Manifesto for new directions in developmental science

Baptiste Barbot, Sascha Hein, Christopher Trentacosta, Jens F. Beckmann, Johanna Bick, Elisabetta Crocetti, Yangyang Liu, Sylvia Fernandez Rao, Jeffrey Liew, Geertjan Overbeek, Liliana A. Ponguta, Herbert Scheithauer, Charles Super, Jeffrey Arnett, William Bukowski, Thomas D. Cook, James Côté, Jacquelynne S. Eccles, Michael Eid, Kazuo HirakiMark Johnson, Linda Juang, Nicole Landi, James Leckman, Peggy McCardle, Kelly Lynn Mulvey, Alex R. Piquero, David D. Preiss, Robert Siegler, Bart Soenens, Aisha Khizar Yousafzai, Marc H. Bornstein, Catherine R. Cooper, Luc Goossens, Sara Harkness, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleOtherpeer-review

30 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Although developmental science has always been evolving, these times of fast-paced and profound social and scientific changes easily lead to disorienting fragmentation rather than coherent scientific advances. What directions should developmental science pursue to meaningfully address real-world problems that impact human development throughout the lifespan? What conceptual or policy shifts are needed to steer the field in these directions? The present manifesto is proposed by a group of scholars from various disciplines and perspectives within developmental science to spark conversations and action plans in response to these questions. After highlighting four critical content domains that merit concentrated and often urgent research efforts, two issues regarding "how" we do developmental science and "what for" are outlined. This manifesto concludes with five proposals, calling for integrative, inclusive, transdisciplinary, transparent, and actionable developmental science. Specific recommendations, prospects, pitfalls, and challenges to reach this goal are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)135-149
Number of pages15
JournalNew Directions for Child and Adolescent Development
Volume2020
Issue number172
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2020

Keywords

  • applicability
  • developmental science
  • diversity
  • globalization
  • reproducibility

Cite this