Adolescence 1 Flashcards
What is adolescence?
Major tasks of adolescence?
“Growing up” period between childhood and maturity from approximately ages 10-19 (WHO).
Major tasks of adolescence:
◦ adjust to changing body size and shape
◦ come to terms with sexuality
◦ adjust to new ways of thinking(eg. becoming more dependent, relying more on friendships, having more autonomy over what your life looks like)
◦ strive for emotional maturity and economic independence of adulthood
Puberty: carton showing a father talking to his son
This is a carton showing a father talking to his son. The son appears to have a dinosaur tail, a foot coming out of his head, and a hand coming out of his mouth! The caption reads, “At your age, Tommy, a boy’s body goes through changes that are not always easy to understand.”
Complex
Puberty is such an important part of adolescent time frame
Puberty in historical context
CHANGE OVER TIME (puberty time changed earlier)
Age at puberty has declined dramatically over the last few hundred years. E.g., Norway – 1840: mean age of menarche 17; today: 13
WHY?
Causes: increased standard of living, particularly nutrition, health, heredity and body mass.
Our brains have to catch up and manage this shift when perhaps were not cognitively and socially ready
Puberty:
1- what year range for the onset?
2- how long does the full process last?
3- beginning for girls vs boys?
4- what does it include?
5- marked changes in what?
6- Estradiol?
1- 7 year range for the onset of puberty
2- Full process lasts about 4 years
3- Puberty begins 2-3 years earlier for girls than boys
4- Includes an average growth spurt of 10 inches, and 40 lbs (almost 3 stone)
5- Marked changes in hormone (testosterone and estradiol) levels
6- Estradiol – one of 3 estrogen hormones naturally produced in the body. Involved in menstruation
Psychological aspects of puberty
- Body image
Least satisfied with body image during puberty - Body image by gender
Girls less satisfied than boys - Changes to mood
Increased hormone levels related to changes in mood
◦ Males: increased anger & irritability
◦ Females: increased anger & depression
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges is body image
Pubertal timing: 3 hypotheses
(why are some people affected more than others)
- Stressful change hypothesis
The intrinsic stress of pubertal change will cause distress during the period of most rapid change. - Off time hypothesis
Events encountered earlier or later than expected will cause additional distress. - Early-timing hypothesis
Early maturation may cause inappropriate maturity demands from others, causing distress.
Girls at puberty
Caspi & Moffitt (1991)
What did they do?
Set out to test 3 rival hypotheses in the prediction of behavioural problems from age at menarche.
348 girls from population sample in New Zealand.
◦Early: Age 12.0 or younger
◦Early/middle: Age 12.1 – 13.0
◦Late/middle: Age 13.1 – 14.0
◦Late: Age 14.1 – 15.
Behaviour problems included:
- antisocial behaviour (steals, truant),
- aggression (bullies, threatens),
- anxiety and withdrawal (shy, hypersensitive, feels inferior),
- attention problems (short attention span, impulsive),
- odd behaviour (incoherent speech, unable to tell real from imagined),
- motor tension (nervous, jittery, tense).
Caspi & Moffitt (1991)
Results
4 graphs:
- This is how the results would look if the stressful change hypothesis were true. It shows that for Age 13 problems, it would be those who hit menarche at age 13 who would be demonstrating the most problems. For Age 15 problems, it would be the girls who hit menarche at age 15 who would be demonstrating the most problems.
- This is how the results would look if the off-time hypothesis were true. It shows that for Age 13 problems, the girls who hit menarche at age 12 or younger who would demonstrate the most problems. For Age 15 problems, it would be the girls who hit menarche at age 15 who would be demonstrating the most problems.
- This is how the results would look if the Early timing hypothesis were true. In this case, at ages 13 AND 15, it is the girls who hit menarche at age 12 or younger who would demonstrate the most problems.
- The final graph shows the actual results. These are in support of the early timing hypothesis because at ages 13 AND 15, it was the girls who hit menarche (first mestrual period) at age 12 or younger who demonstrated the most problems.
Pubertal timing:
boys vs girls
BOYS
Like maturing early, gain in self-esteem, more popular, likely to be leaders, good-natured, may hold a cognitive advantage, BUT more cautious, bound by rules and routines.
Late maturers are more dependent, insecure, aggressive, and more likely to rebel against parents.
GIRLS
Dislike maturing early, and those who do tend to be less sociable, have poor body image, lower self-esteem, are more likely to engage in risky behaviours, and reach lower levels of educational attainment.
What is found with the emergence of different disorders across childhood, adolescence and adulthood
Impulse control disorders span childhood and early adolescence.
Anxiety disorders span childhood to late adolescence.
Schizophrenia and substance use disorders span mid-adolescence to early adulthood.
Mood disorders span mid adolescence up to mid adulthood.
Most of the disorders are during adolescence
When do gender differences for depression emerge?
During the age of puberty.
We have quite big gender differences for depression
No difference between males and females up to the age of 9
The massive shift- females substantially higher than males between 15-19
Not necessarily that males have less depression and it could be due to not researching as much (which would explain the doubling of female risk)
Puberty and depression:
Lewis et al. (2018)
Study and results
Girls (n = 658) and boys (n = 511) measured on depression and pubertal stage at ages 14.5 and 17.5
Depression was assessed using Mood and Feelings Questionnaire and clinical interview, and pubertal stage assessed with Tanner rating scales (breast and pubic hair). Pubertal timing also measured.
Results
Girls:
- For each increase in tanner breast stage, MFQ score increased by 1.4 points (irrespective of pubertal timing). No relationship with pubic hair.
- Increases were associated with depression scores regardless of the puberty time
- Also only an association with breast and not pubic hair
- Could suggest it is the puberty that increases depression in females
Boys:
No relationship between depression with pubic hair
Match the pubertal change hypothesis with the relevant descriptions:
1. Pubertal change encountered early or late will cause additional distress
2. Pubertal change will cause the most distress during the period of most rapid change
3. Early pubertal change will cause additional distress
Hypotheses
A) Stressful change hypothesis
B) Off-time hypothesis
C) Early-timing hypothesis
A = 2
B = 1
C = 3
Stressful change hypothesis: Pubertal change will cause the most distress during the period of most rapid change
Off-time hypothesis: Pubertal change encountered early or late will cause additional distress
Early-timing hypothesis: Early pubertal change will cause additional distress
Parent Child relationships:
Two competing theories
Adolescents individuate from their parents, becoming more emotionally and behaviourally independent.
The parent-child relationship changes over adolescence, leading to psychological independence with continued connectedness.
Larson et al. (1996) method
- 220 middle & working-class adolescents from the Chicago suburbs.
- Data from 5th (10 yr olds) - 12th (18 yr olds) graders.
- Participants carried pagers, and provided reports at random times 7/8 times per day when signalled.
- Reported who, what, where, emotional state, friendliness of partner, “leader” of interaction.
Although its self-report, it’s real time data
