Adolescence in Context

This Second Edition increases coverage of context, integrates current research with classic work, and where possible, examines development through an intersectional lens. The Second Edition includes about 1,600 references published since 2020, including about 450 published from 2023-2025.   A new section of Chapter 1 defines intersectionality and its value for understanding development. The developmental science literature on intersectionality is in its infancy but rapidly growing.  The interrelations of ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, and more, are examined, as available.

Examples of content examining racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, and SES differences and interactions include:

·         Adolescents’ physical development and health, such as socioeconomic influences on brain development and health, including growth, activity, and nutrition, and injuries and mortality, as well as COVID-19 experiences and outcomes. Persistent problems such as food insecurity and exposure to stress and trauma influence brain development, stress reactivity, and pubertal timing and play a role in mental health, including rates of eating disorders, depression, and suicide.

·         Cognitive development, such as diagnoses of neurodevelopmental disabilities, individual differences in intelligence scores, and gene-IQ correlations. 

·         Socioemotional development, such as emotional regulation and the sense of self, including self-concept, self-esteem, and identity.  Ethnic-racial identity is a major heading in Chapter 5, including adolescents’ understanding of race,  ethnic socialization, experiences with discrimination, and overall adjustment. Transgender and gender diverse identity is a major heading in Chapter 6, which examines gender diversity from childhood into adolescence, influences on adjustment, and gender-affirming care, as well as developmental transitions, risks, and supports for LGBTQ+ adolescents.

·         Adolescents’ social contexts, including family formations, such as one-parent, cohabitating, adoptive, and foster families, parenting styles, and the effects of different family experiences, such as parental incarceration, parental deployment, and immigration.  Contextual stressors that vary with intersectional factors include exposure to early life stress, neighborhood and community violence, war and terror, and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic