ICYMI: Want to learn more about CDA's work & impact in 2025? Check out our Annual Report!
Highlights include:
🔷 40+ state & federal legislators briefed
🔷 1.3M+ views on CDA & CDA-supported videos
🔷 5,400+ Adaptivity podcast downloads
Read more: developingadolescent.semel.ucla.edu/topics/item/...
Join us at @sxswedu.com in one week, Monday, March 9, at 2:00 pm CT, for a live #Adaptivity: The Science of #Adolescence podcast episode titled, 'Adolescence, #AI, and Authentic Human Connection.
Learn more: schedule.sxswedu.com/events/PP116...
#SXSW2026 #SXSWEDU
A teen girl with her mentor filling out paperwork
Some of the most impactful relationships we have during adolescence are with the caring adults around us.
But what makes these relationships effective at supporting young people?
Read more in a blog post discussing the importance of caring adults: developingadolescent.semel.ucla.edu/blog/item/lo...
Congrats to CDA Advisory Board Member Karen Pittman on receiving @theneafoundation.bsky.social's Outstanding Service to Public Education Award! Previous recipients include Kent McGuire, Linda Darling-Hammond, Sesame Street, Mister Rogers & President Clinton.
Read more: youthtoday.org/2026/02/qa-k...
The NEA Foundation is honored to announce Karen J. Pittman as the 2026 recipient of our Award for Outstanding Service to Public Education. Often called the "godmother" of positive youth development, Pittman has transformed how we support all young people to thrive. #PublicEducation #Education
09.12.2025 17:01 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
In this post-pandemic era, it is more important than ever to apply research-based knowledge about brain and social development to support our young people.
Learn more about supporting this emerging generation with our recent Science Spotlight: developingadolescent.semel.ucla.edu/steps-for-yo...
In this post-pandemic era, it is more important than ever to apply research-based knowledge about brain and social development to support our young people.
Learn more about supporting this emerging generation with our recent Science Spotlight: developingadolescent.semel.ucla.edu/steps-for-yo...
Interested in how adults can support positive development during adolescence?
Check out our video of last week's Love in #Adolescence webinar discussing why love & support from caring adults is important and the characteristics of successful relationships: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TUf...
Congratulations to Ron Dahl, CDA's founding director, on receiving the 2026 Huttenlocher Award! ✨
The Huttenlocher Award reflects transformative contributions to the field of developmental cognitive neuroscience that inspire future generations of researchers through unique insights.
The CDA was featured in a new @uclacollege.bsky.social Magazine article highlighting researchers and centers at the university studying human connection.
“Adolescents seek out bonding with other people,” said Adriana Galván, our co-executive director.
Read more: newsroom.ucla.edu/magazine/res...
Love in Adolescence webinar: TOMORROW, Thursday, February 12, at 10:00 am PT
Join us TOMORROW, Thursday, February 12, at 10:00 am PT for our Love in #Adolescence webinar focusing on the importance of love and support from caring adults for adolescent development & future well-being!
Register now: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Join us in ONE WEEK, on Thursday, February 12, at 10:00 am PT for our annual Love in #Adolescence webinar!
Hear from experts, researchers, and young people about how loving & supportive relationships with caring adults can support positive development:
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescents 2025 Annual Report
Announcing our 2025 Annual Report! ✨
This report highlights CDA’s projects, growth, and impact in 2025 as we worked to integrate developmental science into research, policies, programs, and public discourse to better support adolescents.
Read more: developingadolescent.semel.ucla.edu/topics/item/...
Love in Adolescence Webinar on Thursday, February 12, at 10:00 am PT. Speakers include Adriana Galván, PhD, Co-Executive Director of the UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent (CDA) and Director of the Developmental Neuroscience Laboratory at UCLA; Kara Hirano, PhD, Senior Research Scientist at Search Institute; Andrew Fuligni, PhD, Professor of Psychology at UCLAand Co-Executive Director of CDA; and Odalis Hernandez, Youth Scientific Council on Adolescence Member and high school senior.
Join us in TWO WEEKS, on Thursday, February 12, at 10:00 am PT for our annual Love in #Adolescence webinar! 💙
This year's webinar will explore the importance of love and support from caring adults during adolescence.
Register now: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Five Policy Insights to Support Adolescents Post-Pandemic
Today's adolescents were children when the pandemic began and experienced disruptions to their social & academic lives.
Our new spotlight offers insights from adolescent development that policymakers should keep in mind when supporting this group: developingadolescent.semel.ucla.edu/steps-for-yo...
