Description: There are two main sections of this volume. The initial section presents key articles in the adolescent literature pertinent to the historical and theoretical bases of this field of scholarship. These articles describe the philosophical foundations of the scientific study of adolescence, discuss the several theoretical viewpoints that have been used to frame research and application, and explain the evolution of the study of the adolescent period and of its emergence as an area of inquiry marked by a dynamic, systems orientation to the conceptualization of youth development. By representing the breadth of the ideas that have been used to conceptualize and study the adolescent period, this portion of the volume provides an understanding of how and why the field of adolescence has become focused on the themes of diversity, individual-context relations, and application.

The developmental systems orientation to the study of adolescence that emerges across the articles found in the first portion of the volume provide a theoretical grounding for the papers that comprise the second portion of the book. These articles pertain to the biological bases of adolescent physical and behavioral characteristics and development. In early theoretical accounts of the adolescent period biology was seen as the "prime mover" of changes during this period and, as such, the study of adolescence was often virtually equated with the study of biology. However, a key point made in the papers in this section is that biology per se is not linked directly to development in adolescence. Rather, the features of the context within which biological changes, such as those associated with early versus late pubertalmaturation, are expressed shape the import of biology for youth development.

In short, the articles in this volume document the emergence of a dynamic, individual differences approach to adolescence, one that links theory and application in all areas of empirical inquiry within this field of scholarship. Not only is this theoretical frame useful for understanding the literature on biological bases of adolescent development but, in addition, it is similarly applicable to the substantive topics that are the foci of the other volumes in this Series.

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