) provide an overview of what avatars are, (b)…

In the middle of the 20th century, there was a shift from a skills deficit approach to a positive approach, focused on promoting assets and individual strengths. The role of social-emotional competences became salient. School is a privileged arena for universal and selective prevention interventions that can help pupils in raising their competence…

Limited research exists on the slut labeling process, a key means of enforcing rules around appropriate female sexuality. This study explores that process through qualitative interviews with 44 adolescent girls in Travis County, Texas. Labeling girls as sluts or hos was pervasive and was based on a number of factors beyond sexual behavior,…

In this study, the identity formation of emerging adults in Sweden was investigated in order to discover how identity issues concerning love, work and family are handled. The study group comprised 136 24- to 26-year-olds. The results revealed differences between men and women with regard to their position in the identity formation process. While…

This report focuses on the development of reading proficiency during the transition from adolescence to early adulthood. The span of time between the ages of 15 and 24 is a critical period of development for young people. Once compulsory education is completed, individual decisions about post-secondary education, employment and other life choices…

In an effort to validate the use of a Western model of adolescent development with Asian youth, 781 urban and rural Taiwanese high school students (56% female) completed questionnaires about their development. Adolescents were first divided into cultural value orientations (i.e. collectivistic, individualistic, or transitional) and compared…

In adolescence, externalized problems such as risk taking and antisocial behavior are more frequent in boys. This suggests that there are differences in the way boys and girls evaluate risk and make decisions during this period. To explore decision making and highlight possible gender differences, 124 adolescents at a junior secondary school…

Healthy adolescents (79 girls, 66 boys), ages 9-17, completed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; A. Bechara, A. R. Damasio, H. Damasio, & S. W. Anderson, 1994) as well as working memory (digit span) and behavioral inhibition (go/no-go) tasks. Cross-sectional age-related changes were seen on all 3 tasks. Gender differences were seen in IGT deck…