Adolescence: Psychosocial Development

1. The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence by Kathleen Stassen Berger Seventh Edition Chapter 16 Adolescence: Psychosocial Development Slides prepared by Kate Byerwalter, Ph.D., Grand Rapids Community College

2. Self and Identity • Erikson’s fifth stage of psychosocial development is identify vs. diffusion. It involves the question, “Who am I?” PHOTODISC

3. Possible selves: various intellectual fantasies about what the future might bring if one or another course of action is chosen False self: set of behaviors that is adopted by a person to combat rejection, to please others, or to try out as a possible self Multiple Selves

4. Paths to Identity • Identity achievement: knowing who one is as a unique person, accepting some cultural values and rejecting others • This allows a person to have strong convictions, but to remain open to alternate ideas and opinions.

5. Paths to Identity (cont.) • Identity diffusion: a lack of values, traits or commitments • Foreclosure: adopting preset roles and values, without questioning • Foreclosure may lead to prejudice, narrow-mindedness.

6. Paths to Identity (cont.) • Moratorium: a pause in identify formation, in which alternatives are explored • This is an important step towards identity! • Negative identity: a rebellious, defiant identity, taken on to anger adults

7. Make it Real: Identity On paper, place yourself in an identity status for each of the following arenas: • Religion • Ethnic identity • Sexual orientation • Politics • Career • Education

8. Religious Identity • Many adolescents take longer than age 18 to achieve religious identity. Struggling with questions is an important part of the commitment. • Example: The Amish encourage adolescents to go into the “real world” temporarily.

9. Gender Identity • Gender identity is the degree to which people see themselves as masculine or feminine. • This includes genderroles (duties), and sexualorientation (towards same or opposite sex, or both).

10. Ethnic Identity • Ethnicidentity involves identification with a particular ethnicity through values, diet, gender roles, language, clothing, etc. • The process of ethnic identity may be especially intense for immigrant adolescents.

11. Make it Real: Vocation and Identity • What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of working during adolescence? • How much of a connection do you see between the types of jobs had during high school, and those you have or will have in adulthood?

12. Vocation and Identity • Research has found that working during adolescence impedes identity formation, family relationships, academic achievement, and career success. • Also, the types of jobs don’t tend to teach skills for later vocations.

13. Support from Adults • The “generation gap” between adults and teens is not wide when it comes to core beliefs and values. • However, each generation does view interactions from his/her own perspective (generational stake).

14. Generational Stake: An Example • A young Indian American girl wanted the freedom and independence of cutting her hair. Her elders considered hair an essential part of being a “good Indian girl.” PHOTODISC

15. Make it Real:What’s your prediction? • At what age would you suppose parent-child conflict to be greatest? • What are parent-child conflicts about? • What does parent-child conflict a signal?

16. Parent-Child Conflict NANCY RICHMOND / THE IMAGE WORKS

17. Parent-Child Conflict (cont.) • Is greatest during child’s tween years (10−13) • Is greatest between mothers and daughters • Usually involves repeated, pettyarguments about clothes, cleanliness, etc. • Represents a teens desire for independence

18. Culture and Family • Some have argued that adolescent rebellion is a product of Westernculture. • Parent-child conflict occurs later in adolescence for Asian and Latino teens, and hardly at all for teens in China.

19. Aspects of Parent-Teen Relationships • Communication • Support • Connectedness • Control PHOTODISC

20. Parental Monitoring • Parentalmonitoring involves ongoing awareness of what a teen is doing, where, and with whom. • It detersdelinquency.

21. Make it real: Parental Monitoring • Is it possible to have too much monitoring? What would be the result?

22. Peer Relationships • Peer pressure: social pressure to conform to one’s contemporaries • Peer pressure can be positive or negative. • It rises during early adolescence, peaking around age 14 years of age.

23. Peer Friendships • Selection: peers choose one another • Example: Drug users hang out with drug users, high achievers with high achievers. • Facilitation: peers encourage one another to do things they wouldn’t do alone

24. Peer Group for Immigrant Teens • Conflict arises when the culture of friends of an immigrant teen differs considerably than the parents’ culture. • The teen wants to “fit in” with both peers and family!

25. Adolescent Interactions • The following sequence occurs for adolescent interactions (timing varies): • Groups of friends of one sex only • Loose association of “boy” and “girl” group • Small mixed-sex groups • Pairing of couples

26. Homosexuality • Teens with a homosexual orientation rarely tell anyone until at least age 17 years of age. • They may experience denial or repression of their sexual urges before finding their sexual identity.

27. Teenage Sexual Activity • Teens are by nature sexual beings. • The question becomes what one does with that sexuality during adolescence. RUBBERBALL PRODUCTIONS

28. Parental Guidance About Sex • Question: Do you know any teen who has had a serious talk with his/her parents about sex? • Often parents avoid the issue. But proper guidance can influence teens in a positive manner.

30. Make it Real: Sex Education • Did your school have some type of sex education program? • If yes, at what age did it begin? What were the topics? • Do you think schools should teach sex education?

31. Sex Education in School • In the U.S., almost all adults (90% or more) think high schools should teach sex education, including contraception. • The concern is that talking about sex will lead teens to have sex. However, a report by the Surgeon General suggests this is not the case.

32. Sex Education (cont.) • Research suggests that the most effective sex education programs: • Are multi-faceted • Precede sexual activity by a year or more • Advocate for abstinence but also teach about contraceptives

33. Peer Influence on Sex • Friends influence each other in both positive and negative ways. • Examples: A “virginity pledge” among friends is positive. Pressure to “gain respect” by having sex is a negative.

34. Media as a Sex Educator • TV and movies are FULL of sexuality, but offer little knowledge about sex. • Using the Internet to find facts too often brings up pornography sites instead.

35. Trends in Adolescent Sexuality • Premaritalsex has increased. • Sexual interactions are more varied (e.g., oral sex). • Teenbirths are decreasing worldwide. • The use of protection has increased.

36. Trends in Adolescent Sexuality (cont.) • U.S. teens have more babies than teens in other countries, due to lower contraceptive use, and fewer abortions. • In the U.S., teens with lower education tend to have sex and babies at earlier ages.

37. Self-Esteem During Adolescence • Self-esteem tends to decline between 6 to 18 years for many children.

41. Depression • Clinical depression: an overwhelming, enduring feeling of sadness and hopelessness. • The rate of depression doubles at puberty to about 15%, affecting 1 in 5 teen girls and 1 in 10 teen boys in the U.S.

42. Make it Real: Depression • WHY do you think depression becomes more prevalent during adolescence? • WHY do girls seem especially at risk?

43. Suicide • Suicidal ideation (thinking about suicide) is actually quite common during adolescence (e.g., 21% of girls). • The actual suiciderate is lower among teens under age 20 than adults.

44. More Facts on Suicide • The suicide rate among teens in North America and Europe has doubled since 1960. • Worldwide, parasuicide (attempt) is higher for females and completed suicide is higher for males.

46. Factors Influencing Suicide • Availability of lethalmeans (guns) • Lack of parental supervision • Use of alcohol and other drugs • Gender • Cultural attitudes

49. More Destruction • Many teens, especially boys, show bouts of anger and destruction during adolescence. • Question: Should this rebellion be considered a “normal” part of adolescence? PHOTODISC

50. Breaking the Law • Delinquency is more frequent in adolescence than at other ages. • Worldwide, arrestrates increase between 12-16 years, declining slowly after that. • Arrest rate for violentcrimes is twice as high for teens as adults.