Change and constancy in developmental contexts

As the 21st century begins, social forces are creating substantial diversit y in developmental settings through the child's early life course. A consid erable proportion of youth will experience disruptions in family structure, fluctuations in levels of economic resources, and residential moves that m ay involve changes in peer groups and schools. This paper reviews a set of conceptual distinctions that are well suited to the study of the dynamic pr operties of context. The paper also underscores the importance of integrati ng the life course with behavioural genetics to determine more accurately t he joint contributions of environments like the family and genotypes to dev elopment. Because both person and context exhibit change and stability thro ugh time, an understanding of these complex interactions will require gener ative collaborations among developmentalists from diverse disciplinary back grounds.