Saskia Ensel
Summary: L. Steinberg (2023). Adolescence. For
Adolescent Development.
Year 2022-2023. Universiteit Utrecht
Inhoud
Introduction: The Study of Adolescent Development .................................................................. 2
Chapter 1: Biological Transitions ................................................................................................ 5
Chapter 2: Cognitive Transitions ...............................................................................................12
Chapter 3: Social Transitions ....................................................................................................19
Chapter 4: Families ...................................................................................................................25
Chapter 5: Peer groups .............................................................................................................34
Chapter 6: Schools ...................................................................................................................43
Chapter 7: Work, Leisure, and Media ........................................................................................50
Chapter 8: Identity.....................................................................................................................57
Chapter 9: Autonomy, page 236-261 ........................................................................................67
Chapter 9: Autonomy, page 250-253 ........................................................................................68
Chapter 10: Intimacy .................................................................................................................71
Chapter 11: Sexuality ................................................................................................................82
Chapter 12: Achievement ..........................................................................................................92
Chapter 13: Psychosocial problems in adolescence .................................................................99
What is it, how does it develop, and it is linked to moral action? (Hardy & Carlo, 2011) ..........116
Microagressions and depressive symptoms in sexual minority youth (Kaufman, 2017) ...........118
Sexting within adolescents’ romantic relationship: how is it related to perceptions of love and
verbal conflict? (van Ouytsel, 2019) ........................................................................................120
Clustering of health-compromising behavior and delinquency in adolescents and adults in the
Dutch population (Nieuwenhuijzen et al). ................................................................................122
Less Guilty by Reason of Adolescence (Steinberg, 2003) .......................................................123
Incidence, clinical management, and mortality risk following self-harm among children and
adolescents: Cohort study in primary care (Morgan et al). ......................................................126
What is self-injury (Whitlock) ...................................................................................................128
,Saskia Ensel
Parental alcohol-specific rules effectively reduce adolescents’ tobacco and cannabis use
(Koning et al) ..........................................................................................................................130
Growth in adolescent delinquency and alcohol use in relation to young adult crime, alcohol use
disorders, and risky sex: a comparison of youth from low- versus middle-income backgrounds
(Mason et al) ...........................................................................................................................131
The new life stage of emerging adulthood at ages 19-29 years: Implications for mental health
(Arnett). ...................................................................................................................................133
Plugged in. How media attract and affect youth. New Haven and London: Yale university press
(Valkenburg et al, 2017) ..........................................................................................................136
A longitudinal examination of the interpersonal theory of suicide and effects of school-based
suicide prevention interventions in a multinational study of adolescents .................................138
Introduction: The Study of Adolescent Development
Adolescence is a period of transitions: biological, physiological, social, economic. During
adolescence, individuals become interested in sex and biologically capable of having children.
We can think of development during adolescence as involving a series of transitions from
immaturity into maturity. Some of these passages are long and some are short; some are
smooth and others rough. It is quite possible that an individual will mature in some respects
before they mature in others.
Early, Middle and Late Adolescence
Social scientists who study adolescence differentiate among early adolescence (age 10-13),
middle adolescence (14-17) and late adolescence (age 18-21). Some writers also have
suggested that a new phase of life, called emerging adulthood, characterizes the early and
mid-20s.
A framework for studying adolescent development; By Hill (1983), three components:
1. The fundamental changes of adolescence
Encompasses biological, cognitive and social dimensions. According to Hill, 3 features of
adolescent development give the period its special flavor and significance: (1) the onset of
puberty (biological), (2) the emerge of more advanced thinking abilities (cognitive) and (3)
the transition into new roles in society (social):
• Biological transitions → puberty involves changes in the young person’s physical
appearance and the development of the ability to conceive children.
,Saskia Ensel
• Cognitive transitions → compared with children, adolescents are much better able to
think about hypothetical situations and about abstract concepts.
• Social transitions → in some cultures, the social changes of adolescence are marked
by a formal ceremony – a rite of passage.
2. The contexts of adolescence
The effects of the biological, cognitive and social changes are not uniform for all young
people. Puberty makes some adolescents feel attractive and self-assured, but makes others
feel ugly and self-conscious. This is due to the shaping of the environment.
According to the ecological perspective on human development, whose main
proponent was Bronfenbrenner (1979), we cannot understand development without
examining the environment in which it occurs. In modern societies, there are 4 main
contexts in which young people spend time: families, peer groups, schools and work and
leisure settings.
