pyc2026_part_6_summary.doc

PART 6: ADOLESCENCE PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH IN ADOLESCENCE How puberty begins: hormonal changes Sharp increase in production of sex-related hormones and occurs in 2 stages: Adrenarche: maturation of adrenal glands Gonadarche: maturation of testes or ovaries 6 – 9 years old: adrenal glands secrete gradually increasing levels of androgens, principally dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) which plays part in growth of pubic, axillary and facial hair, as well as faster body growth, oilier skin and the development of body odour 10 years: DHEA levels 10 times more than between 1 – 4 years Second burst of DHEA triggered by gonadarche occurs 2 – 4 years later ~ rises to adult levels: Girl’s ovaries step up their output of oestrogen (stimulates growth of female genitals and breast development) Boy’s testes increase manufacture of androgens, particularly testosterone (stimulate growth of male genitals, muscle mass and body hair) Boys and girls have both hormones: girls have higher oestrogen levels, boys have higher testosterone levels; in girls testosterone influence growth of clitoris, bones and pubic and axillary hair Signal for increase in production of sex hormones is secretion of hormone called gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) by hypothalamus ~ scientist identified gene on chromosome 19 essential for this development to occur GPR54 Precise time when rush of hormonal activity begins seems to depend on reaching a critical weight level ~ accumulation of leptin in bloodstream stimulates hypothalamus to send pulsating signals to nearby pituitary gland, which signals sex glands to increase secretion of hormones The adolescent growth spurt Sharp increase in height and weight that precedes sexual maturity: girls ~ 9 ½ and 14 ½ (10); boys ~10 ½ and 16 (12 – 13) ~ lasts about 2 years and soon after it ends the young person reaches sexual maturity Affects all skeletal and muscular dimensions ~ muscular growth peaks at 12 ½ for girls, 14 ½ for boys ~ parts of body may be out of proportion: teenage gawkiness which accompanies unbalanced, accelerated growth Physical changes may have psychological ramifications Psychological effects of early and late maturation Effects vary in boys and girls ~ depends on how adolescent and other people in their world interpret the accompanying changes Effects of early or late maturation are most likely negative when adolescents are much more or less developed than peers, when they do not see changes as advantageous and when several stressful events occur around the same time COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE ASPECTS OF COGNITIVE MATURATION Speed of information processing continues to increase (not as dramatically as in middle childhood) Piaget’s stage of formal operations Piaget: formal operations: final stage of cognitive development, characterised by ability to think abstractly (think in terms of what might be, not just what is) ~ has emotional implications: the possible and the ideal captivate both mind and feeling Integrate what they have learned from the past with challenges of the present and make plans for the future Hypothetical-deductive reasoning Piaget: ability to accompany stage of formal operations, to develop, and test hypotheses Piaget: shift to formal reasoning attributed to combination of brain maturation and expanding environmental opportunities ~ both essential: even if young person’s neurological development has advanced enough to permit formal reasoning, they can attain it only with appropriate environmental stimulation ~ one way through cooperative effort Piaget: as with development of concrete operations, schooling and culture play a role ~ this thinking is a learned ability not equally necessary or valued in all cultures Evaluating Piaget’s theory Points the way to countless avenues of investigation Enormous influence on education ~ given parents and teachers benchmarks for what to expect, roughly, at various ages, and helped design curricula appropriate to children’s development levels Question assertion of definite development stages Adolescents do tend to think more abstractly than younger children ~ debate about precise age advance emerges Seems have overestimated some older children’s abilities ~ many late adolescents and adults seem incapable of abstract thought, and those capable do not always use it Paid little attention to individual differences, to variations in child’s performance of different kinds of tasks or social and cultural influences Piaget himself came to view his earlier model of development of thinking (particularly formal operations) as flawed because it failed to capture essential role of situation in influencing and constraining children’s thinking Neo-Piagetian research suggests that cognitive processes closely tied to specific content as well as to context of a problem and kinds of information and thought culture considers important Finally Piaget’s theory does not adequately consider such cognitive advances as gains in