Adolescence

Week 9; PSYC 2007

Adolescence

• Age 10-24

• Period of significant change

• Early; Middle; Late Stages

Early adolescence

• 11- 14 years

• Rapid pubertal change

Middle adolescence

• 14 - 16 years

• Pubertal changes nearly complete

Late adolescence

• 16- 18 years

• Young person achieves full adult appearance

• Begins to assume adult roles

Types of changes in adolescence

• Biological

• Psychological

• Social

Grow spurts

• Occurs approx. 2 yrs earlier for girls

Beginng of growth spurt

9 Yrs- Girls

11Yrs- Boys

Peak Rate of Pubertal Change

11 yrs- Girls

13 yrs- Boys

Approximate increase in height for Girls

3 inches per year

Approximate increase in height for Boys

4 iches per year

Brain Regions affected during Adolescence

• cortical and subcortical

During adolescence imbalance b/t connections within limbic and PFC regions result in...

• Heightened sensitivity to peer influence

• Impulsivity

• Risk taking

• Emotional volatility

Risks during adolescent brain development

• peer influence

• impulsive/risky behaviours

• emotional volatility

Opportunities during adolescent brain development

• Exploration, experimentation, creativity

• Responsive to reward

• Plasticity=capacity for learning

Reasons for the psychosocial developments in adolescence

• Cognitive capacity

• Improved mentalising

• Perspective taking

• Social status awareness

Adolescent Peer Relations: Sullivans Interpersonal Theory

Development is motivated by fulfilment of interpersonal needs

• Infancy = tenderness

• Childhood = companionship

• Juvenile = acceptance

• pre-adolescence (pre-teen) = friendship

• Adolescence + Adulthood= romantic

How to measure adolescent popularity

Sociometric technique-

• Peer nominations:

  • popular

  • controversial

  • neglected

  • rejected

behaviour profile of popular adolescent

• leader

• cooperative

• doesnt seek help, fight, disrupt

Behaviour profile of controversial adolescent

• seeks help

• fights

• disrupts

• doesn't lead or cooperate

2 Skills as Predictors of social status-

• Cognitive skills

• Social skills:

  • initiation of interactions

  • communication

  • responsivity

  • cooperation

Superficial characteristics affecting peer relationships

• Attractiveness, gender, age

Continuity of relationships on peer status

Secure attachment - more likely to be popular

Factors for Harmonious Interactions with peers

• Joint attention

• Emotional regulation

• Inhibitory control

• Imitation

• Causal understanding

• Language

Social Information Processing

Model explaining individual differences in interpreting social situations.

Dodge's (1986) social information processing model

Shows biases in social processing that contribute to aggression in adolescence.

Peer Group Structure in adolescence- Dunphy 1963

• CLIQUES = small group with strong affectional bonds

• CROWDS = large group loosely made up of cliques joined together.

characteristics of cliques

• small

• later childhood

• same gender

• powerful influence

Characteristics of crowds

• large

• reputation based

• shared attitudes

• less important with age

4 behavioural systems of romantic relationships

Erikson’s (1980) Psychosocial Stages of Personality Development- Adolescence

• 13-18 YRS

• IDENTITY VS ROLE CONFUSION

• SOCIAL FOCUS= Peer Groups

• Virtue= Fidelity( Loyality)

4 Idenity type- Marcia’s Theory of Idenity Achievement

• Identity achievers

• Identity moratoriums

• Identity foreclosurers

• Identity diffusers

Identity Achievers

Extensive soul-searching/ exploration has produced
stable identity.

Identity Moratoriums

Engaging in self-exploration but not yet formed stable identity.

• Experiencing anxiety/worry

• Frequent identity crisis

• Uncertainty of belonging/full commitment

Identity Foreclosurers

Automatically adopt others’ values without extensive critical reflection.

Identity Diffusers

• Lack firm commitments

• Not actively engaged in self-exploration, apathetic.

• Lack of anxiety/worry about themselves and others

Adolescent rites of passage STEPS

• Separation

• Training

• Initiation

• Induction

Adolescent rites of passage- Functions:

• Sense of adult responsibility

• Lessen ambiguity

• Bond

What does Quinn et al 1985 say about rites of passage?

• No formal equivalent in UK

• It would help adolescents through the difficult transition into adulthood.

Psycho-social changes

Greater autonomy and less dependence on parents.

• Increased age-appripriate indepence/freedom

• Parental support still necesary

• Parental/Adolence create relational dialogue (i.e., Balance b/t autonomy and curfew)

What are 3 ways relationship with parents changes in adolescence?

1. As cognitive ability increases, their perceptions of parents change. View as individuals/parents.

2. Less time spent with parents/families.

3. More conflict with parents: Rapid/ situational mood swings & increased irritability.

Erik Erikson’s theory- Psycho-social stages of personality development

• 8 Pyscho stages

• Social/environmental influences

• Ego identity: developing a sense of inner self-continuity (Crucial for optimal persnality/functioning)

Adolescent Sexuality

• time of sexual exploration and experimentation.

• concerned about managing sexuality in social
  relationships

• uncertainty about partner’s expectations/body-image concerns.

• Improved cognitive capacities influence sexuality

  • self-reflection and perspective taking

Psychological effects of puberty

• Early-maturing girls and late-maturing boys suffer lower self-esteem

• Puberty brings boys closer to ideal physical image (muscle definition, strength, stamina).

• Girls have increased body fat and weight gain, plus menstruation- takes them away from the Western cultural ideal.

Late maturing girls

• Retain their ‘girly behaviours’

• Perceived as attractive, lively, and sociable.

Late maturing boys

Come across as more anxious, overly talkative, and attention seeking to compensate.

Western- Ideals of females Evidence

Heterosexual men value lower to medium Waist-to-Hip ratios (WHR) in females.

Adolescence and early adulthood- Brain development

Late-maturing prefrontal cortex ( PFC)

• abstract thought, metacognition, mentalising,
  emotion- and self-regulation.

• Continued myelination of axons

Structural changes in the brain underpin adolescents….

- cognitive development
- social and emotional development

Functional changes: Cognitive development

Higher-order cognitive processes- cognitive control/inhibition ( suuported by PFC)

• Become more fine tuned during Adolescence; posterior regions become reduced….

  • Increased activation of slow maturing prefrontal
    cortex from childhood to young adulthood.

  • Decreased activation of lower-level sensory and parietal regions from childhood to young adulthood

Stroop Task

Name colour not the actual word

• measure of inhibition of PFC

Stroop Tasks Findings

• Young adults show greater PFC recruitment than adolescence.

• adolescents respond quicker, but at the expense of accuracy

Social brain responsibilities

• social cognition

• mentalising

social cognition brain regions

• late developing areas

• dorsomedial PFC

• inferior frontal gyrus

• amygdala

mentalising brain regions

• precuneus

• temporal parietal junction

• superior temporal sulcus

• anterior temporal cortex

Mentalising network connectivity associated with peer-relationships
- Schmalzle et al 2017

Stronger connectivity in mentalising network during social exclusion than inclusion.

Social cognition:

recognising, understanding, and interpreting social cues from others

• ability to perceive and adapt to social cues

Mentalizing:

ability to interpret mental states, feelings and actions of other.

• perspective-taking, empathy and prosocial behaviours

• understanding manipulative and rejective behaviours

What improves social cognition, mentalizing, and emotion regulation skills?

The functional maturation and connectivity between fronto-parietal and limbic regions.