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Chapter 11
1. Nature of Adolescence
1904 G. Stanley Hall: Storm-and-Stress view that adolescence is turbulent time charged with conflict and mood swings 1988 Daniel Offer & Colleagues: self images of adolescences in US, Australia, Bangladesh, Hungary etc. at least 75% displayed healthy self image. Were happy and enjoyed life, perceived themselves to exercise self-control, valued work and school, feel
confident about sexual selves, expressed positive feelings towards their families
Many adults measure current perceptions of adolescences by their memories of their own adolescents Most adolescents negotiate the lengthy path to adult maturity successfully, but too large a group does not (Lerner, Roeser&Phelps, 2009) Ethnic, cultural, gender, socioeconomic, age & lifestyle differences influence actually life trajectory of every adolescent
Adolescence
2. Physical Changes
PUBERTY PUBERTY: period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and bodily changes that occurs primarily during early adolescence
Sexual Maturation, Height and Weight Male pubertal characteristics typically develop in this order: increase in genital size, appearance of straight pubic hair, voice change, first ejaculation
Female pubertal characteristics: breast enlarge, pubic hair, grows in height and hips
become wider MENARCHE: girls first menstruation (comes rather late in pubertal years. Growth spurt occurs 2 years earlier for girls (11.5 years old)
Hormonal Changes HORMONES: powerful chemical substances secreted by the endocrine glands and carried through the body by the bloodstream. Testosterone: hormone associated in boys with development of genitals, an increase in height and change in voice Estradiol: type of estrogen, in girls, associated with breast, uterine, and skeletal development Testosterone levels increased 18 folds in boys but only 2 folds in girls during puberty. Estradiol increased 8 folds in girls but 2 folds in boys Boys (9-14) with higher concentration of testosterone in boys rated themselves as more socially competent Hormonal effect does not only account for adolescent development In one study, social factors were better predictors of young adolescent girls depression and anger than hormonal factors Hormone-behavior link is complex
Adolescence
2. Physical Changes
Time and Variations in Puberty
PRECOCIOUS PUBERTY: describes the very early onset and rapid progression of puberty Judith Blakemore; precocious puberty is usually diagnosed when the onset of puberty happens before 8 years of age in girls and before 9 years of age in boys Precocious puberty is treated by medically suppressing gonadotropic secretions, which temporarily halts pubertal change For children under these treatments, they will have short stature, early sexual capability and potential for engaging in age-inappropriate behavior
Body Image Early adolescents are more dissatisfied with their bodies than late adolescents Girls are less happy with their bodies and have more negative body images than boys throughout puberty Boys become more satisfied as they move through puberty, probably because their muscle mass increases
Adolescence
2. Physical Changes
Early and Late Maturation
Adolescents who mature earlier or later than their peers perceive themselves differently
Berkeley Longitudinal Study: (boys) early-maturing boys perceived themselves more positively and had more successful peer relation than did their late-maturing counterparts When late-maturing boys were in their 30s, they developed stronger sense of identity than early-maturing counterparts
Late-maturing boys had more time to explore lifes options or because the early-maturing
boys continue to focus on their advantageous physical status instead of on career development and achievement But at least during adolescence, it is advantageous to be early-maturing rather than latematuring
Berkeley Longitudinal Study: (girls) Early and mate maturation have been linked with body image In 6th grade, early maturing girls show greater satisfaction of their figures than latematuring girls, but by 10th grade, late-maturing girls are more satisfied (early-maturing makes girls shorter and stockier) Early maturation increases girls vulnerability to a number of problems: more likely to smoke, drink, depressed, eating disorder, struggle for earlier independence, older friends
Adolescence
2. Physical Changes
BRAIN
The results from pruning by the end of adolescence individuals will have fewer, more
selective, more effective neuronal connections than they did as children Pruning indicates that activities adolescents choose to engage in and not to engage in influence which neural connections will be strengthened and which will disappear CORPUS CALLOSUM: where fibers connect the brains left and right hemispheres, thickens in adolescence, this improves adolescents ability to process information
AMYGDALA: seat of emotions which will mature earlier than prefrontal cortex Charles Nelsons view: adolescents are capable of very strong emotions, their prefrontal cortex hasnt adequately developed to the point at which they can control these passions (like their brains dont have the brakes to slow down their emotions) Recent study shows that experiences can stimulate changes in the brain. Prefrontal cortex thickened and more brain connections formed when adolescents resisted peer pressure
ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY Adolescence is a time of sexual exploration and experimentation of sexual fantasies and realities Although most adolescents experience times of vulnerability and confusion, more will develop mature sexual identity
