Overview

There is currently a high level of public interest in adolescents' health problems and risk taking behaviours. This book seeks to identify the precursors of those behaviours and the developmental processes that accompany them. It presents data on lay conceptions of health and illness, physical maturity, causes of mortality and morbidity, and patterns of utilization of medical and psychosocial health care services. Developmental changes in risk perception, self-disclosure behaviour, and in dealing with nudity are linked with doctor-patient communication to illustrate the typical obstacles health experts are faced with when trying to assess diagnostic information in this age group. Developmental barriers that hinder adolescents' compliance are highlighted and factors accounting for their aversion to counselling are reviewed. This book also presents findings on typical stressors occurring during adolescence and their effect on health status as well as factors mediating the effect of stress on health. Attention is directed to deficits in coping behaviour, social support and network structure of distressed adolescents and the current state of research relative to coping with chronic illness in adolescence is reviewed. Implications of these findings for the development of intervention strategies or for improving the health care of chronically ill adolescents and particularly troubled adolescents are detailed.

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9780805818390

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Reviews

""...makes an important contribution to the literature in a number of different ways. First and foremost, it maintains a sustained focus on developmental considerations such that it becomes clear why adolescent health issues are likely to be different from children's health issues and different from adult health issues....A second strength...is the focus on important themes that transcend specific disorders. This can be clearly seen in the listing of the chapter titles....A third strength...is the attention given to methodological problems that plague research on adolescent health....It is heartening to have a well-crafted volume on adolescent health available, and perhaps this book will be the much-needed stimulus that promotes greater emphasis of this important topic in classes on either adolescent development, health psychology, or behavioral pediatrics."" —Contemporary Psychology ""The book is a useful compendium of research findings, is based largely on North American and German samples, and is geared mainly to the senior undergraduate student in the health sciences and health professionals working with adolescents."" —Journal of Health Psychology

...makes an important contribution to the literature in a number of different ways. First and foremost, it maintains a sustained focus on developmental considerations such that it becomes clear why adolescent health issues are likely to be different from children's health issues and different from adult health issues....A second strength...is the focus on important themes that transcend specific disorders. This can be clearly seen in the listing of the chapter titles....A third strength...is the attention given to methodological problems that plague research on adolescent health....It is heartening to have a well-crafted volume on adolescent health available, and perhaps this book will be the much-needed stimulus that promotes greater emphasis of this important topic in classes on either adolescent development, health psychology, or behavioral pediatrics. -Contemporary Psychology The book is a useful compendium of research findings, is based largely on North American and German samples, and is geared mainly to the senior undergraduate student in the health sciences and health professionals working with adolescents. -Journal of Health Psychology

Author Information

Inge Seiffge-Krenke

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