A Story of Adolescence: The Emergence of Other-Sex Relationships

The articles in this special issue tell a story of adolescence--a remarkably consistent and coherent story. It is a story of the emergence of other-sex relationships of the change from the predominantly same-sex peer networks of preadolescents to the networks of adolescents containing several new forms of other-sex relationships. These papers highlight the richness of these relationships and the individual dyadic and contextual factors that influence and are influenced by the emergence of these relationships in the adolescent social arena. It is a story that is only now being told by social scientists and one to which these papers contribute substantially. In our commentary we summarize our rendition of this story highlight the key themes in these papers and point out the chapters that remain to be written in this story of adolescent other-sex relationships. (excerpt)