Social and Emotional Development in Adolescence: I. Chapter Overview

15
CHAPTER
Social and Emotional
Development in Adolescence
I. Chapter Overview
1. Emotional Development in Adolescence
The Experience of Emotions
Regulating Emotions
2. Relationships with Peers
Friendships
Cliques and Crowds
Peer Pressure and Conformity
Romantic Relationships
3. Sexual Relationships
Learning About Sex
The Sexual Debate
4. Relationships with Parents
Adolescent-Parent Conflicts
Parental Influences Beyond the Family
5. Identity Development
The “I” and the “Me”
Achieving a Mature Identity
Forming an Ethnic Identity
Forming a Sexual Identity
Identity and Culture
6. Adolescent Health and Well-Being
Emotional Health
Sexual Health
Positive Youth Development
7. Reconsidering Adolescence
II. Key Concepts to Emphasize
III. Connections to Text: Central Issues and Theories

Continuity vs. discontinuity
353
354 Chapter 15 Social and Emotional Development in Adolescence
Nature vs. nurture

Plasticity
Individual differences
Theories
IV. Guide to the Supplements

V. Activities to Enhance Learning (homework, in-class activities,
discussion questions)
VI. Handouts
I. Chapter Overview
1. EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE
• Contrary to perceptions of adolescence as an emotional roller coaster, research indicates
that during adolescence, ups and downs become less frequent and emotions less intense
although average happiness decreases.
• Decreased emotional intensity is in large part explained by increased emotional regulation.
In early adolescence immature frontal lobes may be unable to deal with hormonally
triggered emotions, leaving adolescents vulnerable to risk-taking; frontal lobe maturation
facilitates emotional regulation. Emotional regulation also appears to be promoted by
parental warmth and to be shaped by social expectations related to gender.
Figures:
15.1 Levels of happiness by gender
15.2 Hormones and sensation seeking
15.3 Male and female rates of sensation seeking
15.4 Maternal gender roles and emotion expression
Apply, Connect, Discuss

In general, girls are considered “more emotional” than boys. Evaluate this belief in light of re-
search on gender differences in emotional experience and emotion regulation.
2. RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEERS

• With adolescence, time spent with peers increases dramatically, peer groups become larger,
and relationships become more important and intense.
• Adolescents seek friendships marked by reciprocity, commitment, and equality. Close
friendships serve the functions of intimacy and autonomy and thus promote social and
personality development. Girls’ friendships are more intense and intimate than boys’, with
expressions of intimacy between boys curtailed perhaps by lack of trust, perhaps by
homophobia; gender differences in relationship goals may also explain friendship differences.
• In addition to friendships, adolescent peer relations take the form of cliques—small,
intimate peer groups that serve emotional and security needs—and crowds—larger groups,
Chapter 15 Social and Emotional Development in Adolescence 355
which provide opportunities to meet people, to develop romantic relationships and,

because different crowds have different reputations, to explore their social identity.
• According to classic research by Dexter Dunphy, romantic relationships develop from
other peer groups in a stagelike process, in which same-sex cliques of early adolescence
give way to mixed-sex crowds, which gradually give way to romantic relationships.
Significant cultural variations exist, however, and in contemporary industrialized
societies marriage is postponed and romantic relationships take place alongside other
peer relationships.
• Adolescent peer relationships tend to be characterized by high levels of homophily, or
similarity in behaviors, tastes, views, and goals. A study by Denise Kandel showed
homophily as resulting from two successive processes: selection—in which adolescents
target as potential friends teens who seem similar—and socialization—in which friends
model and reinforce significant behavior. Thus, deviancy can be socialized in the context of
peer relationships, in a process that has been labeled deviancy training.
Figures:
15.5 Stages of adolescent peer relationships
Boxes:
In the field: Friends with benefits: A new trend in adolescent sexual relationships?

How does Dunphy’s distinction between cliques and crowds fit your own adolescent experience
of peer groups? Reflect on the social structure of your high school and try to map out the different
crowd types and the different cliques within them. How do the concepts of homophily, selection,
and socialization apply?
3. SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS
• The step from virginity to sexual activity is a significant one and is treated in different ways
from culture to culture.
• Adolescents learn about sexuality from various sources–parents, peers, media, and
educational programs–and there is great variability in what is taught and how it is taught.
• Greater social acceptance of teenage sexuality may be linked to lower levels of teen
pregnancy and STIs.
• Age at first intercourse varies considerably across countries and over time. Boys tend to
report more positive feelings about first intercourse than do girls.
Tables
15.1 Percent of adolescents reporting ever having had sexual experiences
Figures
15.6 Median age of first intercourse
15.7 Percent reporting intercourse before age 20
4. RELATIONSHIPS WITH PARENTS

• In intensity and frequency, parent-child conflict reaches a peak in early adolescence and
then decreases. Conflicts tend to focus on such matters as responsibilities and curfews—
seemingly trivial but related to major issues of growing up. They often reflect differences
between parents’ and adolescents’ understanding of what belongs to the personal, as
opposed to social-conventional, domain.
• Parents of adolescents generally continue to be an important influence in their children’s
lives and to be sought for advice, particularly if parents provide a safe environment for
communication and have an authoritative parenting style. During adolescence parents and
child typically negotiate a new form of interdependence.
Tables:
15.2 Items measuring relationships between 6th and 7th graders and their parents
Figures:
15.8 Relational support by peers and parents
Boxes
Teenage Pregnancy

