Early Adolescence (12 to 18 years)
Learning Objectives
1. Describe the patterns of physical maturation
during puberty for female and male
adolescents, and analyze the impact of early
and late maturing on self-concept and social
relationships.
Learning Objectives
2. Summarize the development of romantic and
sexual relationships, and evaluate the factors
that influence the transition to coitus, the
formation of a sexual orientation, and
pregnancy and parenthood in early
adolescence.
Learning Objectives
3. Identify the basic features of formal
operational thought, and explain the factors
that promote the development of advanced
reasoning at this period of life.
4. Examine patterns of emotional development
in early adolescence, and describe the nature
of emotional expression in three problem
areas: eating disorders, delinquency, and
depression.
Learning Objectives
5. Analyze the nature of peer relations in early
adolescence, especially the formation of
cliques and crowds, and contrast the typical
relationships with parents and peers during
this stage.
Learning Objectives
6. Explain the psychosocial crisis of group
identity versus alienation, the central process
through which the crisis is resolved, peer
pressure, the prime adaptive ego quality of
fidelity to others, and the core pathology of
isolation.
Learning Objectives
7. Apply your understanding of developmental
issues of early adolescence to an analysis of
factors that account for patterns of
adolescent alcohol and drug use.
Case Study – Balancing Autonomy and
Closeness in Early Adolescence
• Reflections
– What are some typical tensions for adolescents in
the United States today?
– How might Evelyn’s ethnic and social class
identities influence her pathway through
adolescence?
– Do you think Evelyn’s goals will change in the next
five years? Why or why not?
Developmental Tasks – Physical
Maturation
• Early adolescence - onset of puberty until
roughly age 18
– Rapid physical changes
– Cognitive and emotional maturation
– Energized sexual interests
– Sensitivity to peer relations
• Later adolescence – age 18 until 24
– Autonomy from family
– Personal identity develops
Developmental Tasks – Physical
Maturation
• Puberty
– Neurological and endocrinological changes
influence brain development
– Changes in sexual maturation, hormone
production, and physical growth
• Variation in onset
– Adrenal glands mature at 8 or 9
– Growth in height – up until late 20s
• Rites of passage mark transitions
Primary and Secondary Sex
Characteristics for Boys and Girls
Physical Maturation: Physical Changes
in Girls
• Early puberty – speculated causes
– Obesity
– Hormones in meat
– Increased use of environmental insecticides
– Absence of fathers in household
– Exposure to sexual stimulation in media
• Earliest signs of puberty – 8 or 9
– Breast buds and pubic hair
• Onset of menarche - average age is 12
Physical Maturation: Physical Changes
in Girls
• Concerns about obesity
– Body dissatisfaction
• Related to social pressures to be thin and erroneous
body image
• Contributes to eating disorders
• Reactions to breast development and
menarche
– Breast development is usually welcome
– Onset of menarche – positive and negative
feelings
Physical Maturation: Physical Changes
in Girls
• Obesity is related to activity level
– For girls, one of the compounding factors in
obesity is that they tend to reduce their activity
level with age (Finne, Bucksch, & Lampert, 2011)
– Increasing physical activity might address issues of
obesity, but often girls fear displaying themselves
in a way that highlights their obesity
• How can we bridge these seeming
contradictions?
Physical Maturation: Physical Changes
in Boys
• Increased height, muscle mass, and physical
skills are a welcome transition
• Ambivalence toward rapid growth and
awkwardness
– Body image dissatisfaction
• Spermarche – median age is 14
– First spontaneous ejaculation can be source of
anxiety
– Secondary sex characteristics – facial/body hair
Physical Maturation: Other Factors
• How does cultural context affect reactions to
puberty?
• Secular growth trend
– Influenced by changing environment
– Earlier age of menarche and spermarche
• The age at onset of puberty and the rate of
change in physical maturation vary
– Early and late maturing have psychological and
social consequences for both boys and girls
Romantic and Sexual Relationships
• Gradual transition into sexualized
relationships
– Dating – initial context for much sexual activity
– Friendships with opposite sex – paradigm for
future role
– Sexual experience in non-committed relationships
– “hooking up”
– First intercourse
• Recent trend toward delay
• Boys sexually active at younger age
Romantic and Sexual Relationships
• Dating scripts are highly dependent on peer
and community norms
• Religious beliefs affect early sexual behavior
• First intercourse may take place in several
different contexts
• Sexual orientation
– Decision to claim a sexual minority orientation is
influenced by self-labeling and disclosure
A Model of the Transition to First
Coitus in Early Adolescence
Problems and Conflicts Associated
with Sexuality
• Dating violence
• Inconsistent contraception
• Sexually transmitted infections
– About 25% of sexually active teens contract a
sexually transmitted disease each year
– Teens are especially at risk for chlamydia, genital
herpes, and gonorrhea
Problems and Conflicts Associated
with Sexuality
• Adolescent pregnancy
– Predictors
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Low parental education
Low grades in school
Single parent household
Low resource households
– Consequences
• Poverty
• Lack of prenatal care can lead to birth complications
Problems and Conflicts Associated
with Sexuality
• Although the focus of studies on adolescent
pregnancy has been on girls, there is growing
interest in early fatherhood
– What are the various ways in which teenage boys
are affected by becoming young fathers?
