Chapter 11

Physical & Cognitive Development in Adolescence

TEENAGERS (ages 13 and 19/26)Puberty• The physical changes that occur that involve

sexual maturity. Begin approximately 10/11 and ends late teens/early 20’s

• The testes and ovaries enlarge. Secondary sexual characteristics emerge.

• Adrenarche (6-9)- maturing of the adrenal glands, then a few years later, gonadarche- maturing of the sex organs and appearance of obvious pubital changes

• Androgens: DHEA- growth hormone (body hair, faster body growth, oilier skin. Age 10, 10 times more DHEA- at this age, boys/girls recall first sexual attraction

Girls: ovaries produce estrogen, stimulates growth of female genitals and development of breasts. Principle sign of sexual maturity in girls is menarche, the first menstruation (average age 10-16).

 

Boys: testes increase production of androgens, particularly testosterone, which stimulates development of the male genitals, muscle mass, and body hair. Principle sign of sexual maturity is production of sperm, and first ejaculation (spermarche); average age 13, usually nocturnal emission (involuntary ejaculation while sleeping)

Puberty begins: boys: typically 10/11, but some changes begin 9 and 16. girls begin at age 9/10, but for some, age 6 or as late as 13/14.

 

See Table 11-1 (page 400) for body changes

 

Primary sex characteristics: reproduction organs

Females: ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, and vagina

Males: testes, penis, scrotum, seminal vesicles, and prostate gland

Secondary sex characteristics: physiological signs of sexual maturation that do not involve the sex organs. Breasts in females and broad shoulders of males.

 

First sign of puberty for girls is growth of the breasts, nipples enlarging and protrude, the areolae (area around nipples) enlarge and breasts form rounded shape. Some adolescent boys have nipple enlargement due to the distress about puberty; temporary.

Timing of puberty

Some research suggests that relationship with father important. Girls with healthy relationships with father tend to being puberty later; those with parental relationships that have been cold or distant or raised by single mother enter earlier.

 

Possibly pheromones, odorous chemicals given off by males/females to attract mates (male’s sweat and female’s urine) activates the hypothalamus (controls sexual behavior); a natural incest prevention mechanism; inhibits sexual attraction for daughters.

An increase in the adolescent’s growth undergoes a marked acceleration.

 

Height & weight increase dramatically, and body proportion changes.

 

Typically referred to as the Growth Spurt.

The growth spurt lasts about 2 to 3 years and beings in girls about 2 years earlier (age 10) than boys (age 12).

 

This growth spurt may increase the adolescent’s clumsiness.

Average age that menarche begins is less than 13. The secular trend (resulting from improved diet, sanitation, and medical care) significantly decreases the age at which this occurs over the past 100 years or so.

 Strenuous exercise can delay menarche by as

much as 3 to 5 years, on average. Behind each maturational change lies the

development of essential cells within the brain and body.

 Adolescents develop at somewhat different rates.

Seeing peers develop faster may have negative impact on a slower-developing peer.

 Adults may unconsciously expect greater

maturity from a physically advanced adolescent because of appearance which beings to look more adult like than child like.

 Emotional maturity develops more slowly than

physical maturity. Adolescents who develop physically at an early

age may have difficulty living up to the new demands made upon them. This can result in disappointment, doubt, and insecurity.

Boys• Among boys, early maturation can have

advantages.• An appearance of being more mature (facial hair,

deep voice, secondary sexual characteristics) may enhance his status among peers.

• Early maturation can also enhance athletic ability, which also increases status among peers, members of the opposite sex, and adults.

•  Late maturity among boys can be stressful: may be teased, ridiculed, by more physically mature boys.

• May fear they may never develop, which can lead to negative self-image that can continue even after physical maturity has finally been attained.

Girls• Tend to find early maturation more stressful.• Suddenly finding herself more attractive to older

males, she often lacks the emotional maturity to deal with the situations that may result.

• Also given increased status among peers for early development; but again, increased status is markedly less than that enjoyed by boys who mature early.

