Description
Book SynopsisDuring the ''Golden Era'' of economic growth between 1950 and 1973, mortality and physical illness declined in developed countries, but a number of psychosocial disorders increased. The authors of this volume search out the causes of the increased disorder in young people and target the disorders that rise in frequency in the teenage years: crime, alcohol and drug abuse, depression, anorexia and bulimia, and suicide. The extensive research findings on the mechanisms that lead to each of the disorders are reviewed. In addition, the authors consider a wide range of social and economic changes as possible explanations of trends in the disorders: the changing process of adolescent development, the family, the economy, the labour market, the mass media, and moral concepts and values are all discussed in depth. This international group of researchers bring together, for the first time, under the auspices of the Academia Europaea, data for a range of psychosocial disorders on time trends, on
Table of ContentsPartial table of contents:
OBJECTIVES AND METHODS.
Causal Concepts and Their Testing (M. Rutter).
Individual Development and Social Change (G. Caprara & M.Rutter).
CHANGING CONDITIONS AND INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT.
Changing Family Patterns in Western Europe: Opportunity and RiskFactors for Adolescent Development (L. Hess).
Living Conditions in the Twentieth Century (D. Smith).
Media and Problem Behaviours in Young People (E. Wartella).
THE TARGET DISORDERS.
Youth Crime and Conduct Disorders: Trends, Patterns and CausalExplanations (D. Smith).
Secular Trends in Substance Use: Concepts and Data on the Impact ofSocial Change on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (R. Silbereisen, etal.).
Depressive Disorders: Time Trends and Possible ExplanatoryMechanisms (E. Fombonne).
CONCLUSIONS.
Time Trends in Psychosocial Disorders of Youth (D. Smith & M.Rutter).
Towards Causal Explanations of Time Trends in PsychosocialDisorders of Youth (M. Rutter & D. Smith).
Index.
