Lecture 2: Puberty,

Health, and Biological

Foundations
Jennifer Eastabrook, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
Trent University
Todays agenda:

1 Puberty

2 Health

3 Individual differences
Puberty
Puberty

The changes in
physiology, anatomy,
and physical
functioning that
develop a person
into a mature adult
biologically and
prepare the body for
sexual reproduction

Arnett, 2010
The biology of puberty
Puberty from Latin pubescere
To grow hairy

But puberty is more than hair growth

Determinants of puberty
Hormones: Chemical substances secreted by
the endocrine glands and carried throughout
the body by the bloodstream
Androgens: The main class of male sex
hormones
Estrogens: The main class of female sex
hormones
Male sex hormones: testosterone
Testosterone is an androgen (secreted from
the testes)

Development of external
genitals
Increase in height
Voice changes
Sexual desire and activity
Female sex hormones: estrogen
Estradiol is an estrogen (secreted from the
ovaries)

Breast development
Uterine development
Skeletal changes
Sexual desire and
activity?
Side note: female sexual behaviour
Role of testosterone?
Women who have had ovariectomies (no
production of female sex hormones), still become
sexually aroused
Butwomen whose ovaries and adrenal glands
have been removed (no production of female or
male hormones) lose sexual desire

Testosterone activates the sex

drives of both men and women
 The Endocrine system
Hypothalamus
Regulates production of hormones
that are associated with puberty

Pituitary gland
Secretes gonadotropins (hormones
that stimulate sex glands)

Gonads
The sex glandstestes in males,
ovaries in femalesthat secrete sex
hormones
 Hypothalamus

GnRH

Pituitary Gland

Luteinizing hormone (LH), Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)

Testes Ovaries
Androgens Estrogens

Hypothalamic-
pituitary-gonadal Primary and
Secondary Sex
(HPG) axis Characteristics
HPG negative feedback loop
1. Pituitary glands production of LH stimulates the
testes to produce testosterone
2. When testosterone levels rise too high, the
hypothalamus decreases its production of GnRH,
which in turns decreases pituitary glands
production of LH
3. When levels of testosterone fall as a result,
hypothalamus produces more GnRH and the cycle
starts again
Development of the HPG axis
HPG axis begins operating well before birth
Production of androgens leads to development
of male sex organs; lack therefore leads to
female sex organs
At birth, sex hormones are at almost adult
levels, but soon diminish to very low levels and
stay there until puberty

Grinbach & Styne, 2008; Money, 1980

Hormone levels by sex and
pubertal stage
Development of the HPG axis
During childhood, endocrine system is ready to go,
but the break is onhypothalamus suppresses
production of sex hormones by operating with a
low set point

?
WHY?
Why does the hypothalamus start
producing more GnRH?

Brooks-Gunn & Reiter, 1990

Increased hypothalamus set
point
Hypothalamus becomes less sensitive to sex
hormones; therefore more hormones are
needed to decrease production of GnRH (eg,
to shut it off)
 Increased hypothalamus set
point
High Low set point = only a small
Very sensitive amount of hormones are needed
to change to turn off the hypothalamus.
This is what occurs during
childhood (e.g., prior to puberty)
Sensitivity
level of the
hypothalamus
High set point = more hormones
Low
are needed to turn off the
Not sensitive
hypothalamus. This is what occurs
to change
during adolescence (e.g., puberty)
Determinants of pubertal timing
Heredity
Obesity/nutrition and general health
Sociocultural and environmental factors
Developed vs. less developed countries
Absent father or step-Dad
Pubertal timing?
Pubertal timing: girls
Early development in girls:
Less popular with classmates, lower self-esteem,
more anxious and depressed
More likely to get involved with older boys and to
have problems with smoking, drinking, drug use,
and sexual activities
Less satisfaction with body image (shorter and
heavier than late maturers)
Pubertal timing: boys
Early development in boys:
More popular, more leadership and maturity, fewer
problems with parents
More positive self-image (become taller and more
muscular)
But.
More hostile feelings and more symptoms of
internalized distress
More likely to experience difficulty at school,
delinquency, earlier involvement with sex, drugs, and
alcohol
Early puberty: whats the
problem?

1. Deviance Hypothesis (Petersen & Taylor,

1980):
Being noticeably different from others in peer
group is automatically stressful
Early puberty: whats the
problem?

2. Stage termination (Peskin & Livson, 1972):

Developmental tasks of childhood are not
complete
Early puberty: whats the
problem?

3. Adult resemblance (Block, 1984; Faust,

1960):
Those who seem more like adults will benefit more
from the status of adults
May be true for early-maturing boys (eg, power
and independence)
For girls, youth and beauty as more important
What do you think?
Girls dont reach
menarche until near
the end of puberty,
while boys can start
to produce sperm
(spermarche) very
early in
pubertywhy?
Adolescent health
Adolescent health

Is it any different than before or after?

Adolescence is a critical juncture in the
adoption of behaviors that are relevant to
health
Many of the behaviors that are linked to
poor health habits and early death in adults
begin during adolescence
Adolescents and health-
compromising behaviours
Window of vulnerability in adolescence
1. Self-presentation process (peer acceptance)
2. Many activities are pleasurable
3. Development of the behaviour occurs gradually
4. Some common factors to many behaviours
5. All connected to the larger societal structure
Adolescent risk-taking
One type of health-compromising behavior
that increases in adolescence is risk taking
Sensation seeking increases from 10 15 years
of age and then declines or remains stable
More impulsive, less future-oriented, more
susceptible to peer influence

Steinberg et al., 2008

 Why are teens more risky?

Reasoning, decision
Emotion
making, self-control
(If it feels good,
(Lets stop and think
do it!)
about this)
 Risky automobile driving
Serious threat to the lives and health of
adolescents and emerging adults
Almost half of all deaths from 15-24 years are from
unintentional injuries
And approximately 3/4 of those involve motor
vehicle accidents
Speeding, tailgating, driving under the influence

Arnett, 2010; Heuvelin, 2002

Risky driving: why?
Cognitive development (personal fable)
Peer influence
Neurobiological explanations
Inexperience
A biopsychosocial approach:
Health compromising behaviours are determined by
multiple factors:
Biological
Hormones (e.g., testosterone and aggression)
Psychological
Low self-esteem, social isolation, rebelliousness,
risk-taking
Social
Peer pressure, parental modeling, social media
and advertising
Health in emerging adulthood
Emerging adults have more than twice the
mortality rate of adolescents
Compared to adolescents, emerging adults engage in
more health-compromising behaviors, have more
chronic health problems, are more likely to be obese,
and are more likely to have a mental health disorder
Few emerging adults stop to think about how their
personal lifestyles will affect their health later in
their adult lives
Mortality rate: adolescents vs.
emerging adults
Individual differences
The genetic process

Genotype

Genetics

Phenotype
Heredity-environment
correlations
1. Passive
Children inherit genetic tendencies from parents, and
parents also provide an environment that matches their
own genetic tendencies
2. Evocative
Childs genetic tendencies elicit stimulation from the
environment that supports a particular trait
3. Active (niche-picking)
Children actively seek out niches in their environment
that reflect their own interest and talents and are in
alignment with their genotype
Epigenetic view
Epigenetic view: example
Interaction between the 5-HTTLPR gene and stress
levels in predicting depression in adolescents and
older adults
Adolescents with
a short version Short
of 5-HTTLPR version of
have an elevated 5-HTTLPR
risk of Depression
depression, but
only if they also
lead stressful Stress
lives
Remember
Adolescents not only are the outcomes of their
heredity and the environment they experience, but
they also can author a unique developmental path by
changing the environment
Key messages
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