The document outlines key areas of adolescent development including physical, emotional, social, and personal growth, while addressing the challenges and transitions that adolescents face. It emphasizes the importance of understanding identity formation, family influences, emotional development, and the role of peers in shaping experiences during this period. Additionally, developmental theories, including Erikson's stages and Marcia's identity statuses, are discussed to provide a framework for understanding adolescent behavior and self-concept.

1. ES001: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY:
LEARNERS AND LEARNING
Session 2:
An Overview of Key Areas of Adolescent
Development

2. Session Overview
Key Areas of Adolescent Development
• Physical Development
• Emotional Development
• Social Development
• Personal Development
Social Contexts and Adolescent Development
• Families
• Peers
• Schools

3. ACTIVITY:
MEMORY LANE

4. 1/31/2015 4
Take a stroll down memory lane to a time in your life when
you were an adolescent.
• What thoughts, experiences, and snap-shots of events
come to your mind?
• How would you describe this period of your life?

5. 1/31/2015 5
Share your experiences with the rest of the group. Identify
the common characteristics or common experiences in
your group. Identify some unique characteristics and
experiences.

6. 1/31/2015 6
Share your group’s characteristics and
experiences during adolescence with the class.

8. ACTIVITY:
Aspects of Development
• Categorize and organize the experiences and memories shared on
adolescence according to the key areas of development
• Discuss how and in what ways the observations are aspects of the
areas of development you have selected.
• Further illustrate each of the 6 aspects of development with your
own experiences and observations
• Consolidate your discussion on flip chart paper

9. Psychoanalytical Views of Adolescence
Havighurst: Adolescent Developmental Tasks
• Achieving new and more mature relationships with age mates of
both sexes
• Achieving a masculine or feminine social role
• Accepting one’s physique
• Achieving emotional independence from parents
• Preparing for marriage, family life
• Preparing for economic career
• Acquiring a set of values and ethical system as a guide to
behaviour
• Developing a set of ideology
• Desiring and achieving socially responsible behaviour
• Acquiring a positive self-identity

10. Childhood to Adolescence
• Growth spurt, Hormonal changes, Sexual maturation
• Increases in Abstract, Idealistic, and Logical Thinking
• Quest for Independence
• Conflict with Parents
• Increased Desire to Spend More Time with Peers
• Conversations with friends become more intimate
Developmental Transitions

11. Developmental Transitions
Adolescence to Adulthood
• Approximately 18 to 25 Years of Age
• Economic & Personal Temporariness
• Experimentation & Exploration

12. Emerging Adulthood
Key Features
• Identity exploration, especially in love and work
• Instability
• Feeling in-between
• Self-focused
• The age of possibilities, a time when individuals have an
opportunity to transform their lives

13. Becoming an Adult
Possible markers of adulthood:
• Economic independence
• Self-responsibility
• Independent decision making
• Accepting responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions
• Deciding on one’s own beliefs and values
• Establishing a relationship equal with parents

14. Becoming an Adult
Resilience
Refers to adapting positively and achieving successful
outcomes in the face of significant risks and adverse
circumstances.

15. PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE

16. Puberty
• The period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and
bodily changes that take place primarily in early adolescence
• Puberty is often thought of as the most important marker for the
beginning of adolescence

17. Physical Development
Pubertal Changes:
• Growth spurt
– Rapid increase in height and weight
• Sexual maturation

18. Growth Spurt
• Occurs 2 years earlier for girls
(age 9) than boys (11) on average
• Peak occurs at 11.5 years for girls and 13.5 years for boys
• Girls increase 3.5 inches per year,
boys about 4, during this period

19. Growth Spurt
• Boys and girls who are shorter or taller than their peers before
adolescence are likely to remain so during adolescence
• At the beginning of adolescence, girls tend to be as tall as or
taller than boys of their age
• By end of middle school, boys have caught up with them, or in
many cases even surpassed them in height

20. Growth Spurt
• Though height in elementary school is a good predictor of
height later in adolescence, as much as 30% of an individual’s
height in late adolescence is unexplained by the child’s height
in elementary school

