Ross D. Parke is Distinguished Professor of Psychology Emeritus and former Director of the Center for Family Studies at the University of California, Riverside. He has received awards for his research from both the American Psychological Association (G. Stanley Hall Award) and the Society for Research on Child Development (Distinguished Scientific Contribution to Child Development). Glen H. Elder, Jr is Howard W. Odum Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology and a fellow in the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a former President of the Society for Research on Child Development.

'This volume marks another milestone in the maturation of developmental psychology. The chapters illustrate how human development can only be understood in the context of social, cultural, and historical circumstances and changes. Under the tutelage of Ross D. Parke and Glen H. Elder, Jr, developmental science is slowly coming of age.' Michael Lamb, University of Cambridge

• Part I. Theoretical and Methodological Approaches: A Cross-Disciplinary Challenge: 1. Theoretical orientation, methodological advances and a guide to the volume Ross D. Parke and Glen H. Elder, Jr; Part II. Historical and Life Course Transitions: Economic and Demographic Change: 2. When societal events occur in lives: developmental linkages and turning points Glen H. Elder, Jr and Martha J. Cox; 3. Entering adulthood in the Great Recession: a tale of three countries Ingrid Schoon and John Bynner; 4. Developmental risk and resilience in the context of devastation and forced migration Ann S. Masten, Frosso Motti-Stefanidi and Hayley A. Rahl; 5. Children's migratory paths between cultures: the effects of migration experiences on the adjustment of children and families Amy K. Marks, G. Alice Woolverton and Cynthia García Coll; 6. Education in historical and cultural perspective Robert Crosnoe; Part III. Social, Legal and Technological Change: Impact on Children: 7. The urban world of minority and majority children Tama Leventhal, Julius Anastasio and Veronique Dupéré; 8. Changing family forms: the implications for children's development Ross D. Parke; 9. Communication technologies and social transformation: their impact on human development Patricia M. Greenfield; Part IV. Views of the Interdisciplinary Dialogue: From Developmental Psychology and Sociology: 10. A developmentalist's viewpoint: 'It's about time!' Ecological systems, transaction, and specificity as key developmental principles in children's changing worlds Marc H. Bornstein; 11. A sociologist's perspective Jeylan T. Mortimer.