information-processing capacity, accumulation of knowledge and expertise in specific fields, and role of metacognition (awareness and monitoring of one’s own mental processes and strategies) Elkind: Immature characteristics of adolescent thought Risk-taking behaviour, rudeness to adults, trouble making up their minds, whole world revolves around them Elkind: such behaviour stems from adolescents’ inexperienced ventures into formal operational thought, which transforms the way they see themselves and their world, as unfamiliar to them as their reshaped bodies and sometimes feel just as awkward in its use Elkind: immaturity of thinking manifests itself in at least 6 ways: Idealism and criticalness: as adolescents envision the real world they realise how far the real world falls short (hold adults responsible) ~ become super-conscious of hypocrisy, with sharpened verbal reasoning they relish attack of public figures with satire and parody ~ convinced know better than adults (frequently find faults of parents) Argumentativeness: constantly looking for opportunities to try and show off reasoning abilities Indecisiveness: keep many alternatives in mind at same time, yet lack effective strategies for choosing among them Apparent hypocrisy: do not recognise difference between expressing an ideal and making the sacrifices necessary to live up to it Self-consciousness: aware they can think about thinking ~ in preoccupation they assume everyone is thinking the same as them ~ imaginary audience: observer who exists only in an adolescents mind and is as concerned with adolescent’s thoughts as adolescent is Specialness and invulnerability: personal fable: conviction that one is special, unique and not subject to the rules that govern rest of world KOHLBERG’S THEORY OF MORAL REASONING ‘Heinz’ situation – stealing the drug that can save his wife’s life Concluded from experiments that the way people look at moral issues reflects cognitive development Moral codes tend to change as people become capable of more advanced thinking Moral growth progresses from externally imposed rules based on consequences of act to more flexible, internal judgements that take circumstances into account ~ development made possible by shift from egocentrism to decentration (ability look things from more than one view) All social relationships offer opportunities for social role taking – taking perspective of others – thus stimulate moral development; peer relationships may be most important avenue during childhood, the expanding environments of adolescence and adulthood broaden opportunities for moral growth Kohlberg’s levels and 6 stages of moral reasoning Levels Stages of Reasoning Level I: Preconventional morality Control is external and rules are obeyed in order to gain rewards or avoid punishment or out of self-interest (ages 4 – 10 years) Stage 1: Orientation toward punishment and obedience Ignore motives of act and focus on its physical form or its consequences Stage 2: Instrumental purpose and exchange Children conform to rules out of self-interest and consideration for what others can do for them (scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours); look at an act in terms of human needs it meets and differentiate this value from act’s physical form and consequences Level II: Conventional morality Standards of authority figures internalised (ages 10 – 13 years or beyond) Stage 3: Maintaining mutual relations, approval of others, the golden rule Children want to help and please others, can judge intentions of others, and develop own ideas of what a good person is; evaluate act according to motive behind it or person performing it, take circumstances into account Stage 4: Social concern and conscience People are concerned with their duty, showing respect for higher authority, and maintaining social order; consider act always wrong, regardless of motive or circumstances, if it violates a rule and harms others Level III: Postconventional morality People follow internally held moral principles and can decide among conflicting moral standards (early adolescence or not until young adulthood or never) Stage 5: Morality of contract, of individual rights, and of democratically accepted law People think in rational terms, valuing will of majority and welfare of society; generally see these values as best supported by adherence to law; while they recognise that there are times when human need and law conflict, believe it is better for society in long run if they obey law Stage 6: Morality of universal ethical principles People do what they as individuals feel is right, regardless of legal restrictions or opinions of others; act in accordance with internalised standards, knowing that they would condemn themselves if they did not Kohlberg later added transitional level between II and III: people no longer feel bound by society’s moral standards but have not yet developed rationally derived principles of justice ~ base moral decisions on personal feelings Evaluating Kohlberg’s theory Kohlberg built on from Piaget ~ brought about a profound shift in the way we