The mass media rank among the most important socialization agents influencing the health behaviors of today's youth, with some researchers estimating that youth spend 33-50% of their waking hours with some form of media (Strasburger and Wilson 2002). The impact of the media on health and the large amount of time adolescents spend with media make…

Since Kanner's first account of children with autism, there has been extensive research into the presentation of and interventions for Autistic Disorder. However, only a small proportion of this literature has focused on the progress of individuals with autism as they move from childhood and adolescence into adulthood. This paper is a critical…

An exploratory qualitative study of 16 disadvantaged youth in 5 countries suggests that making both precocious and developmentally appropriate contributions to their families' well-being is advantageous to adolescents coping with chronic adversity. All youth were known to be doing well (as identified by community advisors) and showed patterns of…

Youth today develop within nested systems that either positively or negatively influence their development. Recent research shows that American youth have made tremendous progress: fewer teen births, fewer youth who are heavy drinkers or smokers, and more students completing high school. However, data also indicate that the number of youth living…

Youth are often the primary group for parks and recreation organizations, yet recreation professionals are often not adequately prepared in the principles and practices of youth development. Similarly, youth workers outside the recreation field often lack information on basic recreation program design and activity leadership. Improving access to…

Theories on empathy development have stressed the role of socialization in general and the role of parental support in particular. This 3-wave longitudinal study of middle adolescents (N = 678) aimed to contribute to the extant research on the socialization of empathy (a) by examining the relative contribution of perceived maternal and paternal…

Modern learning psychology places an emphasis on the ability of teachers to promote their students' social and emotional learning (SEL) and living a good life. Research on precisely how teachers promote SEL and well-being among their students, however, remains scarce. This study focused on evaluating the Lions Quest teaching workshop (LQ), which…

Ninth grade is a pivotal year for students. Numerous studies find that academic performance in 9th grade often sets the student's trajectory throughout the high school years, as well as the probability of graduation. The Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) model is a comprehensive approach that addresses developmental, academic, and school…

Adolescence is an evolutionarily conserved developmental phase characterized by hormonal, physiological, neural and behavioral alterations evident widely across mammalian species. For instance, adolescent rats, like their human counterparts, exhibit elevations in peer-directed social interactions, risk-taking/novelty seeking and drug and alcohol…

When addressing issues related to sport specialization, it is important to consider how skills are developed and learned. Changes in physical development and maturation throughout the growing years affect the motor performance abilities of individuals who are not yet mature. Such variability in skill development is important to understand when…

The relations among effortful control, ego resiliency, socialization, and social functioning were examined with a sample of 182 French adolescents (14-20 years old). Adolescents, their parents, and/or teachers completed questionnaires on these constructs. Effortful control and ego resiliency were correlated with adolescents' social functioning,…

This study deals with adolescents' experiences and perceptions of physical actor training practice in the context of theatre education. The study took place in Kallio Upper Secondary School of Performing Arts in Helsinki, Finland, where I work as a drama teacher. As a researcher, I carried out an authorized inquiry with two groups of 16-year old…

While youth typically turn to social media for gossip, photo sharing, and friendship building, can it also be used to inspire them toward greater goals? The creators of GenerationPulse.com explore how two theories salient to adolescent social development (positive youth development and relational health) were used to shape a social media website…

This article presents the development process and initial psychometric features of an instrument for evaluating cognition in assertiveness. This is an essential social skill for adolescent development and seems to encompass emotional, behavioral, and cognitive aspects. The instrument was created by combining both empirical and theoretical methods…

A relatively new area of research suggests that naturally occurring mentoring relationships may influence the development of adolescents by protecting against risk behaviors. Few studies have explored how these relationships function to reduce risk behavior among youth, especially in the school context. Based on previous research and theory, we…