4176 PSYC Second Exam

What is G. Stanley Hall’s Storm and Stress Model?

A model characterizing adolescence by turmoil and difficulty, including conflict with parents, mood disruptions, and risky behavior.

What was Margaret Mead’s viewpoint on adolescence?

She believed cultural factors, not biological forces, cause adolescents to experience emotional and psychological stress.

How do youth benefit from having caring adults in their lives?

Having supportive adults beyond parents or guardians helps adolescents navigate challenges and develop healthily.

Old Model

Autonomy, detachment from parents; and peer worlds are isolated

Intense, stressful conflict throughout adolescence; parent-adolescent relationships are filled with storm and stress on virtually a daily basis

New Model

Attachment and autonomy; parents are important support systems and attachment figures; adolescent-parent and adolescent-peer worlds have some important connections

Moderate parent-adolescent conflict is common and can serve a positive developmental function; conflict greater in early adolescence

What is the difference between the old and new models of parent-adolescent relationships?

The old model emphasized detachment and conflict, while the new model recognizes attachment, autonomy, and moderate, beneficial conflict.

What physical changes occur during adolescence?

•Biological changes

•New experiences

•New developmental tasks

Influences on the adolescent

•Ethnic

•Cultural

•Gender

•Socioeconomic

•Age

•Lifestyle differences

•Physical Changes - overview

Puberty, the brain, and adolescent sexuality

What is puberty?

A period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and bodily changes, including sexual maturation, height, and weight growth in earlier adolescence

What are Physical changes in male for Puberty?

Facial and chest hair growth

What are physical changes in females for puberty?

Breast growth and

Menarche: Girl’s first menstruation

Hormonal Changes

Chemicals secreted by the endocrine glands and carried throughout the body by the bloodstream

What are key hormonal changes during puberty?

Increased levels of testosterone (in boys) and estradiol (in girls).

The change of Menarche

•Average age of menarche has declined significantly since mid-19th century

with estimates ranging from around 16-17 years in the mid-19th century to 13-14 years by the mid-20th century

Timing and Variation of Puberty

Improved nutrition and health

Pubertal Sequence for boys

10-13 1/2 years

Pubertal sequence for girls

Between ages of 9 and 15 years

Body Image

Preoccupation with body image is strong throughout adolescence

Difference between Boys and Girls with body image

Girls are less happy with their bodies and have more negative body images

Early and Late maturation for Boys

•Early-maturing boys view themselves more positively and have more successful peer relations

•Late-maturing boys report a stronger sense of identity in their 30s

Early and Late maturation for Girls

Early-maturing girls show greater satisfaction early but less satisfaction later

More likely to smoke, drink, be depressed

Have an eating disorder

Struggle for earlier independence

Have older friends

When do males peak their height?

Gain 3.5 inches at 14.5 years old

When do females peak their height?

Gain 3.0 inches at 11 years old , women start off taller in 2 gains

Changes in the Adolescent Brain

Prefrontal cortex, Corpus callousum, Amygdala, Limbic System

Prefrontal Cortex

doesn’t finish developming until emerging adult hood

“judgement region” reins in intense emotions

highest level of frontal lobes

Corpus Callosum

nerves connect two brain hemispheres by

thicken in adolescence to process information

Amygdala

Limbic system structure especially involved in emotion

Limbic System

lower subcortical regions, that is used for emotions and rewards

developed in early adolescence

How is sexuality in adolescent?

•Adolescence is a time of sexual exploration and experimentation

•Deep curiosity

•Concerned with their sexual attractiveness

•May experience vulnerability and confusion

What are some issues in adolescent health?

Substance use and abuse, eating disorders, poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and insufficient sleep.

What is the obesity rate for Adolescents?

•Nutrition and exercise

•21% of 12-19-year-olds are overweight

•Decreased intake of fruits and vegetables and less exercise

What are signs of early death?

Behaviors linked to poor health habits and early death in adulthood begin during adolescence

What are the sleep patterns of adolescent?

•Only 31% of U.S. adolescents sleep 8 or more hours a night

What are the leading causes of death in adolescence?

homicide, suicide, unintentional injuries

What country has the highest use of drug abuse in adolescence health?

United States

Why has adolescent alcohol and cigarette consumption has declined in recent years?

Parents, Peers, and education in preventio

Anorexia Nervosa

Relentless pursuit of thinness through starvation

Main Characteristics of Anorexia Nervosa

•Main characteristics

•Weight less than 85% of what is considered normal for a person’s age and height

•An intense fear of gaining weight that does not decrease with weight loss

•Having a distorted image of their body shape

•Amenorrhea

•10 times more likely to occur in females than males

Charactertics of Bulimia Nervosa

Most bulimics:

Are preoccupied with food

Have an intense fear of becoming overweight

Are depressed or anxious

Have a distorted body image

Typically fall within a normal weight range

Bulimia nervosa

individual consistently follows a binge-and-purge pattern

Three things in Adolescent Cognition

•Piaget’s theory

•Adolescent egocentrism

•Information processing

Piaget’s Theory

•More abstract than concrete operational thought

•Increased verbal problem-solving ability

•Increased tendency to think about thought itself

•Thoughts of idealism and possibilities

•More logical thought

•Hypothetical-deductive reasoning: Creating a hypothesis and deducing its implications