The American adolescent of the 1980s presents a mixed picture of social and economic trends. Census data on schooling, for example, reveal that the number of 17-year-olds who graduate from high school has remained relatively stable in the last 20 years. On the other hand, the dropout rate persists at the same high level, and racial differences are visible within the dropout rate in many States. Recent youth employment is also mixed: teenage employment figures in general are up over 1960, but they have decreased for black males. Adolescent sexual activity has increased, but adolescent childbirth statistics are declining. Drug abuse seems to be down, yet the numbers are very slippery, as are those regarding mental health. Findings in that area, however, do show that 20% of all people treated for depression are under 18, and that the adolescent suicide rate has doubled between 1960 and 1978 (for all but black females). With the exception of suicide, the statistics taken all together show a decrease in antisocial and personally destructive behavior. Yet there is no cause for complacency: aggregate data mask serious distress in subgroups of the population. (KH)