Running head: PEPSI SCREENING 1

PEPSI Screening

Viviana Vega Torres

College of Southern Nevada

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Biography

The individual I chose to observe for this PEPSI screening is my sixteen-year-old cousin,

Dapnet Flores Vega. She is Mexican American and was born at the Valley Hospital Medical

Center in Las Vegas, NV, where she has lived her entire life. When she was younger, she

attended John S. Park Elementary School then attended John C. Fremont Middle School, which

is currently under construction. She is currently a junior attending East Career and Technical

Academy (ECTA) and she is in the health information management program.

Dapnet lives in her five-bedroom home with her father, her mother, her sibling, and her

two dogs. Their socioeconomic status is lower middle class. Her mother migrated to Vegas from

Poncitlan, Jalisco and her father migrated from Puebla, Atzompa. She has a younger sibling, age

fifteen who also attends East Career and Technical Academy (ECTA). He is in the construction

program. There comes a lot of responsibility when it comes to her because she is the oldest and

the only girl in her family. If she ever wants to go out anywhere her brother always tags along,

not by choice. Her parents do not allow Dapnet to go out if her brother doesn’t accompany her.

Dapnet enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Not too long ago she adopted a

six-week-old husky named Nube. So recently in her free time she has been potty training him

and teaching him new tricks. She loves to listen to K-pop and R&B music. Her favorite K-pop

band would have to be BTS and her favorite member is Jungkook. Her favorite colors are sage

green and pink. Usually when she isn’t doing homework, she spends most of her time on tiktok.

I chose Dapnet because she is unique to me. Watching her grow up has been very

fascinating. With this PEPSI model I am able to view her across the five areas of development

which are Physical, Emotional, Philosophical, Social and Intellectual. By the end of this PEPSI

screening, I hope to recognize certain patterns and gain insight on Dapnet’s needs.
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Physical Development

Dapnet is in her middle adolescent years. Middle adolescence is the stage when the child

is between ages of 14 and 18 (Bruce, 2022). During this period of time, she has desires to have

new, more grown-up experiences. She has never had a boyfriend, first kiss, or gone on a date.

She is currently 5’2 in height and weighs 173 lbs. According to the chart provided by the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the article How Much Should I Weigh?, the average

percentile weight for a female is 94-155 lbs (Armstrong, 2021). Right now, she is considered to

be in the upper percentile weight. Her level of inactivity and bad eating habits could be a

contributing factor to her upper percentile weight.

By age fifteen most teens have already entered puberty. Dapnet got her period when she

was twelve years old. For most girls, their first menstrual period begins about 2 years after she

first starts to get breasts. For most girls this is around age 12 (Miller, 2018). Dapnet was bullied

throughout elementary school and middle school for her physical appearance, specifically her

weight. She has always struggled with body dysmorphia and is not fully comfortable in her body.

As she has gotten older her body started to get more mature, gained curves, and more confidence

in how she looks.

Unlike her little brother Dapnet has no visual impairments. Ever since she was little she

didn’t have the straightest teeth. Eventually her parents took her to the dentist and she got braces.

She has to keep them on for 3 years. I’ve noticed that ever since she has gotten braces her jaw

movement and her speech have improved drastically. Dapnet is on the path to obtain straight

teeth and she hopes to eventually reach her average percentile weight.

Emotional Development
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I’ve noticed that recently in this age group many teens are depressed and have anxiety.

Dapnet watches a lot of tiktok and I have observed that it has become normal for her to compare

herself with creators on the application. When she compares herself to others, she expresses

sadness. She also has to deal with her parents always comparing her to her little brother. They

always tell her “Why can’t you be more like your brother?” I see that this causes her to become

depressed. In the article Teen Depression Ages 13-18 adolescent depression is a disorder

occurring during the teenage years marked by persistent sadness, discouragement, loss of self-

worth, and loss of interest in usual activities (Creative, 2018).

Depression also runs in her family. Her grandmother has it and so do two of her aunts.

Although Dapnet tends to get depressed she always appears to be happy and always greets

everyone with genuine excitement. She has shown more independence from parents by recently

getting her permit and is able to drive herself and her brother to school with her dad in the

passenger's seat. I am able to see the joy and fear that her parents are feeling because although

she will always be their baby girl, she is growing into a mature adult.

Dapnet finds it hard to communicate with her parents. She isn’t fully able to express to

them how she feels since they have a closed-minded mentality. When it comes to

communicating, for the most part, 16-year-olds are able to communicate like adults (Gordon,

2022). Even though her parents want her to stay little forever, she isn't. She’s growing up and at

this age she wants free time to pursue interests as well as time to rest and relax without

expectations. Dapnet is gaining closer bonds, friendly and romantic. In Your Daughter at 16 as

teens assert their independence, you might see less of them at home (Alli, 2021). Dapnet is

getting older and she has started to look for a part time job and stays at school for her after

school clubs.
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Philosophical Development

Dapnet grew up in a household where men are seen as the superior ones and women are

just meant to be housewives. This is something called machismo. Machismo reinforces the idea

that women in Mexico are second-class citizens and the expectation is for them to be the “the

little lady of the house” (Ortiz, 2011). It is very sexism and misogyny. That is one of the reasons

why her parents don’t let her do anything with her brother. I can tell that this affects Dapnet in so

many ways. Yet her positive mentality out ways the negatives. Dapent sees the indifferences in

masculinity and femininity and continues to move forward despite what the machismo men in

her family think.

Dapnet is at an age where she knows what is good and what is bad. It’s up to her to

decide what to do and what not to do. As her older cousin all I can do is tell her about my good

and bad experiences and hope she is able to differentiate what not to do. We can tell kids to not

do that but at the end of the day it’s up to them if they actually want to listen or not. Sometimes,

they are getting more attention from siblings than even their parents so siblings become vital to

them for their sense of self (Walls, 2019). Dapnet comes to me for everything and anything. I am

glad to be able to be her support system and I hope she knows that I’ll always be here for her.

