Lecture 8: Adolescence Flashcards
- Menarche takes place immediately before the peak of the height spurt.
F
- In the sequence of pubertal events, the growth spurt occurs at the same age for both boys and girls.
F
- Compared to girls, boys tend to get less social support for the physical changes of puberty
T
- Most researchers agree that high sex hormone levels are primarily
responsible for adolescent moodiness.
- Most researchers agree that high sex hormone levels are primarily
F
- Psychological distancing between parents and children is normal during
adolescence, and most parent–child conflict is mild.
- Psychological distancing between parents and children is normal during
T
- Late-maturing boys and early-maturing girls tend to be popular, selfconfident, and sociable.
F
Puberty
- Regulated by genetically influenced hormonal
processes - Girls typically reach puberty about two years
earlier than boys
Hormones
- Changes start around age 8-9
- Growth hormone (GH) and thyroxine levels increase
– Body growth and skeletal maturation - Sexual maturation: sex hormones
– estrogens and androgens are present in both genders, but in
different amounts
– Boys: testosterone from testes
+muscle growth, body and facial hair, other male sex characteristics
+ Enhances GH effects
– Girls: estrogens from ovaries
+ breasts, uterus, and vagina mature, feminine body proportions, accumulation of
fat, menstruation
Body Growth
Growth
spurt:
* Grow 10-11 inches in
height
* Gain 50-75 pounds during
the growth spurt
Body
Proportions:
* Hands, legs, feet grow first
(reverse of cephalocaudal
trend)
* Boys: shoulders > hips
* Girls: hips > shoulders,
waist
age 16 done for girls
age 17 and a half done for boys
Athleticism
- Among boys, athletic
competence is strongly related
to peer admiration and selfesteem - Performance-enhancing drugs
used quite commonly by boys - Estimates vary: 2-8% of
teens report using them - Involvement in sports
associated with benefits to
cognitive, social, and motor
development
Sexual Maturation
- Primary sexual characteristics: changes to reproductive organs
- Secondary sexual characteristics: visible on outside of body
Circadian rhythm
- Sleep-wake cycle
- Important to align with daily
schedule - School, work, etc.
- Otherwise impacts learning,
emotion, safety, etc. - Morningness-eveningness
questionnaire: https://cet.org/wpcontent/uploads/2019/12/MEQSA-2019.pdf
effects hunger
rly beneficial if you can line it up for your day to day scheduel
Causes of Sleep Phase
Delay
- Biological
+ Melatonin release - shifts to later as an adolescence - Behavioral
+ Social activities/busy schedule
+ Increased light exposure in the
evening
+ Earlier school start times
Why are teens so moody?
- Hormone levels have a moderate
relation with moodiness - Might be more that they’re facing a lot
of negative life experiences
– Conflict with parents, romantic
relationships ending, peer struggles, etc. - Lots of peer pressure, expectation to
live up to ‘cultural script’ (ex: need a romantic relationship)
Brain Development
- pruning of unused synapses in the
cerebral cortex continues - growth and myelination of
stimulated neural fibers accelerates - links between the cerebral
hemispheres and the frontal lobes
and other brain areas expand,
supporting a variety of cognitive
advances - neurons become more responsive
to excitatory neurotransmitters
Taking perspective of another person (can follow rule, throw in social takes longer to become adult like)
Risk taking reinforced turing time, is it safe par tof brain still developping
Parent–Child Relationships
- Cross-culturally, puberty is related to a rise in
parent–child conflict - Why?
– May substitute for physical departure that would
have happened in ancestral environment upon sexual
maturation
– Psychological distancing - Conflicts with daughters > sons
- Maybe because parents are more restrictive with girls
Relationship between family experiences
and pubertal timing
- 756 white families; children followed from birth
through eighth grade. - Throughout childhood:
– Parents observed on type of interactions with child
(parental sensitivity, intrusiveness, positive regard)
– Parents completed a questionnaire on child-rearing
strategies (harsh, firm, lax)
– Parents completed an attachment questionnaire about
their feelings toward and beliefs about their child - Child pubertal timing assessed using maternal
reports and annual physical exams
RESULTS
- Negative family experiences predicted
pubertal onset in girls (not boys) - Maternal harsh control in childhood an
especially strong predictor of early
menarche. - Positive family experiences, such as parental
sensitivity during play, did not predict pubertal
timing. - Biological factors are more predictive of
pubertal timing than environmental factors. - When environmental factors are
considered, family experiences—
particularly negative ones—seem to be
especially influential.
What about boys?
- Some studies have shown that boys with a
history of family conflict, harsh parenting, or
parental separation also tend to reach
puberty early
Do specific types of
environmental stress
encountered early in life
uniquely predict age of
menarche?
