ABSTRACT
In this chapter are discussed societal changes and their impact on adolescent development. The rapid growth that makes adolescence a time of difficult adjustment also must interact with such powerful forces as the onset of the “information society” and its ubiquitous computers, intense competition for fewer jobs, restructuring of traditional sex roles, the threat of nuclear war, AIDS, substance abuse, and the erosion of the nuclear family. The result is that today’s teenagers experience enormous stress.