21. Growth Spurt
• Weight gain follows roughly the same timetable as height gain
• Marked weight gains coincide with the onset of puberty.
• 50% of adult body weight is gained during adolescence
• During adolescence, girls tend to outweigh boys, but just as
with height, by about 14 years of age, boys begin to surpass
girls in weight
• Girls gain hip width while boys gain shoulder width

22. Sexual Maturation
Males
• Increase penis and testicle
size
• Pubic hair
• Voice change
• Spermarche
• Armpit hair
• Facial hair
Females
• Breasts enlarge
• Pubic hair
• Armpit hair
• Menarche
• The age at menarche has
declined

23. Psychological Dimensions of Puberty
• Body Image
Gender Differences
Ethnicity
Appearance
Developmental Changes
Mental Health Problems
Health
Perceived Aspects of Being a Boy or a Girl
Body Art

24. Psychological Dimensions of Puberty
• Dissatisfaction with body may result in:
• Anorexia Nervosa
• Bulimia Nervosa
• Binge-Eating Disorder
• Reverse Anorexia

25. Psychological Dimensions of Puberty
• Hormones and Behavior
• Menarche and the Menstrual Cycle
• Early and Late Maturation
• Are Puberty’s Effects Exaggerated?

26. EMOTIONAL
DEVELOPMENT IN
ADOLESCENCE

27. What is Emotion?
• A feeling, or affect, that occurs when a person is in a state or an
interaction that is important to him or her, especially to his or her
well-being (Campos, Frankel, & Camras, 2004).

28. The Emotions of Adolescence
• Early adolescence is a time when emotional highs and lows
occur more frequently (Rosenblum & Lewis, 2003)
• Moodiness is a normal aspect of early adolescence
• Most adolescents eventually emerge from these moody times
and become competent adults
• For some adolescents, intensely negative emotions can reflect
serious problems

29. Dominant Emotions
• Depression
• Loneliness
• Worry
• Stress

30. • Adjustment to new environments
• Social expectations of more mature behaviour
• Unrealistic aspirations
• School problems
• Status insecurity
• Unfavorable family relationships
• Obstacles to what adolescent wants to do
• Risk of school failure
• Expectations of teachers and parents
• Relationships with teachers and parents
• Conflict with parents regarding previous academic performance
and future educational plans
“Storm and Stress”
Factors Influencing Emotional Development

31. SUICIDES: CHILDREN & YOUTH
10-14 years 15-19 years Total
1997 4 10 14
1998 3 19 22
1999 5 10 15
2000 6 15 21
2001 6 22 28
2002 0 18 18
2003 4 18 22
2004 5 7 12
2005 3 10 13
2006 2 8 10
2007
(Jan-Oct)
0 9 9
The Straits Times (January 2, 2008)

32. Hormones, Experience, and Emotions
• As adolescents move into adulthood, their moods
become less extreme, perhaps due to their adaptation to
hormone levels over time (Rosenblum & Lewis, 2003).
• Both hormonal changes and environmental experiences
are involved in the changing emotions of adolescence
– Pubertal change is associated with an increase in negative
emotions. However, such hormonal influences are small and are
usually associated with other factors such as stress, eating
patterns, sexual activity and social relationships
– Stressful experiences – e.g., school transitions, onset of sexual
experiences and romantic relationships

33. Emotional Competence Example
Being aware that the expression
of emotions plays a major role in
relationships.
Knowing that expressing anger
toward a friend on a regular
basis can harm the friendship.
Adaptively coping with negative
emotions by using self-regulatory
strategies that reduce the intensity
and duration of such emotional
states.
Reducing anger by walking away
from a negative situation and
engaging in an activity that takes
one’s mind off it.
Being able to discern others’
emotions.
Perceiving that another person
is sad rather than afraid.
Emotional Competence

34. Emotional Competence
Emotional Competence Example
Understanding that inner emotional states
do not have to correspond to outer
expressions. As adolescents become
more mature, they begin to understand
how their emotionally expressive behavior
may impact others, and take that
understanding
into account in the way they present
themselves.
Recognizing that one can feel
angry yet manage one’s
emotional expression so that it
appears more neutral.
Being aware of one’s emotional states
without becoming overwhelmed
by them.
Differentiating between
sadness and anxiousness, and
focusing on coping rather than
becoming overwhelmed by
these feelings.

35. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN
ADOLESCENCE

36. What is Social Development?
• Describes the advances people make in their ability to interact
and get along with others, and it is an essential element of
individuals’ overall development.
• Enhanced social and emotional behaviours can have a strong
impact on success in school and ultimately in life.

37. Social Development in Adolescence
Adolescent
Egocentrism
Imaginary
Audience
Personal
Fable
Perspective-
Taking
Social
Problem-
Solving

38. Violence and Aggression
in Schools
• School violence and aggression are persistent problems
• Linked to a lack of personal and social development

39. Forms of Aggressive Behaviour
(including Bullying)
Physical aggression
Relational aggression
Instrumental aggression
Proactive aggression
Reactive aggression

40. Promoting Social Development
(in Your Classroom)
• Model and explicitly teach social skills
• Establish rules governing acceptable classroom behaviour
• Help students understand the reasons for rules by providing
examples and rationales
• Have students practice social skills and give them feedback

41. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT:
SELF AND IDENTITY

42. What are Self-Esteem and Self-Concept?
• Self-esteem
– Also referred to as self-worth or self-image
– is the global evaluative dimension of the self
• For example, an adolescent or emerging adult might perceive
that she is not merely a person, but a good person.
• Self-concept
– Refers to domain-specific evaluations of the self.
• For example an adolescent may have a negative academic
self-concept because he is not doing well at school, but have
a positive athletic self-concept because he is a star swimmer.

43. Self-Concept and Self-Esteem
Self-esteem is the affective or emotional
reaction to one’s self-concept.
Self-concept is a cognitive appraisal of our social,
physical, and academic competence.
CognitiveAcademic Social Physical

44. Measuring Self-Esteem and Self-Concept
• Susan Harter (1989) developed a measure for adolescents:
– the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents.
– It assesses eight domains:
• scholastic competence
• athletic competence
• social acceptance
• physical appearance
• behavioral conduct
• close friendship
• romantic appeal and job competence
• plus global self-worth

45. Measuring Self-Esteem and Self-Concept
Behavioral observations in the assessment of self-esteem

46. The Relationships Among the Dimensions of Self-Concept
and Achievement
Paul Eggen and Don Kauchak. Educational Psychology: Windows on Classrooms, Eighth Edition
© 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

47. Guidelines for Promoting Self Concept
Development in Your Classroom
1. Create a learning-focused classroom and communicate
genuine interest in all students.
2. Use an authoritative management style to help your
students develop responsibility.
3. Establish appropriately high expectations for all learners,
and provide evidence of increasing competence.
4. Design grading systems that emphasize learning progress
and personal growth.

48. Self-Esteem: Perception and Reality
• Self-esteem reflects perceptions that do not always match
reality (Baumeister & others, 2003).
• Self-esteem fluctuates across the life span
• During and just after many life transitions, individuals’ self-
esteem often decreases.

49. Self-Esteem: Perception and Reality
• Does Self-Esteem Change During Adolescence and Emerging
Adulthood?
• Is Self-Esteem Linked to Success in School and Initiative?
• Are Some Domains More Closely Linked to Self-Esteem Than
Others?

50. Consequences of Low Self-Esteem
– For most adolescents, the emotional discomfort of low
self-esteem is temporary
– Low self-esteem has been implicated in depression,
suicide, anorexia nervosa, delinquency, and other
adjustment problems
(Donnellan & others, 2005, 2006; Flory & others, 2004).

51. Self-concept and self-esteem (self worth) are often confused,
much to the detriment of students and people in general.
“High self esteem is offered as a panacea for problems. Low self-
esteem is seen as the root of problems such as . . . body image
problems, marital infidelity, learning problems and personal
unhappiness. . . . Increasing self esteem will result in remediation
of these problems.
Some educators subscribe to this simplistic view. Teachers are
afraid to say anything negative to students about their performance
because they believe it will hurt the students’ self-esteem. Children
are asked to chant positive statements about themselves to
enhance self-esteem.”
(Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2008, p. 221-222)
Paul Eggen and Don Kauchak. Educational Psychology: Windows on Classrooms, Eighth Edition
© 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

