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Puberty is one of the most important life transitions. There is no other period in the life cycle in which there is such significant, rapid, and simultaneous transformation in biology and social and psychological development. Change at puberty is both dramatic and universal, yet there are few researchers who study this important stage in the lifecourse. Indeed the study of the biological and psychosocial changes at puberty is relatively recent. One of the most interesting aspects of puberty is that it marks a significant separation between the genders: physically, psychologically, and socially. This book focuses on the emergence of gender difference and provides an up to date summary of interdisciplinary research in the area with contributions from an international team of leading experts in the field. Topics covered include biological aspects of puberty, body image, aggression, sexual abuse, opposite-sex relationships and the psychopathology of puberty

Participatory approaches to research and development have had relatively little academic or practitioner critique, resulting in a mythologising of the power of participatory methodologies to accomplish problem solving, emancipation or empowerment. Participation is also presented as evidence of social inclusion and is fostered as a strategy to counteract social exclusion. The purpose of this article therefore is to challenge and critique a range of definitions and perspectives of participation in terms of theory and practice. The paper focuses on two issues arising from the participatory literature and our own research experiences with communication technology projects based in rural and remote Queensland, Australia. We propose that non‐participation and peripheral participation are valid and legitimate choices exercised by community members that can be seen to be as individually empowering as participation. We also support the view of participation as both the means and the ends of development, a position that reflects the reality of participatory practice as fluid and variable over time. The paper concludes that both theoreticians and practitioners need to recognise and challenge the assumptions that underpin many participatory development projects.

This study explored the relationship of both romantic and platonic involvement with boys, as well as pubertal status, to body image and depression symptoms among an ethnically diverse sample of sixth‐grade girls. Participants were 157 early adolescent girls (ages 10–13) who completed self‐report measures designed to assess girls' level of involvement with boys, pubertal status, and psychological adjustment. Girls' degree of romantic involvement was positively associated with higher depression scores. More advanced pubertal status was associated with both lower body image satisfaction and higher depression scores. A significant interaction between platonic involvement and pubertal status emerged. Girls who were less sexually mature but who also reported more platonic involvement with boys reported greater body image satisfaction. These findings suggest that the type of involvement with boys (romantic vs. platonic) and a girl's pubertal status influence psychological adjustment.

Although considerable evidence demonstrates that adults who report childhood maltreatment are at increased risk of depression in adulthood, little is known about whether gender moderates risk. In a sample of 5,673 adult Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) patients, the authors employed the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) to assess major depressive disorder (MDD) and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) to assess five different types of childhood maltreatment: emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, as well as emotional and physical neglect. Logistic regression models tested the main and interactive effects of gender and childhood maltreatment. Consistent with previous studies, men and women with histories of each type of childhood adversity were significantly more likely to meet criteria for MDD. However, the authors found no evidence that gender moderates the risk of depression. These findings suggest that men and women reporting history of childhood maltreatment are equally likely to suffer major depression in adulthood.