Formal Operations: Brain
Development in Adolescence
• Major transformations in thought, reasoning,
and problem-solving are accompanied by
brain changes
– Periods of intense production of neurons
– Periods of sculpting and pruning
– Cerebral cortex reaches peak of gray matter
• Piaget theorized a shift from concrete to
formal operational thought
Six Characteristics of Formal
Operational Thought
• The ability to:
– Mentally manipulate more than two categories of
variables simultaneously
– Think about the changes that come with time
– Hypothesize logical sequences of events.
– Foresee consequences of actions
– Detect logical consistency or inconsistency in a set
of statements
– Think in relativistic ways about self, others, and
the world
Factors that Promote Formal
Operational Thought
• Involvement in a variety of relationships that
place both compatible and conflicting
demands on them
• Participation in a more heterogeneous peer
group
• Diverse and complex high school curriculum
with creative applications
Criticism of the Concept of Formal
Operations
• Does formal reasoning follows a qualitative,
stage-like consolidation?
• Is formal reasoning broad enough to
encompass the many dimensions of cognitive
maturation?
• Does formal operational thought represent
the apex or end point of adult thought and
reasoning?
Emotional Development
• Involves:
– Increased emotional complexity
– The interdependence of cognition and emotion
• Leads to the ability to:
– Emphasize with others
– Understand one’s own emotions
– Monitor and manage emotions
– Internalize and externalize emotion
Imbalance Model of Neurobiological
Development
Eating Disorders
• Eating disorders are examples of internalizing
problems
– Anorexia nervosa
– Bulimia
• Certain genetic factors may be involved
• Public health experts are working to create a
more positive acceptance of people with
various body types and shapes
Depression
• Depressed mood: feelings of sadness with loss
of hope
• Depressive syndrome: a constellation of
behaviors and emotions, e.g., sadness,
anxious, fearful, worried, guilty, and worthless
• Major depressive disorder: two weeks of
depressed mood, plus weight change,
insomnia, fatigue, and recurring thoughts of
suicide
Factors Associated with Depression
Genetic factors
Parental Loss/Rejection
Social alienation
Excessive demands
Not enough sleep
Romantic concerns
Decisions about future Loneliness
Academic challenge
Gender Differences in Depression
• Most studies find no differences in depression
between prepubescent boys and girls
• From about age 11 to 15, gender differences
are evident and continue to be evident into
adulthood where depression is more common
in females than males
Delinquency
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Acts for which an adult would be punished
Also acts specific to adolescents – truancy
An example of externalizing problems
Indicates difficulty in controlling impulses
Biological, psychological, and societal risk
factors
– Weapon carrying is a public health safety concern
Membership in the Peer Group
• Peer group membership becomes more
salient in early adolescence
• Dyadic friendships become increasingly
important
• Interactions across classroom boundaries are
more common
Cliques and Crowds
• Cliques: small friendship groups of 5 to 10
• Crowd: large group that is usually recognized
by a few predominant characteristics
• What are some examples of crowds?
• How do clique or crowd affiliation affect
behavior?
Group Boundaries and Norms
• Membership in cliques is relatively stable, but
always vulnerable to change
• Reputational identity can be difficult to lose in
a stable school population
• Membership in an adolescent peer group is a
forerunner of membership in adult social
groups
Parents and Peers
• Relationships grow to include extended family
• Adolescents indicate overt signs of
independence from their families
• Conflict with parents increases during
adolescence
• Quality of home environment and
relationships affect membership in peer
groups
The Psychosocial Crisis: Group Identity
Versus Alienation
• Early adolescents search for group
membership
• Cognitive processes that support group
identity formation
– Group representations
– Group operations
– Reflective thinking about groups
Group Identity
• Four experiences that build group identity
– Categorizing people and recognizing distinguishing
features of group members
– Experiencing a sense of history as a member of a
group
– Emotional investment in the group
– Social evaluation of one’s group and its relation to
other groups
Alienation
• Social estrangement
– Common identity
– Common bond
• Alienation may help young people to reintegrate into a more suitable group
The Central Process: Peer Pressure
• Peer pressure
– A demand for conformity to group norms and a
demonstration of commitment and loyalty
– Often used with a negative connotation
– Can highlight the role of the peer group in the
radius of significant others
• Affiliating with a peer group
• Conflicts between belonging and personal autonomy
The Prime Adaptive Ego Quality and
The Core Pathology
• Fidelity to others: the ability to freely pledge
and sustain loyalties to others, to values and
to ideologies
• Dissociation: a sense of separateness or
withdrawal from others or an inability to
experience the bond of mutual commitment
Applied Topic: Adolescent Alcohol and
Drug Use
• What are the factors associated with alcohol
use?
– Physical
– Cognitive
– Motivation and emotion
– Social context
Your Perspective
• Is alcohol and drug use simply a normal rite of
passage for adolescents?
• If adolescents experiment with alcohol and
drugs early, are they more vulnerable to
serious involvement with these substances as
adults? Why or why not?
• What are the health risks associated with
adolescent drug and alcohol use?