2. Period of Adolescence
Rapid growth
Interaction of physical, psychological, and environmental
factors
Off timing of systems (Dahl, 2004)
Puberty
Physical growth
Emotion and behavior regulation
Importance of understanding interaction of all the systems;
Transitions all occur sequentially but not necessarily at the same
time
3. Source: Cooperative Extension System
Extension "CARES" for America's Children
and Youth Initiative
4. What is the Big Deal?
Adolescent morbidity
Health Paradox (Dahl, 2004):
Developmental period of strength and resilience both
physically and cognitively
Yet, morbidity & mortality rates increase 200%
DIFFICULTIES IN CONTROLLING BEHAVIOR
AND EMOTION
5. Overview
I. Physical Development
II. Cognitive Development
III. Psycho-Social Development
6. I. Physical Development
Height & Weight Changes
Secondary Sex Characteristics
Continued Brain Development
7. Rapid Gains in Height & Weight
4.1 to 3.5 inches per year
Girls mature about 2 years earlier than boys
Weight gain = muscles for boys; fat for girls
8. Secondary Sex Characteristics:
Pubic hair
Menarche or penis growth
Voice changes for boys
Underarm hair
Facial hair growth for boys
Increased production of oil, sweat glands, acne
9. Continued Brain Development
Not completely developed until late
adolescence
Emotional, physical and mental abilities
incomplete
May explain why some seem inconsistent in
controlling emotions, impulses, and
judgments
10. Understanding the Adolescent Brain
Advances in brain imaging allow for
better understanding of what occurs
Evidence for frontal lobe delays
Inability to delay gratification; impulse
control
Suggestion that puberty represents a
period of synaptic reorganization and
as a consequence the brain might be
more sensitive to experiential input at
this period of time in the realm of
executive function and social cognition
Prefrontal cortex of interest
(Blakemore & Choudhury, 2006)
11. Brain: Developmental
Changes
Synaptogenesis: proliferation of synapses
Myelination: insulation around synapses
(Blakemore & Choudhury, 2006)
Synaptic pruning: frequently used connections are strengthened,
13. How do these change affect teens?
Usually studied as decision making (Steinberg,
2004)
In lab: similarities in adolescent & adult decision
making processes
Adolescents are uniquely vulnerable to risk
taking
Novelty & sensation seeking increase dramatically at
puberty
Development of self-regulation lags behind
Risk taking as group behavior (Steinberg, 2004)
14. How Do These Changes
Affect Teens?
Frequently sleep longer - 9 1/2 hours
May be more clumsy because of growth
spurts-body parts grow at different rates
Girls may become sensitive about weight -
60% trying to lose weight
1-3% have eating disorder
15. How Do These Changes
Affect Teens?
Concern if not physically developing at same
rate as peers - need to “fit” in (early vs. late
maturation)
Feel awkward about showing affection to
opposite sex parent
Ask more direct questions about sex - trying to
figure out values around sex
16. What Can Adults Do?
Expect inconsistency in responsibility
taking and in decision making
Provide opportunities for “safe” risk taking
Avoid criticizing/comparing to others
Encourage enough sleep
Encourage/model healthy eating
Encourage/model activity
Provide honest answers about sex
18. Beginning to Gain Advanced
Reasoning Skills
Options
Possibilities
Logical
Hypothetically
What if ?
19. Think Abstractly
Can take others’ perspective
Can think about non-concrete things like
faith, trust, beliefs, and spirituality
20. Ability to Think About Thinking
Meta-cognition
Think about how they feel and what they are
thinking
Think about how they think they are perceived by
others
Can develop strategies for improving their learning
21. How Do These Changes
Affect Teens?
