A surprising number of teenagers suffer emotional and mental dysfunction. Of added importance is the fact that such turmoil is very often carried over into adulthood with serious implications for adjustment during the postadolescent years. The mental health of children and adolescents has tended to be a neglected topic, and it is only recently that researchers have begun to examine mental health issues among younger people (Kazdin 1993). Therefore, the view that teenagers will simply eventually outgrow their mental health problems has lost credence.