Problem Behavior Theory and Adolescent Health

Richard Jessor, PhD, ScD, is Distinguished Professor of Behavioral Science and Professor of Psychology, Emeritus at the University of Colorado Boulder where he has spent his entire academic career. One of the founders of the university’s Institute of Behavioral Science in 1959, he served as its Director from 1980 to 2001. He was Founding Director of the Institute’s Research Program on Problem Behavior and, later, its Research Program on Health and Society. From 1987 to 1997, he also directed the Mac Arthur Foundation’s Research Network on Successful Adolescent Development among Youth in High Risk Settings. He is the author or editor of ten books and has published over 135 articles and book chapters. In 2003, he was designated a “Highly Cited Researcher” in the Social Science: General category by the Institute for Scientific Information. Educated at the College of the City of New York and Yale University, where he received his B.A. degree in Psychology in 1946, Jessor received an M.A. from Columbia University in 1947 and a PhD in Clinical Psychology in 1951 from Ohio State University, where he was a student of Julian B. Rotter. He has been a consultant to various federal agencies and private foundations as well as the World Health Organization, Health and Welfare Canada, and UNICEF. He has served on several National Research Council panels and on the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development. He was an invited Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in 1995-96, and he received the Outstanding Achievement in Adolescent Medicine Award in 2005 from the Society for Adolescent Medicine. Jessor is, after 65 years, the longest-serving active faculty member at the University of Colorado. In May 2015, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, by the Regents of the University of Colorado.

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Section 1: Health-Related Problem Behaviors.- Drinking and Problem Drinking.- Chapter 2. Predicting the Initiation of Alcohol Use.- Chapter 3. Alcohol Use and Adolescent Development.- Chapter 3. Alcohol Use and Adolescent Development.- Chapter 4. Adolescent and Young Adult Problem Drinking.- Chapter 5. Explaining Adolescent Problem Drinking.- Chapter 6. Problem Drinking and Psychosocial Development in Adolescence.- Chapter 7. Problem Drinking in College.- Marijuana Use.- Chapter 8. Marijuana Use in High School and College.- Chapter 9. Understanding the Initiation of Marijuana Use.- Chapter 10. Problem Behavior Theory and the Use of Marijuana.- Chapter 11. Psychosocial Research on Marijuana Use: An Early Review.- Chapter 12. Understanding Marijuana Use in a National Sample of Adolescents.- Chapter 13. Accounting for Marijuana Use in Adolescence and Young Adulthood.- Early Sexual Intercourse Experience.- Chapter 14. The Transition toSexual Intercourse Experience.- Chapter 15. Predicting First Sexual Intercourse Experience.- Chapter 16. Understanding Early Initiation of Sexual Intercourse in Adolescence.- Cigarette Smoking.- Chapter 17. Explaining Smoking Behavior in Adolescence.- Chapter 18. Protection and Risk in College Student Smoking.- Risky Driving.- Chapter 19. Adolescent and Young Adult Risky Driving: The Role of Problem Drinking.- Chapter 20. Developmental Change in Risky Driving.- Section 2: Health Behaviors.- Chapter 21. A Psychosocial Account of Health Behavior in Adolescence.- Chapter 22. Problem Behavior Theory and Behavioral Health in Adolescence.- Chapter 23. Value on Health and Fitness in Adolescent Behavioral Health.- Chapter 24. Behavioral Science and the Health of Youth.- Chapter 25. Applying Problem Behavior Theory to Adolescent Health Behavior.- Chapter 26. Linking Health Behavior and Problem Behavior in Adolescence.- Chapter 27. Problem Behavior Theory and Contraceptive Use in Adolescence.- Chapter 28. The Role of Protection in Adolescent Health Behavior.- Chapter 29. Health Enhancing Behavior in Chinese and American Adolescents.- Chapter 30. Understanding Developmental Change in Health Behavior in the US and Chinese Adolescents.- Chapter 31. Conclusion.

"This book takes a fairly exhaustive look at adolescent health through Jessor's theory and discusses the classic risky behaviors that many young people engage in. It would be a great addition to the libraries of clinicians and researchers who are working with youth." (Gary B. Kaniuk, Doody's Book Reviews, September, 2017)