52. Improving Students’ Self-Esteem
 Identify causes of low self-esteem and areas of competence
important to the self
 Provide emotional support and social approval
 Help students achieve
 Develop coping skills

53. Increasing Adolescents’ Self-Esteem
Four ways to improve adolescents’ and emerging adults’ self-
esteem are:
(1) Identify the causes of low self-esteem and the domains
of competence important to the self
(2) Provide emotional support and social approval
(3) Foster achievement
(4) Help adolescents to cope

54. Increasing Adolescents’ Self-Esteem
– Self-esteem often increases when adolescents face a
problem and try to cope with it rather than avoid it
(Dyson & Renk, 2006; Nes & Segerstrom, 2006)
– Facing problems realistically, honestly, and non-defensively
produces favorable self-evaluative thoughts, which lead to
the self-generated approval that raises self-esteem.

55. Erikson’s Life-Span
Development Theory
 Development proceeds in
stages throughout the lifespan
 Each stage is characterized
by a psychosocial challenge
or crisis
 Stages reflect the motivation
of the individual

56. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

57. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

58. Identity
• Erikson’s Ideas on Identity
– Who am I?
– What am I all about?
– What am I going to do with my life?
– What is different about me?
– How can I make it on my own?
• These questions, not usually considered in childhood,
surface as a common, virtually universal concern during
adolescence.

59. Identity
• Identity is composed of many pieces:
– Vocational/career identity
– Political identity
– Religious identity
– Relationship identity
– Achievement, intellectual identity
– Sexual identity
– Cultural/ethnic identity
– Interest
– Personality
– Physical identity

60. Erikson’s Human Development Stages
1 - Trust vs. Mistrust
0–1 years
2 - Autonomy vs.
Shame and Doubt
1–3 years
3 - Initiative vs. Guilt
3–5 years
Developed through
consistent love and
support
Independence fostered
by support and
encouragement
Developed by exploring
and accepting challenges

61. Erikson’s Human Development Stages
4 - Industry vs.
Inferiority
6 years–puberty
5 - Identity vs. Role
Confusion
Adolescence
6 - Intimacy vs.
Isolation
Early adult years
Mastery comes from
success and recognition
Exploration of different
paths to attain a healthy
identity
Form positive, close
relationships with others

62. Erikson’s Human Development Stages
7 - Generativity vs.
Stagnation
Middle Adulthood
8 - Integrity vs. Despair
Late Adulthood
Transmitting
something positive to
the next generation
Life review and
retrospective
evaluation of one’s
past

63. Strategies for Erikson’s
Stages of Development
Initiative
 Encourage social play
 Have children assume responsibility
 Structure assignments for success
Industry
 Nourish motivation for mastery
 Be tolerant of honest mistakes
Identity
 Recognize that identity is multidimensional
 Encourage independent thinking
 Stimulate students to examine different perspectives

64. Some Contemporary Thoughts on Identity
– it is a lengthy process
– More gradual and less cataclysmic than Erikson’s term
crisis implies (Baumeister, 1991)
– Complex process neither begins nor ends with
adolescence (Cote, 2006; Kroger, 2007; Marcia &
Carpendale, 2004)
– For the first time, physical, cognitive, and socioemotional
development advance to the point at which the individual
can sort through and synthesize childhood identities and
identifications to construct a viable path toward adult
maturity (Marcia & Carpendale, 2004)

65. Identity
• The Four Statuses of Identity
– James Marcia (1980, 1994, 2002) believes that
Erikson’s theory of identity development implies four
identity statuses, or ways of resolving the identity crisis:
• identity diffusion
• identity foreclosure
• identity moratorium
• identity achievement

66. The Four Statuses of Identity
Marcia’s four statuses of identity development.

67. Cultural and Ethnic Identity
– Ethnic identity - a basic aspect of the self that includes a
sense of membership in an ethnic group, along with the
attitudes and feelings related to that membership.
– Bicultural identity - adolescents identify in some ways with
their ethnic group and in other ways with the majority culture
(Phinney, 2006; Whitesell & others, 2006).

