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Over the past several decades, the field of adolescent health and devel- ment has undergone a profound and pervasive transformation in the kno- edge and understanding of young lives. Popular myths about adolescent- that they are hapless victims of "raging hormones"or risk-takers who see themselves as invulnerable - have been laid to rest. But even more imp- tant has been the emergence of a new,scientific perspective about this stage of life. It is a perspective that recognizes that adolescents are active parti- pants in the shaping of their own development; that the influence of c- text - family,peers,school,media,neighborhood,workplace - is as important in determining the life course as are the attributes of the individual and, indeed,that it is the interaction between context and individual attributes that is really crucial; that there is remarkable diversity in the pathways that can be taken by youth as they traverse between late childhood and young adu- hood; and that the adolescent life-stage is, itself, an extended one - a full decade of the life trajectory with very different tasks, opportunities, and challenges in the later years than in the earlier years. It is this new,scient- ic perspective that so thoroughly informs the present volume by Silvia Bo- no,Elena Cattelino,and Silvia Ciairano. The volume is an impressive contribution to understanding risk behavior among contemporary Italian adolescents,but it goes far beyond that to advance understanding of adolescent behavior and development as a whole.

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CHOICE Review

This book explores adolescent risk behavior that compromises health and personal fulfillment. Based on evaluations of Italian adolescents, the book considers risk for antisocial behavior and protective factors that influence risk taking. The authors explore antisocial, sexual, and eating behavior and smoking and driving; they also examine the functions and prevention of risk taking. They point out that risk taking and healthy behavior function to construct one's identity and define one's relationships. The normative sample included interviews of 14- to 19-year-olds at secondary schools in two regions in northwest Italy. Among the statistical data: more than 80 percent of the adolescents claimed to be Catholic; 88 percent reported they came from intact family units (most with four people); and 68 percent had siblings. The book presents the results of the study in relationship to categories of risky behavior and compares the young, middle, and old adolescents' patterns of these risky behaviors and the factors influencing them. Although the book concentrates on a European population, it is somewhat valuable in the US because of its cross-cultural perspective and its demonstration of the influential role the theoretical risk and protective factors play in adolescent involvement in risk behavior. ^BSumming Up: Optional. Comprehensive collections; all levels. S. M. Valente University of California, Los Angeles