Families With Adolescents

This book focuses a unique panoramic lens on the study of adolescent development. It offers a clear blueprint for more consistently improved practice, emphasizing family process and structure instead of individual developmental stages.

Stephen M. Gavazzi, Ph.D., is Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Science at The Ohio State University, and Lead Director of the OSU Center for Family Research. During the past 20 years at Ohio State, Dr. Gavazzi has established a research program that identifies the impact of family dynamics on youth development, psychopathology, and problem behavior. This work has been supported by more than $4 million in grants from a wide variety of federal, state, and private sources. He also is a trained Family Therapist, thus bringing an applied clinical perspective to his work. Dr. Gavazzi has been involved in the development and evaluation of a number of family-based programming efforts, including a multifamily psychoeducational group for families containing children with mood disorders, as well as a strength-based program for families who have adolescents involved in some aspect of the juvenile court. Most recently, he has been involved in the development of the Global Risk Assessment Device, a web-based instrument designed to generate information that assists professionals in making appropriate service referrals for at-risk youth and their families.