Your 16-year-old daughter announces that she intends to leave home and school in order to join
a spiritual community that encourages its members to “find themselves” by working toward the
common good. As an informed and sensitive parent, you recognize this as an expression of devel-
oping autonomy but, for obvious reasons, believe it would be a terrible mistake for her to pursue
such a plan at this point in her life. Keeping in mind the evidence presented in this section on ef-
fective parenting, write your daughter a letter about what you think of her plan.
5. IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
• A key challenge of adolescence is that of forming a coherent, stable identity, through the
process of identity development. The self can be seen as consisting of a me-self—or object-
self, including roles and relationships, possessions, and characteristics—and an I-self—or
subject-self, reflecting on and guiding the object-self. Contexts play a role in development
of self, and according to Kenneth Gergen, modern society has resulted in a saturated self—
multiple me’s, making the question of authenticity more pressing for adolescents.
• For Erik Erikson, the quest for identity, although lifelong, is particularly the task of
adolescence. Focusing on exploration and commitment, the factors Erikson considered
essential to achieving a mature identity, James Marcia identified four patterns young people
fell into: identity achievement, with commitment following exploration; foreclosure, or
commitment without exploration; moratorium, or active exploration with commitment not
yet reached; identity diffusion, with neither commitment nor exploration. Over
adolescence, there is an increase in achievement and decrease in diffusion.
• Families can effectively promote identity development if they offer support and encourage
exploration.
• The development of an ethnic identity can be more complicated for ethnic minority youth,
especially if the group’s culture differs significantly from the majority culture or the group
faces prejudice. Jean Phinney has identified a process that leads from unexamined ethnic
identity through an identity search to ethnic identity achievement. Positive ethnic formation
is easiest when families uphold cultural traditions and the ethnic group is well established
in the community.
• The development of sexual identity—individuals’ understanding of themselves as
heterosexual, gay or lesbian, or bisexual—can be especially pressing and complicated for
sexual minority youth. According to Richard Troiden’s stage model, sexual minority youth
move from sensitization and feeling different, generally in early adolescence, through self-
recognition and identity confusion and then identity assumption, before finally reaching, in
many cases, commitment and identity integration.
• According to many developmentalists, identity development may be profoundly affected
by cultural factors. For example, people whose culture encourages an independent sense
of self may be oriented to promoting their individual goals and expressing their opinions;
those whose culture is collectivist may be oriented to seeking to fit in and promoting
group goals.
Tables:
15.3 Milestones of sexual minority development
Figures:
15.9 Marcia’s adolescent identity model
15.10 Proportion of identity statuses
15.11 Lowrider art
Boxes:
From diaries to Facebook

How does the distinction between an independent and interdependent sense of self apply to your
own sense of self?
6. ADOLESCENT HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

• For some individuals, the challenges of adolescence pose significant problems for health
and well-being, by either aggravating preexisting problems or creating conditions for the
emergence of new problems which may or may not persist into adulthood.
• Some emotional problems that may emerge during adolescence include internalizing problems,
such as depression and anxiety, which are more common among girls, and externalizing
problems, such as aggression and delinquency, which are more common among boys.
• Gender differences in the emergence of emotional problems are likely due to the biological
and cultural factors that contribute to girls’ concerns about how they are evaluated by
others and boys propensities to engage in aggressive behaviors.
• Depression is one of the most common psychological problems of adolescence. Risk factors
associated with depression include biological inheritance (risk is elevated when a biological
parent has a history of depression), as well as characteristics of the environment (poor peer
relationships, family conflict) and cultural values and stereotypes (the sexualization of the
female body today).
• Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective treatments for depression. Based
on the idea that negative thoughts and/or poor coping behaviors may cause a person to feel
depressed and anxious, this approach involves helping the adolescent monitor and regulate his
or her emotions and to develop adaptive communication and problem-solving skills.
• A girl’s negative body image can result in the development of an eating disorder, such as
anorexia nervosa (intentional self-starving), bulimia nervosa (cycles of “binge eating” followed
by self-induced vomiting), or “eating disorder not otherwise specified” (EDNOS) when the
criteria for diagnosing anorexia or bulimia are not quite met. Recovery from eating disorders is
difficult, with relapses common; however, most individuals achieve good outcomes over time.
• Positive youth development (PYD) is a relatively new approach to adolescence that
emphasizes the strengths and positive qualities of youth that contribute to their
psychological health as well as to the welfare of their communities.
Tables
15.4 DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria for Major Depressive Disorder
15.5 DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria for Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa
15.6 Assets that facilitate positive youth development
Figures
15.12 Emotional distress in Scottish teens
15.13 Developmental histories of adolescents who exhibit childhood onset problems
15.14 Infection rates of Chlamydia
15.15 HIV rates
15.16 Comparison of reports on first intercourse
Boxes
Suicide among Native American adolescents

How might our knowledge of gender differences in internalizing versus externalizing problems in-
fluence efforts to prevent the occurrence of such problems?
Your school board is once again seeking your assistance, this time to revamp its sex education pro-
gram, which is considered outdated and out of touch with issues facing today’s youth. The goal is to de-
velop programs aimed at 7th graders (12-year-olds) and 10th graders (15-year-olds). Outline a general
plan for each program. What topics should each program include? What “issues facing today’s youth”
should be addressed? Should boys and girls participate in the program together or separately? Explain
how the program should take into account differences between 12- and 15-year-olds.
7. RECONSIDERING ADOLESCENCE
• Although humans are radically delayed in reaching puberty compared with other primate
species, the frontal lobes of the human brain remain immature at the onset of puberty,
perhaps contributing to adolescents’ vulnerability to risk-taking and emotional problems.
• Culture, in addition to biology, plays a significant role in the onset and course of adolescent
development. Increased access to health care and nutrition has resulted in the decline of
pubertal onset in many countries. In many contemporary societies, overnutrition has
further reduced the average age of pubertal onset.
• In societies in which education continues to be prolonged, and marriage and family

delayed, adolescents confront an increasing array of possibilities for identity, occupation,
and relationships, prompting some developmentalists to posit a new stage for late
adolescents—emerging adulthood.
II. Key Concepts to Emphasize

1. EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE
The section on emotional development begins with a description of the experience of emotions. As
was described previously, some think that ups and downs in emotion are part of the “storm and
stress” that is characteristic of adolescent development. A frequent theme in the adolescent chapters
has also been the difficulty involved in getting accurate information from adolescents on areas of in-
terest to researchers. The section on emotions features the methodological tool that is most com-
monly used to give researchers access to teen emotional lives, Experience Sampling Method (ESM).
This is a time intensive and disruptive method but thought to be ecologically valid. To emphasize
the disruptive yet valid nature of this tool, you can have students discuss what it would be like to
be paged every 1–2 hours, 15 hours a day, for a week or more. You can have them discuss what they
see as the strengths and limitations of this method.
You can also help students connect with the section on the experience of emotions by review-
ing the results presented in Figure 15.1. It shows how levels of happiness decline over adolescence.
To help students think a bit more about this on a personal level, you can have them write a letter to
their young teen self explaining what they know now that might have helped their younger self to
have experienced more happiness as a teen.
Figure 15.2 can be used to help emphasize how emotion regulation develops through adoles-
cence because of both biological processes such as different developmental trends in the brain and
social processes such as gender expectations. You can emphasize the cross-cultural research on gen-
der as it highlights the impact of sociocultural factors.
2. RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEERS

The section on relationships with peers begins with a discussion of the characteristics and functions
of friendships, cliques, and crowds. Clarification of the meaning of these terms may warrant re-
view, as the folk definition of “cliques” may reflect the definition of “crowds” presented in the text.
This material can be emphasized by interviewing teens and asking them to talk about their involve-
ment in these different types of peer relationships. They can also identify the different categories of
crowds found in their school and the characteristics that tend to distinguish between the people in
the different crowds.
Another activity that can help to emphasize the importance of this material is to perform an ob-
servation of teen cliques at a mall. The stages of group development should be readily evident to
an observer, though differences may also be found across different communities. This can spark a
good deal of discussion (see Handout 15.3).
A discussion on romantic relationships might be interesting to students if it started with a dis-
cussion of the Friends with Benefits box on page 563. If students feel uncomfortable talking about
this on a personal level, they can talk about what they have heard others say about this topic. Stu-
dents might also want to discuss Figure 15.5 and how it fits or doesn’t fit with what they experi-
enced in their own cultural group.
Peer pressure and conformity will most likely also be of interest to students. The conformity and
deviancy section reviews deviancy training and reviews the research suggesting that group counsel-
ing may not be the most effective way to assist delinquents. Dishion et al’s research found that ado-
lescents involved in group counseling had higher rates of delinquent behavior three years after the
termination of counseling. A small or large group discussion can be held on other methods that
might be more effective in terms of preventing delinquent behavior and intervening based on the
material presented in this section of the text as well as the section on bullies and rejected children
in the middle childhood section.
3. SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS
The material on sexual activity provides many topics that can spark lengthy and active discussions.
One clear connection to material presented earlier in the text is the section on learning about sex as
it features “scripts” that different cultures employ to inform individuals about sex. A review of the
functions of scripts presented earlier in the text may help to reinforce the importance of this con-
struct. In Chapter 15, scripts are described as being guides to action, in that they help children fig-
ure out what is likely to happen in a given situation. Discussion might revolve around how scripts
apply to sexual activity. An amusing example of a script for early sexual activity can be found in the
song “Paradise by the Dashboard Lights” by Meat Loaf. His description of “going around the bases”
may help provide the basis for a discussion of scripts. Students may be asked to describe other scripts
they have learned about or you may want to review the box on “Friends with Benefits” to present a
relatively new take on a sexual activity script. They can also discuss incidents of “sexting” they may
have heard about and they can then discuss how this impacts the development of a sexual identity.
Another important topic in this section is the differences reported by males and females regard-
ing their sexual debut. Figure 15.7 can help spark the discussion. These differences are traced to
physical differences between the sexes as well as to the general context within which these experi-
ences occur. Differences in orientation to dating and sexual activity are also described. Students
might be interested in discussing which aspects of this research they agree with and which they find
difficult to accept or understand. They may also want to discuss how the limited amount of research
on first sexual experiences reflects biases of the larger culture.
4. RELATIONSHIPS WITH PARENTS