3. The psychosocial developments of adolescence
Social scientists use the word psychosocial to describe the aspects of development that
are both psychological and social in nature. They represent basic developmental challenges
that we face as we grow and change: (1) discovering and understanding who we are as
individuals – identity; (2) establishing a healthy sense of independence – autonomy; (3)
forming close and caring relationships with others – intimacy; (4) expressing sexual feelings
and enjoying physical contact with others – sexuality; and (5) being successful and
competent members of society – achievement.
Theoretical perspectives on adolescence
• Biosocial theories → what experts on adolescence disagree about is just how important
the biological changes are in defining the psychosocial issues of the period. The most
important biosocial theorists was G. Hall (1904), who took inspiration from Darwin. For Hall,
the development of the individual was determined primarily by instinct and hardly influenced
by the environment. Hall believed that the hormonal changes of puberty caused upheaval,
both for the individual and for those around them. Because this turbulence is biologically
determined, it is unavoidable.
Dual systems theories → dual systems theories stresses changes in the anatomy
and activity of the brain. Dual systems theories emphasizes the simultaneous development
of two different brain systems – one that governs the way in which the brain processes
rewards, punishments and social and emotional information, and another that regulates self-
control and advanced thinking abilities such as planning or logical reasoning. The arousal of
the first system takes place in early adolescence, while the second system is still maturing.
This creates maturational imbalance.
• Organismic theories → organismic theorists recognize the importance of the biological
changes of adolescence but also take into account the ways in which contextual forces
interact with and modify these biological forces. Three major organismic theorists are: Freud
(1938), Erikson (1968) and Piaget and Inhelder (1958).
For Freud, development was best understood in terms of the psychosexual conflicts that
arise at different points in development. According to Freud, puberty temporarily throws the
adolescent into a period of psychological crisis by reviving old conflicts over uncomfortable
,Saskia Ensel
sexual urges that had been buried in the unconscious.
The work of Erikson was built on that of Freud, he also believed that internal biological
developments moved the individual from one development stage to the next. Erikson
stressed the psychosocial, rather than the psychosexual, conflicts faced by the individual at
each point in time.
For Piaget, development was best understood by examining changes in the nature of
thinking. In his theory, adolescence marks the transition from concrete to abstract thought.
• Learning theories → learning theorists stress the context in which behavior takes place.
Learning theorists have little to say specifically about adolescence as a developmental
period because they assume that the basic processes of human behavior are the same
during adolescence as during other periods of the life span. There are two general
categories of learning theorists: behaviorists and social learning theorists.
Behaviorists emphasize the processes of reinforcement and punishment as the main
influences on adolescent behavior (Skinner, 1953). Adolescents’ behavior is nothing more or
less than the product of the various reinforcements and punishments they’ve been exposed
to.
Social learning theorists such as Bandura, also emphasize the ways in which
adolescents learn how to behave, but they place more weight on the processes of
observational learning and imitation.
• Sociological theories → sociological theories of adolescence attempt to understand how
adolescents, as a group, come of age in society. They focus on the factors that all
adolescents or groups of adolescents have in common by virtue of their age. Two themes
have dominated: adolescent marginality and intergenerational conflict.
Some writers have claimed that many of the problems we associate with adolescence
have been created, in part, by the way in which we have structured the adolescent
experience, treating adolescents as if they are more immature than they actually are and
isolating them from adults.
Theorists such as Mannheim (1952) and Coleman (1961) stressed the fact that
adolescents and adults grow up under different social circumstances and therefore develop
different sets of attitudes, values and beliefs. As a consequence, there is inevitable tension
between the adolescent and the adult generation.
• Historical and anthropological perspectives → historical perspectives, such as those
offered by Elder (1980), Kett (1977) and Hine (1999), stress that adolescence as a
developmental period has varied considerably from one historical era to another. As a
consequence, it is impossible to generalize about such issues as the degree to which
adolescence is stressful. Historians would say that these issues all depend on the social,
political and economic forces present at a given time.
One group of theorists argue that adolescence is entirely a social invention. They believe
that the way in which we divide the life cycle into stages is nothing more than a reflection of
the political, economic and social circumstances in which we live. In other words, social
conditions, not biological givens, define the nature of adolescent development.
