Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Adolescence pp 1–3Cite as

Adaptation

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

  • 1381 Accesses

Overview

Adaption typically refers to changing for better being able to live in a particular environment. The general belief is that adaptation involves successful transitions, one that enhances the probability of doing well in the new situation. The term typically has applied to evolutionary processes, such as the probability of an organism surviving and reproducing. But, it now applies to a variety of other situations involving how (and whether) individuals change to address the demands of different circumstances. In the study of adolescence, this means that the notion of adaptation figures prominently in many areas of research and serves as an important way to understand developmental changes.

Adaptation

Adaptation involves fitting or confirming to an environment. Adaptation generally implicates the assumption that it is advantageous; thus, “maladjustment” results from unsuccessful adaptation and “adjustment” results from successful adaption. Importantly, adaptation typically is...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Chuang, S. S., & Gielen, U. P. (2009). Understanding immigrant families from around the world: Introduction to the special issue. Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 275–278.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, P. T., Sturge-Apple, M. L., Bascoe, S. M., & Cummings, E. M. (2014). The legacy of early insecurity histories in shaping adolescent adaptation to interparental conflict. Child Development, 85(1), 338–354.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hirschi, A., & Vondracek, F. W. (2009). Adaptation of career goals to self and opportunities in early adolescence. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75, 120–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levesque, R. J. (2015). Adolescence, discrimination, and the law: Addressing dramatic shifts in equality jurisprudence. New York: NYU Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Manly, J. T., Lynch, M., Oshri, A., Herzog, M., & Wortel, S. N. (2013). The impact of neglect on initial adaptation to school. Child Maltreatment, 18, 155–170.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sercombe, H. (2014). Risk, adaptation and the functional teenage brain. Brain and Cognition, 89, 61–69.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Titzmann, P. F. (2014). Immigrant adolescents’ adaptation to a new context: Ethnic friendship homophily and its predictors. Child Development Perspectives, 8(2), 107–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, E. O. (1975). Sociobiology: The new synthesis. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University, 302 Sycamore Hall, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Roger J. R. Levesque

Authors
  1. Roger J. R. Levesque
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roger J. R. Levesque .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

    Roger J.R. Levesque

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this entry

Cite this entry

Levesque, R.J.R. (2016). Adaptation. In: Levesque, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_485-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32132-5_485-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32132-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation