ABSTRACT
Child and adolescent psychologic development is a complex process that is governed by the interactions of multiple biologic, genetic, sociocultural, and environmental variables. Viewed from an ecological context, the individual influences, and is influenced by, a multilayered set of systems, including the family, school, neighborhood, and peer group, as well as the more indirect effects of the workplace, health care and social services systems, and the larger cultural belief and value systems of the society in which the individual lives. This article reviews the major developmental themes and transitions through which children and adolescents must move on the path to adulthood. Primary developmental tasks are reviewed within each age period from birth to adulthood, along with a discussion of several risk factors that present challenges to normal development at the individual, family, community, and societal levels. The important roles of pediatricians and other health care professionals in helping children and families negotiate these developmental challenges is also reviewed.
Subject(s)
Child Development/physiology , Psychology, Child , Adolescent , Adolescent Behavior/physiology , Adolescent Behavior/psychology , Child , Child Behavior/physiology , Child Behavior/psychology , HumansABSTRACT
A mediational model positing that the effects of popularity on children's loneliness and depression are passed through indexes of friendship experiences was tested using structural equation modeling. Children (193 3rd through 6th graders) completed a battery of sociometric and self-report questionnaires from which measures of popularity, multiple friendship dimensions (i.e., quantity and quality of best and good friendships), and loneliness and depression were derived. Confirmation of a slightly modified model supported the mediational hypothesis. Although popularity exerted no direct impact on the adjustment indexes, it strongly influenced friendship, which, in turn, affected depression through its strong association with loneliness. It appears that popularity is important for setting the stage for relationship development, but that it is dyadic friendship experiences that most directly influence feelings of loneliness and depression.