look at moral development: morality was not viewed solely as the attainment of control over the self-gratifying impulses, investigators now study how children and adults base moral judgements on growing understanding of social world Research has noted lack of clear relationship between moral reasoning and moral behaviour; people at postconventional levels of reasoning do not necessarily act more morally than lower levels – perhaps one problem is the remoteness from young people’s experience of such dilemmas as the ‘Heinz’ situation; on the other hand, juvenile delinquents, particularly boys, consistently show development delays in Kohlbergian tests of moral reasoning Critics claim cognitive approach to moral development gives insufficient attention to the importance of emotion: moral activity is motivated not only by abstract considerations of justice, but also by such emotions as empathy, guilt, and distress and the internalisation of prosocial norms ~ argued: Kohlberg’s stages 5 and 6 cannot fairly be called most mature stage s of development since they restrict ‘maturity’ to a select group of people who are given philosophical reflection Some theorists seek to synthesise cognitive-developmental approach to moral development with role of emotion and insights of socialisation theory ~ Kohlberg recognised that noncognitive factors such as emotional development and life experience affect moral judgements One reason ages attached to the levels are so variable is that people who have achieved high level of cognitive development do not always reach a comparably high level of moral development ~ certain level of cognitive development is necessary but not sufficient Practical problem in using Kohlberg’s system: time-consuming testing procedures ~ alternative: DIT (Defining Issues Test), its result correlate with scores o Kohlberg’s traditional tasks Family influences: Neither Piaget nor Kohlberg considered parents important to children’s moral development ~ recent: emphasises parents’ contribution in both cognitive and emotional realms Validity for women and girls: Gilligan asserted claim of male bias in Kohlberg’s theory – in some research, girls scored higher than boys (early adolescence), girls generally mature earlier and have more intimate social relationships, tend to emphasise care-related concerns more than boys especially when tested with open-ended questions or self-chosen moral dilemmas related to own experience Cross-cultural validity: support stages up to a point (stage 4) ~ some aspects of Kohlberg’s model may not fir cultural values of certain societies Influences on motivation and achievement Students who do well in school are more likely to stay in school ~ factors such as parenting practices, SES and quality of home environment influence course of school achievement in adolescence; other factors: gender, ethnicity, peer influence, quality of schooling and students’ belief in themselves Self-efficacy beliefs Students with a high self-efficacy are most likely to do well in school Parenting styles, ethnicity, and peer influence Authoritative parents are still the best In some ethnic groups parenting styles may be less important than other factors (peer influence) that affect motivation Peer influence helps explain downward trend in academic motivation and achievement that begins for many students in early adolescence The educational system Quality of school strongly influences student achievement; a good high school has an orderly, unoppressive atmosphere, active, energetic principal, and teachers who take part in making decisions ~ principal and teachers have high expectations for students, emphasise academics more than extracurricular activities and closely monitor student performance Students who like school do better academically Adolescents are more satisfied with school if they are allowed to participate in making rules and feel support from teachers and other students ~ schools that tailor teaching to students’ abilities get better results than schools that try teach all students in same way – combination may be most effective way to teach all students Transition to college: shock (Early College High Schools bridge this gap) PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY Erikson: confidence in one’s inner continuity amid change Adolescents’ cognitive development enables them to construct a ‘theory of self’: teenager’s effort to make sense of the self which is part of a healthy, vital process that builds on achievements of earlier stages and lays groundwork for coping with challenges of adult life Erikson: Identity versus identity confusion Fifth crisis of psychosocial development, in which adolescent seeks to develop coherent sense of self, including role they play in society ~ virtue: fidelity (sustained loyalty, faith or a sense of belonging to a loved one or to friends and companions) – fidelity is an extension of trust Identity crisis seldom fully resolved in adolescence – issues concerning identity crop up again and again throughout life Erikson: prime danger of identity confusion can