Using data from the Youth Development Study's representative panel of 1,000 adolescents, social scientists from the University of Minnesota address key questions derived from the arena-of-comfort thesis. They investigate in which arenas of their lives adolescents typically find comfort; whether the

Adolescence is a time when the social world expands, a time of increasing engagement beyond the family sphere to the school, the peer group, and the workplace. These contexts may present experiences that differ greatly in their tone and content, either contributing to or hindering satisfaction and a positive sense of self. This book examines how the constellation of stressors and rewards in various life domains influences adolescent adjustment. The theoretical framework is Simmons' "arena of comfort": a context for individuals to relax and to rejuvenate, so that potentially stressful changes...