Research on the processes of change during the transition from middle childhood to adolescence has been a relatively neglected area of scholarship until recently. This volume, features prominent researchers who provide integrative accounts of their research programs, focusing on processes of physical, social, and cognitive change during this important transition period in development. Also included in this volume is an overview, discussion, and critical analysis of core conceptual issues in the study of adolescent transition.

Research on the processes of change during the transition from middle childhood to adolescence has been a relatively neglected area of scholarship until recently. This volume, features prominent researchers who provide integrative accounts of their research programs, focusing on processes of physical, social, and cognitive change during this important transition period in development. Also included in this volume is an overview, discussion, and critical analysis of core conceptual issues in the study of adolescent transition.

The volume's topic was chosen in part because of the rapidly growing salience of dyadic research perspectives in developmental psychology, but also in social psychology and in fields such as communication and family studies. It provides the most complete representation now available on current theory and research on the significance of personal relationships in child and adolescent development. This volume addresses the ways in which the study of social development has been altered by an emphasis on research questions and techniques for studying children and adolescents in the context of their significant dyadic relationships. Leading scholars--many of them pioneers in the concepts and methods of dyadic research--have contributed chapters in which they both report findings from recent research and reflect on the implications for developmental psychology. Their work encompasses studies of relationships with parents, siblings, friends, and romantic partners. Opening chapters set the stage by describing the key characteristics of social-development research from a dyadic perspective and outlining key themes and contemporary issues in the field. It concludes with commentaries from distinguished senior scholars identifying important directions for future research.

To their everyday life with children, parents bring a number of ideas about development and about parenting. Some of these ideas are about their own children and about themselves as parents. Others are more general: ideas, for instance, about what babies are like, how children change with age, what kinds of affection and control they need, the responsibilities of mothers and fathers, or the degree of influence each parent has over the way a child develops. Moreover, the ideas that parents hold, shape their actions with children and the way they assess both their children and their own performance as parents. With the recognition of parental thinking as a powerful factor in family life, research has turned to the study of this `everyday' or `informal' psychology. Some of the studies deal with the nature of parents' ideas: What ideas are held? Which are most widely shared? How do these ideas differ from one another? Some deal with the sources of parents' ideas: with the factors that give rise to differences among parents from different backgrounds (different cultures, different economic groups, different degrees of experience with children). Others concentrate on the consequences of parents' ideas for themselves and for children. This monograph summarizes the research with an eye to several audiences (researchers, clinicians, educators) and with an emphasis on the questions that remain. A major goal is to point not only to significant gaps, but also to some specific ways in which they might be addressed by further research.

The volume's topic was chosen in part because of the rapidly growing salience of dyadic research perspectives in developmental psychology, but also in social psychology and in fields such as communication and family studies. It provides the most complete representation now available on current theory and research on the significance of personal relationships in child and adolescent development. This volume addresses the ways in which the study of social development has been altered by an emphasis on research questions and techniques for studying children and adolescents in the context of their significant dyadic relationships. Leading scholars--many of them pioneers in the concepts and methods of dyadic research--have contributed chapters in which they both report findings from recent research and reflect on the implications for developmental psychology. Their work encompasses studies of relationships with parents, siblings, friends, and romantic partners. Opening chapters set the stage by describing the key characteristics of social-development research from a dyadic perspective and outlining key themes and contemporary issues in the field. It concludes with commentaries from distinguished senior scholars identifying important directions for future research.

"Research on adolescent relationships has rapidly expanded during the past decade. Keeping apace with research advances is a difficult challenge. Harder still is integrating the literature into a coherent whole. This volume is designed to guide the reader through the research on close relationships before, during, and after adolescence. We are fortunate that some of the world's foremost experts on adolescent relationships agreed to summarize what is known in their respective fields of expertise. The volume begins with a section on developmental pathways and processes. This section defines relationships processes and describes individual and contextual factors that influence them. The next section is devoted to family relationships. Separate chapters are devoted to sibling relationships and parent-child relationships during the transition into adolescence and during the transition into young adulthood. The final two sections concern peer relationships"--

The definitive work on a groundbreaking study, this essential volume provides a coherent picture of the complexity of development from birth to adulthood. Explicated are both the methodology of the Minnesota study and its far-reaching contributions to understanding how we become who we are. The book marshals a vast body of data on the ways in which individuals' strengths and vulnerabilities are shaped by myriad influences, including early experiences, family and peer relationships throughout childhood and adolescence, variations in child characteristics and abilities, and socioeconomic conditions. Implications for clinical intervention and prevention are also addressed. Rigorously documented and clearly presented, the study's findings elucidate the twists and turns of individual pathways, illustrating as never before the ongoing interplay between developing children and their environments.