A study examined the influences that family, community, and work exert on the youth-to-adulthood transition as well as the dynamics of their interaction. Similarities and differences among the youth-to-adulthood transition as it occurs in the United States, Japan, and West Germany were identified. It was concluded that the links among family, community, and work have weakened over time in the United States, that they have become less supportive of each other and more competitive, and that they are not as effective in promoting socialization to satisfying and productive adult roles for the present and the foreseeable future as they are in West Germany and Japan. Several things can, however, be done to help slow these trends and facilitate youths' transition to adulthood. One step is to empower parents. Efforts should be undertaken to increase parents' involvement in the governance of secondary schools, help parents and teachers learn to communicate with each other more effectively, and continue to experiment with school innovations that allow parents and youth to work together to select those types of secondary school program options that they deem most compatible. Second, the socialization functions of communities and of the workplace should be taken seriously, and explicit plans to strengthen them should be developed. (This paper includes commentaries by Paul Riesman and John U. Ogbu.) (MN)