69. Social Contexts and
Adolescent Development
Social Contexts
of Development
Families Peers Schools

70. Baumrind’s
Parenting Styles
Authoritarian
Parents are restrictive and
punitive. Children tend to
be socially incompetent,
anxious, and exhibit poor
communication skills.
Indulgent
Parents are highly
involved but set few
restrictions. Children have
poor self-control.
Neglectful
Parents are uninvolved.
Children have poor self-
control, don’t handle
independence well, and low
achievement motivation.
Authoritative
Parents are nurturing and
supportive, yet set limits.
Children are self-reliant, get
along with peers, and have
high self-esteem.

71. The Changing Family
Working parents
 Nature of parents’ work matters
Children in divorced families
 The quality of parental relationships, timing of divorce,
use of support systems, type of custody, SES, and quality
schooling all affect children.
 Elementary school children did best when the parent and
the school environment were authoritative.
Children in stepfamilies
 Show more adjustment problems than children in intact
families, especially during adolescence

72. Ethnic and Socioeconomic Variations
in Families
Minority students
 Families tend to be larger; depend more
on the extended family for support
 Single parents are more common
 Less educated; lower income
Low-income parents
 Tend to value external characteristics such as obedience
and neatness
 See education as the teachers’ job

73. Ethnic and Socioeconomic Variations in
Families
Middle-class families
 Often place high value on internal
characteristics such as self-control and
delayed gratification
 See education as a mutual responsibility

74. Peer Statuses
Neglected
Infrequently
“best friend”;
not disliked
by peers
Rejected
Seldom
“best friend”;
often actively
disliked by
peers
Popular
Frequently
nominated as
best friend;
rarely disliked
by peers

75. Peer Statuses
Controversial
Frequently
“best friend”;
often disliked
by peers
Average
Receive both
positive and
negative peer
nominations

76. Early Childhood and Elementary
School
 Developmentally appropriate practices
 Early Childhood Approaches
 Montessori
 Academic versus child-centered
 Transition to elementary schools

77. Schools for Adolescents
 Transition to Middle or Junior High School
 Stressful due to developmental changes
 Top-dog phenomenon
 Academic challenge

78. Social Contexts and Self-Esteem
• Social contexts such as the family, peers, and schools contribute to
the development of an adolescent’s self-esteem
(Dusek & McIntyre, 2003; Harter, 2006; Turnage, 2004).
• Peer judgments gain increasing importance in adolescence

79. Social Contexts and Aggression
• Bullies often come from homes where parents are
authoritarian, hostile, and rejecting and where aggressive
behaviour is both modeled and reinforced
• Their parents often have poor problem-solving skills and often
advocate fighting as a solution to conflicts

80. Family Influences on Identity
– Parenting style
– Individuality
• self-assertion - ability to have and communicate a point of view
• separateness - expressing how one is different from others
- Connectedness
• mutuality - sensitivity to and respect for others’ views
• permeability - openness to others’ views

81. RESOURCES FOR IMPROVING THE LIVES OF ADOLESCENTS
• The Development of Self-Representations in Childhood and
Adolescence by Susan Harter (2006). In W. Damon & R. Lerner
(Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (6th ed.). New York: Wiley
Leading self theorist and researcher, Susan Harter provides an
in-depth analysis of how the self develops in childhood and
adolescence.
• Emotional Development
by Carolyn Saarni, Joseph Campos, Linda Camras, & David
Witherspoon (2006). In W. Damon & R. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of
child psychology (6th ed.). New York: Wiley
Read about up-to-date research and views on how emotions
develop in children and adolescents.

82. RESOURCES FOR IMPROVING THE LIVES OF ADOLESCENTS
• Ghandi’s Truth
(1969) by Erik Erikson. New York: W. W. Norton
This Pulitzer Prize–winning book by Erik Erikson, who
developed the concept of identity as a central aspect of
adolescent development, analyzes the life of Mahatma Gandhi,
the spiritual leader of India in the middle of the twentieth century.
• Identity Development: Adolescence through Adulthood (2nd Ed.).
(2007) by Jane Kroger. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Leading expert Jane Kroger provides a contemporary analysis of
identity development research.

83. RESOURCES FOR IMPROVING THE LIVES OF ADOLESCENTS
• Personality Development
by Avshalom Caspi & Rebecca Shiner (2006). In W. Damon &
R. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (6th ed.). New
York: Wiley
Leading experts describe recent research on how personality
develops.