From a European Perspective This book charts territory that is profoundly important, and yet rarely fully understood. The authors have attempted a task that has relevance to the widest possible range of professionals working with children and adolescents. In describing and assessing the fields prevention and promotion they have performed an immense service to researchers in this field, but also to practitioners across the spectrum, from mental health nurses and doctors to teachers and psychologists, from social work professionals to psychiatrists and youth counselors. There are two other key...

Research on physical maturity has demonstrated conclusively that the assumption of an age-homogenous development does not always hold true. This volume presents a biosocial model focusing on the role of individual differences in biological maturation to be used as a framework for empirical studies exploring adolescent female development. The longitudinal design of the research program offers the possibilities to examine both short- and long-term consequences for individual variations in pubertal development. In the present volume, the data for these analyses consist of a broad range of...