Thirty years ago a prominent U.S. scholar spoke to a large audience at a major conference on child development, bemoaning our severely limited knowledge about the critical years of development between childhood and adulthood. In the three decades since that meeting, scientific research on adolescence has progressed dramatically, to the point that our knowledge can easily fill the three volumes of this encyclopedia. Addressing 125 major issues of adolescent development and behavior, this volume documents the diverse and complex routes that young people take on their way to adulthood. Our understanding of adolescence has progressed through the efforts of scholars in several academic disciplines, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, medicine, biology and neurology, cognitive science, psychiatry, education, epidemiology, public health, and economics. Their work has revealed similarities and contrasts in the nature of adolescence in different cultures, nations, and historical eras. Accordingly, the individuals whom we asked to contribute articles to the encyclopedia represent a panoply of academic disciplines and hail from several continents and many different countries. They include many of the most prominent and accomplished scholars in their respective fields. Readers are provided with insights from seasoned scholars with high levels of expertise on the topic they are describing in their article. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)