Are the effects of
environmental stress on
menarcheal age buffered
by the security of the
infant-mother attachment
relationship?
Life History Theory
Individuals face a trade-off:
– allocate resources to growth (somatic effort)
OR
– allocate resources to sexual maturation/mating
(reproductive effort)
the strategy an individual adopts depends in part on early
experiences/environment
- When does it make sense to reproduce early
in life? - When does it make sense to delay
reproduction?
- It makes sence to reproduce early when: lower chance of survival, physical abuse, safety, war torn areas, disadvantage: may not be able to take care, provide as well, secure lifestyle, strong off spring, balancing act
Delay reproduction
Measures
- Environmental harshness: income relative to
poverty level, taking family size into account - Environmental unpredictability: family
member changes, job changes, moves - Maternal attachment: tested at 15 months
Results
- Unpredictable environment: no
effect on menarche timing - Harsh environment: earlier
menarche - But not if securely attached!
Effects of Pubertal Timing
- Early-maturing boys tend to do well socially
- Early-maturing girls tend to have emotional
and social difficulties
The Importance of Fitting in with Peers
- Adolescents feel most comfortable with peers
who match their own level of biological maturity.
– Early-maturing girls and late-maturing boys have
trouble because they don’t have many same-age
peers at their stage of development - Early-maturing adolescents of both sexes tend to
seek out older friends
– Can lead to problems - Difficulties tend to last for early-maturing girls
but not boys
Eating Disorders
- Risk factors in girls:
– Early puberty
– Poor body image
– Family focus on weight
Anorexia Nervosa
- Excessive limitation of food intake caused by
compulsive fear of getting fat - Distorted body image
- About 1% of North American and Western
European teenage girls are affected,
– Rapid increase in past 50 years with cultural
expectations - Boys account for about 10% of cases
- Anorexics generally lose 25-50% of their
body weight
– 6% die - Treatment: combination of hospitalization,
medication, and family therapy
New potential treatment anorexia nervosa
- Deep brain stimulation
- 6 women for whom most conventional
therapy had failed - Implanted electrodes in an area of the brain
that influences regulation of mood and
anxiety - Stimulation for 9 months
- 3 women gained weight, improved overall
mood
Bulimia Nervosa
- strict dieting and excessive exercise
accompanied by binge eating,
often followed by deliberate
vomiting and purging with laxatives - can cause life-threatening damage
to the throat and stomach - 2-4% of teenage girls
- pathological anxiety about gaining
weight - risk factors
– Genetics, overweight, early puberty,
impulsive/sensation-seeking personality - Individuals feel depressed and guilty about
abnormal eating habits
– Makes it easier to treat than anorexia - Treatment: support groups, nutrition
education, medication
Sexuality
- Teens get contradictory, confusing messages
about sex
– Adults emphasize that sex at a young age and outside
of marriage is wrong
– broader social environment (e.g., TV, movies)
emphasizes excitement and romanticism of sex
Sexually Active Teens
- About 50% of teens have had sex
- Most have had 1-2 partners by the end of high
school - Boys have sex earlier than girls
Factors
influencing
sexual
activity
- Early sexual activity is more common
amongst low SES teens - Living in a hazardous neighborhood also
increases the likelihood that teenagers will be
sexually active
ties in with life history hypothesis
Contraceptive Use
20% of sexually active teenagers don’t use
contraception consistently
Planning in advance is crucial
Teenagers who talk openly with their parents
about sex are more likely to use birth control
Adolescent Parenthood
Risk factors:
* Low SES
* Ethnic minority and low-income: risk factor
* Parent had adolescent pregnancy
Adolescent Parenthood Outcomes
After the birth of child:
– Chance of completing high school decreases
– Chance of marrying decreases; if marry, high chance
of divorce
– 1/3 pregnant again within 2 years
– More likely to be on welfare or working low-pay job
Better outcomes if teen mom finishes high school,
avoids additional births, and finds a stable marriage
partner
Prevention
Strategies
- Effective sex ed programs teach
techniques for handling sexual situations,
deliver accurate messages, and provide
specific information about contraceptives
and ready access to them. - Controversial to provide easy access to
contraceptives
+ but abstinence-only focus has been ineffective in delaying sexual activity
and preventing pregnancy - In Canada and Western Europe,
contraceptives are available to teens and
subsidized by universal health insurance
+ teenage sexual activity is no higher
than in US
+ but pregnancy, childbirth, and abortion
rates are lower
CUlture
Highly sexualised culture
Disney movies
- Specific bpdy type
Relative siz eof men and women in disney movies
Pressure on girls to be smaller
Pressure on boys to be bigger
