Chapter 6: Adolescence

Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective

By Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French (Published 2017)
In this chapter:

 Physical development
 Growth, puberty, sleep, nutrition, pregnancy
 Cognitive development
 Formal operational thought, adolescent egocentrism,
education
 Psychosocial development
 Identity, self-concept, parent and peer relationships
Learning objectives: Physical
development in adolescence
 Summarize the overall physical growth
 Describe the changes that occur during puberty
 Describe the changes in brain maturation
 Describe the changes in sleep
 Describe gender intensification
 Identify nutritional concerns
 Describe eating disorders
 Explain the prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of
adolescent pregnancy
Physical growth: Puberty

 Rapid growth and sexual maturation

 Usually starts between 8-14 years of age
 Changes occur over 3-4 years
 Distalproximal development – Growth proceeds from the
extremities toward the torso
 Gain 10-11 inches and 50-75 pounds
Sexual maturation

 Primary sexual characteristics – Changes in reproductive

organs
 Growth of uterus, penis, testes
 Release of reproductive cells
 Menarche – First menstruation
 Spermarche – First ejaculation of semen
Figure 6.1
Male reproductive system
Figure 6.2
Female reproductive system
Sexual maturation (continued)

 Secondary sexual characteristics – Visible

physical changes that signal sexual
maturity but aren’t involved in reproduction
 Males – Voice deepening, facial hair
 Females – Breast development, hips
broaden
Socioemotional aspects of puberty

 Racial/ethnic differences in typical age of puberty

 Early puberty in girls associated with adjustment and
behavioral issues
 Gender role intensification
 Girls may downplay successes
Adolescent brain

 More interconnected and specialized

 Corpus callosum thickens
 Connections strengthened between hippocampus and frontal
lobes
 Myelination and synapse development continue
 Increase thinking and processing skills
 Decrease plasticity

 Pruning in gray matter increases efficiency

Adolescent brain (continued)

 Limbic system regulates emotion and reward

 Linked to hormonal changes in puberty
 Related to novelty seeking

 Teens weigh risks/rewards differently than adults

 Increased dopamine associated with more attention paid to
rewards, less to risks
 Oxytocin makes social connections more rewarding

 Combined with immature frontal lobes, may produce poor

decision making
Figure 6.6
Limbic system
Sleep in adolescence

 Adolescents need 8-10 hours of sleep each night

 But on average, only get 7½ hours
 Poor sleep associated with academic and behavioral
consequences
 Poor attention and academic achievement
 Substance abuse, depression, irritability
Sleep in adolescence (continued)

 Inadequate sleep due to:

 Social media
 Homework and other activities

 Changes in circadian rhythms

 Harder to go to sleep before 11:00 p.m.
 CDC recommends school not start before 8:30 a.m.
 80% of schools in U.S. start earlier than this
Adolescent sexual activity: The
beginnings
 Sexual attraction often starts age 10-11
 About 50% of teens will have sexual intercourse before
graduating high school
 Rates of sexual activity hard to determine
Adolescent sexual activity: Pregnancy

 2014: Teens 15-19 have birth rate of 24 per 1000

 Decline from previous years
 Higher than many other developed nations

 Numerous individual and environmental risk factors

 Teen parents at risk for dropping out, low SES
Figure 6.8
Adolescent live births (ages 15-19)
Eating disorders: The basics

 Often begin in teen years

 Affect both males and females
 Twice as common in females
 Common across cultural groups
 Anorexia nervosa more common in non-Hispanic Caucasian
people
 Interaction of biological, environmental, and psychological
factors
 Often associated with distorted body image
Table 6.1
DSM-5 eating disorders
Anorexia Nervosa  Restriction of energy intake leading to a significantly low body
weight
 Intense fear of gaining weight
 Disturbance in one’s self-evaluation regarding body weight
Bulimia Nervosa  Recurrent episodes of binge eating
 Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behaviors to prevent weight
gain, including purging, laxatives, fasting or excessive exercise
 Self-evaluation is unduly affected by body shape and weight

Binge-Eating Disorder  Recurrent episodes of binge eating

 Marked distress regarding binge eating
 The binge eating is not associated with the recurrent use of
inappropriate compensatory behavior
Eating disorders: Consequences

 Short-term and long-term health consequences

 Anorexia: Osteoporosis, heart failure
 Bulimia: Digestive problems, tooth decay, heart trouble

 Binge eating: High blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes

 Anorexia nervosa has highest death rate of any

psychiatric condition
Eating disorders: Treatment

 Tailored to individual needs

 Medical care
 Nutritional counseling

 Medications (e.g., antidepressants)

 Psychotherapy
 Maudsley Approach actively involves parents
 Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) – Identifying distorted
thinking patterns and changing inaccurate beliefs
Learning objectives: Cognitive
development in adolescence
 Describe Piaget’s formal operational stage and the
characteristics of formal operational thought
 Describe adolescent egocentrism
 Describe Information Processing research on attention and
memory
 Describe the developmental changes in language
 Describe the various types of adolescent education
 Identify changes in high school drop-out rates based on
gender and ethnicity
Piaget’s formal operational stage