Framing parent-child conflict within the overall dilemma of being “caught between two worlds”
may help students better understand this topic. This can be emphasized by using the interview tech-
nique described above and in Handout 15.4. It can also be emphasized by looking for examples of
conflict between previous generations. Questioning parents’ realities and acquiring the power to
make decisions for oneself are not new phenomena. Students may want to interview their parents
or grandparents and ask them for examples of conflicts they experienced with their parents. An ex-
ample I often share is from my own grandmother, Leoma Coale Coots. Leoma was a “proper South-
ern lady,” but in her own way questioned her parents’ realities in ways that could lead to conflict.
For example, she met my grandfather by doing something that her sister was quite sure their father
would not approve of. During World War I, troops would move between bases on “troop trains.”
When these troop trains would pull in to stations, the men would throw candy out the windows of
the train. The candy would have the men’s addresses tied around them. To support the troops, Leoma
and her twin sister Lenoma would wave at the men on the trains as they came through town. On
one occasion a candy fell into Leoma’s parasol, and she decided to write to the soldier. As noted ear-
lier, her sister was quite sure this was not behavior appropriate to a lady and was sure their father
would not approve so told their father what Leoma planned to do. Leoma told her father that she
was sure he would want someone to write to their brother who was also a soldier, and so he relented.
Leoma wrote to the soldier and after a lengthy period of written correspondence, she met and mar-
ried that soldier, Fred H. Coots, Sr., my grandfather. Discussions with parents and grandparents may
help students find other examples of such questioning and conflict such as the emergence of flap-
pers in the 20s or the emergence of rock and roll music in the 50s. Tattoos and piercings might be
topics of current concern.
In the parental influences beyond family section, the variety of ways that parents influence their
teen’s choices are reviewed. You may want to emphasize the nine aspects of parenting styles listed
on pp. 572–573 that predict positive outcomes for adolescents.
5. IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT
The complexity of solving the puzzle of identity can be emphasized by focusing on the issues pre-
sented on pp. 573–574 : “Identity development is the process through which individuals achieve a
sense of who they are, what moral and political beliefs they embrace, the sort of occupation they
wish to pursue, and their relationship to their communities and culture.” As students solve the puz-
zle of identity they must answer the question “Who am I?” William James is described in the text as
saying this involves understanding the “me-self” which includes social roles and relationships, ma-
terial possessions, traits, and other things that can be objectively known. It also involves understand-
ing the “I-self” which includes:
• self-awareness, an appreciation of one’s internal states, needs, thoughts, and emotions.
• self-agency, the sense of authorship over one’s thoughts and ideas.
• self-continuity, the sense that one remains the same person over time.
• self-coherence, a stable sense of the self as a single, coherent, bounded entity.
Students might be asked to consider the sometimes lifelong nature of coming to understand the
“me-self” and the “I-self” as they deal with the issues described above.
Comparing the different paths to identity formation presented in this chapter may elucidate the
process. Students can be asked to draw comparisons between Troiden’s stages of sexual minority iden-
tity formation, Erikson’s four preadolescent developmental crises, and Marcia’s four patterns of identity
development. What accounts for the similarities and differences among them (see Handout 15.11)? The
models can also be used to examine the media. Popular movies or TV shows featuring teen issues can
be viewed and then the teen character’s issues can be matched with the models (see Handout 15.11).
The importance of a strong ethnic identity is highlighted by the box on Suicide among Native
American Adolescents found on pp. 588–589. Since teens in this group have the highest risk for sui-
cide, it is important to understand what contributes to these tendencies. For this population, suicide
rates are influenced by cultural continuity that comes from efforts to reconstruct their culture and re-
claim their heritage. The emphasis on cultural strengths is cited as providing teens with a safety net.
6. ADOLESCENT HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

This section begins with a discussion of emotional health. There are many topics in this section that
will be of interest to students. Gender differences in depression as depicted in Figure 15.2, problems
in diagnosing eating disorders due to the physical changes that are part of adolescence, delinquency
patterns (Figure 15.13), and high rates of sexually transmitted infections in adolescents are all de-
scribed in this section. These topics highlight the vulnerability of the adolescent period.
This section also addresses the factors that lead to positive youth development. As the authors state,
“given that adolescents are generally healthier than any other age group, it is somewhat ironic that the
lion’s share of research on adolescent health and well-being has focused on illness and disease” (p. 595).
Table 15.6 summarizes the personal and social factors that Eccles, Brown, and Templeton have identi-
fied as assets that facilitate positive youth development. This provides a good opportunity to return to
the nature/nurture “debate” as you discuss how these factors impact each other. Students might be
asked to identify strategies that can be used to increase these factors for all youth.
7. RECONSIDERING ADOLESCENCE
This final page nicely sums up the complex interplay of “nature” and “nurture” that characterizes the
dynamic period of adolescence. The section is relatively short and so could be read again in class
with students identifying the themes in the section that resonate most with their experiences in ado-
lescence. The topic of “emerging adulthood” can also be discussed as many if not most of the stu-
dents in an undergraduate child development course would be in this stage. They could be asked to
reflect upon the “kaleidoscopic array of possibilities–for identity, relationships, education, and ways
of understanding the nature of truth and knowledge” (p. 597) that they have faced. They can also
reflect upon their opinion as to whether this is a unique stage of development—not adolescence and
not yet adulthood.
III. Connections to Text: Central Issues and Theories

This chapter provides many opportunities to draw connections to the key themes for this text and the frame-
works presented in Chapter 1. These connections can be drawn in lectures, class discussions, or activities.
CONTINUITY VS. DISCONTINUITY

Remind students to review the section on continuity and discontinuity in Chapter 1 before partici-
pating in discussions.
The discussion of reconsidering adolescence provides an opportunity to return to the topic of
whether development consists of gradual changes or stage-like shifts. Using Handout 15.13, you can
ask students to list the events that mark sudden shifts in their lives and how those overlap with more
gradual emerging competencies. For example, puberty can be described as marking a dramatic,
stage-like change in life but also is accompanied by a host of associated social changes that might be
thought of as more gradual changes.
NATURE VS. NURTURE

