PSYCH 333: Adolescence
G. Stanley Hall's idea of adolescence:
"Storm and Stress"
Identify three changes related to hormones.
- Sexua maturation
- Gains in bone density
- Gains in body size
Which two hormones contribute to gain in body size?
Thyroxine and growth hormone
Female hormones (2):
Estrogen and adrenal androgens
Male hormone:
Testosterone
For both sexes, which hormones combine to stimulate gains in bone density? (Logic)
Estrogen and androgens
When do growth spurts start (boys and girls)?
Boys: 12 1/2 Girls: 10
Describe proportions (boys and girls):
Boys: shoulders broden and longer legs Girls: hips broaden
Muscle-fat makeup (boys and girls):
Boys: more muscle tone and aerobic efficiency Girls: add fat
3 things that regular sports and exercise improve:
- Physical and mental health
- Cognitive and social development
- Motor performance
Primary or secondary sexual characteristics: maturation of reproductive organs.
Primary
Primary or secondary sexual characteristics: visible changes indicating sexual maturation
Secondary
Primary sexual characteristics (female and male):
Female: menarche Male: spermarche
Secondary characteristics (female and male):
Female: breasts, underarm hair and pubic hair Male: facial hair, voice change, underarm hair and pubic hair
Name the two networks involved in brain development.
Social/emotional network and cognitive-control network
Expansion of synaptic connections support:
executive function, reasoning, problem solving, decision making (think PFC)
Self-regulation difficulties with social network:
- increased reactivity to stress and pleasurable stimuli
- sensation seeking
GIve an example of how the cognitive-control network may not be fully mature.
Delay of gratification is not mature.
How many hours of sleep should a teen get?
9 hours
Discuss how sleeping patterns change in adolescence.
Puberty influences later bedtime. Lack of sleep impairs executive function, cognitive and emotional self-regulation, academic performance. Increases in depressive mood and high-risk behaviors
Discuss how teens how about puberty.
Depending on the culture, some families celebrate puberty as a milestone (like bar mitzvah). Teens tend to have mixed feelings about spermarche/menarche but boys especially have less support than girls do. However, society today tends to embrace it more and youths are more informed.
Consequences in early/late maturation in girls:
Early: unpopular, negative body image, deviant behavior, unpopular, withdrawn.
Late: popular, school leaders, positive body image
Consequences in early/late maturation in boys:
Early: popular, well-adjusted, depressive mood, deviant, athletic stars, leaders
Late: transient (impermanent) emotional difficulties
Describe a typical teen's diet.
Skipping breakfast, eating more fast food, usually eating healthier with family around.
Risk factors for eating disorders in girls (3):
- Reaching puberty early
- Focus on thinness and bodyweight in household
- Severe dieting and body dissatisfaction
Three most common eating disorders:
- Anorexia nervosa
- Bulimia nervosa
- Binge-eating disorder
Describe cognitive symptoms of anorexia nervosa.
- Preoccupation with staying thin
- Distorted body image
- Intense fear of gaining weight or looking fat
- Denial
- Use of laxatives and extreme exercise
Phsyiological symptoms of anorexia nervosa:
- Hair/Skin: dry skin and lips, bruises, growth of lanugo, intolerance to cold, thin hair
- Heart: poor circulation, low blood pressure, cardiac arrest
- Blood: low iron levels
- Hormones: getting period late, decrease in libido
- Kidneys: dehydration and kidney failure
- BOnes: loss of calcium, osteoporosis
Cognitive symptoms of bulimia nervosa:
- Preoccupation with food and weight
- Depression and anxiety
- Low self-esteem
- Sneaking large amounts of food (typically eating more than oen would eat at a regular meal)
- Lack of control over eating
- Engaging in inappropriate compensatory behavior
- Acknowledging problem so easier to treat than anorexia
Phsyiological symptoms of bulimia nervosa:
- Mouth: erosion of dental enamel, tooth decay, gum disease, bad breath
- Throat/oesophagus: chronic sore throat, indigestion, heartburn
- Heart: irregular or slow heartbeat, cardiac arrest, fainting, dizziness
- Stomach: ulcers, pain
- Intestines: constipation, diarrhea
- Hormones: irregular or absent periods
- Muscles: fatugue, lethargy, electrolyte balance
Describe binge-eating disorder.
- Excessively eating, mostly when not hungry
- Typically leads obesity
- May engage in hiding/hoarding behavior (like hiding wrappers)
- Guilt and awareness of problem, so typically easier to treat thatn anorexia
- 2-3% of girls, 1% of boys
Physiological symptoms of binge-eating disorder:
- Body: weight gain, fatigure, lethargy
- Brain: low self-esteem, anxiety and depression, distress
- Sleep apnea
- Heart: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, heart attack
- Gallbladder: desease
- Pancreas: type 2 diabetes (insulin receptors not working properly)
- Kidneys: failure
- Bones: arthritis
What influences increased sex drive?
Hormonal changes
Infuences of sexualized media exposure:
- More exposure of media predicts increased sexual activity
- Increased exposure to pornography can increase adjustment problems (because watching porn can create unrealistic ideas of sex)
In North America, teens and adolescents are more accepting of nonmarital sex. What are the negative consequences of this?
Adjustment problems, teen pregnancy, increased risk of STIs
Statistic of American teens who are sexually active:
50%
Talk about male homosexuality.
