CHANGES is committed to the study of racially, ethnically, socio-economically, and academically diverse populations of urban adolescents as they experience normal developmental transitions in challenging environments. The Center endeavors to generate new perspectives on theory and research to enhance the educability, mental health, physical well-being, and life-course options of urban adolescents, particularly those developing in low resource neighborhoods. Research at CHANGES includes the design, implementation and analysis ofcross-sectional and longitudinal research. A multidisciplinary-based theory that addresses normal life course human development experienced under varying conditions informs the Center's ecological and systems perspective on health, achievement, neighborhood, growth, and ethnic studies.

One major goal of the Center's program of research is the development of profiles of resilient and vulnerable youth and families. This programmatic effort is designed to:

1. Contribute to a more informed analysis of the diverse ways that adolescents and families, especially people of color, cope with socioeconomic challenges,
   
   
2. Facilitate a better understanding of identity formation, resiliency and competence development, context-linked adjustment, gender associated outcomes, and adaptation patterns during critical developmental periods and transitions
   
   
3. Inform researchers, policy makers and practitioners about the social cognitions, structural perceptions and contextual experiences that are fundamental to the development of competent, healthy and well- educated individuals.