Adolescence Physical and Socioemotional Development

Chapter 7 and 8 Review

• Self-Esteem Definition: Domain-specific evaluations of the self define self-esteem. (True or False: True).
• Consequences of Low Self-Esteem: The lecture invites students to name consequences observed in children transitioning into adolescence.
• Learning Disabilities:
  • Dysgraphia: A learning disability that affects writing abilities.
  • Dyscalculia: A learning disability that involves difficulty in learning or comprehending arithmetic.
• Physical Development: In late childhood, a child should typically gain approximately $3\,pounds$ per year.

Chapter 9: Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence

Overview and Societal Context

• Adolescence Defined: Generally refers to the period between ages $12$ and $18$.
• Lifestyle Influences: Modern adolescents are exposed to a complex menu of lifestyle options through media. Many face temptations regarding drug use and sexual activity at young ages (D’Amico & others, 2020).
• Variables Affecting Trajectories: An adolescent's life trajectory is influenced by:
  • Ethnic and cultural differences.
  • Gender and socioeconomic status.
  • Age and specific lifestyle differences (Magnuson & Duncan, 2019).

Physical Changes and Puberty

• Puberty vs. Adolescence: Puberty is NOT the same as adolescence. While puberty is the most important marker for the beginning of adolescence, it ends long before the adolescent period is over.
• Definition of Puberty: A brain-neuroendocrine process occurring primarily in early adolescence that provides stimulation for rapid physical changes (Sanfilippo & others, 2020).
• Male Physical Changes:
  • Increase in penis and testicle size.
  • Appearance of straight pubic hair.
  • Minor voice change.
  • First ejaculation ($\text{first ejaculation}$), usually occurring through masturbation or wet dreams.
  • Appearance of kinky pubic hair.
  • Onset of maximum growth in height and weight.
  • Growth of hair in armpits.
  • More detectable voice changes.
  • Growth of facial hair.
• Female Physical Changes:
  • Breast enlargement or appearance of pubic hair.
  • Hair appearance in armpits.
  • Growth in height.
  • Hips becoming wider than shoulders.
  • Menarche: Medical term for a girl’s first menstruation; notably, this occurs rather late in the pubertal cycle.

Hormonal and Endocrine Systems

• Hormones: Powerful chemical substances secreted by endocrine glands and transported via the bloodstream.
• Hypothalamus: A brain structure that monitors eating and sex.
• Pituitary Gland: An endocrine gland that controls growth and regulates other glands.
• Gonads: The testes in males and ovaries in females; these glands give rise to pubertal changes.
• Specific Hormones:
  • Testosterone: Associated in boys with genital development, height increase, and voice changes.
  • Estradiol: A type of estrogen in girls associated with breast, uterine, and skeletal development.
• Secular Trends: In the US, children mature up to a year earlier than children in European countries. The average age of menarche has declined since the mid-$19th$ century.
• Factors Explaining Variations in Timing:
  • Nutrition and health.
  • Family stress and weight (higher $\text{BMI}$ and obesity are associated with earlier onset).
  • Child sexual abuse.
  • Other environmental factors.

Body Image and Maturation

• Preoccupation: Adolescents are intensely preoccupied with their bodies and develop specific images of their physical selves.
• Social Media Influence: Platforms have raised concerns regarding their influence on adolescent body image.
• Gender Differences:
  • Girls: Generally less happy with their bodies; they often perceive themselves as overweight if they do not meet the "curvy, thin, sexy" ideal. Increased risk for eating disorders.
  • Boys: Primary concerns involve height, muscle, and physical strength; at risk for steroid abuse.
• Early vs. Late Maturation:
  • Early Maturing Boys: Perceive themselves more positively and have more successful peer relations.
  • Early Maturing Girls: Higher vulnerability to smoking, drinking, depression, eating disorders, and early struggles for independence; they often have older friends.

Brain Development and Cognitive Control

• Prefrontal Cortex: Extensive maturation leads to improvements in rational thinking, planning, and weighing risks/rewards.
• Risk-Taking and Dopamine: Adolescents often engage in risky behaviors due to increased levels of dopamine.
• Dual Process Maturity:
  • Logical Maturity: The ability to reason logically; increases relatively fast.
  • Psychosocial Maturity: The ability to manage emotions and self-control; matures at a slower rate.
• Dopamine Impacts: High levels contribute to the "what were they thinking?" moments in adolescent decision-making.

