In this monograph, we investigate the developmental trajectories of a
predominantly middle-class, community-based sample of European American
and African American adolescents growing up in urban, suburban, and
rural areas in Maryland, United States. Within risk-protection and
positive youth development frameworks, we selected developmental
measures based on the normative tasks of adolescence and the most widely
studied indicators in the three major contexts of development: families,
peer groups, and schools. Using hierarchical linear growth models, we
estimated adolescents' growth trajectories from ages 12 to 20 with
variation accounted for by SES, gender, race/ethnicity, and the gender
by race/ethnicity interaction. In general, the results indicate that:
(a) periods of greatest risk and positive development depended on the
time frame and outcome being examined and (b) on average, these
adolescents demonstrated much stronger evidence of positive than
problematic development, even at their most vulnerable times. Absolute
levels of their engagement in healthy behaviors, supportive
relationships with parents and friends, and positive self-perceptions
and psychological well-being were much higher than their reported angry
and depressive feelings, engagement in risky behaviors, and negative
relationships with parents and peers. We did not find evidence to
support the idea that adolescence is a time of heightened risk. Rather,
on average, these adolescents experienced relatively stable and
developmentally healthy trajectories for a wide range of
characteristics, behaviors, and relationships, with slight increases or
decreases at different points in development that varied according to
domain. Developmental trajectories differed minimally by SES but in some
expected ways by gender and race/ethnicity, although these latter
differences were not very marked. Overall, most of the young people
navigated through their adolescence and arrived at young adulthood with
good mental and physical health, positive relationships with their
parents and peers, and high aspirations and expectations for what their
future lives might hold.