This chapter provides opportunities to discuss the complex interplay between “nature” and “nurture”
as they impact development as was noted in the key concepts to emphasize section. Remind stu-
dents to review the section on nature and nurture in Chapter 1 prior to discussions.
Once again, gender differences are noted throughout this chapter and provide a good opportu-
nity to consider the influence of nature and nurture on development. The first step in this might be to
summarize the gender differences found in internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Students can be
asked to identify and discuss what biologic and experiential factors can account for these differences.
PLASTICITY
The discussion on life-course persistent externalizing patterns in Figure 15.9 provides a good opportu-
nity to discuss a continuous or predictable pattern. Students can be asked to discuss this topic in light
of how we might change the trajectory for these individuals by intervening in early stages. How might
we intervene for each of the boxes noted in the figure so that the final outcome might be changed?
THEORIES
Completion of the text provides an opportunity to the grand and modern theories and to summa-
rize some of the main aspects of development that might be associated with each. Strengths and
weaknesses of each theory can also be reviewed. Handout 15.14 provides a form to use in a con-
structivist activity in this area.
IV. Guide to the Supplements

The publisher has a variety of supplemental tools to assist instructors in their courses. There are supple-
mental readings grouped according to each section of the course. Multiple video clips can be found to
support a student’s understanding of the material in this chapter. The Tool Kit includes an excellent sam-
pling of video clips with associated activities that can be completed outside class and turned in for in-
structor review. Refer to the introductory chapter for this Instructor’s Resource manual for ideas on how
to use these supplements across the text.
The supplemental videos include segments on identity status, risk taking, empathy, teenage preg-
nancy, and drug abuse.
V. Activities to Enhance Learning (homework, in-class

activities, discussion questions)
The preface introduced a variety of activities that an instructor can use to enhance learning. These in-
clude homework which a student can complete outside class and then turn in for grading or review. The
results of these homework activities can also be reviewed during a class session. The activities found on
the Tool Kit lend themselves to review and discussion in class. Also, the Apply, Connect, Discuss sections
of this chapter lend themselves well to in-class activities. A few examples of activities will be presented
here specific for this chapter, but we also give you a reminder to review the activities described in the
preface for other activities that you can use to enhance the learning of the material in this chapter.
HOMEWORK
• Select one of the studies described in the text and review the original study. Summarize
the hypothesis, methods, results, and conclusions for this study. Do you agree with the
summary of the study as presented in the text? What is the basis for your position?
• TV is often criticized for the limited availability of diverse characters. Conduct a survey of
shows on prime-time TV. What evidence do you see of ethnic and racially diverse role
models? Sexual minority role models? What are the implications of this for teens as they
develop their own identity?
• What do you recall about your own process of identity formation? How did it fit with what
was described in the text?
• What rites of passage did you experience as an adolescent?
IN-CLASS ACTIVITIES
• You can help students connect with the section on the experience of emotions by reviewing
the results presented in Figure 15.1. It shows how levels of happiness decline over
adolescence. To help students think a bit more about this on a personal level, you can have
them take a few minutes of class time to write a letter to their young teen self explaining
what they know now that might have helped their younger self to have experienced more
happiness as a teen.
• To help students reflect on the material on ethnic identity development, you can assign a
five-minute paper to students in class or assign homework that asks them to write down
their earliest memory of their own ethnic identity. Ask them also to write down how their
parents influenced the development of their ethnic identity. You can then discuss what they
wrote and ask them to make connections back to the text, or the instructor can gather the
papers and conduct a theme analysis to identify commonalities and differences amongst
students in the class in terms of their reflections on ethnic identity as they relate to the text.
These results can then be shared with the class and discussed.
• As noted earlier, peer pressure and conformity will most likely also be of interest to students.
The conformity and deviancy section reviews deviancy training and reviews the research
suggesting that group counseling may not be the most effective way to assist delinquents.
Dishion et al’s research found that adolescents involved in group counseling had higher rates
of delinquent behavior three years after the termination of counseling. A small or large group
discussion can be held on other methods that might be more effective in terms of preventing
delinquent behavior and intervening based on the material presented in this section of the text
as well as the section on bullies and rejected children in the middle childhood section.
• This chapter has an Apply, Connect, Discuss topic that is well suited to a group assignment.
Students can be placed into small groups and then together, address the following prompt:
• Your school board is once again seeking your assistance, this time to revamp its sex
education program, which is considered outdated and out of touch with issues facing
today’s youth. The goal is to develop programs aimed at 7th graders (12-year-olds) and
10th graders (15-year-olds). Outline a general plan for each program. What topics should
each program include? What “issues facing today’s youth” should be addressed? Should
boys and girls participate in the program together or separately? Explain how the
program should take into account differences between 12- and 15-year-olds.
• When you reach this chapter, you are most likely at the end of the semester, you can use
this as an opportunity to have your students wrap-up their understanding of development.
You can have them do this by assigning them to small groups by each of the major
developmental stages and asking them to write three sentences of advice they would give to
parents based on the information presented in the road map found in Chapter 1 of the IRM
and at the end of this chapter. You can then collect their advice, summarize it in a handout
and give it back to students as a study guide for their comprehensive final exam.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
The following questions require the student to summarize, analyze, and evaluate material from the text.
• Reflect on your own friendships and the cliques and crowds in your high school. What
types of friendship were apparent in your relationships? What crowds can you identify from
your high school? How did they differ?
• What are the stages of an adolescent’s social relationships?
• What is a limitation in the way that counseling is often conducted with delinquent
adolescents?
• How does having “friends with benefits” reflect changing norms regarding sexual behavior
and relationships?
• Think back over your own relationship with your parents. What was the nature of conflict
with your parents? What factors do you feel contributed to conflict or to the lack thereof?
• In what ways did you feel “caught in the middle” during adolescence?
• When did you finally feel like an adult? What mixed messages did you receive as you
transitioned from childhood to adulthood?
• What are the biological and social processes that help to regulate emotions?
• What is the role of homophily?
VI. Handouts
The handouts and activity forms for this chapter are listed below.
15.1 Advance Organizer
15.2 Key Terms
15.3 Observation Guide
15.4 Interview Guide
15.5 Apply, Connect, Discuss: Gender Differences in Emotion
15.6 Apply, Connect, Discuss: Adolescent Peer Groups
15.7 Apply, Connect, Discuss: Joining a Spiritual Community
15.8 Apply, Connect, Discuss: Independent and Interdependent Self
15.9 Apply, Connect, Discuss Gender Differences in Internalizing and Externalizing
15.10 Apply, Connect, Discuss: Sex Education programs
15.11 Identity Formation and the Media
15.12 Gender Differences
15.13 Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood
15.14 Theoretical Perspectives: Wrapping Up
15.15 Road Map from Prenatal Development Through Adolescence
Handout 15.1 Chapter Advance Organizer
Chapter Outline Key points and questions

