From a biopsychosocial perspective on human development, this essay review introduces a model linking social changes at the macro level with individual development at the micro level. German unification and the globalization of economy that followed are taken as a case in point for social changes that have affected the lives of many. It is argued…

We analyzed whether perceived demands associated with social change and coping with these demands are related to depressive symptoms in German adolescents from the highest versus middle/lowest educational track. Demands reflected an increase in uncertainty (e.g., risk for getting no job). Adolescents on the highest educational track perceived…

Focusing on new demands posed by social and economic change, and applying a pattern-based approach, this study examined constellations of increasing labor market uncertainties (understood as threat) and increasing job-related learning tasks (understood as positive challenge). We investigated whether and how the groups of working individuals behind…

Social change has accentuated various demands in people's work lives including, for instance, fears of being laid off, anticipated or experienced difficulties in finding a new and/or appropriate job or a lack of security in career planning. The present study on N=1751 employed, short-term unemployed, and long-term (greater than 12 months)…

The present study examined the timing of behavioral autonomy transitions in two same-aged cohorts of East German adolescents assessed in 1991 and 1996. An earlier timing of autonomy privileges was associated with higher deviant behavior. A later timing of autonomy privileges and responsibilities was linked to structural constraints, specifically,…

Individually experienced demands of current social change in the domains of work and family were assessed in a large sample of adults from two Western and two Eastern federal states of Germany. For each domain of life, a cumulated index was computed representing the load with highly endorsed demands and this was compared across political regions,…

In the present essay, we focus on G. Stanley Hall's contributions to the study of the role of social change for adolescent development. After introducing Hall's main ideas, we discuss recent demands adolescents face because of social change and how Hall's work could inform research on adolescent development in times of social change.

Abrupt social change, such as the breakdown of a political system of the former communist states, presents a major adaptive challenge to the individual. The authors analyzed whether commitment to the old political system and high self-efficacy beliefs measured before German unification would predict change in psychological distress in East German…

Interviewed 1,708 East and West German adolescents to study similarities and differences in their psychosocial transitions. Found that females generally underwent transitions earlier than males. East German youths conceived of the transition to work and displayed autonomy earlier than West German youth, but the overall timetable of transitions…

This study investigated whether self-efficacy beliefs measured before the onset of social change would moderate effects of social change on adolescents' life satisfaction, optimism regarding their future, and educational success. Self-efficacy beliefs of 593 German adolescents were measured between 1985 and 1988 before German unification. In 1992,…

Although social change is diverse and ubiquitous, there is to date little research on the impact of social change on individual development, nor on the variables that may mediate and moderate this impact. This lack is, in part, based on insufficient consideration of psychological theories that may be applied to social change, but particularly on…

It is well known that human development is influenced by social change. In particular, as evidenced by research on German unification, the rapid change of social institutions can impact on various aspects of behaviour and development. Based on my own research experience in this field, I want to show the necessity for a better interdisciplinary…