Winter 2026 Research Roundup, image with young teen boys sledding in the snow with text: "In this roundup: How Speed and Timing of Puberty Affects Brain Development and Maturation How Feeling Economic Hardship Impacts Adjustment Outcomes of Youth Effects of Natural Mentoring Relationships on Late Adolescents' Loneliness."
Happy 2026! 🎉 Want to start the year by getting up to date with new research on adolescent development?
Check out our Winter Research Roundup, where we provide an overview of studies we feel are relevant to our community.
Read more: developingadolescent.semel.ucla.edu/topics/item/...
Research Insights to Support Adolescents Post-Pandemic
In 2020, COVID disrupted nearly every aspect of young people's lives.
In a new science spotlight, we offer information about how the pandemic impacted youth and provide research-based insights to support this new cohort of adolescents.
Read more: developingadolescent.semel.ucla.edu/steps-for-yo...
Happy Holidays from the UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent!
Happy Holidays from the UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent!
We wish you a peaceful and joyful holiday season, and look forward to sharing more developmental science insights to support adolescents in the New Year.
Thank you for being here and supporting our work. ✨
Sign up for our monthly newsletter!
Want to start off the New Year knowing more about adolescent development and how it can be used in programs and policies to support young people? 🧠 💡
Sign up for our newsletter for monthly updates and/or quarterly research roundups: ucla.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=...
Highlights from 2025: Supporting Adolescents by Strengthening Our Commitments and Focusing on Impact
Over the past year, the CDA has been busy advancing our goal to support adolescents by amplifying developmental science. We refreshed our mission, strengthened our community, launched new initiatives & more!
Find 2025 highlights in a new blog post: developingadolescent.semel.ucla.edu/blog/item/hi...
Last week, our Co-Executive Director Adriana Galván travelled to Capitol Hill to talk about how we can best support healthy adolescent brain & social development. 🧠
Thanks for the shoutout, @carbajal.house.gov!
We know that digital tech comes with benefits as well as risks—and for young adolescents, that balance might be different than for older youth. NSCA member Jacqueline Nesi is quoted in the @nytimes.com discussing when adolescents might be ready for a smartphone:
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/w...
Congratulations to National Scientific Council on #Adolescence member Candice Odgers for being one of Clarivate's 2025 “Highly Cited Researchers”! Odgers' research focuses on how technology and social inequality impact adolescents.
Read more below ⬇️
Family with a young adolescent and an older adolescent shopping for food.
To set up our young people for thriving futures, we need to provide them with enough healthy food.
In a new blog post, we explain how food insecurity impacts adolescents, and highlight changes to food assistance programs & related data collection: developingadolescent.semel.ucla.edu/blog/item/th...
Fast Facts About Supporting Adolescents Five Years After COVID
Kindergarteners at the start of COVID are now in middle school—they are early adolescents. In a new resource, we provide facts about how the COVID pandemic impacted youth & why early adolescence offers an opportunity to shape positive trajectories: developingadolescent.semel.ucla.edu/topics/item/...
21.11.2025 18:24 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
How can we support the early adolescents who were kindergarteners during COVID as they transition to middle school?
This new article quotes NSCA members during a UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent media briefing last week.
Read the full article below ⬇️
CDA founder and #Adaptivity podcast host Ron Dahl was on the @gettingsmart.bsky.social podcast discussing how #adolescence is a critical developmental phase that presents unique opportunities for fostering agency, contribution, & authentic mattering!
🎙️Listen now: www.gettingsmart.com/podcast/rona...
CDA founder Ron Dahl spoke on the Gen Change podcast hosted by @euralumni.bsky.social! During the episode, host @drkaylagreen.bsky.social and Dahl delve into the unique strengths and capacities that make adolescents potential agents of change.
Listen now: open.spotify.com/episode/2BCa...
Today, our friends at @scholarsnstory.bsky.social released their annual Teens and Screens Report! This report is based on a survey of 1,500 adolescents & explores young people's perspectives on different media & media use. 🎬
Check out the full report: www.scholarsandstorytellers.com/teens-screen...
UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent Fall Research Roundup. Image of teen girls in fall leaves.
Interested in the latest research on adolescent development?
🧠🍂 Check out our Fall Research Roundup for a recap of new studies that highlight the importance of adaptive risk taking, close parental relationships, support in early high school & more: developingadolescent.semel.ucla.edu/topics/item/...