Recent Study: Adolescents who view more sexual content on TV are more likely to initiate sexual intercourse earlier than their peers who view less sexual content on TV Adolescent girls across a 3-year period revealed a link between watching sex on TV and subsequent higher risk of pregnancy
Adolescence
2. Physical Changes
Developing a Sexual Identity
Mastering emerging sexual feelings and forming sense of sexual identity involve learning
to manage sexual feelings, developing new forms of intimacy and learning the skills to regulate sexual behavior to avoid undesirable consequences Adolescent's sexual identity involves activities, interests, styles of behavior and an indication of sexual orientation Even though some adolescents who are attracted to individuals of their same sex fall in love with these individuals, others claim that their same-sex attractions are purely physical
Timing of Adolescent Sexual Behaviors Timing of sexual behavior is culturally varied, African American and inner-city adolescents report being more sexually active whereas Asian American adolescents are less likely to be sexually active Studies have found: (1) by 12th grade, 63% of the students have experienced sexual intercourse, (2) 35% US high school students are sexually active Dramatic increase in oral sex during adolescence
Risk Factors in Adolescent Sexual Behavior Early sexual activity is lined with risky behaviors such as drug use, delinquency, and school-relate problems Alcohol use, early menarche, poor parent-child communication linked to early sexually intimate behavior in girls Having sex in early adolescence social factors (SES, parenting, peer, academic achievement factors % of sexually active young adolescents is higher in low-income areas of inner cities Having older sexually active siblings or pregnant/parenting teenage sisters places adolescents at an elevated risk of adolescent pregnancy Earlier onset of sexual intercourse linked to lower level of parental monitoring Better academic achievement was a protective factor in keeping boys and girls
Adolescence
Contraceptive Use
2. Physical Changes
Encounter unintended, unwanted (1) pregnancy, (2) sexually transmitted infections Younger adolescents are less likely than older adolescents to take contraceptive precautions US adolescents use condom less than their counterparts in Europe
Adolescent Pregnancy US remains to have one of the highest adolescent pregnancy and childbearing rates in industrialized world Latin and African American adolescent girls who have child are more likely than nonLatina Whites to have second child during adolescence
National Longitudinal Survey of Youth: Daughters of teenage mothers were 66% more likely to become teenage mothers themselves Risks that increased the likelihood that daughters of teenage mothers would become pregnant included low parental monitoring and poverty
Study Outcome: Infants born to adolescent mothers: LBW, infant mortality, neurological problems and childhood illness Longitudinal study: children of women who had their first birth during their teens had lower achievement test scores and more behavioral problems than did children whose mothers had their first birth as adults Adolescent mothers are more likely to come from low-SES backgrounds
Adolescence
2. Physical Changes
Reducing Adolescent Pregnancy
Sex education programs that emphasize contraceptive knowledge do not increase the incidence of sexual intercourse and are more likely to reduce the risk of adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections than abstinence-only programs
Adolescence
Sleep Patterns % of adolescents getting 8 hours or more of sleep decreased as they got older, they tend to feel more tired, cranky and irritable, fall asleep in school, depressed mood, drink caffeinated beverage)
Older adolescents tend to be sleepier than young adolescents because their biological
clocks undergo a shift as they get older, delaying their period of sleepiness by about one hour Carskadon research concluded that schools should start a bit later and they reported that test scores have improved for high schools students but not for middle school students Early start times are likely to be more stressful for older than younger adolescents
Adolescence
SUBSTANCE USE AND ABUSE US still has one of the highest rates of adolescent drug use A consistent sex difference occurs in binge drinking, with males engaging in this activity more than females Smoking is likely to begin in grades 7-9, regular factors for becoming regular smoker in adolescence include having a friend who smoked, a weak academic orientation, and low parental support Alarming trend of painkillers used in US
The Roles of Development, Parents, Peers, and Education Longitudinal study: early onset of drinking was linked to increased risk of heavy drinking in middle age Parental monitoring is liked with lower incidence of problem behavior by adolescents, including substance abuse The more frequently adolescents were at dinner with their family, the more likely they were to have fewer adolescent problems (less substance abuse problems) Middle school students revealed that having friends in their schools social network and
having fewer friends who use substances were related to lower level of substance use
Jerald Bachman: early educational achievement considerably reduced the likelihood that adolescents would develop drug problems, including alcohol abuse, smoking and abuse of various illicit drugs
Adolescence
Results: conducted 3 months, interview with parents and adolescents. Family Matter program reported lower alcohol and cigarette use both at 3 months and again 1 year after program has completed
