Surveyed 485 undergraduate students to determine on which developmental tasks they believed they were currently working. Results indicated students were simultaneously engaged in developmental tasks associated with middle childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, although they identified themselves as being in early adulthood. Results supported…

As an outgrowth of the theory of flow, looks at some fine distinctions regarding the adolescent's optimal conditions for growth. Points to the importance of the adolescent's ability to reinterpret conflicts which crop up in raw experience, to overcome psychic entropy with long-term challenges or "life themes," and to find new meaning and…

The field of youth development is based on a long tradition of youth work practice, a body of research on adolescent development, an increasing understanding of developmental processes, and work in related applied fields like education and child care. Whereas multiple lists have emerged describing what comprises or is needed for youth development,…

Each generation of adolescents is exposed to a wider array of stressors and environmental deficits. Use, abuse, and dependence on alcohol and other drugs greatly impairs youths' ability to develop fully, and exacerbates and compounds other biopsychosocial problems. Physiologically, the onset of secondary sex characteristics, the growth spurt,…

Notes that Super's work to linguistically explicate and operationally define career development and its central processes has strongly influenced how counselors comprehend and guide their clients' vocational behavior. Explains how Super conceptualized career development in terms of life stages and developmental tasks, and how he proposed that…

Middle adolescents are exposed to environments riddled with potential adversities which pervade their lives, adding to the challenges inherent in their developmental stage. They spend a significant time in school and therefore it is an appropriate context to foster, enhance, and develop emotional, social, and cognitive resilience competencies.…

In this article, the author draws on a study of an after-school initiative serving inner-city high school students to describe and reflect on ways in which apprenticeship-like experiences support work on a variety of developmental tasks. The author describes key dimensions of the apprenticeship experience, discusses challenges faced by…

Delineates specific psychosocial developmental demands placed upon middle schoolers and links these demands to the self-concept disturbance they typically feel. Offers a number of general recommendations useful to educators who are interested in considering the relationship between educational experiences and self-concept disturbance among early…

Examined whether underprepared students participating in self-awareness course during their first quarter of college would show significant growth along developmental tasks as measured by Student Developmental Task Inventory. Findings from 83 underprepared first-year students enrolled in developmental education program suggest that participation…

This study applied a social identity perspective to the study of adolescent self-concept and social development. British adolescents aged 14-15 years (N=114) completed a questionnaire which asked them to: (i) rate their degree of identification with a school-based friendship group; (ii) complete a measure of multi-dimensional self-concept; and…

Presents three psychological perspectives on youth deviance. Two traditional theoretical approaches to understanding and intervening in delinquent behavior are explained. A third perspective, a youth advocacy approach, is described in the light of cognitive developmental theory. Youth's developmental needs and their opportunity to complete…

Presents a historical and cultural perspective of adolescence. Discusses the developmental tasks at this period and the negative behaviors that can result from tackling those tasks. Suggests that young adolescents' positive experiences with developmental tasks and interactions with adults may lessen the tendency to engage in at-risk behaviors. (SR)

Offers a detailed examination of both external and internal assets that middle school students may have, and discusses those that can be significantly affected by middle schools. Describes what successful middle schools do, and discusses teacher training and positive youth development. (SR)

Drug experimenters and drug abstainers were compared on identity achievement at a traditional, conservative, independent college (N=155). Drug abstainers were found to be more foreclosed than experimenters; however, in contrast to previous research, abstainers were not more identity-achieved. Additional findings and results are discussed.…

The concept of juvenile court and juvenile delinquency as distinct from adult crime is grounded in the idea of allowing adolescents more consideration because they are not quite adults, cognitively, psychologically, or socially. These developmental progressions within the individual and complementary societal changes in how the individual is…