greatly delay reaching psychological adulthood – some degree normal – accounts for seemingly chaotic nature of much adolescent behaviour and for teenagers’ painful self-consciousness Erikson’s theory describes male identity development as the norm: man is not capable of intimacy until after a stable identity is achieved ~ women develop identity through intimacy Erikson: adolescents form their identity by synthesising earlier identifications into a new psychological structure, greater than the sum of its parts – organising their abilities, needs, interests and desires so they can be expressed in a social context – identity forms as adolescents resolve three major issues: choice of occupation, adoption of values to live by, and development of sexual identity ~ need to find way to use skills developed in middle childhood Erikson: the psychosocial moratorium, which is the time out period adolescence provides, allows young people to search for commitments to which they can be faithful Marcia: Identity status – crisis and commitment Four types of identity status which differ according to the presence or absence of crisis (period of conscious decision making related to identity formation) and commitment (personal investment in an occupation or system of beliefs), the two elements Erikson saw as crucial in forming identity Family and Personality Factors Associated with Adolescents in Four Identity Statuses: Factor Identity Achievement Identity status characterised by commitment to choices made following a crisis, a period spent in exploring alternatives Crisis leading to commitment Foreclosure Identity status in which a person who has not spent time considering alternatives (has not been in a crisis) is committed to other people’s plans for their life Commitment without crisis Moratorium Identity status in which a person is considering alternatives (in crisis) and seems headed for commitment Crisis with no commitment yet Identity Diffusion Identity status characterised by absence of commitment and lack of serious consideration of alternatives No commitment, no crisis Family Parents encourage autonomy and connection with teachers; differences are explored within a context of mutuality Parents are overly involved with their children; families avoid expressing differences Adolescents are often involved in an ambivalent struggle with parental authority Parents are laissez-faire in child-rearing attitudes; are rejecting or not available to children Personality High levels of ego development, moral reasoning, self-certainty, self-esteem, performance under stress, and intimacy Highest levels of authoritarianism and stereotypical thinking, obedience to authority, dependent relationships; low level of anxiety Most anxious and fearful of success; high levels of ego development, moral reasoning and self-esteem Mixed results, with low levels of ego development, moral reasoning, cognitive complexity, and self-certainty; poor cooperative abilities Ethnic factors in identity formation Identity formation is especially complicated for young people in minority groups ~ race or ethnicity may be central to identity formation Erikson: oppressed and exploited minority may come to see themselves in the negative way that the majority see them Marcia identified 4 stages of ethnic identity (diffuse, foreclosed, moratorium, achieved) Sexual risk taking Concerns for adolescent sexual activity: STD’s/pregnancy Noncoital forms of genital sexual activity (oral/anal sex) common and may begin in early adolescence ~ not regarded as sex but substitutes (still involve risk of contracting STD’s) Most at risk are people who start early, have multiple partners, do not use contraceptives regularly and have inadequate information about sex Other risks: living in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, drug abuse, antisocial behaviour and association with deviant peers ~ parental monitoring can reduce risks Self-regulation: no effect on age which sexual activity begins or how often it is engaged in ~ predicts whether they would limit number of sexual partners and take precautions Early sexual activity Wide variations of sexual initiation ~ boys more likely to have first intercourse by 13 Various factors including early entrance into puberty, poverty, poor school performance, lack of academic and career goals, history of sexual abuse or parental neglect and cultural or family patterns of early sexual experience may play a part ~ absence of father in early life is a strong risk factor Most powerful influences is perception of peer group norms – pressure Special risks for girls: sexual violence or abuse Connection between self-esteem and early sexual activity works in opposite ways for boys and girls Teenage pregnancy and childbearing Often poor outcomes: many of the mothers are impoverished and poorly educated, and some are drug users, do not eat properly, do not gain enough weight and get inadequate prenatal care or none at all; babies likely to be premature or dangerously small – heightened risks of neonatal death, health problems and developmental