San Fernando Valley Chancellor’s Society Event

The Teenage Mind: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Peer Relationships
Adolescence is a period of intense biological, cognitive and emotional changes that can confuse teenagers and adults alike. Hear from Dr. Juvonen about a key element to teenage development and hot topic of parent-teen discussions: friendship and peer relationships. Learn more about why close friendships are critical for healthy development, how peer influence works, and what motivates bullying.

About Dr. Jaana Juvonen

Dr. Jaana Juvonen received her undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Finland. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Education at UCLA, where she began her research on peer relationships. Dr. Juvonen specializes in the study young teens’ relationships with their peers, and how these relationships are related to the development and adaptive functioning of youth.

Guided by a social-contextual perspective, she conceptualize schools and classrooms as ecological niches shaped by peer interactions and relationships. Much of recent research pertains to bullying. Dr. Juvonen have examined both the motives predicting bullying perpetration (dominance) and the social-cognitive mechanisms (self-blame) underlying the emotional plight of the targets of bullying. She also conducts research on peer groups norms and how they are related to adolescent behavior. Her current collaborative research follows a large, ethnically diverse sample of students from 26 middle schools to the end of high school, examining the effects of school ethnic diversity on friendship formation, social identity development, prejudice, mental health, and school success.

This event is invite only.