Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood Personality and Sociocultural Development

1. Adolescence and Emerging AdulthoodPersonality and Sociocultural Development Chapter 11 11

2. Adolescence and Emerging AdulthoodPersonality and Sociocultural Development • Developmental Tasks of Adolescence • Family Dynamics • Peer Relationships During Adolescence • Risk and Resilience in Adolescence • Stress, Depression, and Coping

3. Developmental Tasks of Adulthood • Adolescents confront two developmental tasks: • achieving autonomy and independence from their parents • forming an identity, creating an integrated self • Most adolescents adjust quite well to this period, even though adolescence is often portrayed as a stressful time • Adolescents must learn to control their own behavior—self-regulation • Adolescents and their parents need to cooperate and share their thoughts and feelings— interdependence

4. Video Clip Documentary clip from Student Voices on teen suicide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jth2wj7TBAE

5. Forming an Identity • Involves teens gaining a sense of who they are and how they fit into society • Social reference groups help teens to define themselves • Erikson viewed identity development as the critical task of adolescence (identity versus identity confusion)

6. Modes of Identity Formation • James Marcia categorized identity formation into four modes, or statuses, with the status determined by whether or not there has been a crisis and a commitment: • Foreclosure • Diffusion • Moratorium • Identity achievement

7. Changes in Identity Status with Age SOURCE: From “Issues of identity formation revisited: United States and the Netherlands,” by A. S. Waterman, Development Review (1999, December). Published by Elsevier and reprinted by permission.

8. Characteristics of Marcia’s Four Modes of Identity Formation

9. Identity Formation, Culture, and Context • Collectivist society places more emphasis on interdependence than on autonomy • The four modes of identity are found in most cultures, but the timing of emergence and gender difference differs according to culture • The process of identity formation may be affected by the culture as well, with teens who are “different” having a greater challenge (e.g., gays or lesbians)

10. Family Dynamics • Successful parents support their children but allow their independence • Family conflict during adolescence is common • Families are more successful if they work together while maintaining appropriate boundaries • Adolescents with authoritarian parents may be more dependent, anxious, defiant, and/or resentful; those with permissive parents may have difficulty setting boundaries • Authoritative parenting is best as it fosters warmth and control with good communication

11. Family Dynamics • Parental roles with their teens differ • Mothers know more about adolescents’ activities than do fathers • Mothers exert a stronger influence than fathers on both parent-child acceptance and conflict • Adolescents influenced by parents’ conflict resolution style • Parental monitoring of teens cannot be successful without open communication and adolescents’ willingness to disclose details of their lives

12. Peer Relationships • Peers are of paramount importance in adolescence • Through social comparison, teens define themselves • Teens turn to their close friends more than to their family for advice and sharing feelings and concerns

13. Percentage of Teens Seeking Advice from Peers on Specific Issues

14. Percentage of Teens Seeking Advice from Peers on Specific Issues (continued)

15. Peer Relationships • Cliques • 3 to 9 member cohesive peer groups • Crowds • 15 to 30 members • 20% of teens are loners, belonging to no identifiable group • Dating: teens select dates who are similar to themselves in social class, values, and academic ambitions • Boys more interested in sexual intimacy, girls in emotional intimacy • Same-sex dating follows general patterns of opposite-sex dating

16. Functions of Dating

17. Peers and Parents • A Clash of cultures can occur in immigrant families or when teens associate with peers whose values and world views are dramatically different from their parents • Gay and lesbian teens may experience difficulty when parents hold negative views about same-sex relationships

18. Risk and Resilience in Adolescence • Adolescence is characterized by risk-taking behaviors • Behaviors result from multiple causes • One reason is that brain areas devoted to higher-order thinking are still developing • Teens may feel invulnerable, pursuant to their personal fables • Perhaps the most common of high-risk behaviors in adolescence is alcohol and drug use

19. Drug Use by Age, 2007 SOURCE: From Results of the 2007 National Survey on Drug Abuse and Health,” by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 2008, SMA 03-3774. Rockville, MD: Author.

20. Alcohol Use by Age, 2007 SOURCE: From Results of the 2007 National Survey on Drug Abuse and Health,” by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 2008, SMA 03-3774. Rockville, MD: Author.