Social Development

At this age, teens are sometimes developing short, intense love relationships (Gordon,

2022). Dapnet tends to have crushes every now and then. She has never had a boyfriend but she

has had what they call ‘talking stages’ with guys, it just doesn't lead to a relationship. She doesn't

always recognize the consequences of her decisions but she does know right from wrong. She

spends less time with family and more time with her friends. She ended up losing her best friend

because her friend ended up moving out of state. This was a step back in her social development
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because she had lost the only person she could trust and spend time with. As time passed she has

gained many new friendships and no longer mourns her best friend.

Dapnet has established autonomy. Autonomous teens have gained the ability to make and

follow through with their own decisions, live by their own set of rules about right and wrong,

and be less emotionally dependent on parents (Nelson, 2012). She is achieving personal

maturation by gaining a sense of independence. Her adopting her new puppy Nube came with a

lot of responsibility. She took charge and is committed to taking care of her new puppy and is

providing for it all by herself. I can see that she is very responsible just by her actions.

Intellectual Development

Dapnet is a very smart girl for her age. Just like most sixteen-year-old she struggles with

math. Dapnet has told me that her math teacher isn’t a very good math teacher to her students.

She understands that every teacher has different teaching methods, this teacher just isn’t doing it

for her. She explained to me that one time her math teacher told her students that if they fail his

class that they are going to fail at life. Over time, repeated underperformance in math can cause a

student to become demotivated and believe he or she is “stupid” or not good at the subject

(Cicerchia, 2022). When her teacher tells that to the class, she knows not to listen to him because

she knows he is wrong but when she starts to hear that over and over she starts to think if she is

“stupid.”

Watching her grow up I’ve seen her gain personal and education knowledge. She’s very

smart when it comes to dealing with personal problems. Dapnet has developed a sense of who

she is as a person and became better to see things from multiple perspectives as well as think

abstractly. As children get older, they develop more interpersonal relationships that lead to
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personal discoveries where they begin to understand that rules may be broken for the greater

good (Hartline, 2021).

Graph

Dapnet's PEPSI Chart

18

16

14

12

10

0
Physical Emotional Philosophical Social Intellectual

Dapnet Average/Normal

Recommendations

For Physical Development I recommend that she maintain a healthy eating schedule and

perform some sort of light activity to maintain an average percentile weight. Although she isn’t

far off from being average weight, I don’t want her to end up with diabetes or keep having bad

eating habits. I want her to feel like the best version of herself.

For Emotional Development I recommend that she try to communicate her feelings

whenever she feels down. I would also want her to stop comparing herself to others and not to

listen to others if she’s getting compared. Most people are very close minded and don’t

understand how much hurt comparing others may cause a child later on in life.
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For Philosophical Development I would like her too to keep going forward for herself

and set an example to others around her. I want her to develop her own belief and see where her

father and the men around are wrong about women.

For Social Development I would like her to keep doing what she is doing. Being social

isn’t always the easiest when you lose a best friend. I want he to be able to step out of her

comfort zone and try new things.

For Intellectual Development I would like Dapnet to make a Khan academy account and

try to work on what she needs help on. I would also like her to ask for help on questions if

needed. If her teacher isn’t providing the help she needs, she should speak up and say something

about the situation. Stay for after school tutoring if her school provides those in her after school

activities.
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References

Bruce, N. (2022, February 23). What Is Middle Adolescence? The Health Board.

https://www.thehealthboard.com/what-is-middle-adolescence.htm

Armstrong, L. R. (2021, March 2). How Much *Should* I Weigh? The Answer’s Not

That Simple. Greatist. https://greatist.com/health/how-much-should-i-weigh#beyond-the-scale

Miller, R. R. (2018, October). When Will I Get My Period? (for Kids) - Nemours

KidsHealth. KidsHealth. https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/when-period.html

Alli, R. A. (2021, March 6). Your Daughter at 16: Milestones. WebMD.

https://www.webmd.com/parenting/guide/daughter-16-milestones

Creative, S. (2018, December 17). Teen Depression Ages 13–18. The Whole Child.

https://www.thewholechild.org/parent-resources/age-13-18/teen-depression-ages-13-18/

Gordon, S. (2022, February 7). 16-Year-Old Child Development Milestones. Verywell

Family. https://www.verywellfamily.com/16-year-old-developmental-milestones-4171922#:

%7E:text=16-Year-Old%20Emotional%20and%20Social%20Milestones%20A%2016-year-old

%20knows,feel%20like%20the%20right%20ones%20to%20their%20parents.

Nelson, P. T. (2012). Teen Social and Emotional Development | Cooperative Extension |

University of Delaware. University of Delaware.

https://www.udel.edu/academics/colleges/canr/cooperative-extension/fact-sheets/teen-social-and-

emotional-development/

Ortiz, V.L. (2018). The Culture of Machismo in Mexico Harms Women. Merion West.

Retrieved from https://merionwest.com/2018/01/28/the-culture-of-machismo-in-mexico-harms-

women/
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Walls, C. (2019, May 29). Do younger siblings look up to older siblings? –

HolidayMountainMusic. https://holidaymountainmusic.com/do-younger-siblings-look-up-to-

older-siblings/

Cicerchia, M. (2022). Why do some kids find math hard? Touch-Type Read and Spell

(TTRS). https://www.readandspell.com/us/struggling-with-math

Hartline, K. D. (2021, January 11). Stages of Intellectual Development in Children &

Teenagers. Healthfully. https://healthfully.com/496539-stages-of-intellectual-development-in-

children-teenagers.html