disabilities that may continue into adolescence Babies of more affluent teenage mothers may also be at risk ~ prenatal care apparently cannot always overcome biological disadvantage inherent in being born to still-growing girl whose own body may be competing for vital nutrients with developing foetus Financial hardship; mothers are likely to drop out of school and have repeated pregnancies RELATIONSHIPS WITH FAMILY, PEERS AND ADULT SOCIETY Is adolescent rebellion a myth? Adolescent rebellion: pattern of emotional turmoil, characteristic of minority of adolescents, that may involve conflict with family, alienation from adult society, reckless behaviour and rejection of adult values ~ born in first formal adolescence theory (Hall) who believed young people’s efforts to adjust to changing bodies and imminent demands of adulthood usher in a period of ‘storm and stress’ that produces conflict between the generations – Freud (and daughter) describe ‘storm and stress’ as universal and inevitable, growing out of a resurgence of early sexual drives toward parents Mead: when culture provides gradual, serene transition from childhood to adulthood, ‘storm and stress’ not typical Full-fledged rebellion relatively uncommon – although adolescents may defy parental authority with some regularity, emotions attending this transition do not normally lead to family conflict of major proportions or to a sharp break with parental or societal standards ~ most young people feel close to and positive about their parents, chare similar opinions about major issues and value parents’ approval Negative emotionality and mood swings are most intense in adolescence (stress connected to puberty) ~ emotionality becomes stable by late adolescence Changing time use and changing relationships Disengagement is not rejection of the family but a response to developmental needs ~ seem to need time alone to reflect on identity issues or spend more time with peers with whom they feel comfortable with and identify Character of family interactions changes during these years: adolescents and parents spend less time watching TV together but just as much time in one-on-one conversations ~ as they grow older they see themselves as taking lead in discussions and their feeling about contact with parents become more positive Cultural variation in time use reflect varying cultural needs, values and practices Parties provide emotional ‘highs’ that without the appropriate parental monitoring can lead to substance abuse and deviant behaviour Adolescents and parents Family conflict Most frequent in early adolescence but most intense in mid adolescence Increased frequency or intensity = adolescents testing their wings Decreased frequency = adjustment to momentous changes of teenage years and a renegotiation of balance of power between parent and child Arise over pace of adolescents’ growth toward independence ~ most arguments concern day-to-day matters rather than fundamental values (proxies for more serious ones such as substance abuse) – accumulation of frequent ‘hassles’ add up to stressful family atmosphere Parenting styles Authoritative still best: insist on important rules, norms and values but are willing to listen, explain and negotiate The more involvement, autonomy granting, and structure that adolescents perceive from parents, the more positively teens evaluate own general conduct, psychological development and mental health ~ adolescents become self-confident and competent in both academic and social realms (wanted to achieve and believed they could) Family Structure and mothers’ employment Impact depends on whether there are 2 parents or only one in the household – physical absence does not significantly increase risk of problems Peers and friends Peer group = source of affection, sympathy, understanding, and moral guidance, place for experimentation, setting for achieving autonomy and independence from parents, place to form intimate relationships that serve as ‘rehearsals’ for adult intimacy Popularity Sociometric studies have identified 5 peer status categories: Popular: young people who receive many positive nominations Rejected: those who receive many negative nominations Neglected: few nominations of either kind Controversial: positive and negative Average: do not receive an unusual amount of either kind Move from physical aggression to relational aggression as means of social control Friendships Intensity and importance of friends are greater in adolescence than any other time – more reciprocal – relied on more than parents fro intimacy and support Increased intimacy reflects cognitive as well as emotional development – better express thoughts, confide n friends, consider others’ points of view ~ reflects concern for getting to know themselves Capacity for intimacy related to psychological adjustment and social competence ~ bi-directional process at work: good friendships foster adjustment which fosters good friendship Sharing confidences more vital to female friends than males – boys gain self-esteem from competition with friends, girls do by helping friends