Our volume examines the potential for change during the life course and across generations. We address the possibilities for promoting healthy development from infancy to adulthood in three key domains: human capital, partnership behavior, and child and adolescent development.
Youth in Cities compares the circumstances of urban youth cross-nationally, illustrating the formidable challenges faced by young people trying to define their place in a rapidly changing world.
Since the time of the Second World War, there has been a marked rise in all sorts of psychosocial problems in young people - these include crime, suicidal behaviour, alcohol and drug abuse, depression and eating disorders. The rise has been striking because, during this same time period, the physical health of people and their living conditions have improved in most developed countries.
Adolescents' beliefs in their personal control affects their psychological well-being and the direction their lives take. Self-Efficacy in Changing Societies analyzes the diverse ways in which beliefs of personal efficacy operate within a network of sociocultural influences to shape life paths. The chapters, by internationally known experts, cover such concepts as infancy and personal agency, competency through the life span, the role of family, and cross-cultural factors.
Preparing Adolescents for the Twenty-First Century: Challenges Facing Europe and the United States attempts to address this neglect by focusing on cross-national perspectives