Heightened self-consciousness
Believes no one else has experienced
feelings/emotions
Tend to become cause-oriented
Tend to exhibit a “justice orientation”
“It can’t happen to me” syndrome
22. What Can Adults Do?
Don’t take it personally when teens discount experience
Discuss their behavior rules/consequences
Provide opportunities for community service
Ask teens their view and share own
23. III. Psycho-Social Development
Establishing identity
Establishing autonomy
Establishing intimacy
Become comfortable with one’s sexuality
Achievement
24. Establishing Identity
Erikson (1959): identity vs. identity diffusion
Integrates opinions of other into own likes/dislikes
—needs interactions with diverse others for this to
occur
Outcome is clear sense of values, believes,
occupational goals, and relationship expectations
Secure identities-knows where they fit
26. Establishing Autonomy
Becoming independent and self-governing within
relationships
Make and follow through with decisions
Live with own set of principles of right/wrong
Less emotionally dependent on parents
27. Establishing Intimacy
Learns intimacy and sex not same thing
Learned within context of same-sex friendships; then
in romantic relationships
Develops close, open, honest, caring, and trusting
relationships
Learn to begin, maintain, and terminate relationships;
practice social skills
28. Achievement
Society fosters and values attitudes of
competition and success
Can see relationship between abilities, plans and
aspirations
Need to determine achievement preferences,
what are they good at, and areas are they willing
to strive for success
29. How Do These Changes
Affect Teens?
More time with friends
May keep a journal
More questions about sexuality
Begin to lock bedroom door
Involved in multiple hobbies/clubs
More argumentative
Interact with parents as people
30. What Can Adults Do?
Encourage involvement in groups
Praise for efforts and abilities
Help explore career goals and options
31. What Can Adults Do?
Help set guidelines/consequences
Establish rituals for significant passages
Know friends and what they are doing
Provide structured environment/clear
expectations
Editor's Notes
2 developmental processes Puberty and cognitive development; progress at different rates “ starting the engine with an unskilled driver ” “ igniting passions ” Have ‘ turbo charged feelings ” with learners permit driving skills
Compared to young children, adolescents are stronger, bigger, and faster and are achieving maturational improvements in reaction time, reasoning skills, immune function and the capacity to withstand cold, heat, injury, and physical stress Also illustrate better reasoning and decision making skills than young children **What accounts for morbidity? Major sources are related to difficulties in the control of behavior and emotion It ’ s high rates of accidents, suicide, homicide, depression, ATOD, violence, reckless behavior, risky sex… DIFFICULTIES IN CONTROLLING BEHAVIOR AND EMOTION—MOST RECKLESS DECISIONS ARE EMOTIONALLY BASED
Executive function=capacity that allows coordination of thoughts and behaviors—selective attention, decision making, voluntary response inhibition and working memory e.g. allows you to filter out unimportant information, holding in mind a plan to carry out in the future and inhibiting impulses PREFRONTAL CORTEX Involved in multiple aspects of cognitive processing It ’ s a proposed mediator of behavioral planning and reasoning, attentional processes, impulsivity and response inhibition Given this the contention is that some adol who experiment with ATOD may not be able to moderate their impulsivity—and consider alternative behavioral choices and consequences—or to inhibit a response
Normative synaptogensis and pruning—0-3 literature—sensitive periods—e.g. language development—unused areas are eliminated Most of this is linear with the exception of the prefrontal cortex Suggested that prefrontal cortex pruning is ignited during puberty but continues up until age 30!
We have historically tried to understand adol risk taking by focusing on their decision making process Results show that risk perception and appraisal change very little between adolescence and adulthood In laboratory settings, adolescents appear quite similar to adults in their decision making process Flaws in methods- Give hypothetical scenarios which negates emotional element Study adol individually, but risk behavior tends to occur in groups Steinberg (2004) suggests that “ the greater propensity for adolescents to take risks is not due to age differences in risk perception or appraisal, but to age differences in psychosocial factors that influence self-regulation ” Adolescents is a heightened vulnerability to risk taking because of a disjunction between novelty and sensation seeking (both of which increase dramatically at puberty) and the development of self-regulatory competence (which does not fully mature until early adulthood) which is biologically driven and normative. Interventions should aim to reduce the harm associated with risk taking
