BOSTON COLLEGE WORLD-WIDE WEBINARS:
Navigating the Tween Years
Jacqueline V Lerner, Ph.D.
Boston College Lynch School of Education
Department of Applied Developmental Psychology
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OUTLINE
• Tweens and the transition to the adolescent period
• Perspectives on the adolescent transition- what research
says
• What is changing, what to expect
• Building strengths to reduce challenges
• How to parent, communicate during this time
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What are the tweens?
• The years between childhood and
adolescence (also considered early
adolescence)
• Transition to adolescence (adolescence is
typically thought of as the second decade of
life)
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Periods within Adolescence:
•
•
•
•
Early adolescence (10-13 yrs. Old)* (TWEENS)
Middle adolescence (14-17 yrs. old)
Late adolescence (18-21 yrs. old)
Periods roughly correspond to groupings in
educational settings (i.e., early adolescence
corresponds with junior high/middle school)
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What We THOUGHT We Knew About
Adolescence
•
G. Stanley Hall (1904), of Clark
University, founded the study of
adolescence.
•
Hall defined adolescence as a period of
universal and inevitable, biologicallybased “storm and stress.”
•
Therefore, according to Hall, Anna
Freud, and Erik Erikson, adolescence
was a period of crisis and disturbance.
•
These ideas resulted in the view that
adolescents were "broken" or in
danger of becoming "broken.”
•
For almost all of the 20th century most
research about adolescence was based
on this DEFICIT conception of young
people.
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Research Contradicts the Stereotypes of
the Teenage Years
• Most young people do NOT have a stormy
adolescent period.
• Although adolescents spend increasingly
more time with peers than with parents,
most adolescents still value their
relationships with parents enormously.
• Most adolescents have core values that are
consistent with those of their parents.
– (e.g., about the importance of education in
one’s life, about social justice, and about
spirituality)
• Most adolescents select friends who share
these core values.
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The Deficit Model is Debunked!
As early as the 1960s, research began to show that
the deficit model was NOT in fact true:
•There are problems that occur during adolescence. BUT
there are problems that occur in infancy, childhood, and
adulthood as well.
•All age periods have challenges, and the fact that there
are life problems in the teenage years does not in and of
itself make it an especially challenging period.
•Adolescents who do have an especially stormy decade
also tend to have had a problematic childhood as well.
•The stereotypes of adolescent problems evaporate in the
light of actual research.
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The Positive Youth Development (PYD)
Perspective
• How do we keep children on a positive path through
adolescence?
• What constitutes positive development?
• How does it develop?
• Theory and research came together in the early
2000’s
• We defined, measured, and conducted a 10 year
study to see how it develops (we studied 7000 youth in 43 states for
10 years)
.
Competence
Connection
Confidence
PYD
Caring
Character
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Competence
Contribution
Individual
Strengths
Connection
Confidence
PYD
Ecological
Assets
Caring
Character
Reduced Risk
Behavior
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• Intentional self regulation (ISR)- setting goals,
garnering resources to get to the goal
• Hope for the future- youth see themselves in a
future that is successful and satisfying
• Behavioral, Emotional, and Cognitive School
Engagement
• All of these strengths are associated with higher
PYD, lower Risk and higher Contribution
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• Key Ecological Assets Promoting PYD are:
1. Individuals, such as mentors, family members, and
teachers
1. Physical and institutional resources, such as parks,
schools and community-based youth development
programs
1. Youth engagement with people and institutions
1. The accessibility of people and institutions
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So what specifically are the tweens
going to be transitioning into?
And how can parents and other
adults support them?
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Changes in Adolescence:
• Biological Transitions
– Puberty
• Cognitive/Brain Transitions
– Emergence of abstract thought
• Social and Psychosocial Transitions
– Changes in social status (peer groups; privileges,
driving, etc.)
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Major Psychosocial Developments:
– Identity
– Autonomy
– Intimacy
– Sexuality
– Achievement
– Psychosocial Challenges
– Relationships (family and peers)
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Physical changes
(Puberty)
• Physical maturation can sometimes influence
the degree to which youth experience
challenges in adolescence.
• Starting to mature earlier or later than peers
can cause social awkwardness.
• And puberty, in general, can create some
discomfort in relationships between parents
and children.
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Effects of Timing of Puberty
•
•
•
Early-maturing boys tend to be more popular, to have more positive selfconceptions, and to be more self-assured than their later-maturing peers, but are
also more likely to get involved in antisocial activities. Late-maturing boys show
higher levels of intellectual curiosity and have better coping skills long-term.
Early-maturing girls may feel awkward and self-conscious due to the emphasis on
thinness in our culture, but this is dependent on context (are her peers also earlymaturing or does she stand out?)
What can parents do? Monitor the peer group, help girls recognize strengths and
positive features, help them in preparing for puberty.
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Cognitive/brain changes
• New areas of development begin to grow
extremely fast from around the age of 12
years (although they won’t finish their
development spurt until around age 23).
• These developments mean that by around age
15-16, most teens can use logic and reason
(and abstraction) at an adult level.
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What do brain changes mean?
• The part of the brain responsible for forward planning
and thinking about the future requires more
development.
• Teens understand the logic behind why something
should or should not be done, but their ability to think
through the consequences for their own lives seems
limited.
• And the peer group is more important to them than a
good decision!(Driving with many passengers increases accidents)
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Personality changes- IDENTITY
• During adolescence, youth start to develop a sense
of who they really are. (abstract thought allows for this!)
• Psychologists have called this an ‘identity crisis’ (it’s
not a bad crisis – although it can create some
discomfort). (youth can handle it! Teens in our study reported that they loved being
able to think about all the things they could be!)
• Teens have to determine who they want to be, their
life philosophy and morality, the way they will display
their gender, their sexuality, their politics, their social
stances, a career identity, and so on.
• WHAT ABOUT THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA?
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Social Media and Identity
• 94% of teen social media users have Facebook Average age
of joining: 13-14
• Recent research suggests the age of first adoption may be
declining.
Potential for positive and negative experiences
• Teens describe it as “stressful” and “helpful.”
• How can it be both?
(feeling connected, getting positive and negative feedback,
heightened social comparison, bullying)
 (a 16 year old in our study told us she had 3 breakups over Facebook!)
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Social changes: What to expect
• While there are many, many social changes for teens, the
most substantial is the progression towards becoming
independent from parents- this is called autonomy
• Teens still value their relationships with their parents and
actually hold core values in line with their parents. They
are more susceptible to peer pressure for more daily
aspects like dress, music, leisure activities, etc.
(teens report finding comfort in knowing they can go to parents for advice and support, they
do not want to break away entirely, they just want to become their own person!)
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AUTONOMY
BEHAVIORAL, COGNITIVE, and EMOTIONAL
• Research suggests that teenagers want to do most things
about two years earlier than their parents think is
appropriate.
– Emotional components (feeling separate from
parents)
– Behavioral components (the growth of independent
decision making)
– Cognitive components (developing personal beliefs
and values)
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Promoting Autonomy
• Maintain appropriate limits, while slowly releasing the reins
and allowing youth the freedom they need to develop
positively. If limits need to be set, work together on solutions,
rather than dictating.
• Most teens want to have close relationships with parents. Use
your relationship to help them understand your concerns.
(teens in my study report that they would like to spend more time with their
parents so don’t be afraid to ask them!)
• Allow your teen some leeway. If they make mistakes, be a safe
place for them to come home to.
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Promote strengths
• Be flexible, be patient, be compassionate, be there.
• Monitor activities, friends, and choices without
smothering.
• Support their goal-setting, help with planning and
resources.
• Help them visualize their future – with their goals in
mind.
• Do what you can to help them stay engaged in
school.
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STEINBERG’s 10 Basic Principle of
Good Parenting
1. What you do matters
2. You cannot be too loving
3. Be involved in your child’s life
4. Adapt your parenting to fit your child
5. Establish rules and set limits
6. Help foster your child’s independence
7. Be consistent
8. Avoid Harsh Discipline
9. Explain your rules and decisions
10. Treat your child with respect
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Resources
• Steinberg, L. (2005) The 10 basic principles of
good parenting. New York: Simon and
Schuster.
• Lerner, R. (2007) The Good Teen. Rescuing
Adolescence from the Myths of the Storm and
Stress Years. New York, NY: Stonesong Press.
• http://www.webmd.com/children/tc/growthand-development-ages-11-to-14-yearsoverview
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THANK YOU!
QUESTIONS???
lernerj@bc.edu
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