Adolescent Development II

Question 1

What are the phases of adolescence?

Answer 1

10-13 early
14-18 Middle
19-24 LATE

Question 2

Define puberty

Answer 2

A period of rapid physical growth and sexual maturation

Question 3

What is the onset of puberty called?

Answer 3

Menarche and Spermarche

Question 4

What is menarche?

Answer 4

The term for a cis girl’s first period. It signals that ovulation has begun

Question 5

Define spermache

Answer 5

The term for cis boy’s first ejaculation, which signals sperm production has begun

Question 6

What does age of onset of puberty depend on?

Answer 6

Sex - girls ahead of boys by months or years
Genes and ethnicity
Weight - malnutrition delays puberty, obesity the reverse
Stress - causes puberty earlier

Question 7

What do hormones contribute to?

Answer 7

Conflict, moodiness and sexual urges of adolescents, but aren’t the only cause.

Question 8

What is another cause of the conflict, moodiness, and sexual urges of adolescents?

Answer 8

Social and cultural reactions to visible body changes also play a large role

Question 9

What are other physical changes that occur during puberty?

Answer 9

Skin gets oilier, sweatier and more acne-prone
The lymphoid system - tonsils, adenoids - decrease in size, making teens less susceptible to cold

Question 10

What are the gonads?

Answer 10

Testis and ovary

Question 11

What are the secondary sex organs?

Answer 11

Seminal vesicles, fallopian tube

Question 12

What are the levels of sex hormones in children?

Answer 12

Very low levels of testosterone (T) for boys and oestrogen (E) for women

Question 13

What are the two other hormones involved in gonadal function in children?

Answer 13

GnRH - hypothalamus - low levels
FSH/LH - anterior pituitary - low levels

Question 14

What is the trigger for puberty in both boys and girls?

Answer 14

The production of gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus. It is the brain that stimulates puberty.

Question 15

How does GnRH lead to the stimulation of puberty?

Answer 15

GnRH stimulates the pituitary gland which releases a luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone FSH –> these two hormones signal the female and male sex organ (ie the gonads) to release sex-dependent hormones.

Question 16

What are the primary sex characteristics?

Answer 16

The parts of the body directly involved in reproduction (e.g testicles, ovaries, penis, vagina)

Question 17

What are the secondary sex characteristics?

Answer 17

Not necessary for reproduction - odour, acne, breast development, hair, voice changes

Question 18

Describe maturity of the reproductive function.

Answer 18

Maturation of the reproductive function is only one of many physiological changes that occur at adolescence. Immaturity is not at the level of the gonads or the anterior pituitary, but at the level of the brain –> primarily limbic structures and hypothalamus

Question 19

How do we know that the limbic-hypothalamic system is responsible for the immaturity of the reproductive system before puberty?

Answer 19

1) immature gonads transplanted into an adult animal will mature immediately and demonstrate a normal reproductive function
2) the pituitary, taken from a prepubescent animal and transplanted into an adult animal will regulate normal reproductive function
3) alterations/lesions/trauma of the hypothalamus and specific areas in the limbic system (amygdala, hippocampus) will prevent the prepubertal animal to develop a normal reproductive function

Question 20

Why is reproductive function so late to mature?

Question 21

Describe immaturity

Answer 21

Immaturity is at the level of the hypothalamus and at the level of the limbic-hypothalamic pathways, not the anterior pituitary and the gonads

Question 22

When do many mental disorders begin?

Answer 22

Adolescence and early adulthood

Question 23

What did Kessler et al 2005 find about mental health in adolescents?

Answer 23

Found that half of all lifetime cases started by the age of 14 years and three quarter of cases by the age of 24 years.

Question 23

Describe the onset ages for anxiety disorder, behaviour disorder, mood disorder and substance use disorder.

Answer 23

Anxiety - 6 years
Behaviour - 11 years
Mood - 13 years
SUDs - 15

Question 24

LOOK AT SEXUAL DIMPORHISM GRAPH