Book Description

This document, the second of three volumes in the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment's "Adolescent Health" series, provides background information on aspects of adolescents' lives and examines the effectiveness of prevention and treatment interventions. Chapter 1, an introduction to this two-part document, provides a summary of the contents of this volume as well as an outline of the series as a whole. Part 1 focuses on the background of adolescent health and provides a framework for viewing the lives and social environments of adolescents. The three individual chapters in this part examine respectively: adolescent development that may affect health, the delivery of health services, and public policy with respect to adolescents; the families of adolescents and models of parent-adolescent interaction; and school environments and discretionary time. Each of the 10 chapters in part 2 examines a specific health problem: accidental injuries; chronic physical illnesses; nutrition and fitness problems; dental and oral health problems; Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and other sexually transmitted diseases; pregnancy and parenting; mental health problems; alcohol, tobacco, and drug abuse; delinquency; and homelessness. For each chapter, sections are included on: (1) limitations of existing sources of data on the health problem, the prevalence of the problem among adolescents, and differences in prevalence by selected sociodemographic and nondemographic characteristics; (2) information on the prevention and treatment of the problem; (3) relevant federal policies and programs; and (4) conclusions and policy implications. A separate index is included for Volumes I, II, and III of this "Adolescent Health" series. (NB)