Understanding the Multiple Contexts of Adolescent Risky Behavior and Positive Development: Advances and Future Directions

Abstract

The intent of this special issue is to bring more specific focus to how we think about and study the multiple contexts of adolescent development, is laudable. Together, the articles provide important insights into how the multiple features of young people's primary contexts and broader communities can influence development in positive and negative ways. Another key and commendable feature of this special issue is the integration of problem-focused etiological and prevention research concerning risky behaviors during adolescence (see Applied Developmental Science special issue on Prevention as Altering the Course of Development, Maggs and Schulenberg, 2001) with the asset- focused research on positive youth development and promotion (see Applied Developmental Science special issue on Conditions for Optimal Development in Adolescence, Csikszentmihalyi and Schneider, 2001). This commentary is organized into four main interrelated topics: (a) studying contexts, (b) studying risky and positive behaviors, (c) causal relations, and (d) multiwave longitudinal data with representative samples.