Lectures Adolescent Development
Lecture 1: Introduction
Definition adolescence
Adolescence
The period between the onset of sexual maturation and the attainment of adult roles and
responsibilities.
The transition from having a child status (it requires adult monitoring) to adult status (sefl-
responsibility for your behavior)
Conceptualizing adolescence
Health paradox: the healthiest period in the life span is adolescence. Increases in strength,
speed, reaction time, immune function, resistances. Yet; overall morbidity and death rates
increase 200-300% from childhood to late adolescence.
Sources of morbity and mortality in adolescence
- Primary causes of death/disability are related to problems of control of behavior and
emotion.
- Rates of accidents, suicides, homicides, depression, alcohol and substance use,
violence, reckless behaviors, eating disorders, health problems related to risky sexual
behaviors.
- Risk taking, sensation seeking and erratic (emotionally influenced) behavior.
This increase has been recognized for a long time. People recognize that there is something
terrible about adolescence.
Scientific questions
The question that has raised by this health paradox is; what is the empirical evidence that
adolescents are ‘heated by nature’? are these changes based in biology (brain changes,
hormones?) What are the implications for interventions? Should we intervene?
If we don’t intervene, onset on problems such as nicotine dependence, alcohol and drug use,
poor health habits, etc will show up as early mortality in adulthood. Many adult onset
problems such as depression can be traced to early episodes in adolescence. Trying to delay
problem behavior because it might have negative impacts at a later age, since you are still
developing.
The father of adolescence
Stanley Hall (1st president of the american psychological association). He said that we need
to ask adolescents questions. Questionnaires were started to get developed at this time.
Much of what he wrote about wasn’t based on empirical evidence but on myths and
,experiences. The theory of Darwin was popular. He said that species evolves over time, Hall
took this idea and developed the recapitulation theory when we look at the stages of
development that individuals go through (childhood, adolescence, etc) those stages mimic
the evolution of men. So adolescence is considered not the adult western civilized world that
we live in today, it is the wild time where we weren’t settled down as humans. He tried to
take darwins theory of evolution and apply it to the way we think about adolescence. It isn’t
a civilized period at all. It is a period of storm and stress, radical problems and this isn’t good
for a person to do. We have the idea that all adolescents are taking risks and are doing
things that are bad for the world; therefore it needs to be normalized. The problem is that
because of this normalization, problems will be underestimated by saying it is ‘just a phase’
they go through.
Arnett (1999) wrote a review of storm and stress.
- It is an oversimplification of a complex idea that many adolescents go through the
adolescence period with very little difficulties.
- However, there is empirical evidence for:
o Increased conflicts with parents (intensity)
o Mood volativity (and negative mood)
o Increased risk behavior, recklessness and sensation seeking.
- Modified view of storm and stress: it isn’t a myth that many adolescents go through a
period of upheaval or increased risk taking but It may not necessarily be related to
psychopathology.
Conceptualizing the study of adolescence across time
The idea of storm and stress developed through the years:
- Aristotle: Youth are heated by Nature as drunken men by wine
- Hall (1904): a period of heightened ‘storm and stress’
- Margaret Mead (1920): questioned storm and stress in all cultures. The age
difference between childhood and adulthood is a normal transition, no storm and
stress this is a western invention.
- Anna Freud (1930-1950): storm and stress is normal. If a kid doesn’t have
psychological difficulties during this period, they are going to have more problems as
an adult.
- 1960-1970: attempts to understand the problems as due to raging hormones.
Later conceptualizations
- 1980: Petersen questioned the idea that all youth experienced trouble. She tried to
understand the development of depression during adolescence. She found that 11%
of kids go through adolescence with chronic difficulties. 57% go through the period
fine. Storm and stress isn’t saying what It is like for everyone. Don’t make sweeping
generalizations but instead think about these kinds of individual differences and
paths. This was awakening for people that not everybody is the same.
- 1990 Arnett revised the idea of storm and stress.
, - 1990-2000: context and time period are recognized as important. Different
developmental trajectories with consideration of time and context. It may be a
difficult period, but for others it could be a smooth transition.
- 2000 evolutionary ideas are applied to recast the concept of risk. Risk taking must be
looked upon as an opportunity; questioning everything could lead to creativity and
new ways of behavior.
- 2010: neuroscience models of the adolescent brain in relation to behavior
Developmental trajectories of binge drinking during college
The idea of trajectories is popular.
The graph isn’t true for everybody. Non-drinkers can stay non-drinkers. Different
possibilities. Generalizations are made, but it doesn’t fit everyone. Researchers need to try
to understand who it does fit and why and who doesn’t.
How to conceptualize adolescent development from a scientific standpoint?
Interdisciplinary approach is needed when looking at adolescence. Interactions between
biology, behavior and social context.
Framework for the study of adolescence
John Hill was the first president of the society for research on adolescence. He said there
were 2 kinds of changes that are significant during adolescence:
1. Primary changes the developmental changes that make adolescence distinctive.
Eg. Puberty, change in cognitive abilities.
2. Secondary changes psychological consequences of the interaction between the
primary changes and the social settings, organized into the domains of identity,
autonomy, intimacy, sexuality and achievement. For instance; your identity depends
on your culture, income, parents educational level etc.
3 Universal primary changes
- Biological changes of puberty and the brain
- Development of abstract thinking
- Social redefinition of an individual from a child to an adult (or at the very least a non-
child.
A primary change is the social context. How are we going to define a person as no longer
a child? There is a certain point in time this transition takes place. The 3 changes push
