Dr Diane de Anda, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Social Welfare at the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research, USA. She has been active for over 25 years in community agencies and foundations that focus on special problems of adolescent populations, such as stress and coping, violence prevention, and adolescent pregnancy, particularly with Latino and multicultural youth. She has worked as a junior high school teacher, school social worker, and researcher. Dr. de Anda has published several books and numerous articles in scholarly journals. She has also published works of fiction for adults and children.