Developmental Flashcards
Upwards Trend in Adolescent Mental Health Problems
(Bor et al., 2014)
The prevalence of mental health problems among adolescents is on the rise globally, with particular increases observed for internalizing problems in girls - leading to a widening of the gender gap.
(McGorry et al., 2024)
A surge in adolescent mental health problems followed the COVID-19 pandemic - which prompted alarm. Support from longitudinal research for the association between digital media use and poorer mental health outcomes remains scarce.
(Campbell et al., 2021)
On average, adolescent girls present with poorer mental health than boys do.
(Gulliver et al., 2010)
Stigma and embarrassment prevent young people from seeking help for mental health.
Adolescents and Social Media Use
(Twenge et al., 2018)
Reported correlations between new media use in adolescents (i.e., smartphone use, social media use) and mental health, with higher correlations observed for girls.
(Nesi & Prinstein, 2015)
Girls have a greater likelihood of engaging in social comparison and feedback-seeking when using social media, both of which have been associated with greater depressive symptoms.
(Orben & Przybylski, 2019)
There is a small negative association between the use of digital technologies and well-being during adolescence, less significant than that of the association between well-being and wearing glasses.
(Maheux et al., 2024)
Social media use is not a monolith - individual differences and varying forms of use may alter its associations with adolescent mental health. There is insufficient evidence to conclude that it is the primary driver of the rise in mental health problems.
(Boer et al., 2023; Cosma et al., 2020)
Growing evidence supports the role played by a series of other factors (e.g., obesity, school-related pressures), suggesting that the increase in adolescent mental health is likely influenced by a complex interplay of factors, of which social media use is but a part.
Prevalence Inflation Hypothesis
(Foulkes & Andrew, 2023)
One contributor to the rise in mental health problems may be that greater mental health awareness is leading to improved reporting of traditionally unreported symptoms, as well as the increased misinterpretation of milder psychological difficulties as mental health problems.
Goldilocks Hypothesis
(Przybylski & Weinstein, 2017)
Moderate digital technology use may actually be associated with certain benefits, in that it enables adolescents to connect with their peers and remain cognizant of crucial social information. They posit that harm may instead be associated with both particularly high and particularly low levels of use, in the form of a curvilinear relationship. Supported by some cross-sectional studies, but not longitudinal research.
Social Displacement Hypothesis
(Kraut et al., 1998)
An increase in digital technology use is associated with a decrease in face-to-face interactions, hence the former might be supplanting the latter.
(Hall & Liu, 2022)
A recent review of this hypothesis which highlights limited causal evidence supporting the notion that social media displaces face-to-face communication, with the authors instead arguing that social media use likely supplants other forms of internet use primarily.
Nature-Nurture Debate in Development
- (Galton, 1869) - First introduced this perspective using observational studies of genius - argued that genius was hereditary/completely determined by genetics.
- (Watson, 1913) - The behaviourist movement, pioneered by John Watson, brought the nurture perspective to the fore by suggesting that human behaviour is learned through interaction with the environment.
- (Plomin, 1996) - The appropriate conjunction between nature and nurture is “and.” - This is a perspective that flourished from the 1970s onwards.
- (Robert & Nickel, 2017) - Discuss the principle of niche picking: individuals choose an environment for themselves that complements their genetic make-up.
The Influence of Biological Relatedness on Child Well-Being/Development
- (Daly & Wilson, 1996) - Evolutionary psychologists posit that parents are motivated via proximate level influences (i.e. physical resemblance) to care for children they have a genetic connection with; hence increasing the likelihood of the parent’s genes being passed to the successive generation.
- (Daly & Wilson, 1999) - It has relatedly been argued that the strained relationships often observed between stepparents and their stepchildren arise as a result of this evolutionary desire to invest in the welfare of genetically related as opposed to unrelated children.
- (Dunn et al., 2000) - However, the existing literature suggests that, in stepfamilies, poorer child outcomes have been associated with factors such as financial difficulties, stepparents not viewing the stepchild as their own, and insufficient social support.
- (McCall, 2011) - In adopted children, these patterns of maladjustment have been primarily associated with factors related to the adoption process; such as the frequent changing of caregivers prior to adoption.
- (Faccio et al., 2019) - Stigma can be associated with nongenetic parenthood: wherein such families are viewed as being undesirably different from the majority of society.