• May be due to the greater emphasis given to boys to athletic ability. If girl is athletic, she may enjoy greater peer status and less stress about it.

Girls• Girls who mature late may share same

problems as the boys. May fear they will remain flat chested or that boys won’t like them, and if boys don’t like them they may be left out of activities considered important by peers.

• Such physically immature girls tend to be less socially mature on personality tests.

• Girls who mature late may have an advantage, generally becoming taller and slimmer as adults than those who mature early.

The Adolescent Brain• Dramatic changes in brains structures: emotions,

judgment, organization of behavior, and self-control. Emotional outbursts occur during this transition.

• The growth of the gray matter- neurons, axons, dendrites begin, primarily in frontal lobes. This impacts planning, reasoning, judgment, emotional regulation, and impulse control

• Unused connections are pruned; others strengthened.

• Between 6-13, connections between temporal and parietal lobes strengthen (sensory functions, language, spatial understanding). White matter drops off as the critical period for learning ends.

Frontal lobes last to mature.

Two Major Brain Changes

• Growth Spurt– Chiefly in frontal lobes– Reasoning, judgment, and impulse

control

• Gray Matter Growth– Continued myelination– Facilitates maturation of cognitive

abilities

Processing of Emotions

Early teens (11-13) tend to use the amygdala, (deep in temporal lobe- involved with emotional and instinctual reactions). This allows emotion to override reason (risk taking behavior).

 

Older teens use frontal lobe (like adults)- permitting accurate and reasoned judgments.

 

Physical Activity & Mental Health

Social economic status, poverty, and chronic stress can directly impact development.

Physical activityImpacts both physical and mental healthImproves endurance and strength, build healthy bones,

control weight, reduces anxiety and stress, increases self-confidence and well-being.

Sleep needsImportant to get necessary sleep- approximately 8-10

hours.NutritionMalnourished adolescents may suffer from delayed

puberty and poor physical growth.They are more prone to consume inordinate amounts of

carbohydrates or junk food and to engage in fad diets.

Obesity • Results when the number of calories ingested is

greater than the number used by the body. It is to a large extent determined by inheritance.

• May inherit different numbers of fat cells, and the number they inherit determines, in part, how well their bodies will store fat.

• May have faulty regulation of metabolism (genetics versus willpower); inability to recognize body cues of hunger or satiation, development of large number of fat cells.

• Children with over weight parents or obesity in their families may be better able to store excessive fat than other children.

During adolescence, obesity can present severe problems:

• Preoccupation with self- image• Social isolation• Social isolation may be self-imposed out of fear of

ridicule• Teased about their weight• May eat more to comfort, which continues the cycle.• Functional limitations (not attending school,

household chores)• Not exercising• Decreased personal care • Medical problems (diabetes, heart disease, high BP)

Body Image & Eating DisordersBody image- how one believes they look (middle

childhood, intensifies in teens) Anorexia Nervosa• Overly concerned with being fat.• Overly concerned with body image• Continues to believe that they are too fat• Often “good students”, model children• Genetic: gene that leads to decreased feeding signals

(crucial chemical missing, disturbance of hypothalamus, or high levels of opiate like substances in spinal fluid)

• Some view it as fear of growing-up, fear of sexuality, reaction to dysfunctional family

• Both deliberate and nonvolitional• Characterized by progressive and/or significant

weight loss, alternate binge eating and dieting with avoidance of any fattening foods, amenorrhea, hyperactivity and compulsive exercising patterns, and preoccupation with food and nutrition.

• They will typically eat great amount of food to satisfy their hunger. Then they induce vomiting to address their fear of gaining weight. In severe cases, death from starvation occurs.

Bulimia• Binge eating and inappropriate compensatory

methods to prevent weight gain.• Binge: eating in a discrete amount of time an

inordinate/excessive amount of food (usually sweets).• May use vomiting, laxatives, fasting, exercise,

enemas.• Overwhelmed with shame, self-contempt, depression,

over eating habits and body.• Possibly related to decreased levels of serotonin,

related to depression, phobias, panic disorder.

• Some have both anorexia and bulimia.

