child psych final exam

health literacy

the knowledge, skills, and attitudes about health and the ability to obtain, process, and understand health information to make appropriate health decisions

Sexual activity

sexual behaviors tend to progress from hand-holding to kissing to touching through and under clothes, to oral sex, and then to genital intercourse; adolescents are just as likely to engage in oral as genital intercourse

sexual coercion

about 20% of women experience nonconsensual sexual activity; instances in which the victim is coerced by fear tactics, such as threats or the use of physical harm; or is incapable of giving consent due to the influence of drugs or alcohol or because of age; 40% of victims are under 18; most likely to be assaulted by someone they know; survivors are at high risk for PTSD, depression, and alcohol and substance abuse

Puberty

the biologically transition to adulthood, in which adolescents mature physically and become capable of reproduction

Primary sex characteristics/secondary sex characteristics

primary - reproductive organs
secondary - body changes that indicate maturation, b ut are not directly related to fertility

adolescent growth spurt

a rapid gain in height and weight that generally begins in girls at about age 10 and in boys at about age 12

Menarche

first menstruation, towards end of puberty

spermarche

first ejaculation, around age 13

Delayed phase preference

change occurs with puberty; motivated preference to go to bed later

secular trend

the lowering of the average age of puberty with each generation

nutrition

during adolescents growth spurts, they require more energy and food intake, but most don't achieve this

mortality

rises in adolescence; largely influenced by risky behavior; increased 12% since 2013; most common cause is unintentional injury, suicide, and homicide; boys two times as likely due to risky behavior

anorexia nervosa

an eating disorder in which a person starves themselves and sometimes engages in extreme exercise in order to achieve thinness and maintain a weight that is substantially lower than expected for height and age

binge eating disorder

uncomfortable; an eating disorder in which the person eats an amount of food much larger than a similar person would eat in a discrete period

bulimia nervosa

an eating disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually of high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise; most amendable to treatment; treatment is individual therapy, support groups, nutritional education, and antidepressants or antianxiety medication

alcohol and substance use

nearly half of U.S. teens have tried an illicit drug and 2/3 have experimented with alcohol by the time they leave highschool; limited amount of experimentation is associated with well-adjusted middle and older adolescents and associated with psychosocial health and well-being; short term and long term dangers

Substance use and the brain

adolescents who drink alcohol moderately show smaller brain volumes and gray matter density in areas responsible for executive control

school dropout

each year about 6% of high school students drop out of school; students of low socioeconomic status and colored immigrants are at risk; students with behavior and substance use problems and who have academic problems are at risk; have higher rates of unemployment and earn less money at work than high school graduates

social perspective taking

follows a developmental path from extreme egocentrism in early childhood to mature perspective taking ability in late adolescence

Response inhibition

the ability to control and stop responding to a stimulus

Automaticity

the amount of cognitive effort required to process the information; as processes become automatic, they require fewer recourses and become quicker

societal perspective taking

adolescents recognize that the social environment, including the larger society, influences people's perspectives and beliefs

Adolescent egocentrism

adolescents assume they are in the focus of all others attention; leads adolescents to believe they are special, unique, and invulnerable

Imaginary audience

feeling as if all eyes are on the adolescent

personal fable

adolescents preoccupation with themselves - believing that they are special, unique, and invulnerable

Legal implications of adolescent decision making

Roper vs Simmons case investigated whether adolescents should be sentenced to the death penalty; found adolescents are more immature and have low decision making abilities and cannot be sentenced to the death penalty or life in prison without parole

Postconventional moral reasoning/Heinz Dilemma

young children are at pre-conventional level: decisions are influenced by self-interest, the desire to gain rewards and avoid punishment; School age children are at conventional moral reasoning: internalizing norms and standards of authority figures in a desire to be accepted and maintain social order; adolescence shows post-conventional moral reasoning: entails autonomous decision making from moral principles that value respect for individual rights above all else

Gender and moral reasoning

woman show care orientation in relationships while men show justice orientation

culture and moral reasoning

people in non-western cultures rarely score above stage 3; moral and appropriate responses to ethical dilemmas are defined by each society and its cultural perspectives

Volunteer work and social responsibility

decreases from age 9 to 16; children whose parents show social responsibility also show it;

adolescent dating violence

about 20% of high school students have experienced physical violence and 9% sexual violence within a dating relationship; girls are more likely to inflict psychological and minor physical abuse while men are more likely to inflict severe physical and sexual abuse; risk factors include poor anger management, poor interpersonal skills, early involvement with antisocial peers, a history of problematic relationships with parents and peers, exposure to family and community violence, and child maltreatment; outcomes are depression, anxiety, negative interaction with family and friends, low self-esteem, and substance use; less likely to be reported than during adulthood

nonsuicidal self-injury

behavior designed to cause harm, not death

global self-esteem

tends to decrease at 11; reaches lowest point at 12 or 13, then rises

Identity

a sense of self that is consistent and coherent over time

psychosocial moratorium

a timeout period that gives adolescents the opportunity to explore possibilities of whom they might become

identity diffusion

persuasive uncertainty with little motivation for resolution

ethnic identity

sense of membership to an ethnic group, including the attitudes, values, and culture associated with that group

Gender development in adolescence

puberty heightens awareness of sex differences and gender becomes more relevant; become more sensitive to gender stereotypes; view peers who violate gender stereotypes negatively

Gender intensification hypothesis

young adolescents become increasingly sensitive to gender stereotypes and their behavior is likely to adhere to gender stereotypes

autonomy

the ability to make and carry out their own decisions, and they decreasingly rely on parents

Parent-adolescent conflict

tends to rise in early adolescence, peaks in middle adolescence, and decreases in late adolescence; commonly bickering over small matters; continue to have warm, close, communicative relationships characterized by love and respect

parental monitoring

associated with overall well-being in adolescents, including academic achievement, delayed sexual initiation, and low levels of substance use and delinquent activity in youth of all ethnicities

Peer conformity

pressure to conform to peers rises in early adolescence, peeks at about 14, and declines through 18 and after; adults view this negatively; young people vary how they respond to peer pressure; especially vulnerable during puberty and when they are uncertain of their place in the peer group; peer pressure can be positive too (prosocial behaviors)

cliques

close-knit, friendship-based groups

crowds

large, loosely organized groups of young people, composed of several cliques and typically organized around a common shared activity

Depression and suicide

most common psychological problem experienced by adolescents; only 2 to 8% experience chronic depression that persists months to years; rates rise in adolescence; genetic, contextual, and cultural factors play a role; long lasting depression can lead to thoughts of suicide; LGBTQ are at high risk for suicide

Peer interaction and the brain

presence of peers is associated with increases in both risk taking and activity in the nucleus accumbens

Positive youth development

approach that seeks to discover and promote positive qualities that contribute to adolescent's ability to adapt and engage in constructive interactions with their complex and changing contexts