Adolescent Sexuality

• Exploration: Adolescence involves experimentation with sexual fantasies and incorporating sexuality into identity.
• Sexual Identity: Includes activities, interests, behavior styles, and sexual orientation.
• Risk Factors: Sexual risk-taking is linked to substance abuse, family factors, socioeconomics, poor school performance, and high impulsiveness.
• Health Statistics:
  • STIs: Nearly half of the $20\text{ million}$ new STIs in $2017$ occurred in those aged $15-24$.
  • HIV: $21\%$ of new HIV diagnoses occur in individuals aged $13-24$.
  • Pregnancy: The US has some of the highest rates among developed countries, though the $2017$ birth rate ($18.8\text{ births per 1,000}$ for ages $15-19$) was the lowest ever recorded.

Adolescent Health and Eating Disorders

• Leading Causes of Death:
  1. Unintentional injuries (risky driving, $DUI$).
  2. Suicide (recently moved from third to second place).
  3. Homicide.
• Anorexia Nervosa: Relentless pursuit of thinness through starvation. Characterized by restriction of energy intake, intense fear of weight gain, and body image disturbance.
• Bulimia Nervosa: Binge-and-purge pattern. Defined by eating a larger amount of food than most would in a specific period (e.g., $2\text{-hour time frame}$) and lacking control. Episodes must occur at least $twice\text{ a week for 3 months}$.

Adolescent Cognition (Piaget and Beyond)

• Formal Operational Stage: Thought is abstract. Individuals can make logical inferences (e.g., if $A=B$ and $B=C$, then $A=C$) without seeing the physical objects.
• Hypothetical-deductive reasoning: Creating a hypothesis and deducing implications.
• Egocentrism:
  • Imaginary Audience: Believing others are as interested in them as they are in themselves.
  • Personal Fable: A sense of uniqueness and invulnerability.
• Executive Functioning:
  • Cool Executive Function: Conscious control driven by logic; increases with age.
  • Hot Executive Function: Psychological process involving emotion; peaks at ages $14-15$.

Chapter 10: Socioemotional Development in Adolescence

Identity Development

• Definition: A self-portrait composed of many pieces including vocation, politics, religion, relationships, achievement, sexuality, culture, and personality.
• Erik Erikson's Stage: Identity vs. Identity Confusion ($5th$ developmental stage). Adolescents experience a psychosocial moratorium—a gap between childhood security and adult autonomy.
• James Marcia's Four Identity Statuses:
  • Crisis (Exploration): Period of exploring alternatives.
  • Commitment: Personal investment in identity.
  1. Identity Diffusion: No crisis experienced, no commitment made.
  2. Identity Foreclosure: Commitment made without experiencing a crisis.
  3. Identity Moratorium: In the midst of a crisis, but commitments are absent or vague.
  4. Identity Achievement: Has undergone a crisis and made a commitment.

Dual Cycle Identity Model

• Formation Process: Relies on exploration in breadth and identification with commitment.
• Maintenance Cycle: Involves exploration in depth and reconsideration of commitments.
• Narrative Approach: Researching identity by asking individuals to tell their life stories.

Ethnic Identity and Families

• Bicultural Identity: Identifying with both an ethnic group and the majority culture.
• Impact: Pride in ethnic identity is linked to higher self-esteem, better relationships, and lower depression.
• Parental Monitoring: Supervising social settings, activities, and friends. Higher monitoring linked to later sexual initiation and higher condom use.
• Autonomy: Boys are typically given more independence than girls in US families. Latino parents often monitor daughters more strictly than non-Latino parents.
• Conflict: Minor disputes are common and serve a positive function in the transition to autonomy.

Peer Relationships and Social Groups

• Importance: Peers meet social needs; failure to forge friendships leads to loneliness and reduced self-worth.
• Cliques: Small groups ($2-12$ individuals), usually same sex and age, based on shared activities or friendship.
• Crowds: Larger, less personal groups based on reputation or activities (e.g., jocks, nerds, druggies).
• Social Media Effects: Transforms peer relationships by changing frequency, amplifying demands, altering interaction quality, and facilitating novel behaviors.

Questions & Discussion

• Review Question: How many pounds should a child gain per year in late childhood?
  • Answer: $3\,pounds$.
• Review Question: What is the difference between dysgraphia and dyscalculia?
  • Answer: Dysgraphia involves writing difficulties; Dyscalculia involves arithmetic difficulties.
• Discussion Theme: What do you remember most about your years in adolescence ($12-18$)?
• Discussion Theme: How well did you understand yourself during adolescence? Is your identity still developing?