Drug Use & AbuseSubstance abuse: harmful use of alcohol or drugs ;

continues to use despite consequences or while engaged in hazardous activity.

Substance dependence: addiction; physiological, psychological, or both.

 • Drug use and abuse is very prevalent with

adolescents.• Between 1992-1997, the number of high school

seniors who smoked jumped from 17-25%• Approximately 9% of 8th graders and 16% of 10th

graders reported smoking on a daily basis.

• Approximately 15% of 8th graders; 31% of 10th graders; 38% 12th graders reported using illicit drugs.

• Between 1992-1998: high school seniors who smoked marijuana rose from 12-23%

• 17% of high school students have tried amphetamines and 14% hallucinogens, and 10% cocaine (2000)

• 2004: 37% of 8th graders; 58% of 10th graders; and 71% of 12th graders- using alcohol

• 2004: 12% of 8th graders; 28% of 10th graders; and 34% of 12th graders- using marijuana

• Drugs/alcohol provide an element of excitement and dare.

• Some peer groups require this in order to fit in/finding acceptance by the group.

• This is demonstrated by a comprehensive knowledge of street drugs and their effects or by using drugs.

• Selling drugs is a quick way to be admired and to make money.

• Tobacco, marijuana, alcohol, heroine, crack, cocaine, methamphetamine.

• If parents and older siblings did NOT smoke, significantly less chance the adolescent will do so.

• If their friends smoke, more likely to smoke.• One of the most predictor of continued smoking by

teens was their own statement that they believed they would still be smoking in five years.

Risk factors for drug abuse• Difficult temperament• Poor impulse control/sensation seeking (biological or

behavioral)• Family influences• Early/persistent problem behaviors, especially

aggression• Academic failure/lacks commitment to education• Peer rejection• Peer association with drugs• Alienation and rebelliousness• Positive attitudes about drugs• Early initiation into drug use

The earlier they begin, more likely to persist. One drug usually leads to more experimentation.

 Alcohol• Potent, major effects on physical, emotional, social

well-being

• Teens (approximately before age 15) are 5 times more likely to development problems with alcohol than those beginning use at age 21.

• Immediate and long-term effects on memory; physical complications;

Marijuana

It is highly addictive; tends to lead to other drug use.

 

Engage in more risky behavior when using

 

Early use of alcohol and marijuana associated with multiple risk taking behavior

Depression

• difficulty or inability to concentrate

• feelings of hopelessness

• weight disturbances

• sleep disturbances

• inactivity or overactivity

• lack of motivation

• low energy or fatigue

• inability to have fun

• thoughts of death or suicide

About 25% of adolescents experience depression.

About 4% severely depressed

 

Adolescent and early maturing girls, and adult women, more prone to depression than males. Possibly related to biological changes in puberty; the way girls are socialized; or due to greater vulnerability to stress in social relationships.

Risk factors:

• Female gender

• Anxiety

• Fear of social contact

• Stressful life events

• Chronic illnesses

• Parent-child conflict

• Abuse or neglect

• Parental history of depression

• Body image/eating disturbance

Deaths from motor vehicle accidents/firearms• Leading cause of teens: car accidents; 2/5 deaths

in adolescence• Collision greatest for 16-19 year olds• Those who recently began driving• Tend to drive more recklessly• 29% (ages15-20)- drinking• 77%- not wearing seat belts

• Firearms: 1/3 of all injury deaths/85% of all homicides for ages 15-19.

• 43% of guns in the home more likely to kill family member/acquaintance than self-defense

Suicide

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among adolescents. Suicide rates for 15 – 24 year olds has significantly risen. Ages 15-19- third leading cause of death

• 25% of female adolescents and 14% of male adolescents in grades 9-12 had seriously considered attempting suicide

• 65% of college students experienced suicidal ideation and a plan at some point in their lives.

• 25% of adolescents indicated that if they were to commit suicide, they would do so with an automobile (1975); an interesting finding considering the number of adolescents who are killed in automobile accidents; perhaps many accidents are really suicide attempts.

