Risks and Problem Behaviors in Adolescence

There are two main sections in this volume. The first section explores adolescents' interactions with several components of their social ecology. Their interpersonal exchanges with peers, including romantic relationships, their engagement with the world of work, and their relationship with parents are discussed. Consistent with a developmental contextual view of adolescence, the articles illustrate that social interactions are shaped by the relationships between the adolescent's characteristics of individuality and the specific features of his or her social context. For example, in establishing friendships, in negotiating linkages between peers and parents, in coping with social stressors, in the development of their sexuality, or in launching their engagement with work and careers youth bring particular cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and personality attributes to a social context also characterized by the presence of particular types of peer groups, institutional structures, socioeconomic resources, cultural patterns, and physical ecological attributes. Und