Healthy Teen Development

Questions and Answers
During the original satellite broadcast, participants had the opportunity to send their questions to the presenters. While many questions were addressed during the program, others were not. The presenters have graciously agreed to provide their responses to a portion of the questions that were not addressed. Read the presenters' responses...

Healthy Teen Development
October 17, 2002

Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D.

Department of Psychology
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA 19122
(215) 204-7485; 204-7321
FAX: (215) 204-5539
E-mail: LDS@TEMPLE.EDU

Laurence Steinberg, Ph.D., is the Distinguished University Professor and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology at Temple University, where he joined the faculty in 1988. Dr. Steinberg taught previously at Cornell University, the University of California at Irvine, and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He was educated at Vassar College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated with honors and distinction in psychology in 1974; and at Cornell University, where he received his Ph.D. in human development and family studies in 1977. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, has been a Faculty Scholar of the William T. Grant Foundation, and is currently Director of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice. Dr. Steinberg is Past-President of the Society for Research on Adolescence, the largest international organization of social and behavioral scientists interested in adolescent growth and development.

A nationally recognized expert on psychological development and family relations during adolescence, Dr. Steinberg's research has focused on a range of topics in the study of contemporary adolescence, including parent-adolescent relationships, adolescent employment, high school reform, and juvenile justice. His work has been funded by a variety of public and private organizations, including the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice, the MacArthur Foundation, the William T. Grant Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the William Penn Foundation, and the Lilly Endowment. Dr. Steinberg served as a member of the National Academy of Science's Panel on the Health Implications of Child Labor and has been a frequent consultant to state and federal agencies and lawmakers on child labor, secondary education, and juvenile justice policy. He has been the recipient of numerous honors, including the John P. Hill Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Study of Adolescence, given by the Society for Research on Adolescence, and the Society for Adolescent Medicine's Gallagher Lectureship. Dr. Steinberg also has been recognized for excellence in research and teaching by the University of California, the University of Wisconsin, and Temple University, where he was honored as one of the university's Great Teachers.

Dr. Steinberg is the author or co-author of more than 150 scholarly articles on growth and development during the teenage years, as well as the books You and Your Adolescent: A Parent's Guide for Ages 10 to 20; Adolescence, the leading college textbook on adolescent development, now in its sixth edition; When Teenagers Work: The Psychological and Social Costs of Adolescent Employment; Crossing Paths: How Your Child's Adolescence Triggers Your Own Crisis; Studying Minority Adolescents: Conceptual, Methodological, and Theoretical Issues, and Beyond the Classroom: Why School Reform Has Failed and What Parents Need to Do. Beyond the Classroom has been acclaimed as one of the most important books on education written during the last decade.

A featured guest on numerous television programs, including The CBS Morning News, Today, Good Morning America, 20/20, Dateline, and 48 Hours, Dr. Steinberg is a frequent consultant on adolescent development for print and electronic media, including The New York Times and National Public Radio.

Dr. Steinberg may be contacted by telephone, at 215-204-7485 or via e-mail, at lds@temple.edu. Additional information about Dr. Steinberg is available on his website, http://astro.temple.edu/~lds.

Teen Sexuality and the Role of Communication and Decision-Making
October 24, 2002

Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health
University of Minnesota
200 Oak Street, SE; Suite 260
Minneapolis, MN 55455
(612) 626-2820
Fax: (612) 626-2134
E-mail: blumx001@umn.edu

Robert Wm. Blum, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Head of the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, University of Minnesota. He has edited two books, and has written over 220 journal articles, book chapters and special reports.

Dr. Blum is a Past-President of the Society for Adolescent Medicine; has served on the American Board of Pediatrics; was a charter member of the Sub-Board of Adolescent Medicine, and currently serves as the Chair of the Alan Guttmacher Institute Executive Board as well as on the Scientific Panel of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. In addition, he Chairs the National Academy of Sciences Committee of Youth Health and Development. He is a consultant to the World Health Organization where he Chairs the Technical Advisory Group of the Maternal and Child Health Program as the United States representative and serves as the United States representative on the Scientific and Technical Advisory Group of the Human Reproductive Program of WHO as well. He has been awarded the Society for Adolescent Medicine's Outstanding Achievement Award (1993) and in 1998 was the recipient of the American Public Health Association's Herbert Needleman Award "for scientific achievement and courageous advocacy" on behalf of children and youth

Community Outreach Coordinator
National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Research Center
Suite 260, Gateway Building
200 Oak Street SE
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455
(612) 624-1907
E-mail: oliph001@tc.umn.edu

Jenny Oliphant is the Community Outreach Coordinator for the National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Research Center (PRC), Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, at the University of Minnesota. There, she assists communities in developing pregnancy prevention programming based on best practices in the field of youth development, community collaboration and adolescent health. She also coordinates the Center's peer education program. She speaks locally and nationally about youth involvement, peer education, and pregnancy prevention. Her background includes experiences as a health educator with Planned Parenthood of Minnesota/South Dakota and as the Health People 2000 coordinator in rural Iowa of the Johnson County Department of Public Health's community-based planning process. She holds a Masters of Public Health in Community Health Education from the University of Minnesota and is pursuing a doctorate degree at the University of St. Thomas in Educational Leadership. Jenny's passions are coaching gymnastics, mentoring youth and her 150-pound St. Bernard.