PIP: The author discusses the elements of social change in terms of natality, mortality, and adolescent health; the changing nature of the family; population aging; rapid urbanization; urban growth and economic opportunity; education and youth; and employment for youth. She concludes that the effects of economic development on health remain secondary to most other developmental concerns. Policymakers need to instead regard health as a key element which contributes to the quality of life and not just as a means by which other developmental objectives may be achieved. As current demographic conditions in the world fundamentally transform the cultural and social contexts in which young people develop, interventions should increasingly focus upon the predictors and conditions of adolescent development rather than upon the behaviors themselves.