- (Golombok, 2021) (Golombok et al., 2023) - The absence of a biological relationship does not in itself convey any additional risk of adverse outcomes; these children show comparable or improved levels of psychological adjustment at all stages of development.
- (Bos & Gartrell, 2010) - Improved parent-child relationships are often observed in these families: possibly due to an increased commitment to the family unit given that the parents have invested significant thought and resources into conceiving their child. This may convey protective effects (e.g., enhanced resilience to the negative influence of homophobia)
Adolescence as a Period of Immense Change and Identity Formation
(Eccles, 1999)
Few developmental periods are characterized by so many changes at so many different levels as early adolescence
(Freud, 1958)
To be normal during the adolescent period is by itself abnormal.
(Erikson, 1950)
Psychosocial theory of development - under which it is suggested that identity formation is the primary psychosocial task of adolescence (identity = coherent sense of one’s characteristics, beliefs and values).
(Schwartz et al., 2005) (Sawyer et al., 2018)
Identity development is no longer considered to be limited solely to adolescence. Indeed, many social role transitions are occurring increasingly later - leading some conceptualizations of adolescence to be expanded.
Bowlby and Attachment Theory
- (Bowlby, 1951, 1969) - During his work as a child psychiatrist, Bowlby noted an association between early infant separation from the mother and later maladjustment. He proposed an evolutionary basis for this finding: humans have an instinctively based need (a motivational system referred to as the attachment system) to maintain proximity to their primary caregivers (referred to as attachment figures). This serves an adaptive function as it increases the possibility that the infant will be able to obtain the caretaking and protection necessary for their survival.
- (Ainsworth & Bell, 1970) - Used the strange situation paradigm to explore attachment further: the child’s willingness to explore, reaction to the moment of separation, anxiety relating to the stranger, and their reaction to the moment of return were all used to classify the child’s style of attachment.
- The three styles of attachment they identified were:
- Secure - Distress at separation, easily soothed at return. Preferred parent over stranger.
- Anxious-resistant - Little preference for caregiver over stranger. No reaction at leaving; resist contact at return.
- Anxious-avoidant - High levels of distress at leaving, wary of stranger, not comforted by caregiver’s return.
- Main, a phD student added disorganized attachment.
- (Hazan & Shaver, 1987) - Similar orientations towards close relationships observed in adulthood.
Perceived Schoolwork Pressure and Adolescent Mental Health
(Wiklund et al., 2012)
Adolescents who report high levels of school-related pressures and demands similarly report greater mental health problems.
(Cosma et al., 2020)
Identified increases in such pressures as a contributing factor to the rise in mental health complaints, with the association between the factors being particularly evident within higher income countries.
(de Looze et al., 2024)
This may also be playing a role in the growing gender gap, as this association is stronger among girls. It may also explain why the gender gap is widening to a greater degree in more gender equal countries - in these contexts, young women may feel pressure to succeed academically, financially, and professionally, while still being subject to the pressures associated with traditional gender norms (Zuckerman et al., 2017). They also may be more aware of gender inequalities.
(Clemens et al., 2022)
Greater awareness of societal concerns, such as climate change, has been associated with poorer mental health among adolescents.
Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory
- Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1999) theory conceptualizes the role of the environment on child development as a series of multiple interrelated systems: those that are closer to the developing child (i.e., the microsystem and the mesosystem), and those that are further removed (i.e., the exosystem and the macrosystem) - all of which are crosscut by the dimension of time (i.e., the chronosystem). The more distal systems exert their influence on development primarily through their effects on the ways in which the more proximal systems function (Bronfenbrenner, 1977).
- Later developments of this theory emphasized the role that proximal processes play in development: reciprocal and enduring interactions between a child and the persons, objects, and symbols in their environment, that increase in complexity over time (Bronfenbrenner & Evans, 2000). Such proximal processes can be influenced by the historical period, person characteristics of those involved, and the context in which they occur (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2007). As such the child plays an active role in their own development/both influences and is influenced by their environment. Bronfenbrenner categorized such person characteristics into demand (e.g., gender. ethnicity), resource (e.g., skills), and force (e.g., motivation, persistence) - (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2007). Meanwhile, the exosystem and macrosystem are settings in which the developing child is not actively situated, but that influence the way in which the more proximal systems function (Bronfenbrenner, 1977).
