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Why do some children grow up to be well-adjusted adolescents and others do not?

This question lies at the heart of the research of the Adolescent Transitions Lab, which investigates ways normal developmental process go awry. We are particularly interested in how different aspects of puberty – its timing and tempo, its early-life antecedents, and the ways that children, peers, and family members perceive and understand it – lay the groundwork for future adjustment or maladjustment.

Because puberty is a transition which spans biological, social, and psychological domains, this work is inherently interdisciplinary, integrating developmental psychopathology with behavior genetics, public health, evolutionary psychology, and epidemiology.