What’s New in the Second Edition

The Second Edition of Child and Adolescent Development in Context reflects a comprehensive update grounded in three major goals:

Expanded Coverage of Context and Intersectionality

The text deepens its contextual approach by integrating intersectional influences—including race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status—throughout every chapter.

A new section in Chapter 1 defines intersectionality and its relevance to developmental science, acknowledging its growing presence in research.

Examples span prenatal care disparities, food insecurity, mental health outcomes, bilingualism, ethnic-racial identity, and LGBTQ+ youth development.

New and Revamped Student-Centered Features

Lives in Context material was revamped and integrated into the text, with two-thirds of topics being new and the rest substantially updated.

Developmental Cascades is a brand-new feature that illustrates how changes in one domain (e.g., motor skills) influence others (e.g., language or emotional development).

Apply Your Knowledge case studies and Thinking in Context questions continue to challenge students to apply concepts to real-world scenarios.

Updated Research and Streamlined Content

Over 2,100 new references have been added, including 500+ published since 2023, ensuring the text reflects the most current findings.

Despite the expanded coverage, the overall length of the book remains consistent due to careful integration and editing of content.

Key Features

Child and Adolescent Development in Context, 2^nd Edition focuses on three key themes for understanding child development: the centrality of context, the applied value of developmental science, and the relevance of intersectionality for understanding development.

Lives in Context: Revamped and streamlined for the Second Edition, with two-thirds new topics and substantial updates to the rest. Integrated into the text, this content illustrates interactions among children and their contexts.

Developmental Cascades: A new feature illustrating how changes in one developmental domain influence others. Examples include motor-language links in infancy, screen use and fine motor development, and COVID-19’s impact on pubertal timing and adolescent depression.

Thinking in Context Questions: Embedded throughout chapters to encourage comparison of concepts, application of theory, and evaluation of research findings. Each box concludes with critical thinking prompts.

Apply Your Knowledge Sections: Each chapter ends with a realistic scenario and questions that ask students to apply their understanding to solve problems.

Intersectional Influences on Development: Expanded coverage of how race, gender, socioeconomic status, and other variables interact to shape developmental outcomes.

Applying Developmental Science: Integrated into the text, updated examples of current research and its applications includes postpartum depression, infant sign language, autism and theory of mind, and children’s suggestibility.

Chapter Opening Vignettes and Learning Objectives: Vignettes introduce a child’s circumstances, with Thinking in Context questions guiding application throughout the chapter. Learning objectives are revisited in end-of-chapter summaries and review questions.

Careers in Child Development: Each chapter highlights careers related to developmental science, beginning with transferable skills in Chapter 1.

Available on SAGE Vantage: This edition is offered digitally through SAGE Vantage, an intuitive platform featuring auto-graded assignments and interactive multimedia tools—including video—to help students better prepare for class.