Although research on friendship reveals the significance of friendship for children, questions about friendship and development remain unanswered. It is argued that the study of friendship would benefit from a return to basic questions about what friendship is, how it is measured, and how it varies across people and contexts.

Neuroscience and developmental psychology can give useful insight into adolescent behavior that is believed to be the result of the interplay between body chemistry, brain development and cognitive growth. The new findings offer guidance to educators on how to channel adolescent energy into healthy directions.

The dramatic ups and downs so often witnessed in adolescents are the result of changes in their brain activity. It is vital that the emotional and psychological needs that arise from such intense brain development are acknowledged and addressed so that middle school becomes a safe environment for the budding adults.

Self-reflection, typically operationalized in scales of egocentrism and introspectiveness, is portrayed as problematic in much of the literature on adolescents. Self-reflection has been linked to dysfunctional self-consciousness, symptomatology, and risk behaviors. Yet, self-reflection also is seen as essential for adolescent development,…

This study aimed to determine whether self-assessed puberty is sufficiently reliable and valid to substitute for physician examination when feasibility of physician examination is low (e.g., behavioral research). Adolescents (convenience sample N = 178 endocrinology patients and N = 125 from educational trial; mean age 12.7 and 11.3 years,…

A focus on youth development is the strongest means of prevention of problems faced by Latino youths. Latino youths are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population and have high rates of developmental deficits. However, youth development researchers have not attended to the inclusion and reporting of results for Latino youths. This study…

Current research and theory suggest that the healthy path of autonomy development involves gradual negotiation of adolescents' independence "within" a context of continued family connection. This theory-generating study examined the role that adolescents' participation in youth programs plays in these adolescent-parent negotiations. Qualitative…

This paper explores various epistemological paradigms available to understand, interpret, and semiotically depict young people. These paradigms all draw upon a metadiscourse of developmental age and stage (e.g. Hall 1914) and then work from particular epistemological views of the world to cast young people in different lights. Using strategic…

Many Internet safety and parenting experts suggest that parents prohibit their teens from social networking sites and other online spaces where predators may lurk. But we may do adolescents a disservice when we curtail their participation in these spaces, because the educational and psychosocial benefits of this type of communication can far…

The authors introduce the RALLY (Responsive Advocacy for Life and Learning in Youth) approach. RALLY is a school- and afterschool-based approach addressing academic success, youth development, and mental health for youth. Based on developmental and relational principles, RALLY's main goals are to promote students' resiliency, development, and…

This study focuses on two girls' experiences in one youth leadership organization during a period of 3 years. Relying on an embedded case study design, the authors examine the links between leadership development and programmatic structures and supports. Specifically, the development of leadership capacities are analyzed along three dimensions:…

Background: Growing evidence indicates a link between unintentional injury and both disruptive and emotional psychopathology. We present further evidence of these associations and address the underlying mechanisms. We also examine the genetic contribution to unintentional injury. Methods: The Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral…

Four specific schemas of cognitive structures that adolescents may hold concerning interpersonal disagreements with their parents were identified, each reflecting an authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, or a neglecting parenting style. To examine the occurrence of such schemas across high and low levels of psychosocial adjustment, 120 Swedish…

War may be the most profound psychosocial stressor on child and adolescent development, for it has the potential to inflict loss, disruption of stability, deleterious health effects and family/community system disorganization. This article reviews the literature regarding the effects of war on children and explores the role and function of the…

We report on a study aimed at understanding adolescence as a period of heightened vulnerability, and investigate Life Orientation as a possible means of addressing the risk associated with adolescence. However, if Life Orientation is to be an effective solution to the problem, it needs to respond to Life Orientation needs as perceived by…