該多學(xué)科期刊的重點(diǎn)是綜合研究和應(yīng)用，以促進(jìn)積極的發(fā)展跨越生命跨度和全球。該雜志發(fā)表的研究成果產(chǎn)生了有關(guān)人類(lèi)發(fā)展的知識(shí)，為公共對(duì)話、社會(huì)政策、預(yù)防和優(yōu)化發(fā)展干預(yù)提供了信息。應(yīng)用發(fā)展科學(xué)的定位是由三個(gè)共同的重點(diǎn)確定的。應(yīng)用方面反映了它對(duì)個(gè)人、家庭、從業(yè)者和決策者所做事情的直接含義。發(fā)展方面強(qiáng)調(diào)關(guān)注在整個(gè)生命周期內(nèi)發(fā)生的個(gè)人和社會(huì)系統(tǒng)內(nèi)的系統(tǒng)和連續(xù)的變化。科學(xué)方面強(qiáng)調(diào)需要使用一系列研究方法，以系統(tǒng)的方式收集可靠和客觀的信息，以檢驗(yàn)理論和應(yīng)用的有效性。這三個(gè)方面的融合，形成了理論與應(yīng)用的相互關(guān)系，作為應(yīng)用發(fā)展科學(xué)的基石，發(fā)展理論以經(jīng)驗(yàn)為基礎(chǔ)，不僅指導(dǎo)干預(yù)策略和社會(huì)政策，而且受到這些活動(dòng)結(jié)果的影響。此外，這種融合需要一個(gè)多學(xué)科的視角，旨在整合來(lái)自生物、醫(yī)學(xué)、社會(huì)和行為科學(xué)學(xué)科的信息。鑒于這一多學(xué)科方向，該雜志發(fā)表的研究采用了各種嚴(yán)格的定性和定量方法，當(dāng)它們對(duì)發(fā)展科學(xué)在人類(lèi)生命中的應(yīng)用具有重要意義時(shí)，任何一種方法都可以使用。特別歡迎與整個(gè)生命周期內(nèi)發(fā)展的多樣性有關(guān)的手稿、跨國(guó)和跨文化研究、與社會(huì)正義有關(guān)的研究以及關(guān)于應(yīng)用發(fā)展科學(xué)所涉及的方法和措施的研究。該雜志沒(méi)有發(fā)表試點(diǎn)研究。作者應(yīng)該包括分析技術(shù)，以表明結(jié)果的影響大小和有關(guān)研究樣本性質(zhì)的信息。

The focus of this multidisciplinary journal is the synthesis of research and application to promote positive development across the life span and across the globe. The journal publishes research that generates knowledge about human development that informs public dialogue, social policy, and preventive and development optimizing interventions. The applied developmental science orientation is defined by three conjoint emphases. The applied aspect reflects its direct implication for what individuals, families, practitioners, and policymakers do. The developmental aspect emphasizes a focus on systematic and successive changes within individual and social systems that occur across the life span. The science aspect underscores the need to use a range of research methods to collect reliable and objective information in a systematic manner to test the validity of theory and application.The convergence of these three aspects leads to a fostering of a reciprocal relationship between theory and application as a cornerstone of applied developmental science, one wherein empirically based, developmental theory not only guides intervention strategies and social policy, but is influenced by the outcome of these activities. Furthermore, the convergence calls for a multidisciplinary perspective aimed at integrating information from biological, medical, social, and behavioral science disciplines.Given this multidisciplinary orientation, the journal publishes research employing any of a diverse array of rigorous qualitative as well as quantitative methodologies, when they have important implications for the application of developmental science across the human life span. Manuscripts pertinent to the diversity of development throughout the life span, cross-national and cross-cultural studies, studies pertinent to social justice, and research about the methods and measures involved in applying developmental science are particularly welcome. The journal does not publish pilot studies. Authors should include analytic techniques that indicate the effect size of findings and information about nature of the sample studied.