The mysterious and unspoken secrets of life can be a source of fascination for young people. The bildungsroman quest for identity is often coupled with a protagonist's attempts to decode a range of secrets. Jamaica Kincaid's work of fiction, "Annie John" (1985), illustrates this journey. In this novel, the female protagonist's maturity…

These days, children are exposed to a variety of information sources and channels, which create more complex interactions than ever before. It is important, therefore, to develop and reinforce children's self-leadership. The present work is a narrative qualitative study focusing on the story of Lile, a 14-year-old Israeli girl who was assessed as…

What does it mean to be a Jewish girl today and how do Jewish adolescent girls navigate their identity? The study that I undertook is exploratory and designed to understand how three girls, who are recent day school graduates, experience the process of identity development as they begin high school. While the sample is small, the study reveals new…

Female adolescent voice change (FAVC) is characterized by objectively measurable developments in both physiological and acoustical aspects of voice. Despite these observable changes, this period of vocal development has had little representation in both scientific and pedagogical research. Furthermore, few studies have articulated the perceptions…

This qualitative literary analysis explores the intersection of place, space, and identity in two novels for young adults to explore how the provision of a new physical place provides space for independence development among female teen protagonists and the implications of this development given the authors' identities as non-US authors writing…

Outdoor adventure may improve body image. However, minimal research exists on the effect outdoor adventure has on body image in adolescent girls, a demographic continually plagued by negative body image. In response, this exploratory study considered the influence of one outdoor adventure program in the San Francisco Bay Area. Through…

The aim of this study with Swedish 18-year-olds (N = 714, 55.2% women) was to investigate identity formation in relation to body-esteem and body ideal internalization. These are all important aspects of adolescents' development, but little is known about how they are related. This study indicates that late adolescents' identity formation,…

This paper builds on previous work (Black et al., "Educational Studies in Mathematics" 73(1):55-72, 2010) which developed the notion of a "leading identity" (derived from Leont'ev's concept of "leading activity") which, we argued, defined students' motive for studying during late adolescence. We…

Developing a sexual self-concept is an important developmental task of adolescence; however, little empirical evidence describes this development, nor how these changes are related to development in sexual behavior. Using longitudinal cohort data from adolescent women, we invoked latent growth curve analysis to: (1) examine reciprocal development…

Although middle school is a critical time in adolescents' development, little is known about how that development is affected by public single-sex classes even though recent federal policy decisions have led more schools to provide these offerings. This case study used ethnographic methods to explore ways teachers, students, and courses in one…

Transformation is the act of changing in form, nature or character. It is the process in which we learn something new or are so affected by an event or a conversation that our own selves are no longer the same. Many experiences can cause this transformation: a loss, a tragedy, or an interaction with a friend, loved one or stranger. Transformation…

This paper describes the struggle to develop a female sexual identity and the importance of the roles of the father and mother in this struggle. The clinical illustration is taken from the psychotherapy of an anorectic adolescent.

The media are dominated by images of women as sex objects whose value is based on their appearance. These portrayals can potentially limit girls' self-perceptions and influence their attitudes regarding the importance of appearance. However, relatively little is known about how African American adolescent girls are affected by these images. Using…

This study identified a set of factors, including vocational exploration and commitment, commitment to the role of work, and participation in the role of studying, which explained 43.3 percent of the variance in the identity development of 95 gifted female adolescents. Of these factors, vocational exploration and commitment contributed the most to…

Used case study approach to assess self-concepts of pregnant adolescents regarding life history, personality traits, and development. Results revealed common themes of historic background and personality traits: no intact families, lack of trust in family members, history of drug and alcohol abuse, permissive sexual attitudes and early sexual…