School Transition during Adolescence: Turning Crisis into Opportunity

Abstract: From the perspective of life course, school transition is considered a key turning point in adolescent development and may alter individual developmental trajectories. Based on the deficit view, previous studies have suggested that most adolescents are at risk, beset by many challenges, and may experience a variety of negative developmental outcomes during that transition. Drawing on the positive youth development perspective, however, the transition period may be an important opportunity for adolescents to achieve adaptive and healthy development, and it is also the period in which developmental plasticity is most fully manifested. Along this line, if adolescents’ internal and external assets are well integrated, they may have a positive school transition."