adolescence 1

what is adolescence?

‘growing up’ period between childhood and maturity (approx. ages 10-19)

what are the major tasks of adolescence?

• adjust to changing body size and shape

• come to terms with sexuality

• adjust to new ways of thinking

• strive for emotional maturity and economic independence of adulthood

why has the age that puberty starts declined over time?

increased standard of living (particularly nutrition, health, heredity, body mass)

key characteristics of puberty

• 7 year range for the onset of puberty (full process lasts about 4 years)

• begins 2-3 years earlier for girls

• average growth spurt of 10 inches and 40 lbs

• marked changes in hormone levels (testosterone and estradiol)

what is estradiol/oestradiol?

one of three oestrogen hormones naturally produced in the body (involved in menstruation)

psychological aspects of puberty?

• body image

• body image by gender

• changes to mood

what are the hypotheses for pubertal timing?

• stressful change hypothesis

• off time hypothesis

• early-timing hypothesis

describe the stressful change hypothesis (Simmons & Blyth)

the intrinsic stress of pubertal change will cause distress during the period of most rapid change

describe the off time hypothesis (e.g. Livson & Peskin)

events encountered earlier or later than expected will cause additional stress

describe the early-timing hypothesis (Stattin & Magnusson)

early maturation may cause inappropriate maturity demands from others, causing distress

describe Caspi & Moffitt’s (1991) study

• set out to test the 3 rival theories in the prediction of behavioural problems from age at menarche

• only tested girls

• results showed evidence for early timing hypothesis

pubertal timing in boys

• like maturing early - gain in self-esteem (Alsaker, 1992)

• more popular, likely to be leaders, good-natured, may hold a conitive advantage but more cautious, bound by rules and routines (Gross and Duke, 1980)

• late maturers are more dependent, insecure, aggressive etc.

pubertal timing in girls

• dislike maturing early

• tend to have poor body image, lower self-esteem, more likely to engage in risky behaviours and reach lower levels of educational attainment (Stattin &
  Magnusson, 1990; Petersen,1993)

gender differences in the prevalence of major depression

• women have twice the rate of MDD as men

• differences emerge clearly during puberty

• from age 9, rates of depression goes up dramatically for girls

describe Lewis et al.’s (2018) study

• girls and boys were measured on depression and puberal stages at ages 14.5 and 17.5

• girls - for each increase in tanner breast stage MFQ score increased by 1.4 points (regardless of pubertal timing); no relationship with pubic hair

• boys - no relationship between depression and pubic hair

what are the theories for how independence occurs in adolescence?

• adolescents individuate from their parents (Freud, 1946), becoming more emotionally and behaviourally independent (Steinberg & Silverberg)

• the parent-child relationship changes over adolescence leading to psychological independence with continued connectedness (Youniss & Smollar, 1985; Grotevant & Cooper, 1986)

results of the study by Larson et al. (1996)

• older adolescents spent less than half time with family than youngest adolescents but time alone time with parents did not decrease

• no correlation between time spent with family members and quality of family relationships

• mediators of the decline in family time were external to the family system

describe results of Gardner et al. (2012)

• parents nowadays (2006 vs 1986) monitor their adolescents closely

• more parents have high expectations of their children’s behaviour

describe the results of Waite et al.’s (2014) review paper

• consistent evidence for an association between anxiety and perceived parental control and anxious rearing in adolescence

• less consistent evidence for association between adolescent anxiety and perceived rejection and lack of warmth

results of Chapman et al.’s (2016) review paper

evidence for correlation between low parental positivity and reduced adolescent autonomy

describe the results of Xu et al.’s (2019) study

• investigated socioeconomic status in Chinese sample

• the lower the the family SES, the less maternal care was displayed to their children and the higher the level of adolescent reported depressive symptoms