Social Emotional Development in Adolescence

Chapter 16

Key Questions

How do adolescents develop a sense of identity?

What are important features of adolescents’ relationships with their parents and their peers?

How does moral development change during the adolescent period?

What are some important risk factors and resilient processes that influence adolescent well-being?

The Development of the Self: Identity

Identity: An organized sense of self, which includes personal beliefs, goals, values, and commitments.

Erikson’s Theory Identity versus identity confusion: Adolescents seek to

develop a satisfying identity and a sense of their role in society. Failure may lead to a lack of stable identity and confusion about their adult roles. Identity crisis: Erikson’s term for the intense

exploration of potential identities that characterizes adolescence

Marcia’s Patterns of Identity Status

Identity involves two dimensions: exploration and commitment. There are four identity patterns: Identity achievement Identity diffusion Identity foreclosure Identity moratorium

Marcia’s Identity Statuses

Marcia’s Patterns of Identity Status

Identity achievement: the status of an individual who has explored goals, values, and beliefs, and made commitments to them

Identity diffusion: the status of an individual who has neither explored goals, values, and beliefs, nor made commitments to them

Marcia’s Patterns of Identity Status

Identity foreclosure: the status of an individual who has made commitments without exploring goals, values, and beliefs

Identity moratorium: the status of an individual who is in the process of exploring goals, values, and beliefs but has not yet made commitments to them

Ethnic and Racial Identity

Ethnic identity: the social identity derived from membership in a particular ethnic group

Racial identity: the identity associated with membership in a group based on a socially constructed designation of race

Ethnic and Racial Identity

Sexual Identity

Refers to a sense of self as heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual (gay or lesbian).

Four stages of awareness for sexual minorities Sensitization Self-recognition Identity assumption Commitment

Sexual Identity

Relating to Others

Adolescent–Parent Relationships

Autonomy: the sense of being a separate and independent individual, one capable of self-governance

Parents can support developing autonomy by having high-quality relationships with their children.

Parenting Styles

Authoritarian: low levels of acceptance and warmth along with high levels of coercion and punishment

Permissive: high levels of acceptance and warmth along with low levels of control

Authoritative: high levels of acceptance and warmth along with moderate demands and control based on logical explanations

Uninvolved: low levels of acceptance and warmth along with low levels of control.

Parenting Styles

Attachment and Adolescent–Parent Relationships Transactional model: a model that emphasizes the

bidirectional effects of parents and adolescents on each other.

Adolescent–Parent Conflicts Many conflicts involve bickering about everyday issues. Conflict levels vary based on gender and ethnicity. Many conflicts center on differences of opinion.

Romantic Relationships

Romantic relationships are those that involve both sexuality and passion.

Relationship quality: the extent to which partners show intimacy, affection, and nurturance

Early romantic relationships often involve conflicts.

Rejection sensitivity: the tendency to be anxious about rejection, to expect and perceive rejection readily, and to overreact to it

Romantic Relationships

DEVELOPING A SEXUAL IDENTITY

Moral Development

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning

Postconventional level: according to Kohlberg, the third and highest stage of moral development, which incorporates a belief in abstract principles and values, especially about human rights Most teens are still at the conventional level. Both age and educational level are related to moral

reasoning.

Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior

Juvenile delinquency: antisocial or illegal activity engaged in by those under the age of majority, which under federal law and in most states is 18

Gang: a group of individuals with a common identity and orientation, who often participate in criminal activity Adolescents belonging to gangs may commit more serious

crimes.

Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior

Trying Juveniles as Adults Age 18 is considered the age of majority; adolescents can

be tried and convicted as adults in federal and most state courts.

Status offenders: juveniles whose offenses would not be considered criminal if they were older (runaways, truants, and curfew violators)

Adult transfers are determined by the offender’s age, the nature of the crime, and the offender’s history of prior crimes.

Adolescent Depression

Depression is a mood disorder marked by disabling disturbance in emotion and characterized by feelings of sadness and loss of pleasure for two weeks or more. The most commonly occurring

psychological disorder in adolescence

Adolescent Depression

Incidence of Depression in Adolescents

Depression affects about 1 in 5 adolescents.

Girls have higher rates of depression than boys.

Hispanics have higher rates than non-Hispanic whites, Asian Americans, or African Americans.

• Review of successful intervention programs • Common components • Intensive individualized attention• Community-wide, multi-agency,

collaborative approaches• Early identification and intervention

Depression and Suicide

Adolescent Eating Disorders

Bulimia nervosa: an eating disorder marked by recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by behaviors to compensate for the binging, such as vomiting

Binge-eating disorder: an eating disorder that is characterized by eating large amounts of food within a 2-hour period on a regular basis, at least 2 times a week over a 6-week period

Anorexia nervosa: an eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss; the most severe type of eating disorder

Adolescent Eating Disorders

All eating disorders have one thing in common: The people with disordered eating patterns are dissatisfied with their bodies. They overestimate the size of their body parts by 30%. 25% of normal-weight females and 8% of normal-weight

males believe they are overweight. The major predictor of eating disorders is low self-

esteem.