Adolescence Body and Mind

Question 1

How puberty begins via HPA and HPG axis

Answer 1

Hypothalamus signals pituitary  to send hormones to the adrenals
 to enlarge the gonads  that produce a rush of sex hormones.
* Entire body and brain are transformed by puberty
-> both HPA and HPG axes at work! (gonads = paired sex glands)

Question 2

Psychological effects during adolescence

Answer 2

Hormones instigate attraction and precipitate emotions
* More moodiness and psychopathy at extremes
* Boys: Schizophrenia; girls: Severe depression
* There is a normative decrease in self-esteem for both sexes during adolescence

Question 3

How puberty alters biorhythms and thus also sleep

Answer 3

Day-night cycle = circadian rhythm, biological activity every 24 hours
* Genetics influence the tendency toward evening or morning alertness
* But: biology (circadian rhythms) and culture (parties and technology) work to make teenagers increasingly sleep-deprived with each year of high school
- puberty alters the circadian rhythm -> adolescents have a phase delay in this
* Blue spectrum light from electronics also affect the circadian system
-> biology AND technology together worsen adolescent sleep

Question 4

Visible signs for boys and girls; primary and secondary sex characteristics

Answer 4

Observable changes in males
* Usual growth sequence is growth of the testes, initial pubic hair growth
* Growth of the penis, first ejaculation of seminal fluid (spermarche), appearance
of facial hair
* Peak growth spurt, deepening of the voice, and final pubic hair growth
* Final height by age 20
Observable changes in females
* Nipple growth and a few pubic hairs
* Increases in height while fat, especially at the breast and hips, accumulates
* First menstrual period ( menarche ) is followed by more growth
* Body growth complete by four years after it began; brain growth complete by
the mid-20s
-Primary sexual characteristics are present at birth and comprise the external and internal genitalia Secondary sexual characteristics are those that emerge during the prepubescent through postpubescent phases

Question 5

Basic growth patterns and risks in maturation for boys and girls

Answer 5

Growing bigger and stronger
* “Growth spurt”; growth proceeds from extremities to the core
- fingers and toes lengthen before hands and feet; the torso grows last
* Height spurt follows the weight spurt and then a muscle spurt occurs; these spurts precede increases in bone mass (fracture vulnerability)

Question 6

How adolescents are lacking nutrients and eating may be complex

Answer 6

• Deficiencies of iron, calcium, zinc, and other minerals
• Iron depletion from menstruation, intensive physical labors or sports
  
  • risk of anemia esp. for females
• Nudge toward poor dietary choices
  from peers and environment

Question 7

Body image; basics of four eating disorders, with a focus on anorexia and bulimia

Answer 7

-Eating choices and patterns are often influenced by perceptions of
negative body image (a perception of how one’s body looks like)
- Anorexia (obsessive compulsion)
Encountered in individuals who set high demands for themselves
* Perfectionism, little room to fail; a skewed body image
* Body dissatisfaction, concerns for weight & shape predict restraining from eating
- Bulimia (impulsivity)
May be related to emotion regulation issues (coping with emotions)
* Disgorging food after consumption feels ‘purifying’ and relaxing
* Weight & shape concern, together with restrain from food, predict binge eating
(likely to result in purging; may involve a skewed body image)
* May continue for a long time in life (less mortality than from anorexia)

Question 8

Four key constructs related to adolescent cognitive development

Answer 8

1. Adolescent egocentrism
   * Thinking that leads young people
   (ages 10 to 13) to focus on self to
   exclusion of others
   * Rumination
2. Imaginary audience
   * Belief that others are watching and
   taking note of appearance, ideas,
   and behaviors; creates self consciousness
   * Acute self-consciousness
3. Personal fable
   * Characterized by an adolescent’s belief that his or her thoughts, feelings, and experiences are more wonderful or awful than others
   
   • idea that one is destined to have a heroic, legendary life
4. Invincibility fable
   * Characterized by conviction that one
   cannot be overcome, or harmed by
   anything that might defeat a normal
   mortal, such as unprotected sex or high-
   speed driving
   
   • idea that death will not occur unless it’s destined

Question 9

Piaget’s formal operational thought and related “modes” of thinking or
reasoning (as depicted in the slides)

Answer 9

• Hypothetical-deductive reasoning: think of possibility (if-then propositions)
  Deductive reasoning (top-down)
• Reasoning from a general statement, premise, or principle, through logical
  steps, to figure out (deduce) specifics; sometimes called top-down reasoning
  Inductive reasoning (bottom-up)
• Reasoning from one or more specific experiences or facts to a general
  conclusion; may be less cognitively advanced than deduction; sometimes
  called bottom-up reasoning