1. Emotional Development in Adolescence
The Experience of Emotions
Regulating Emotions
2. Relationships with Peers
Friendships
Cliques and Crowds
Peer Pressure and Conformity
Romantic Relationships
3. Sexual Relationships
Learning about Sex
The Sexual Debut
4. Relationships with Parents
Adolescent-Parent Conflicts
Parental Influences Beyond the Family
5. Identity Development
The “I” and the “Me”
Achieving a Mature Identity
Forming an Ethnic Identity
Forming a Sexual Identity
Identity and Culture
6. Adolescent Health and Well-Being
Emotional Health
Sexual Health
Positive Youth Development
7. Reconsidering Adolescence
IRM to Lightfoot, Cole and Cole: The Development of Children, 7e ©2013, 2009 Worth Publishers
Handout 15.2 Understanding the Key Terms
Key terms Define in your own words here

experience sampling method (ESM)
sensation-seeking
friendship
intimacy
autonomy
homophobia
clique
crowd
homophily
deviancy training
identity development
saturated self
exploration
commitment
ethnic identity
sexual identity
sexual minority youth
independent sense of self
interdependent sense of self
internalizing problems
externalizing problems
emotional tone
depression
cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
anorexia nervosa
bulimia nervosa
eating disorder not otherwise specified
positive youth development
Handout 15.3 Observation Guide
Go to a shopping mall on the weekend. Wander through the mall and look for evidence of the stages of hetero-
sexual group development. Record your observations here, focusing on describing what the teens do. Also, try to
estimate the ages of the teens. Remember to be unobtrusive in your observation!
Stages of group development Examples from your observation

1 Precrowd stage—isolated same-sex cliques
2 The beginning of the crowd—same-sex cliques in

group-to-group interaction
3 The crowd in structural transition—same-sex

cliques with upper-status members forming a
heterosexual clique
4 The fully developed crowd—heterosexual cliques

in close association
5 Beginning of crowd disintegration—loosely

associated groups of couples
How is what you observed similar to or different from what was described in the text?
Handout 15.4 Interview Guide
Interview a teen or several teens and ask them about the ways in which they feel “caught in the middle” between
childhood and adulthood.
Are there times you feel like you are still a child?
Are there times you feel like you are grown up?
Are there times others make you feel like a child?
Are there times others make you feel grown up?
What are your thoughts about this idea that teens are “caught in the middle?”
Handout 15.5 Apply, Connect, Discuss
In general, girls are considered “more emotional” than boys. Evaluate this belief in light of research on gender
differences in emotional experience and emotion regulation.
How does Dunphy’s distinction between cliques and crowds fit your own adolescent experience of peer groups?
Reflect on the social structure of your high school and try to map out the different crowd types and the different
cliques within them. How do the concepts of homophily, selection, and socialization apply?
Your 16-year-old daughter announces that she intends to leave home and school in order to join a spiritual com-
munity that encourages its members to “find themselves” by working toward the common good. As an informed
and sensitive parent, you recognize this as an expression of developing autonomy but, for obvious reasons, be-
lieve it would be a terrible mistake for her to pursue such a plan at this point in her life. Keeping in mind the ev-
idence presented in this section on effective parenting, write your daughter a letter about what you think of her
plan.
How does the distinction between an independent and interdependent sense of self apply to your own sense of
self?
How might our knowledge of gender differences in internalizing versus externalizing problems influence efforts
to prevent the occurrence of such problems?
Your school board is once again seeking your assistance, this time to revamp its sex education program, which is
considered outdated and out of touch with issues facing today’s youth. The goal is to develop programs aimed at
7th graders (12-year-olds) and 10th graders (15-year-olds). Outline a general plan for each program. What top-
ics should each program include? What “issues facing today’s youth” should be addressed? Should boys and girls
participate in the program together or separately? Explain how the program should take into account differences
between 12- and 15-year-olds.
Handout 15.11 Identity Formation and the Media
Read a book or watch a movie or TV show featuring a teenage character. Describe how the character in the book
or show exemplifies the pathways to identity formation.
Pathways to identity formation Examples

Identity formation
• identity achievement
• foreclosure
• moratorium
Identity diffusion
• sexual minority identity formation
• sensitization and feeling different
• self-recognition and identity confusion
• identity assumption
Commitment and identity integration
• identity formation for members of ethnic

minority groups
• unexamined ethnic identity
• ethnic identity search
• ethnic identity achievment
Handout 15.12 Gender Differences
Summarize the differences noted between the genders in moral reasoning, self-esteem, and identity formation.
Then list as many possible biologic and experiential causes for this as you can.
Gender differences Nature? Nurture?
Moral reasoning:
Self-esteem:
Identity formation:
Handout 15.13 Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood

Birth to age 2 Infancy
Ages 2 to 5 Early childhood
Ages 5 to 12 Childhood
Age 12 Puberty and sexual maturity
Ages 13–15 Bar Mitzvah, Bat Mitzvah, Quincea–eras
Age 16 Can obtain license to drive
Age 18 Able to vote, join military
Age 21 Legal drinking age
Age 25 Rent a car
? Adulthood: economic independence and responsibility for future generations
Handout 15.14 Theoretical Perspectives: Wrapping Up
Think back over the course of development that you have read about in this text. What specific aspects of devel-
opment do you associate with each of the four grand theories? What do you view as the main strengths and weak-
nesses of each?
Framework Strengths Weaknesses

Psychodynamic
Behaviorism
Piaget’s constructivism
Vygotsky’s sociocultural approach
Handout 15.15 Road Map from Prenatal Development through Adolescence
Major Milestones of Infancy

Social and
Physical domain Cognitive domain emotional domain
• rapid growth to about 30–34 • behavior becomes increasingly • basic emotions are present at
inches and 22–27 pounds by intentional and goal directed birth or soon after
end of second year • emergence of object permanence and • emergence of primary
• ossification of bones; beginning representational thinking intersubjectivity
of ongoing changes in • with ability to represent objects and • increased ability to regulate
proportions, increase in muscle experiences mentally, increased emotions
strength problem solving, symbolic play, • development of attachment to
• development of cerebral cortex deferred imitation, language use caregivers (7–9 months); fear of
areas, including prefrontal • development of understanding of strangers emerges with
cortex and language-related cause–effect relationships attachment
areas • development of ability to categorize • emergence of secondary
• myelination of neurons, objects according to common features intersubjectivity, including use of
including neurons of language- • increased ability to control and sustain social referencing, gaze
related areas and neurons attention; increased speed of processing following, pointing
linking areas of the brain information • emergence of language
• most brain structures present by • improved memory comprehension and speech,
2 years of age, with neurons in including recognizing common
the cerebral cortex similar to words and expressions (6–9
those of adults in length and months), babbling (7 months),
branching first words (1 year)
• increasing coordination of and • greater ability to share and
control over gross and fine communicate knowledge,
motor behaviors desires, interests
• gross motor developments • emerging sense of self, including
include crawling (around 8–9 self-recognition by 18 months,
months) and walking (around 1 and associated sense of
year) independence
• fine motor developments • emergence of self-conscious
include perfecting reaching and emotions
grasping, and by 2 years, • stage of basic trust versus
performing movements needed mistrust, in first year; stage of
to feed and dress self, etc. autonomy versus shame and
doubt, in second year
Sociocultural contributions and consequences

• factors such as socioeconomic • motor development coupled with • basic emotions emerge across
status and diet can contribute to interest in exploring can be risky; cultures, facilitating ties to
variations in growth parents respond by “baby-proofing” the members of the community and,
• cultures vary in how they environment in this way, acquisition of culture
restrict or encourage specific • cultures differ in ideas about
motor actions, affecting the what constitutes sensitive
sequence and timing of gross caregiving, including in infancy
motor milestones • emotionally warm and
• culture influences age of control responsive interactions generate
of elimination sense of trust and exploration
• child begins to participate in
feeding and dressing
Major Milestones of Early Childhood

Social and
• compared to infancy, growth • tendency to confuse appearance and • stage of initiative versus guilt,
rates of the body and brain slow reality with autonomy asserted but in
considerably while ability to use • difficulty taking the perspectives of ways that begin to conform to
and control the body increases others social roles and moral standards
• gross motor developments • limitations in cause-effect reasoning • play becomes gender segregated
include running, kicking, • increased memory ability due to • development of concepts of
climbing, throwing, skipping greater efficiency in encoding, storing, “boy” and “girl,” and efforts to
• fine motor developments and retrieving information match own behavior to concepts
include unbuttoning, using • increased knowledge of physical laws • emergence of ethnic identity
eating utensils, pouring liquid and properties of objects, such as • moral judgments often
into a glass, coloring within the gravity and inertia emphasize external
lines with crayons • development of coherent theories consequences rather than
• brain grows to 90% of its full about mental life and activity motives or intentions
weight • acquisition of basic vocabulary and • increased ability to regulate
• myelination and neuronal grammar of their language thought, action, and emotion
branching in frontal cortex and • increasing ability to feel empathy
other areas important to and sympathy toward others
advanced cognitive functions
including planning and
regulating behavior

• the fast pace of modern life may • cultural customs and routines support • development of gender
interfere with children’s sleep the development of generalized stereotypes is mediated by social
habits knowledge and shared understanding and cultural practices that
• changes in food access and emphasize gender differences
eating behavior associated with • increased cognitive abilities and
globalization may increase risk decreased behavioral problems
for obesity, diabetes, and heart are associated with parents’
disease in children from socializing pride in ethnic
developing countries background
• certain culturally organized • cultural variations in parenting
activities may stimulate specific affect the emergence of self-
areas of the brain, facilitating conscious emotions
growth and synaptic • cultures differ in their tolerance
connections that, in turn, of aggression and violence,
support further competence and affecting the extent to which
learning children behave aggressively
Major Milestones of Middle Childhood