21. Teen Drug Use Over the Past 32 Years SOURCE: From Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975–2007, by National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2008. City, ST. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

22. Alcohol and Cigarettes • Alcohol and tobacco are the most commonly used drugs among teens • Tobacco use has declined since the 1970s, but more than half of high school seniors have tried smoking • Nicotine is highly addictive and light use often develops into a serious habit • By early adolescence more than half of U.S. teenagers have tried alcohol • Alcohol consumption varies according to age, ethnicity, religion, locality, and gender

23. Video Clip Clip from Real Life Teens showing teens talking about their views on drugs and alcohol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fngTyXMh2bk

24. Other Illegal Drugs • Marijuana: • After alcohol and tobacco, marijuana is the most widely used drug in adolescence • Use rose in the 1970s, declined, then rose moderately in the 1990s • Recent brain imaging research shows that regular use is more damaging than previously thought

25. Other Illegal Drugs • The use of most hard-core drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and LSD is relatively low • “designer” drugs and methamphetamine have both peaked in use more recently

26. Average Age at First Use for Specific Illicit Drugs (2007) SOURCE: From Results of the 2007 National Survey on Drug Abuse and Health,” by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 2008, SMA 03-3774. Rockville, MD: Author.

27. Delinquency • Delinquents: Adolescents under age 16 or 18 who commit crimes • Delinquent behavior linked to: • living in disadvantaged or stressful conditions • being impulsive or engaging in other problem behavior • belonging to deviant peer groups • media modeling of violence

28. Sexual Abuse of Adolescents • One survey showed that 11.3% of female and 4.5% of male high school students had been forced to have sexual intercourse • Sexually abused girls often feel depressed and ashamed, but are powerless to avoid the abuse • The most common form of sexual abuse for girls is that by an adult male friend or family member; for boys is by a male non-family member • Sexual abuse can have long-term negative effects on identity formation and healthy adult development

29. Video Clip News clip: “Teen Sex Can Brand You Sex Offender for the Rest Of Your Life”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_nkOKut80o

30. Stress, Depression, and Coping • As many as 20% of college students report having been depressed as teens • Girls are twice as likely to be depressed than are boys • Depression is related to: • brain chemistry • genetic links • psychological and social variables

31. Major Depressive Episode in the Past Year (2007) SOURCE: From Results of the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings, by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 2008.

32. Suicide • Suicide linked to: • long-standing personal or family problems • excessive pressure and responsibility • belief that future goals are unattainable • Crisis intervention services, telephone hotlines, and educational programs exist to prevent suicide

33. Risk Factors Associated with Adolescent Suicide

34. Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Psychological Problems • Risk factors for psychological problems are cumulative and include: • teenage sexual activity • abuse of alcohol and other drugs • antisocial behavior • poor school performance • Protective Factors – resilient teens have: • more positive personal qualities and more positive coping mechanisms • more supportive and functional families, and tend to live in neighborhoods with good schools and organizations

35. Selected Characteristics Associated with High-Risk Behavior SOURCE: Adapted from “Positive behaviors, problem behaviors, and resiliency in adolescence,” by D. F. Perkins and L. M. Borden, 2003. In R. Lerner, M. A. Easterbrooks, and J. Mistry (Eds.), Handbook of psychology: Vol. 6. Developmental psychology. New York: Wiley.

36. Selected Characteristics of Resilient Children and Adolescents SOURCE: Adapted from “Positive behaviors, problem behaviors, and resiliency in adolescence,” by D. F. Perkins and L. M. Borden, 2003. In R. Lerner, M. A. Easterbrooks, and J. Mistry (Eds.), Handbook of psychology: Vol. 6. Developmental psychology. New York: Wiley.

37. How to Support Positive Adolescent Development • support and strengthen families • provide teens with opportunities to succeed • encourage teens to help others • teach teens positive coping skills

38. Summary • Personality and social development characterized by two developmental tasks: achieving autonomy & independence and forming an identity • Adolescents must learn to make their own judgments and control their own behavior • Successful parents encourage teens toward self- regulation and interdependent relationships • For Erikson, the critical task of this stage was identity versus identity confusion, often involving an identity crisis • Identity formation is more difficult when individuals belong to groups outside the majority culture

39. Summary • Successful parents support teens but allow them independence—maintaining communication helps reduce conflict • Social comparison with others is a way teens define themselves • Peers become more important than parents in terms or advice and lifestyle issues • Peer groups contribute greatly to identity formation • Adolescent development is more difficult when peer and family values are different

40. Summary • Adolescence is often characterized by risk-taking behaviors • Alcohol and tobacco are the most commonly used drugs during adolescence • Adolescents may display delinquent behavior • Depression and stress are commonly reported by adolescents, and suicide is the third-leading cause of death at this age • Adolescents need maximum support in order to learn to cope with the risks associated with this development period