Transitions Through Adolescence

The adolescent period has attracted much attention as an ideal period for investigating interactive models incorporating biological maturation with intra- and interpersonal development. The focus of this volume is on adolescent transitions in three domains: the peer system, the family system, and school and work contexts. Its goal is to highlight specific aspects of innovative research programs and initiatives, and look forward to future directions in the field. Because interest in adolescence has spanned the disciplines, this volume reflects a multidisciplinary perspective--presenting research and methods from life-span development, sociology, anthropology, and education to provide exemplars of the range of approaches used in understanding the processes and transitions of adolescent development. These exemplars encompass the breadth not only of the investigation of adolescence--from survey research on drug use to ethnographic studies of involvement in criminal activities--but also of individual differences in the experience of adolescent transitions--from the transition to college and work in White, middle-class youth to the work experiences of urban, African-American high school students. The chapters collected here offer a rich sample of the diversity of research experience with an emphasis on in-depth investigation of adolescent transitions. The volume will serve as a resource to investigators across several disciplines as it identifies approaches and recent findings from alternate fields.

Julia A. Graber, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Anne C. Petersen

Contents: Preface. Part I: Intrapersonal Transitions.R.M. Lerner, J.V. Lerner, A. von Eye, C.W. Ostrum, K. Nitz, R. Talwar-Soni, J.G. Tubman, Continuity and Discontinuity Across the Transition of Early Adolescence: A Developmental Contextual Perspective. J.A. Graber, A.C. Peterson, J. Brooks-Gunn, Pubertal Processes: Methods, Measures, & Models. Part II: Transitions in the Peer System and Social Behaviors.T.J. Berndt, Transitions in Friendship and Friends' Influence. J.L. Rodgers, Sexual Transitions in Adolescence. J.G. Bachman, L.D. Johnston, P.M. O'Malley, J. Schulenberg, Transitions in Drug Use During Late Adolescence and Young Adulthood. M.L. Sullivan, Developmental Transitions in Poor Youth: Delinquency and Crime. Part III: Transitions in the Family System.G.N. Holmbeck, A Model of Family Relational Transformations During the Transition to Adolescence: Parent-Adolescent Conflict and Adaptation. B.J. Cohler, J.S. Musick, Adolescent Parenthood and the Transition to Adulthood. C. Merriwether-de Vries, L.M. Burton, L. Eggeletion, Early Parenting and Intergenerational Family Relationships within African American Families. Part IV: School and Work Transitions.J.S. Eccles, S. Lord, C.M. Buchanan, School Transitions in Early Adolescence: What Are We Doing to Our Young People? F.A.J. Ianni, M.T. Orr, Dropping Out. K.S. Newman, Working Poor: Low-Wage Employment in the Lives of Harlem Youth. K.L. Bell, J.P. Allen, S.T. Hauser, T.G. O'Connor, Family Factors and Young Adult Transitions: Educational Attainment and Occupational Prestige. Part V: Summary.J.A. Graber, J. Brooks-Gunn, A.C. Petersen, Adolescent Transitions in Context.