Social and
• increase in muscle mass results • emergence of mental operations allows • stage of industry versus
in greater strength for boys than sorting, classification, experimentation inferiority; success in coping
girls with variables with increased expectations for
• increase in fat tissue changes • increased memory and attention maturity result in positive self-
overall shape of the body abilities esteem
• sex differences in motor skills • acquisition of memory strategies • emergence of playing games with
increase, with boys excelling in • increased memory ability due to rules
strength and girls in agility greater efficiency in encoding, storing, • moral behavior regulated less by
• continued brain growth and and retrieving information fear of authority, more by social
synaptic pruning, especially in • increased knowledge of cognition and relationships
late-maturing areas of the brain memory and of own limitations in both • emergence of clearly defined
(frontal and prefrontal cortex) peer social structures
• electrical activity in different • gender-typed behaviors increase
brain areas becomes more • increasing proficiency at making
synchronous, suggesting greater and keeping friends, and dealing
coordination between areas with interpersonal conflicts
• emergence of social comparison
through which self is defined in
relation to peers

• access to healthy food • school experience is associated with • cultural differences in whether
influences changes in height development of specific intellectual particular behaviors are seen as
and weight skills and memory abilities matters of morality or just
• cultures provide different • different cultures may support the convention
opportunities for boys and girls development of different memory and • transition from elementary to
to engage in sports and physical planning strategies middle school may contribute to
activities • cultural and socioeconomic factors increase in bullying as children
affect whether families encourage reorganize social relationships
school-related activities • cultures may support
• different instructional methods affect development of different forms
the rate and effectiveness of learning of aggression in girls and boys
• sociocultural contexts may
support development of
cooperation or competition
between children
• cultural differences affect
parental expectations for mature
behavior and degree of parental
supervision
Major Milestones of Adolescence

Social and
• rapid increase in height and • emergence of new forms of mental • compared to childhood, daily
weight, changing the operations associated with scientific experience of positive emotions
requirements for food and sleep reasoning abilities decreases and daily experience of
• for boys, increase in muscle • increased ability to think negative emotions increases
tissue, decrease in body fat hypothetically • increased ability to regulate
• for girls, increase in both • increase in working memory enables emotions
muscle tissue and body fat higher-level problem-solving strategies • new bases for friendships, which,
• influx of hormones stimulates • increased decision-making skills ideally, balance intimacy and
growth and functioning of • increased ability to use reasoning in autonomy needs
reproductive organs making moral judgments • peer groups provide
• significant changes in brain opportunities for exploring
regions associated with impulse identity possibilities
control, decision-making, and • gender-typed behaviors increase
ability to multitask • increase in parent-child conflict
in some but not all domains
• emergence of a more coherent,
stable sense of identity
• emergence of sexual orientation
and ethnic identities

• access to nutritious food and • emergence of various forms of • parental warmth and behavior
health care lowers the age of reasoning and problem-solving skills is affect adolescent’s developing
pubertal onset for general highly variable across cultures emotion regulation ability
populations • social and emotional aspects of a • cultural expectations affect
• diets excessively high in fat that context can substantially affect gender differences in the
result in overweight and obesity decision-making regulation and expression of
may further lower the age of • cultures vary in the extent to which emotion
pubertal onset, as in low- they support the emergence of different • cultural variation in support of
income minority populations in moral standards and values developing autonomy
the United States. • both parent and peer relationships and • cultural differences in support of
• physical changes marking interaction styles can affect moral developing sexual orientation
sexual maturity (breast development and ethnic minority identities
development, facial hair, etc.)
affect how peers, parents, and
others interact with the child
• cultural stereotypes regarding
ideal body types may negatively
impact girls’ experience of
normal weight gain and
contribute to the development
of eating disorders
• some cultures mark pubertal
onset with special rites and
ceremonies

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15

II. Key Concepts to Emphasize

III. Connections to Text: Central Issues and Theories

Nature vs. nurture

IV. Guide to the Supplements

Apply, Connect, Discuss

2. RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEERS

which provide opportunities to meet people, to develop romantic relationships and,

Apply, Connect, Discuss

4. RELATIONSHIPS WITH PARENTS

Apply, Connect, Discuss

Apply, Connect, Discuss

6. ADOLESCENT HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

Apply, Connect, Discuss

• In societies in which education continues to be prolonged, and marriage and family

II. Key Concepts to Emphasize

2. RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEERS

4. RELATIONSHIPS WITH PARENTS

6. ADOLESCENT HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

III. Connections to Text: Central Issues and Theories

CONTINUITY VS. DISCONTINUITY

NATURE VS. NURTURE

IV. Guide to the Supplements

V. Activities to Enhance Learning (homework, in-class

Handout 15.1 Chapter Advance Organizer

Chapter Outline Key points and questions

The Experience of Emotions

2. Relationships with Peers

Cliques and Crowds

Peer Pressure and Conformity

Learning about Sex

The Sexual Debut

4. Relationships with Parents

Parental Influences Beyond the Family

The “I” and the “Me”

Achieving a Mature Identity

Forming an Ethnic Identity

Forming a Sexual Identity

Identity and Culture

6. Adolescent Health and Well-Being

Positive Youth Development

Handout 15.2 Understanding the Key Terms

Key terms Define in your own words here

sexual minority youth

independent sense of self

interdependent sense of self

cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

eating disorder not otherwise specified

positive youth development

Handout 15.3 Observation Guide

Stages of group development Examples from your observation

2 The beginning of the crowd—same-sex cliques in

3 The crowd in structural transition—same-sex

4 The fully developed crowd—heterosexual cliques

5 Beginning of crowd disintegration—loosely

Handout 15.4 Interview Guide

Are there times others make you feel like a child?

Are there times others make you feel grown up?

Handout 15.5 Apply, Connect, Discuss

Handout 15.6 Apply, Connect, Discuss

Handout 15.7 Apply, Connect, Discuss

Handout 15.8 Apply, Connect, Discuss

Handout 15.9 Apply, Connect, Discuss