Adolescence
Bulimia Nervosa BULIMNIA NERVOSA: eating disorder in which the individual consistently follows a bingeand-purge pattern Have strong fear of becoming overweight, are depressed or anxious, have distorted body image Study revealed: they overvalued their body weight and shape, and this overvaluation is
Adolescence
4. Adolescent Cognition
PIAGETS THEORY Formal Operational Stage Can conjure up make-believe situations, abstract propositions, and events that are purely hypothetical, can try to reason logically about them Increased tendency to think about thought itself Engage in speculation about ideal characteristic, thoughts are often fantasy flights into future possibilities
HYPOTHETICAL-DEDUCTIVE REASONING: creating hypothesis and deducing its implications, steps that provide ways to test the hypothesis Evaluating Piagets Theory There is much more individual variation than Piaget envisioned, only 1/3 young adolescents is a formal operational thinker Education in logic of science and mathematics promotes the development of formal operational thinking Agrees that cognitive development is not as stage-like as Piaget thought Children can be trained to reason at a higher cognitive stage, some of these abilities emerge earlier than Piaget thought
ADOLESCENT EGOCENTRISM ADOLESCENT EGOCENTRISM: heightened self-consciousness of adolescents David Elkind (1) Imaginary audience (2)personal fable IMAGINARY AUDIENCE: their beliefs that others are as interested in them as they themselves are, as well as attention-getting behavior, attempts to be noticed
PERSONAL FABLE: part of their egocentrism involving a sense of uniqueness and invincibility/ invulnerability
Adolescence
4. Adolescent Cognition
Due to sense of invulnerability, adolescents engage in risky behaviors INFORMATION PROCESSING Deanna Kuhn: later years of childhood and continuing in adolescence, individuals approach cognitive levels that may or may not be achieved Supports the argument that adolescents are producers of their own development to a greater extent than are children Most important cognitive change is improvement in executive functioning (involves higher-order cognitive activities such as reasoning, making decisions, monitoring thinking critically, and monitoring ones cognitive process)
Decision Making Older adolescents are described as more competent than younger adolescents who in turn are more competent than children Social context plays a key role: adolescents willingness to make risky decisions is more likely to occur in contexts where substances and other temptations are readily available Research shows: presence of peers in risk-taking situations increases the likelihood that adolescents will make risky decisions
Adolescence
4. Adolescent Cognition
Critical Thinking Critical thinking increased with age but still occurred in only 43% of even the 11 th grade, many adolescents showed self-serving biases in their reasoning Cognitive changes that allow improved critical thinking include the following: 1. ncreased speed, Automacity, Capactiy of informationg processing, which free cognitive resources for other purposes 2. More breadth of content knowledge in variety of domains 3. Increased ability to construct new combinations of knowledge 4. Greater range and more spontaneous use of strategies or procedures for applying or obtaining knowledge, such as planning, considering alternatives, and cognitive monitoring
Adolescence
5. Schools
TRANSITION TO MIDDLE OR JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL Transition from 6th grade to 7th grade (elementary junior high school), adolescents perceptions of the quality of their school life plunged in the 7 th grade Transition to middle or junior high school is less stressful when students have positive relationships with friends
TOP-DOG PHENOMENON: moving from being the oldest, biggest, and most powerful students in elementary to being the youngest, smallest and least powerful students in middle school
EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS FOR YOUNG ADOLESCENTS Carnegie Corporation concluded that most young adolescents attended massive, impersonal schools Recommended that nation should develop smaller communities or houses to lessen the impersonal nature of large middle schools Experts are still finding that middle schools through the nation need a major redesign if they are to be effective in educating adolescents
HIGH SCHOOL Critics stress that in many high schools expectations for success and standards for
Adolescence
5. Schools
Most effective programs to discourage dropping out of high school is to provide early reading programs, tutoring, counseling, and mentoring
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Keeping students at risk for dropping out of school with the same teachers through their high school years (teachers get to know students better, have better relationship and monitors better)
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Participation in extracurricular activities is linked to higher grades, school engagement, less likelihood of dropping out of school, improved probability of going to college, higher self-esteem, and lower rates of depression Gains more benefit from breadth of extracurricular activities than focusing on one High-quality ECA likely to promote positive adolescent development (increasing school connectedness, challenging and meaningful activities, opportunities for improving skills)
SERVICE LEARNING
SERVICE LEARNING: promotes social responsibility and service to community Become less self-centered
Adolescence