THE HEALTHY ADOLESCENT: A Parents' Manual

A brief, unexceptional overview of the basics of physical and mental health in teens. The authors recap the developmental goals facing adolescents (physical growth and sexual development; establishing an identity, emancipation from parents, choosing a career, etc.). They stress, commendably, that the pain, suffering, and confusion of adolescence are real and serious, and suggest that most adults can't really remember their teen years because they were too painful. The basic advice is time-tested: be understanding; remember that ""trouble arises when parents force outdated concepts on their children""; try not to take offense at teens' outbursts; and so on. Some of the advice, however, will seem out of touch to present-day parents: for instance, the authors recommend taking the ""premenarchal girl to a physician who can explain the reproductive system. . . dispel the myths about menarche and the menstrual cycle, and explain as well the availability, kinds, advantages and disadvantages of current contraceptive measures."" Also attended to are: normal growth and development, health problems (some fairly obscure), food problems (obesity, anorexia), and the ""troubled teenager"" (which includes suicide and bereavement). In tenor, the book is sympathetic to parents and adolescents, but the contents are too brief and too abstract to be of much actual help.