This paper reports an investigation of children's picture storybooks about school. Previous research has indicated that parents and educators choose to read books about school to children as a way of helping children become familiar with school expectations. Drawing on over 100 children's picture storybooks, the content (text and illustrations) of…

Over two decades, six studies evaluated the effects of a home-based early language program on the development of 101 infants. Parents engaged in enrichment activities with their infants over a one-year period that began when the infants were between three and 13 months of age. Participants from families with varied levels of education were…

As our world becomes increasingly multicultural in nature, multilingual skills constitute an everyday phenomenon in schools. Since most of the second-language research has focused on school-age students, more research had to be conducted with language-minority students at the kindergarten level in order for psychologists and educators to develop…

This chapter explores how fatherhood prompts struggle and growth in the psychological, social, and economic changes associated with the transition to adulthood. Little is known about these connections, especially for disadvantaged Latino and White fathers who live in small and mid-sized American communities. We draw on eight in-depth focus groups…

Many children in economically disadvantaged communities assume adult roles in their families. Negotiating the responsibilities and expectations associated with becoming what some young men describe as "man of the house" has important implications for how adolescent boys move into adulthood. In this study, we share insights from field…

This chapter introduces the innovative field-based studies on disadvantaged men that are featured in this volume. Together, these studies of disadvantaged men from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and both urban and nonurban settings complement and extend recent discussions of emerging adulthood, which typically conceptualizes the transition…

Research indicates that inner-city neighborhood effects are correlated with school dropout, substance abuse, crime, violence, homicide, HIV risk related behaviors, and incarceration for adolescent African American males. Parents of adolescent African American males face many challenges as they try to keep their children safe in high-risk…

Over the last several decades, proactive policing, in which departments use data on reported crimes to determine where local police officers will target their surveillance, has increased police contact with residents in certain neighborhoods. Drawing on field research conducted over a three-year period (2007-2010) among adult and adolescent…

This chapter is organized around the question "How do adolescents learn to have healthy sex?" The chapter assumes that sexual learning derives from a broad range of both informal and formal sources that contribute to learning within the context of neurocognitive brain systems that modulate sexual motivations and self-regulation. The…

Sexual behavior is an important aspect of adolescent development with implications for well-being. These chapters highlight important perspectives on studying sexual health from a normative, developmental perspective, such as viewing a range of sexual behaviors as life events; considering potentially positive physical health, mental health, social…

Although research has increasingly emphasized how adolescent sexual behavior may be associated with aspects of health beyond unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, no current theoretical or conceptual model fully explains associations between sexual behavior and multiple facets of health. We provide a conceptual model that…

Very little is known about outcomes of sexual behavior for sexual minority youth. In this chapter, I review relevant literature and draw on findings from my own research to initiate an inquiry into this important topic. I begin with a brief overview of the range of sexual behaviors of sexual minority adolescents and young adults. Next, I describe…

New digital technologies are highly responsive to many of the developmental needs of adolescents, including their need for intimate connection and social identity. This chapter explores adolescents' use of web-based sexual information, texting and "sexting," online dating sites, role-playing games, and sexually explicit media, and…

The complexity of adolescents' dating and sexual lives is not easily operationalized with simple indicators of dating or sexual activity. While building on prior work that emphasizes the "risky" nature of adolescents' intimate relationships, we assess whether a variety of indicators reflecting the complexity of…

In this introductory chapter, I place Bertram J. Cohler's ([Cohler, B. J., 1982]) seminal essay "Personal Narrative and Life Course" in the context of the history of narrative psychology and developmental theory. I describe four theses from "Personal Narrative and Life Course," which impacted developmental theory and…