Helping Adolescents at Risk : Prevention of Multiple Problem Behaviors

Clinicians and researchers have long recognized that adolescent delinquency, substance use, smoking, and risky sexual behavior tend to co-occur.

Until now, however, the field has lacked a thoughtful examination of why this pattern exists and the implications for research, policy, and practice.

Filling a crucial gap, this volume provides a comprehensive analysis of current knowledge on the multiproblem phenomenon.

Leading interdisciplinary experts draw on clinical and public health perspectives to shed new light on the causes and consequences of adolescent behavior problems/m-/and to examine "what works" in prevention and treatment.

Mapping out important future directions for the field, this is a state-of-the-science sourcebook and text for anyone working with or studying adolescents at risk. The volume first reviews the epidemiology of serious youth problems and documents their costs to individuals, families, and communities.

A lifespan developmental perspective is brought to bear on understanding risk and protective factors for problem behavior, with consideration of biological, family, school, peer, and community influences. Building on these foundations, subsequent chapters present empirically supported prevention and treatment approaches.

Coverage encompasses a range of applications for teens who are already showing signs of problems, as well as programs for the general population of adolescents and early interventions for children and families.

The book summarizes the targets and methods of each approach, reviews the evidence for its efficacy, and provides a cost/n-/benefit analysis wherever possible.

Particular attention is given to helping the reader differentiate between practices that have been demonstrated effective and those that have not, and to identifying salient questions for further investigation.

Also addressed are ways to promote the development and dissemination of research-based intervention models at the community, state, and national levels. Timely and authoritative, this volume provides vital knowledge for practitioners, researchers, and students in clinical, child, school, and developmental psychology; child and adolescent psychiatry; social work; juvenile justice; public health; and related disciplines. It will serve as a uniquely informative text in advanced undergraduate and graduate-level courses.

Ted R. Miller, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation Phillippe Cunningham, Medical University of South Carolina James H.

Derzon, Pacific Institute for Research and E