Although most American adolescents are psychologically, socially, and physically healthy, adolescence remains a time of considerable change and risk. To examine what works to promote well-being among America's adolescents, Child Trends reviewed contributing influences and programs that lead to positive behavior in seven areas: mental health,…

Because social competency is an important element for adolescents' healthy development, a central question is what can be done to help adolescents achieve and maintain social competency. This report details antecedents of two key aspects of social competency: quality social relationships and good social skills. For each social relationship and…

Noting that amid the enormous change inherent in early adolescence, many parents fail to distinguish between behaviors signaling healthy growth and those indicating troubled development, this book uses the stories of 12 representative adolescents from various locations in the United States and existing research literature to provide guidance on…

Discusses instructional strategies that address five affective needs of middle school students: freedom of choice, appropriate peer interactions, instructional diversity, personal expression, and broadened perspectives. Suggests that when incorporated into existing curriculum and laced with relevant application, these strategies can lead to a…

A sample of 183 third through sixth grade students were administered the Revised Class Play (RCP). Seven years later, these children and their parents completed a questionnaire measuring the students' behavioral symptoms and social, athletic, and academic competence. The RCP scores were related to adolescent competence and psychopathology. (BC)

An annotated bibliography includes publications on adolescent issues such as school-community collaboration, pregnancy prevention, decision making, health promotion, injury prevention, music, violence prevention, health care, African-American adolescents, sexuality education, futures planning, policy, and health service delivery. (SM)

Introduces this special theme issue examining the roles of socialization, biology, and culture as they affect adaptive and maladaptive developmental outcomes. Problems of adolescence addressed include antisocial behavior, depressive symptoms, substance abuse, low achievement, and eating problems. Considers factors implicated in successful…

Evaluated prevalence of the co-occurrence of depressive symptoms and conduct problems in a community sample of 10th-grade adolescents participating in a four-year longitudinal study. Found that early hostile parent behavior increased the probability of later occurrence and co-occurrence of elevated depressive symptoms and conduct problems, whereas…

A study of 643 adolescents and 474 young adults explored relationships among young people's observations and opinions of exclusionary behavior and their reports of whether exclusion affects their social and academic adjustment. Findings indicated that, unlike young adults, adolescents' perceptions of, and attitudes about, school ecologies…

Over the past decade there has been an explosion in the provision of computing facilities in schools for student use. However, there is concern that the development of these facilities has often given little regard to the ergonomics of the design for use by children, particularly adolescents. This paper reports on a study that investigated the…

This book compiles statements by young people (mostly from the United States) describing the primary issues they face as adolescents and how they cope with them, and incorporates a range of expert information to respond to these concerns. Chapters are: (1) "Body," covering topics of acne, body image, dieting and eating disorders, disabilities,…

According to the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, young adolescents are felt to be far more at risk for self-destructive behaviors than ever before, and middle grades schools are failing to meet students' needs. As part of a plan for restructuring middle grades education, Illinois has created a middle school endorsement added to…

This book, which consists of 12 chapters, deals with the crisis of stress in American schools, particularly the stress of students. The book: (1) examines ways of combating the debilitative stress of students; (2) frames the problem of stress in terms of the child, school, family, and community; (3) provides multiple perspectives on the problem of…

High school is becoming the next frontier for after-school advocates. The conceptual and practical leaps from programming for elementary and middle school students to high school students are significant, with huge marketing challenges. Arguing persuasively for investments in this population requires revisiting almost every strategic decision,…

This book aims to provide a succinct and clear overview of the principles and practices associated with adventure education in order to help practitioners do their work more effectively. Implicit in the book is a belief that adventure education has a positive impact on an individual's self-confidence, understanding of the world, and actual…