 Understand abstract principles with no physical reference

(e.g., beauty, freedom, morality)
 Hypothetical-deductive reasoning – Developing
hypotheses based on what might logically occur
 Understand transitivity – A relationship between two
elements is carried over to other elements logically
related to the first two
 If A<B and B<C, then A<C
Adolescent egocentrism

 Heightened self-focus
 Imaginary audience – Belief that those around
them are as concerned and focused on their
appearance as they themselves are
 Personal fable – Belief that one is unique,
special, and invulnerable to harm
Consequences of formal operational
thought
 Greater introspection (thinking about one’s thoughts and
feelings)
 Idealistic – Insisting on high standards of behavior
 Hypocrisy – Pretend to be what they are not
 Pseudostupidity – Approach problems at overly complex
level that is too complex and fail because the tasks are
too simple
Information processing

 Executive functions competent in adolescence

 Self-regulation (ability to control impulses may still fail)
 Deductive reasoning emerges
 Use general principle to propose specific conclusions
 Dual-process model
 Intuitive thought is automatic, fast, and emotional
 Analytic thought is deliberate, conscious, and rational
Figure 6.12
Inductive and deductive reasoning
High school dropouts

 Status dropout rate – Percentage of 16- to 24 year-olds

who are not enrolled in school and do not have high
school credentials
 7% overall in 2013
 Higher for non-Caucasian students, though gap is shrinking
 Similar rates for male and female students
Figure 6.13
Status dropout rates of 16- through 24-year-olds, by
race/ethnicity: 1990 through 2013
Teenagers and working

 Possible benefits
 New work skills and ideas about future
careers
 Better financial knowledge

 Possible drawbacks
 May interfere with school or
extracurriculars
 Associated with substance abuse and
sexual activity
Figure 6.15
Rates of teen employment
Teenage drivers

 15-20-year-olds accounted for 5.5% (11.7 million) of

drivers (NHTSA, 2014)
 Account for 9% of fatal crashes
 Young male drivers cause 50% of non-fatal crashes
 Most frequent cause of crashes:
 Inexperience
 Distractions (cell phones, passengers)
Learning objectives: Psychosocial
development in adolescence
 Describe the changes in self-concept and self-esteem in
adolescence
 Summarize Erikson’s fifth psychosocial task of identity
versus role confusion
 Describe Marcia’s four identity statuses
 Summarize the three stages of ethnic identity
development
 Describe the parent-teen relationship
 Describe the role of peers
 Describe dating relationships
Self-concept and self-esteem

 Self-concept develops – Abstract reasoning, ability to

consider future
 Self-understanding often full of contradictions
 Self-esteem now includes perceptions of competency in
romantic and career areas
Erikson: Identity vs. role confusion

 Confusion and experimentation regarding identity and

one’s life path
 Psychological moratorium – Delay commitment to an
identity while exploring the options
 Most identity formation may not occur until early
adulthood
Table 6.2
Marcia’s four identity statuses
Commitment to an Exploration
Identity
Absent Present
Absent Identity Identity
Diffusion Moratorium
Present Identity Identity
Foreclosure Achievement
Facets of identity

 Religious identity
 Political identity
 Vocational identity
 Gender identity
Ethnic identity

 How people come to terms with who they

are based on their ethnic or racial ancestry
 Requires consideration of positive and
negative beliefs
 Resolution may depend on status and
dominant culture
 High-status groups tend to explore less
Ethnic identity formation (Phinney,
1990)
 Unexamined ethnic identity: Little consideration of issues
 Lack of exposure to ethnic identity issues
 Little thought to the question of ethnic heritage (similar to
diffusion)
 Adopting family’s ethnicity with little thought (similar to
foreclosure)
 Ethnic identity search: Exploring the customs, culture, and
history of one’s ethnic group
 Often caused by event that “awakens” person to their ethnic
group
 Immersion in ethnic culture
Ethnic identity formation (Phinney,
1990 continued)
 Achieved ethnic identity: Appreciation/understanding of
ethnic heritage
 Usually follows exploration
 May be unrelated to involvement in customs and values of
their ethnic culture
Other aspects of ethnic identity
formation
 Often little exploration in high school
 MAMA cycling – Moving back and forth between
moratorium and achievement
 Bicultural identity – View self as part of both the ethnic
minority group and the larger society
 Multiracial identity – May be harder to establish
 May be questioned by others
Relationships with parents

 Most teens and parents get along

 Possible conflicts about autonomy
 May have more conflicts with mothers
 Parents tend to control daughters more

 Cultural factors may affect this

 Secure attachment has positive outcomes

 Better emotional well-being and peer relationships
 Less drug abuse and criminal behavior
Relationships with peers

 Homophily – Associate with people similar to us

 Deviant peer contagion – Peers reinforce problem
behavior
 Healthy peer relationships important for well-being
 Cliques – Groups of individuals who interact frequently
 Crowds – Groups characterized more by shared
reputations or images than actual interactions
Romantic relationships

 Romantic relationships may

depend on culture
 Functions of dating
 Having fun
 Companionship

 Status

 Sexual experimentation

 Mate selection

 Identity development
Stages in dating process

 Romantic relationships form in mixed-sex peer groups

 Middle adolescence: Brief, casual dating or group dating
with established couples
 Late adolescence: Exclusive, intense relationships often
lasting a year or more
 May interfere with friendships