This landmark study traces the life histories of approximately 300 teenage mothers and their children over a seventeen-year period. From interview data and case studies, it provides a vivid account of the impact of early childbearing on young mothers and their children. Some remarkable and surprising results emerge from this unique study of the long term adaptation to early parenthood. It also offers refreshing insights into the unexplored connections between mothers' careers and the development of their children. Adolescent Mothers in Later Life will be an invaluable resource for all those interested in teenage pregnancy.

Social changes, including women's entry into the labour force and higher rates of divorce and remarriage, dramatically altered family life and raised complex questions about how individuals develop in the ever changing contexts of family, community and society. The goal of this 1989 volume is to enhance our understanding of human development in an evolving social context. Featuring contributions by eminent scholars in developmental, clinical and personality psychology, behavioural genetics and sociology, Persons in Context: Developmental Processes presents advances in theory and research on two central topics: how environments influence individuals in the course of development and how individuals select and shape the very environments that influence their development. The volume assembles a theoretically convergent body of research on how individuals and environments are linked in the course of development, including studies of genetics - environment relations, social interns, social interchanges in family systems, and linkages between the family and other major settings, such as peer groups, communities, and the larger social structure.