• Females are more likely to attempt suicide than males, but males are 3 times more likely to actually kill themselves. Males use more lethal methods; women use less violent methods and as a result are more likely to be rescued.

• Suicide is the act of causing one’s own death. Suicide may be active or passive and it may the direct or indirect. Suicide is an active act when one takes one’s own life.

• Suicide is a passive act when one does not do what is necessary to escape death such as leaving a burning building.

• Suicide is direct when one has the intention of causing one’s own death, whether as an end to be attained or as a means to another end. E.g., when a person kills themselves to escape or avoid condemnation, disgrace, ruin, prison.

• Suicide is indirect (not usually called suicide) when one does not desire it as an end or a means, but when one nevertheless commits an act which courts death (e.g., tending to someone with a contagious, deadly disease and not caring or taking safeguards to prevent contamination.

Self-Injurious Behavior• This is often referred to as “deliberate self-harm”,

“self-mutilation”, or “cutting”. Self-injurious behavior typically refers to a variety of behaviors in which an individual purposefully inflicts harm to their body for purposes not socially recognized or sanctioned and without suicidal intent.

• Self-injurious behavior can include intentional carving or cutting of the skin, scratching, burning, ripping or pulling skin or hair, swallowing toxic substances or objects, and breaking bones.

Self-Injurious Behavior

• A person who truly attempts suicide seeks to end all feelings and suffering. A person who self-mutilates seeks to feel better, experience feelings, or to vent.

• Foreign body ingestions are usually manipulative in nature. These are rarely compulsive, impulsive, or factious in nature.

Warning Signs of Potential Suicide by Adolescents

Failure to achieve in school (a sign that should be especially heeded in students who have superior or better-than-average ability). Missing school for long periods of time.

Only about 11% of adolescents who committed suicide because of perceived school failure were actually in academic difficulty.

Warning Signs of Potential Suicide by Adolescents• History of substance abuse, conduct problems, or

affective disorders.• Poor coping skills and deficits in interpersonal

relationships.• Emotional illnesses• Victim/perpetrator of violence• Depression• Poor impulse control• Withdrawal from social relationships. They often feel

unwanted by their families or parents. Rejection by teachers and peers can also contribute to social withdrawal.

Warning Signs of Potential Suicide by Adolescents• Family turmoil and instability or abuse.• History of sexual abuse. • A humiliating or shameful event (e.g., arrest, break-

up of romantic relationship, or school or work failure).

• Termination or failure of a sexual relationship. Many adolescents fearful of venturing in to sexual relationships become overly attached to the one boyfriend/girlfriend with whom they feel comfortable. This may be a much less significant risk factor than once thought.

Warning Signs of Potential Suicide by Adolescents• Academic or school problems • Access to firearms or other lethal weapons.• Exposure to suicidal behavior. • Previous attempts• Feelings of being a failure, depressed, or

preoccupation with death.• Any attempted suicide, regardless of how mild or

jokes about suicide, must be taken serious. Almost every adolescent who committed suicide gave an indication at one time or another that suicide was on their mind.

Protective factors

• Sense of connectedness with family and school and peers

• Emotional well-being

• Academic achievement

Cognitive development

Piaget- Formal-Operational Stage (11+ years) (The reflective child):

Children develop abstract systems of thought that allow them to use prepositional logic, scientific reasoning, and proportional reasoning.

Hypothetical & Deductive Reasoning• Hypothetical problems can be solved, complex

deductions made, and advanced hypothesis testing becomes possible. Acquire ability to make complex deductions, analyze ways of reasoning, and solve problems by systematically testing hypothetical solutions.

• Can analyze the validity of different ways of reasoning (the foundation of science). Can develop experiments to test hypothesis. Reflective thinking.

• How this occurs: combination of brain maturity and expanding environmental opportunities; require appropriate stimulation.

