This important volume very usefully brings together the concepts and findings that are relevant with respect to time trends in the mental health of young people. It is important, however, to note at the outset that, because of publication delays in the data sets used, almost all the findings apply to the time period before the current worldwide financial crisis and, therefore, before the present Coalition government. Undoubtedly, this will mean that the time trends reported here will not reflect the huge recent rise in youth unemployment or the increase in inflation. The implication is that the book's attention to the social context of both particular behaviours and time trends mean that the findings are likely to be even more important in the years ahead as young people have to cope with a worsening economic situation. The broad principles outlined in the various chapters are likely to hold, but it will be increasingly important to monitor changes over the long term in order to understand better the complex interrelationships between individual development and social trends.

The volume starts with an overview of the evidence on time trends with respect to the level of behavioural and emotional problems in young people. Careful attention is paid to crucial methodological issues but it is concluded that, over the last three or four decades, there has been a rise in emotional and behavioural problems, although it may have levelled off. The rise has not been as great as some media reports appear to have suggested, but it is nevertheless enough to be a cause for concern. The chapter on substance use similarly shows a rise, in that case rather greater, in substance use – both recreational and harmful. It is difficult to build links between these findings and those on emotional and behavioural problems, but it would be very surprising if there were no interconnections.