Adolescent development was barely a separate field of study in early 1980s. About the time of publication of first edition of Adolesce in 1985, however, the study of development during the second decade of the life cyle suddenly became a hot topic. New journals devoted exclusively to the study of adolesce began publication; established journal in the field of child development became deluged with submissions on adolesce; more and more well-trained scholars specializing in the study od adolescent development appeared on scene. During the 17 years between the publication of the first and sixth editions of text, our understanding of adolescent development expanded draatically, and this expansion has continued at an even more rapid pace since the last edition was published three years ago.