May be X-linked because it's from the mother's side. During pregnancy, mother produces androgens, which are responsible for masculine characterics. As the mother has numerous boys, she begins to produce antibodies for androgens, which reduces the "masculine" characteristics, resulting in homosexuality.
Two reasons why contraception is important:
- To avoid STIs
- To avoid pregnancy
Why are females more susceptible to sexually transmitted infections?
The skin around the vagina is sensitive, so the infection can get through easier (through penetration or oral sex).
What are the two networks developing during adolescence?
Prefrontal Cognitive Control Network and the Emotional Social Network
What is the role of the PFCCN?
Teen's sensitivity to new events and changes
In the US, what is the most common drug that teens use by the end of high school?
Marijuana
Two concerns about substance abuse:
- Addictive nature of drugs can lead to abuse
- Impairs judgement which increases risk of injury and death
Piaget's stage of development:
Formal operational thinking (12 years old)
2 features of formal operational thought:
- Hypothetico deductive reasoning (come up with conclusion based on observations and a hypothesis)
- Propositional thought (links ideas without referring to real-world)
Define transitivity.
Ability to come to a conclusion through verbal premises (even if they are abstract)
Three follow-up research ideas about formal operational thought:
- schooling contributes to better ability to think abstractly
- reasoning about more than one variable at a time
- grasp logical necessity
Information processing gains (name 3):
- inhibition
- working memory
- attention
Define scientific reasoning.
Ability to distinguish theory from evidence and use logic to examine the relationship.
2 aspects of self-consciousness and self-focussing:
- Personal fable (inflated sense of confidence and importance)
- Imaginary audience (everyone is watching them)
Describe decision making during adolescence.
- Often does not evaluate options
- Seeks immediate rewards = risk taking
Erikson's psychosocial stage:
Identity vs. Role confusion
Describe identity.
Exploring who you are and then committing to: relationships, career, sexual orientation, political views...
Defining who you are in terms of values and direction in life.
Describe role confusion.
If stuck in adolescence, will be confused in adulthood
- no direction and self-definition
- society restricts choices
- unresolved passed conflicts
Describe self-concept.
- combining traits into organized system
- greater emphasis on social morality
- traits may change depending on situation (introvert at home but extrovert outside)
Describe self-esteem.
- rises due to personal fable
- imapact of parent and teacher encouragement helps
- continues to develop new dimensions (new friendships, new job, new partner)
Teen has come up with a plan after exploring different paths:
Identity achievement
4 identity statuses:
- Identity achievement
- Identity moratorium
- Identity foreclosure
- Identity diffusion
Teen is exploring but has not committed to anything because they are trying to find the 'perfect' path:
Identity moratorium
Committing, but no exploration. Likely committed because of parents:
Identity foreclosure
No committment nor exploration, risk of anxiety and depression, no direction:
Identity diffusion
Moral understanding is promoted by:
- Gain in perspective taking (less egocentrism)
- Actively grappling moral issues
What is Kohlberg's longitudinal study on moral reasoning?
Heinz dilemma: following boys for 20 years and recording the difference of reasoning over development
Preconventional response to Heinz dilemma:
Don't do something bad, otherwise you will go to jail (9-10y/o)
Conventional response to Heinz dilemma:
Focusses on obeyign social norms (most teens and adults)
Post-conventional response to Heinz dilemma:
Focusses on inner-moral guidelines (15% of adults only)
Criticisms of Kohlberg's theory:
- Is his theory male centered (since his experiment was with males only)?
- Does moral understanding begin earlier?
- Is it culture specific?
How does pubertal change affect teen moodiness?
- Hormones fluctuating causes moodiness
- Younger teens' moods go up and down
- More negative life events: losing friends, breakups, poor academic performance...
How does pubertal change affect parent-child relationships?
- Increase concern about child
- Rise in conflict over disagreements
Effective parenting needs to balance what with what?
Connection and separation (teen is seeking autonomy but connection is vital for good mental health)
What happens if parent interferes with autonomy?
Low self-esteem, no exploration, drug and alcohol use, anitsocial behavior
Discuss the importance of friendships during adolescence.
Value of intimacy, trust to tell secrets, cooperation, mutual understanding, self-affirmation
Discuss the gender differences in friendships.
Girls: get together to just talk; risk of corumination; loyalty and self-disclosure.
Boys: get together to play video games, sports, rough and tumble. Conflict and competition
3 benefits of adolescent friendships:
- Decrease stress
- Greater empathy and sympathy
- Happy to go to school
What is a clique?
- Tightly knit groups of 5-7, usually girls.
- All resemble each other
What is a crowd?
- Cliques within the crowds
- Could be mixed boys and girls
- All share common stereotypes and/or reputation
- Affiliations reflect abilities and interests
Dating goals throughout adolescence:
Early teens: dating for status, recreation
Later teens: intimacy, compatibility, social support
Factors influencing dating:
- Parental marital status, conflict resolution
- Security of attachment
- Relationships with family and friends
What is the most common problem in adolescence?
Depression, mostly in girls
Factors related to adolescent depression:
- Corumination (girls)
- Hormone imbalance
- Moderately heritable
- Negative experiences combined with genetic risk
- Parental depression and associated maladaptive parenting