ABSTRACT
Adolescence is a challenging time in that adolescents begin engaging in so-called adult behaviors and are confronted with a plethora of interwoven and complex issues, such as autonomy, intimacy, and achievement. Often, adolescence is characterized by a series of developmental challenges that need to be mastered. These include the accommodation to pubertal changes, the alteration of childhood ties to parents, the regulation of moods, the reorganization of self-definitions, the acquisition of new academic and possibly work-related skills, and the management of sexual arousal and opposite-sex relationships (Brooks-Gunn & Petersen, 1983, 1991; Brooks-Gunn, Petersen, & Eichom, 1985; Feldman & Elliott, 1990; Gunnar & Collins, 1988; Lerner & Foch, 1987; Montemayor, Adams, & Gullotta, 1990; Simmons & Blyth, 1987).
