ADOLESCENCE PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT adolescence: the transition b/t childhood and adulthood usually lasts about puberty: a flood of biological events leading to an adult-sized body and sexual maturity --avg age of beginning puberty is --girls usually begin puberty before boys, about before --body fat influences when puberty begins; those w/ more body fat will begin sooner than those who are tall and thin --can take about 4 years to go through --if girls mature too early, may have ; many will try to hide it --late-maturing girls: --boys who mature later tend to not be as stressed; esp. likely to succeed in school, go on to college, and succeed in their careers --early-maturing boys: Hormonal Changes and Sexual Maturation primary sex characteristics: involve the reproductive organs (girls-ovaries, uterus, and vagina; boys-penis, scrotum, and testes) secondary sex characteristics: visual changes on the outside of the body that show sexual maturity boys: testes and penis enlarge to adult size by 16 --facial, underarm, pubic and other body hair --voice deepens --muscle mass increases --testosterone levels increase 18xs --spermarche: first ejaculation of live sperm; avg age is 13 ½ girls: breasts develop (fully developed avg 14) --body fat increases to prepare for pregnancy --underarm and pubic hair --estrogen levels increase 8xs --menarche: beginning of menstrual cycle (avg. age is 12) some girls will have a menstrual cycle without an ovum being released for 12-18 mos. after first menstrual cycle; not always Body Growth growth spurt: rapid gain in height and weight --girls begin around 10 and boys around 12 --become all legs and arms, and feet --at the beginning of adolescence, girls are taller and heavier but not by 14 --girls reach adult body size about , boys about --add 10-11 inches in height and 50-75 lbs during adolescence HEALTH ISSUES Sexual Activity sexually transmitted infection (STI): an infection spread by sexual contact sexually active teens have higher rates of STIs like 1:6 contracts one of these diseases a year younger people are less likely to use protection and are less likely to report having an STD AIDS is also a problem, with 1/5 of the U.S. cases being young people b/t the ages of 20 and 29; because of the amt of time it takes for the virus to emerge, most cases began in adolescence Pregnancy: about 900,000 teenage girls become pregnant in the US every year; 30,000 of them are younger than 15 1:5 births to adolescents are repeat births girls who have sex within a year or two after menarche are more likely to suffer from many complications of pregnancy and birth, including this is all because her body is not fully mature yet can expect these complications more if she is under 16 early pregnancy affects the likelihood of girl finishing high school; reduces academic achievement by about 3 years teen mothers also are less likely Substance Use and Abuse by 10th grade, of young people have tried cigarettes, and at least one illegal drug (mainly marijuana) drinking, by the end of high school, smoke cigarettes regularly, can be considered heavy drinkers and have experimented with illegal drugs those who smoke tend to be waited until fully grown than if they had many adolescents who drink or smoke are just experimenting, possibly b/c their friends are doing it; some also do it to cope with stress a small percentage of adolescents will eventually abuse the drugs, so will become physically and psychologically addicted to the drugs COGNITIVE DVLPT reasoning is expanding and understanding is no longer concrete as in concrete operational stage begin to think hypothetically hypothetical thought: thought and reasoning that includes problem solving that may not include reality so able to think in an abstract and scientific way EX: “If dogs are bigger than elephants, and elephants are bigger than mice, then dogs are bigger than mice.” since this is hypothetical, a child would automatically say that elephants are bigger than dogs b/c their thinking is concrete unfortunately some individuals don’t reach the formal operational stage where they use hypothetical thought one reason is b/c they tend to stick with also the thinking is limited to situations in which they have so if the opportunity is not there, hypothetical thought is not developed adolescents also begin to develop a new form of egocentrism where they have difficulty distinguishing their own and other people’s perspectives; they concentrate on themselves a lot more imaginary audience: they believe they are the focus of everyone’s attention and everyone is concerned with them become extremely self-conscious and do just about anything to avoid embarrassment EX: personal fable: think they’re unique, special, and invincible no one can possibly understand what they are going thru b/c their situation is different EX: Learning in School and Academic Achievement are transitioning into middle school or junior high school stressful for many of them coming from elementary where not much is expected of them, not a lot of changing classrooms and many different teachers to just about being on their own in school grades tend to decline, don’t get personal attention as before, view teachers to be less friendly and don’t grade fairly Those that have high academic achievement: authoritative parenting with parents being more involved in their education, parents also allow them to make more decisions peers are supportive of high achievement school characteristics: teachers are warm and supportive, interact with parents; are encouraged and challenged to think on a higher level Drop outs: approx of young Americans don’t get their high school diploma many of those may become employed but usually factors: PSYCHOSOCIAL DVLPT The Self and Identity identity: how you consistently define yourself adolescents experiment with different ways to define themselves, trying to not depend entirely upon their characteristics they defined in themselves as a child they keep some of these characteristics, but add others to eventually define who they are; includes different Change in self-concept: begin to identify themselves based on how they are in different situations so at times may seem conflicting; different with also begin to emphasize more social virtues like being friendly, considerate, kind, and cooperative Change in self-esteem: self-esteem usually declines during but typically rises after that; begin to feel good about their achievements and their friendships false self: acting differently from how they really are; may do it to may feel that their real self will be rejected b/c no one likes it may try to please parents or conform to how friends are may want to see what it would be like to be different gender identity: how society defines male or female roles and behavior Problems with Development Depression: --feel sad, frustrated, hopeless about life, lose pleasure in normal activities, disturbed sleep, appetite, concentration, and energy --most common psychological problem of adolescence -of teens have had one or more major depressive episode -suffer from chronic depression (a few months to yrs) --girls than boys --heredity and traumatic events are factors (failing at something, parental divorce, end of close friendship or romantic relationship) Suicide: --rates increase sharply during adolescence -leading cause of death among young Americans --boys outnumber girls by --factors: --gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents are more likely to attempt suicide, more likely than other adolescents; possibly b/c of conflict within family and inner turmoil and peer rejection Delinquency and Rebellion: --about 17% of arrests in U.S. are adolescents --most are minor offenses like disorderly conduct and petty theft --many don’t commit to a life of crime Family and Friends Relationship with parents: generation gap: the distance b/t generations in values, behaviors, and knowledge, marked by a mutual lack of understanding conflict is higher in and begins to decrease by 17 or 18, possibly b/c in early adolescence, their identity isn’t fully formed and may go through identity confusion; by 17 or 18, identity is formed and can even somewhat identify with parents in certain ways Friends and Dating: --friends are extremely important, esp when forming identity --look more for from friends, same --girls have more , so “just talk” and self-disclose, where they share innermost thoughts and feelings --boys are more —sports or competitive games --in early adolescence, dating relationships don’t last long, but by 16 the relationships can last for on average --look for --typically are over by the time they are out of high school b/c realize their differences b/c identity is just about complete