,Saskia Ensel
Chapter 1: Biological Transitions
Puberty: an overview
Technically, puberty refers to the period during which an individual becomes capable of sexual
reproduction. More broadly, however, puberty encompasses all the physical changes that occur
in adolescents as they pass from childhood into adulthood. Puberty has 4 physical
manifestations:
1. A rapid acceleration in growth, resulting in increases in height and weight.
2. The development of primary sex characteristics, including the further development of the
gonads (sex glands), which results in a series of hormonal changes
3. The developmental of secondary sex characteristics, including changes in the genitals
and breasts, and the growth of body hair.
4. Changes in the brain’s anatomy and activity as a result of hormonal influences.
The endocrine system
The endocrine system produces, circulates and regulates levels of hormones. Hormones are
highly specialized substances that are secreted by one or more endocrine glands and then
enter the bloodstream. Glands are the organs that stimulate particular parts of the body. Many
of the hormones activate certain brain cells, called
gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons.
The endocrine system receives its instructions from the
central nervous system. When a particular hormonal level in
the body dips below the endocrine system’s set point for that
hormone, secretion of the hormone increases; when the level
reaches the set point, secretion temporarily stop. Such a
feedback loop becomes increasingly important at the onset of
puberty. Before birth, the HPG (hypothalamus, piruitary,
gondads) axis developed involving three structures: the
pituitary gland (controls hormone levels), the hypothalamus
(controls the pituitary gland, concentration of GnRH neurons),
and the gonads (testes and ovaries).
Adrenarche
Early sexual feelings may be stimulated by maturation of the
adrenal glands, called adrenarche, which also contributes to
the development of body odor.
Changes at puberty in the brain system that regulates the adrenal gland are also
important because this is the brain system that controls how we respond to stress.
What triggers puberty?
Although the HPG axis is active before birth, it is relatively quiet during childhood. During middle
childhood, the HPG axis is reawakened and signals that the body is ready for puberty. Some of
this is causes by an internal clock and some is due to multiple signals that tell the brain it is time
to start preparing for childbearing.
The onset of puberty is stimulated by an increase in a brain chemical called kisspeptin.
The production of kisspeptin in the brain is affected by other chemicals, most importantly leptin,
which stimulates it, and melatonin, which suppresses it. Leptin is a protein produced by fat
, Saskia Ensel
cells. It plays a critical role in the regulation of hunger.
Genes predispose you to go through puberty around a particular age, but the more fat
cells you have, and the more light (melatonin) to which you have been exposed to during
childhood, the more likely it is that you will go through puberty on the early side of your inherited
propensity. Children who spend a lot of time in front of electronic screens may be inadvertently
speeding up the onset of puberty.
How hormones influence adolescent development
Before birth, hormones organize the brain in ways that may not be manifested in behavior until
childhood or even adolescence. The presence or absence of certain hormones early in life
“program” the brain and the central nervous system to develop in certain ways and according to
a certain timetable. Because we may not see the resulting changes in behavior until
adolescence, it is easy to mistakenly conclude that behaviors result from hormonal changes that
take place as the time of puberty. Many changes in behavior at adolescence do occur because
of changes in hormone levels at puberty, however. For instance, the increase in certain
hormones at puberty is thought to stimulate the development of secondary sex characteristics.
Somatic development
The simultaneous release of growth hormones, thyroid hormones and androgens stimulates
rapid acceleration in height and weight, the adolescent growth spurt. One marker of the
conclusion of puberty is the closing of the ends of the long bones in the body, a process called
epiphysis, which terminates growth in height. Puberty is also a time of significant increase in
weight. The sequence in which various parts of the body grow is fairly regular. Extremities – the
head, hands and feet – are the first to accelerate in growth.
Body dissatisfaction among adolescent girls. Sex differences in muscle and fat.
There are important sex differences in adolescent body composition. In both sexes, muscular
development is rapid during puberty, but muscle tissue grows faster in boys than girls. In
contrast, body fat increases for both sexes but more so for females than for males. Although the
majority of girls diet unnecessarily during this time in response to the increase of body fat, the
girls who are most susceptible to feelings of dissatisfaction with their bodies are those who
mature early and begin dating early. Girls’ body dissatisfaction is often blamed on the impact of
mass media’s excessively positive portrayal of thinness, but studies show that it is comparing
themselves with their friends, and not just being exposed to media imagery.
Sexual maturation
In both boys and girls, the development of secondary sex characteristics is typically divided
into five stages, often called Tanner stages.
