Research and Policy Center for Childhood and Adolescence

The Research and Policy Center for Childhood and Adolescence at the University of California, San Francisco is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of children and adolescents. Using interdisciplinary approaches, we aim to:

• Advance knowledge through leading-edge research;
• Translate, synthesize and disseminate state-of-the-art knowledge in clinical practice, research, and health care policy to the broader community; and
• Train the next generation of leaders in child and adolescent health.

National Adolescent Health Information Center (NAHIC)

The overall goal of NAHIC is to improve the health of adolescents by serving as a national resource for adolescent health information and research and to assure the integration, synthesis, coordination and dissemination of adolescent health-related information.

Public Public Policy Analysis and Education Center for
Middle Childhood, Adolescent & Young Adult Health

The Policy Center is located within the School of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, where it is operated jointly by the Divisions of Adolescent Medicine and General Pediatrics (both within the Department of Pediatrics) and the Institute for Health Policy Studies.

Emotional States and Decision Making

Young people’s decisions to engage in risky behaviors are often made in situations that involve physiological arousal and stress. Little is known, however, about how these states influence adolescent cognition since most studies examine decision making under relatively stress-free conditions. Read More...

Decision Making in Infertile Couples

Advances in assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) have improved the chances that couples with fertility problems can have children, but may also involve significant emotional, physical and financial consequences in both the short and long term. Despite the increasing use of these technologies, little is known about how couples make decisions about their use, the factors that are most critical in influencing these decisions, or the natural history of decision-making over the course of treatment. Read More...

Adolescent Risk Judgement

Speculation about adolescents’ lack of competence in recognizing and assessing risk has existed since the time of Aristotle. In both lay and scientific circles, adolescents are frequently portrayed as believing they are invulnerable to harm, a presumption that implies a compromised ability to judge risks. Read More...