Exam 1 - Adolescence

Ancient Times and Middle Ages perspective on children

• During the Middle Ages in Europe, children were often treated as miniature adult

• Children viewed as innately evil

• Age 7 is the “age of reason”

20th Century perspective on children

• Laws to protect child rights in labor, education,
  neglect

• Juvenile courts

Freud’s Psychosexual Theory

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)
• Levels of awareness

• Conscious and unconscious
  • Parts of personality
  – Id
  – Ego
  – Superego

• Quantity of gratification at each stage
  - Fixated at that stage

• Orla, anal, Phallic, Latency, genital stage

Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

Focuses on development of self-identity
– Includes conscious and purposeful acts in
development

• Trust versus Mistrust

• Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt

• Initiative versus Guilt

• Industry versus Inferiority

• Identity versus Role Diffusion

• Intimacy versus Isolation

• Generativity versus Stagnation

• Ego Integrity versus Despair

Behavorism

Observable behaviors only
– Classical conditioning
– Operant conditioning

Oral stage

Sucking
– Early weaning or breast-fed too long
– Fixation: nail-biting, smoking, “biting wit

Anal Stage

Control and elimination of waste
– Excessively strict or permissive toilet training
– Fixation: anal-retentive (neatness); anal-expulsion (sloppiness)

Phallic stage

Parent-child conflict over masturbation
– View same-sex parent as rival

Latency stage

Sexual feelings remain unconscious

Genital stage

Begins at adolescence
– Desire sexual gratification through intercourse
with member of other sex
– Interest in any other sexual gratification indicates
fixation at an earlier stage of development

Social Cognitive Theory

Observational learning

• Albert Bandura
  – Acquire basic “know-how” through observational
  learning
  – Skills may lie latent

• Child is an active learner

Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development

Four major stages
– Sensorimotor
– Preoperational
– Concrete Operational
– Formal Operational
• Sequence is universal

Development is based on children’s
interactions with their environments

Definition of Adolescence

Transitional period between childhood and
adulthood
• G. Stanley Hall: proposed adolescence as
separate stage; marked by Sturm and Drang
• Sigmund Freud: genital stage

Asynchronous Growth

Exception to proximodistal growth
• Hands and feet mature before arms and legs
– Reversal of cephalocaudal growth
• Legs reach peak growth before shoulders and chest

Pubertal changes in Boys

Average age of 11½ – first visible sign of
puberty
– Growth of testes accelerates testosterone
production
• Body hair growth
• Voice deepens – growth of larynx and
lengthening of vocal cords
• Acne

Pubertal changes in Girls

Ovaries increase estrogen production
– Stimulates growth of breast tissue
– Promotes fatty tissue in hips and buttocks,
widening of the pelvis
• Adrenal glands produce androgen
– Stimulates pubic and underarm hair growth
• Estrogen causes labia, vagina, and uterus to
develop
• Androgens cause clitoris to develop
- Hormonal Regulation of Menstrual Cycle

Menarche

Average age is 13 years, may begin as early as 9
– Body weight may trigger menarche

• first period

Brain Development

Increase in gray matter
– Gains in thickness of cerebral cortex based on
learning – sensory and motor activities
• Synaptic pruning
– “Use it or lose it

STI’s (i.e. HIV/Aids)

Chlamydia
– Most common STI in adolescents
– Major cause of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)
• Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)
– Causes genital warts and is associated with
cervical cancer

Hiv/aids- Left untreated – lethal

Sleep

Need 8 ½ to 9 ¼ hours of sleep per night
• Sleep deprivation
– 6 or fewer hours per night
– Results in trouble paying attention; heightened
risk of accidents, irritability, depression, and poor
impulse control
• Reasons for insufficient sleep
– Hectic schedules and commitments
– Brain developments – phase delay

Anorexia Nervosa

Extreme fear of being too heavy
• Severe weight loss
• Distorted body image
• Resistance to eating enough to reach or
maintain healthy weight

Bulimia Nervosa

Characterized by recurrent cycles of binge
eating and purging
• May include vomiting, laxatives, fasting, and
demanding exercise
• Connected with irregular menstrual cycles
• Tends to occur most often in adolescence and
early adulthood

Eating Disordes

Psychoanalytic perspective
– Anorexia is seen as an effort to regress to
prepubescence to cope with sexual fears
• Family control issues
• Child abuse, sexual abuse are risk factors
• Very slender social ideal
– Demands of athletics and activities
• Genetic factors

Substance use disorder

Substance Use
– Use of a drug that distorts perceptions and
changes mood
• Alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes most common
• Substance Use Disorder
– Repeated use of substance leads to changes in the brain
– Impaired control over use of substance
– Social problems, risky behaviors, and biological
factors suggestive of addiction