News
CDA Founding Director Ron Dahl on the Gen Change Podcast
October 24, 2025CDA founding director Ron Dahl spoke on the Gen Change: Youth’s Potential for Societal Contribution podcast hosted by Erasmus University Rotterdam. During this episode, host Kayla Green, a postdoctoral researcher at the Erasmus SYNC Lab, and Dahl delve into the unique strengths and capacities that make youth potential agents of change for societal challenges.
Press Releases
February 25, 2025: Announcing the UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent’s 2024 Annual Report
January 17, 2023: New Guides Help Organizations Build Effective Youth Engagement Programs
August 16, 2021: New Report Examines Intersection of Anti-Black Racism on Youth Development
November 30, 2020: Center for the Developing Adolescent Announces New Advisory Board Members
October 1, 2020: Center for the Developing Adolescent Announces New Leadership
Stay in the Know
Finding happiness through purpose: Cornell study shows it’s not about the money
October 24, 2025NSCA member Anthony Burrow joins Smerconish on CNN to discuss his research on the link between purpose and mental health. In this interview, Burrow discusses The Contribution project, a study and social experiment that provided young people with $400 to make a difference that mattered to them. The young people selected for this project who made contributions reported greater feelings of purpose and reported increased feelings of happiness, meaning, and belonging.
Adriana Galván Discusses the Adolescent Brain, Stress and Systems that Support Young People on a New Episode of CaseyCast
September 19, 2025Co-Executive Director Adriana Galván speaks with The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s CEO Lisa Lawson on the latest episode of the foundation’s podcast, CaseyCast. In this conversation, Lawson asks Galván about her research on how the adolescent brain can inform the understanding of policymakers, educators, and youth-serving systems regarding this critical stage of development.
A mind of one’s own
September 2, 2025Co-Executive Director Adriana Galván is featured in a UCLA Newsroom article and accompanying podcast that provides insights into adolescent development, memory, and the fight to protect our brains.
The surprising science of adolescent brains
August 20, 2025NSCA co-director Jennifer Pfeifer spoke at TEDxPortland about the fascinating science behind the developing adolescent brain, and about how “adolescence isn’t a problem to be solved; it’s a transformative period of growth and opportunity.”
How Are AI Chatbots Affecting Teen Development?
August 19, 2025NSCA member Jacqueline Nesi offers a series of recommendations from a new APA report to help parents, educators, lawmakers, and AI designers support young people’s well-being on AI platforms.
Teens Take Risks. We Should Be Happy They Do.
August 13, 2025Co-Executive Director Adriana Galván wrote a new article published in Brain Facts explaining the neurological basis for why adolescents take risks and how risk-taking can be essential for learning and positive development during this period.
Stephen T. Russell named new director of the Sanford School
July 31, 2025NSCA member Stephen Russell is beginning a new position as director of the Sanford School at Arizona State University. “I’m inspired by the ASU Charter, and passionate about the mission of the Sanford School to help individuals, families, communities, and institutions succeed,” said Russell.
A Sense of Purpose
June 5, 2025A new UCLA Blueprint article highlights the importance of purpose in adolescence. The article features the NSCA report Cultivating Purpose in Adolescence and interviews NSCA members and our co-executive director, Andrew Fuligni.
Sleep training is no longer just for babies. Some schools are teaching teens how to sleep
April 16, 2025“The evidence linking sleep and mental health is a lot tighter, more causal, than the evidence for social media and mental health,” Co-Executive Director Andrew Fuligni explains in a new Associated Press article about the importance of promoting healthy sleep during adolescence.