Youth: Choices and Change

This just-released publication by PAHO on adolescent health and positive behavior change greatly enhances the knowledge base on this important public health issue. It presents the first ever systematic collection and reporting of the application of behavioral change theories and models specifically to adolescents. At the same time, it represents the first attempt to incorporate a developmental perspective in the conceptual analysis of these classical theoretical constructs when applied to the various stages of adolescence.

Cultural, ethnic, and gender differences are also given special consideration, as is the role of poverty and the ability of some adolescents to secure physical and emotional well-being despite circumstances of adversity.

This book additionally breaks new ground in explaining why some health promotion interventions aimed at positive adolescent behavior change produce the desired results, while others fail. The thoroughness of the analysis extends to the diversity of geographical settings cited: from Africa to the United States, Canada to Jamaica, Brazil to the Netherlands, El Salvador to Japan, and India to Mexico, to name only a few.

The experiences of the global research community presented here will undoubtedly find fertile ground among a variety of publics, including local health promoters, designers of community health promotion programs, health professionals, the academic and research community, ministries of public health and of youth affairs, those who study and those who create mass media trends, parents and teachers, school counselors, and all others who play a significant role in adolescents’ lives.