developmental psych -- adolescence

What is adolescence?

Growing up period between childhood and maturity from approximately ages 10-19
Adjusting to changing body size and shape
Coming to terms with sexuality
Adjusting to new ways of thinking
Striving for emotional maturity and economic independence of adulthood

Puberty

7 year range for the onset of puberty
Full process lasts about 4 years
Puberty begins 2-3 years earlier for girls than boys
Includes an average growth spurt of 10 inches, and 40 lbs
Marked changes in hormone (testosterone and estradiol) levels

psychological aspects to puberty

Body image – least satisfaction during puberty (Wright, 1989)
Girls less satisfied than boys (Brooks-Gunn and Paikoff, 1993)
Increased hormone levels related to changes in mood : males increased anger and irritability, females increased anger and depression

Stressful change hypothesis – simmons and blyth, 1987

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

Off time hypothesis (livson and peskin, 1980)

Events encountered earlier or later than expected will cause additional distress

Early-timing hypothesis (Statting and Magnusson,1990)

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

Girls who mature too early tend to be / have …

Less sociable
Lower self-esteem / poor body issues
Spend more time with older peers who / are more likely to engage in risky behaviours
Reach lower levels of educational attainment

Puberty timing in boys

Rates of depression similar among boys and girls in childhood

Girls are twice as likely to experience depression in adolescence

Gender gap in depression perists across lifespan

Pubertal processes hypothesised to play a role in the emergence of this gender gap

Parent-child relationships theories

– adolescents individuate from their parents, becoming more emotionally and behaviourally independent (Freud 1946, Steinberg and Silverberg 1986)

– the parent-child relationships changes over adolescence, leading to psychological independence with continued connectedness ( Youniss and Smollar 1985, Grotevant and Cooper 1986)

older adolescents and family -- Larson et al. 1996

Oldest adolescents spent less than half the time with family
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

Parenting and adolescent anxiety – Gorostiaga et al., 2019

both psychological control and harsh control assocated with higher levels of anxiety
Higher levels of parental warmth associated with lower levels of anxiety
Association found between anxiety and familydysfuntion and overprotection

Identity in adolescence

– puberty plays apart in provoking identity development during adolescence
– advances in cognitive development allow adolescents the opportunity for self-reflection
– three research traditions :
Self-esteem
Self-concept
Identity formation

Self-esteem: theoretical approaches

1. James 1892: high self-esteem results from good performance in domains deemed important

2. Empirical work demonstrates this for individuals (Harter, 1999) and groups (Harter 1990)

3. Cooley 1902 : “looking-glass self” → opinions of others are a large determinant of self-esteem

4. Harter 1987, 1990: additive model supported by data from older children and adolescents

Development of self-concept (Harter 1999)

– shift from concrete to abstract self-portraits
–shift from social comparisons and normative standards during childhood/early adolescence to internalised standards in adolescence
– shift towards differentiation of self into multiple domains
– integration of multiple sleeves into a unified self-concept

“Imagined” selves

– Rogers , 1950 → adolescents able to distinguish between actual/real and ideal selves
Greatest discrepancy in middle adolescence ( Strachen ad Jones, 1982)
– Markus and Nurius , 1986 → possible selves : balance between ideal and feared self
– Harter and Lee, 1989 → true vs false selves,presentation dependent on audience
– Identity formation = task to describe self in terms of attributes (self-concept), but also within society

Erik Erikson (1902-1994)

– departed from Freud’s teachings by emphasizing societal factors in the development
– contributed the theory of psychosocial development across the lifespan (1982)
– 8 stages, each with a specific crisis to resolve
In adolescence the crisis is identity – “confidence in one’s inner continuity amid change” (Erikson 1968)

Marcia’s 4 statuses of identity (1980,1987,1994)

Achievement : individuals who after a period of exploration emerge with firm identity commitments
Moratorium : the active period of exploration when individuals examine alternatives in an attempt to arrive at a choice
Foreclosure : these individuals have adopted the identities prescribed by parents / other authorities
Diffusion : individuals who have little sense of commitment and are not actively seeking to make decisions

parental influences (Grotevant and cooper, 1985; Papini, 1994)

Attachment wth freedom to voice opinions → achievement or moratorium
Overly closed bonds without separation → foreclosure
Low warmth without opening communication → diffusion

archer 1989; waterman, 1985: cultural / historical influences

Secular towards later identity development
Current historical events can alter course

Self-concept and life outcomes

positive :

• general well-being

• quality of life

• confidence in actions and abilities

negative:

• adjustment problems

• externalizing problems

• internalizing problems

self-concept and emotional disorders

strong relationship between emotional disorders and negative self-concept (Landa & Mozazz, 2008)

problems with self-perceptions are reflected in diagnostic criteria for anxiety and depression (APA , 2013)

positive self-concepts function as a protective facor in the development of emotional disorders (more resilient) (Landazaba et al., 2008)