Toward Positive Youth Development

Depressive disorders are among the most common conditions in the world and are the leading causes of disability, affecting millions of people. Depression is also a common secondary condition, occurring at increased rates alongside virtually any illness that impacts brain function. Because it is so common, people suffering from depression seek help from a wide variety of clinicians, including: family doctors, pediatricians, gynecologists, psychiatrists, internists,psychologists, social workers and other therapists. In fact, depression is so common that the demand for care far exceeds the availability of psychiatrists, so that most depression is treated by other professionals in other specialty fields. For clinicians without significant experience treating depression, managing the condition can be confusing. This pocket-sized guide was specifically written with this diverse group of clinicians in mind. It provides a concise, practical and current overview of depressive disorders, including making adiagnosis, identifying important medical and psychiatric comorbidities, and describes our current understanding of the epidemiology, genetics and neurobiology of the condition. In addition to these topics, most of this book is focused on a programmatic approach toward managing depression, includingsubpopulations such as children or women who are pregnant. This book may also be of interest for people experiencing depression and their families to help guide treatment seeking and provide education. Dr. Stephen Strakowski and Dr. Erik Nelson are internationally recognized and trusted experts in the study and treatment of mood disorders whose own extensive clinical experience working with people with depression guides this book.Social settings have enormous power to promote or hinder positive youth development. Researchers and practitioners know a great deal about features of schools and programs for youth that affect development, but much less about how to transform settings to bring about these desirable features. This book shows how to harness the power of settings. It shifts the debate from simply enhancing youth outcomes at the individual level to improving the settings of youths'daily lives. The book offers researchers and practitioners blueprints for creating and changing influential settings including classrooms, schools, universities, out-of-school time programs, ethnic systems of supplementary education, and other community-based programs. Leading scholars in psychology, education, human development, sociology, anthropology, economics, law, and public policy discuss a wide array of social change strategies, and describe how to measure key features of settings as a target and guide for change. The authors also demonstrate how larger social structures - such as school districts, community coalitions, community data resources - can support change. Many of the chapters describe ways to make settings work for all youth, includingthose marginalized by reason of race, ethnicity, social class, or sexual orientation. Toward Positive Youth Development will guide researchers, educators, administrators and policy makers to improve schools and youth programs for all of America's youth.