Hypothetical-Deductive Reasoning

• Problem solving skills

• Developing a hypothesis and an experiment to test it

• Imagining relationships systematically

• Piaget attributed acquiring this new skill to:– Brain maturation

– Expanding environmental opportunities

Criticisms of Piaget

• Some children display this stage of thinking well before adolescence

• May have overestimated some older children’s abilities

• 1/3 to ½ of late teens/adults cannot think this way

• Ignored individual differences

Elkind6 characteristics of immaturity of thinking • idealism and criticalness- hypocrisy irritates; believe

know better than adults• argumentativeness- to build a case• indecisiveness- lack effective problem solving/choose

between options• apparent hypocrisy- do not understand concept of

ideals and living up to them • self-consciousness- assume everyone else’s views are

similar to their own; imaginary audience: observer who only exists in the teen’s mind

• specialness and invulnerability- personal fable: belief they are special, their experience is unique

Changes in information processing

Structural changes: changes in information processing capacity and increasing amount of knowledge stored in long-term memory

 

Declarative knowledge: factual knowledge has acquired

Procedural knowledge- consists of skills, rules

Conceptual knowledge- understanding of concepts

Functional change

Processes for obtaining, handling, retaining information for functional aspects of cognition: learning, remembering, reasoning, decision making, mathematical, spatial, and scientific reasoning

 

More proficient in drawing conclusions, explaining their reasoning, testing hypothesis

Language development

16-18 year olds- know approximately 80,000 words

can define abstractions and abstract words

 

social perspective taking: understand another’s point of view

Moral Reasoning

Kohlberg (Table 11-3 (page 423)

Level 1- preconventional morality (ages 4-10)

people act under external controls; follow rules to avoid punishment or to gain rewards

stage 1: orientation towards punishment and obedience

stage 2: instrumental purpose & exchange (conform for self-interest)

Moral Reasoning

Kohlberg (Table 11-3 (page 423)

Level 2- conventional morality (ages 11-adult)

Internalize standards of authority figures; concerned about pleasing others; many never move beyond this stage

Stage 3: maintaining mutual relations, approval of others/golden rule (want to please)

Stage 4: social concern and conscience (ding duty, respect for authority, maintain social order; always wrong if violates a rule or harms someone)

Moral ReasoningKohlberg (Table 11-3 (page 423)Level 3- postconventional morality (early adolescence,

young adulthood, if ever)Recognize conflicts between moral standards and

make own judgment on principles of right/wrong, fairness, justice.

Stage 5: morality of contract, individual rights, democracy of accepted law (rational, value will of majority, welfare of society)

Stage 6: morality of universal ethical principles (do what think is right, regardless of legal restrictions or opinions of others; use internalized standards)

Criticism of Piaget

• Some development levels much younger

• Lack of relationship between moral reasoning and moral behavior

• Do not necessarily act more moral even if achieved higher stage

ParentsNeither Kohlberg or Piaget considered role of

parent in moral development • Parents contributions to cognitive and

emotional realms ignored• Parents who use humor and praise, listened

to their children, asked their opinions, clarified questions, reworded answers, made sure children understood the issues, had children with higher reasoning abilities and utilized scaffolding

Gender differences

Girls tend to score higher than boys on moral judgments and emphasized care-related concerns more.

 

Kohlberg’s theory overall may be culturally limited.

Influences on Motivation and Achievement

Self-efficacy

Believe they can master and regulate own learning

Must build child’s self-efficacy

 

Parenting Styles, Ethnicity and Peer Influence

Authoritative parenting is best even in adolescence.

Authoritarian parenting: punish and fail to discuss

Permissive parenting: indifferent to grades, no rules about tv, do not help with homework, neglectful

Learned helplessness occurs when parents not involved in supportive way; self-fulfilling prophecy. Easier to associate poor grades with lower ability than to other circumstances without parental involvement.

The Educational System

• Quality makes a difference

• Orderly

• Unopposed atmosphere

• Active, energetic principle

• Teachers making decisions

• High expectations for students

• Emphasize academics versus extracurriculum activities

• Closely monitored student performance

Dropping out

• 5% of high school students dropped out

• 11% of 16-24 year olds in 2001 dropped out

• higher among boys; higher with minorities

• active engagement: helps keep kids in school

• support student for any career, accept when not college bound