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Chapter 13 - An Atypical Developmental Pathway: Seizing Opportunities and Creating New Ones

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2025

By
Anne C. Petersen
Edited by
Frank Kessel
Frank Kessel
Affiliation:
University of New Mexico
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Summary

Petersen didn’t set out to be a researcher, much less a developmental scientist, but found that she loved it! Her journey was unusual but productive, adding to knowledge of adolescence, and especially correlates of puberty. She also contributed to gender issues in research as well as attention to rigorous statistical and psychometric methods. Her tendency to be attracted to interesting opportunities led her to additional roles, particularly leadership. This had the unfortunate effect of truncating her research career, though not her writing. Her experiences in research and especially with leadership roles were influenced by issues of sexism and other kids of exclusion, leading to her current emphases on global engagement and capacity building. The net result has been a satisfying life.

Keywords

sexismexclusionadolescencepubertyglobal engagementcapacity buildingcollaborative researchmentorsadvocatespersistence with flexibility
Type
Chapter
Information
Pillars of Developmental Psychology
Recollections and Reflections
 , pp. 136 - 147
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Suggested Reading

Brooks-Gunn, J. & Petersen, A. C. (1983). Girls at Puberty: Biological and Psychosocial Perspectives. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petersen, A. C. & Taylor, B. C. (1980). The biological approach to adolescence: Biological change and psychological adaptation. In Adelson, J. (Ed.), Handbook of Adolescent Psychology (pp. 117–155). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Petersen, A. C. (1988). Adolescent development. Annual Review of Psychology, 39, 583–607.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersen, A. C., Compas, B. E., Brooks-Gunn, J., Stemmler, M., Ey, S., & Grant, K. (1993). Depression in adolescence. American Psychologist, 48(2), 155–168.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petersen, A. C. (2013). Researcher as bumblebee: Developing a science of adolescence integrating biology, using rigorous research methods, and including girls. In Lerner, R. M., Petersen, A. C., Silbereisen, R. K., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (Eds.), The Developmental Science of Adolescence: History through Autobiography (pp. 356–372). New York, NY: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Petersen, A. C., Koller, S., Motti, F., & Verma, S. (Eds.). (2017). Positive Youth Development in the Context of Global Social Change and Challenges. New York: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar

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