Section 10 Adolescence Flashcards
When do girls go through puberty (begin adolescence)?
9-15 yrs
When do boys go through puberty?
10-13.5 yrs
What is the usual difference in age between boys and girls for puberty?
2 yrs
What is a menarche?
A girl’s first period - often when puberty is ending
What is the historical trend with puberty age?
Puberty has come earlier with time
What stimulates puberty in the brain?
the hypothalamic pituitary gonadal (HPG) axis reactivated after prenatal dev to release hormones for puberty
Do circadian rhythms shift for teens?
yes they start sleeping later and longer for more development time
How do hormones effect the brain?
Hormones (ex; estrogen, dopamine, DHEA, etc) permanently reorganize the brain, change reward system, and change activity of neural systems
When is conformity the greatest?
grades 7-9 (12-15 yrs old)
how does late or early puberty affect a kid?
They can suffer from insecurity and emotional trouble from feeling different
How and when does achievement affect social groups?
By 7th and 8th grade, kids choose friends with similar academic status, and friends start influencing ones own grade trends
When is processing speed matured at adult level?
15 yrs old
When is response inhibition matured at adult level?
14 yrs old
When is working memory matured at adult level?
19 yrs old
Top causes for death in adolescence
Unintentional injuries, homocide, and suicide
What are the consequences of teens’ new priorities?
They become riskier (despite understanding risk) for social approval and death rates can increase
What are adolescent emergent changes?
focusing on social stimuli and understanding social hierarchy
What is an adolescent non-specific change?
Body growth, like prefrontal cortex growing and myelination reorganizing brain
What are adolescent specific changes?
Motivated by conformity, exploratory behavior, stronger reward and punishment system, shifts in HPA axis, riskier decision making, lessened impulse control
Do adolescence have the highest elevated reward reactions?
yes
when may a teen be more likely to engage in risky behavior?
In a social setting with peers
What is one type of disorder teens are more at risk for?
Anxiety and stress-related disorders esp social anxiety, caused by greater attention to and impact of social info (and higher stress levels)
What is a second common disorder among teens?
Eating disorders, though they are not diagnosed until years later
Who are the most likely to develop an eating disorder?
Women are 10x more likely, and people who work with their bodies, ex; athletes (swimming, rowing, wrestling, figure-skating, gymnastics)
What are specific features of Anorexia?
Anorexia is consistent, and the product of a person taking complete control of their body parallel to OCD
What are specific features of Bulimia?
Bulimia is cyclic, impulsive, and all about lack if regulation and shame around eating
How do teens become higher risk for substance abuse?
Their desire to satisfy social influences combined with risk taking tendencies make them more open to these behaviors
What is one component of teenage narcissism/ adolescent egocentrism?
The imaginary audience - feeling like they are always being watched, thus not wanting to stick out (or acting eccentrically for attention)
What is another component of teenage narcissism/ adolescent egocentrism?
The personal fable - feeling a sense of uniqueness and invincibility
What motivates teens in social hierarchy?
Teens at this stage are highly motivated by popularity
Do young teens prefer larger or smaller groups of friends?
They prefer smaller but more intimate groups than middle childhood
What happens when kids have friends older than them?
They are more likely to miss school, do drugs/alcohol, crime, and have poor sex outcomes
How do teens relationships with their parents change?
Parents begin having to monitor their kids while maintaining attachment and communication
Teens still get much of their emotional/social needs from peers
How are racial and ethic effects on kids treated?
Prejudice and racial trauma is supported by families that work to protect the kids and ethnic cultural socialization
What is Erikson’s stage for adolescence?
Identity vs. Identity confusion: navigated identity crisis period
What is James Marcias theory taken from Erikson’s stage of identity at this point?
Teenagers experience a sense of either crisis or commitment for three areas of life
What are the areas of life James Marcias’ theory applies to?
Occupational choice, religion, and political ideology
What are the different stages of identity according to James Marcia?
Diffusion: no crisis, no commitment
Foreclosure: (no crisis, commitment) fallen into line w what’s expected of them
Moratorium: (crisis, no commitment) mid-self exploration
Achievement: (crisis, commitment) sense of self
What are some correlations with positive sex outcomes?
Family connectedness, parent communication ab sex, parental monitoring, partner connectedness, and school engagement
What can cause precocious sexual initiation?
Having a step father present in the house and sexual initiation before 15 are correlated
Early sex and father absence is also genetic
What were some trends in sex ed?
Between 2006 and 2013, sex ed exposure decreased rapidly
Why is sex ed a good idea?
Despite debate in the U.S., sex ed reduces neg sex outcomes unlike abstinence only programs that don’t actually reduce intercourse or neg outcomes
What do romantic relationships look like in age ranges?
11-13: romantic attraction and affiliation with each other
14-16: casual dating or dating in groups
17-19: strong bonds resembling adult relationships
What is the formal operational stage?
Most abstract , incr verbal problem solving, metacognition (inc tendency to think of thoughts themselves) and hypothetical deductive reasoning (creating hypothesis and deducing its implications)
What is the adolescent struggle for autonomy?
Teens seeking independence while maintaining attachment to parent - unhealthy for parent to have power struggles w teen (boys have more indp)
Why do teens experience more conflict with parents?
It’s a natural part of developing autonomy and is usually not prolonged or intense
