Adolescent Development
LECTURE NOTES
Lecture 1 – Introduction to the study of adolescence
What is adolescence? Conceptualizations and definitions
Teenage brain
Thoughts on the “puberbrein”
- People mention undesirable behavior when they think about the word teenage brain
- Adolescent think that parents have a negative association, and that is the case
- Some teenagers have a negative association, but a lot less than the parents
Stanly Hall
- Adolescence is characterized by a period of ‘storm and stress’
- Hormonally, biologically determined = unavoidable
Today, there is a more positive view on adolescents. Adolescents should be viewed as a second
developmental period, because there are a lot of developments. This makes it a period of opportunity and
vulnerability.
Empirical evidence for:
- Increased conflicts with parents
- Mood volatility
- Increased risk behavior
Stereotypes lead to behaving up to those stereotypes. In adolescence, the negative stereotypes may lead to
adolescents behave like those stereotypes. But if they are exposed to positive stereotypes they behave more
positively.
Define adolescence
The period between the onset of sexual maturation (puberty) and the attainment of adult roles and
responsibilities. The transition from child status to adult status.
Age boundaries:
- Early adolescence (10-13 years)
- Middle adolescence (14-17 years)
- Late adolescence (18-21 years)
- Young adulthood (22-30 years)
Others: emerging adulthood (18-25 years) and then young adulthood
There are three primary changes during adolescence
- Biological: puberty (body and brain)
- Cognitive: abstract thinking, executive functions, social cognition
- Social: redefinition of an individual from child to an adult
Development doesn’t occur in a vacuum. These developments occurs in a environment (Bronfenbrenner’s
ecological model).
The beginning of adolescence: puberty
Puberty → maturational process during which primary and secondary sex characteristics mature resulting in
capacity to reproduce.
- Puberty can also have an effect on how people interact with an adolescence
,Five areas of change
- Maturation of reproductive organs, secondary sex characteristics
- Nervous and endocrine system
- Skeletal growth
- Bodu composition, change in distribution of fat and muscle
- Circulatory and respiratory systems.
Measuring pubertal development
- Tanner staging
o Girls: breast/pubic hair development
o Boys penis & testes/;ubic hair development
o 5 stages where 1 = no development, 2 = beginning stages and 5 = adult.
o Now with a questionnaire
- Self-report → Line drawing of tanner stages
- Visual inspection by researcher of clothed adolescent
- Hormone levels
Different axis
- During childhood they are already present and
interacting, but during adolescence the set point
of the hormonal systems are changed
Adolescent growth spurt
Girls start early in puberty and also have an earlier growth
spurt. This can result in that girls are temporarily longer
than boys around the age of 13.
Pubertal compared to peers
Boys will start puberty later than girls. This can be caused through some environmental factors
- Genetics
- Increase kisspeptin via leptin and melatonin
o Leptin is related to fat tissue (high
levels of leptin, earlier puberty)
o Melatonin (low levels of melatonin,
earlier puberty)
- Environmental factors e.g. nutrition, health care
- Social factors
o Environmental stress
o Conflict
o Related vs unrelated family members of opposite sex
▪ Presence of unrelated family members can lead to earlier puberty
Evolutionary point of view → if the environmental resources are available to reproduce, it is important that
they go to puberty.
The age on which puberty starts declining, because the environmental factors are getting better. Boy and girls
both start earlier with puberty.
A very dangerous environment can also lead to early puberty. Dangerous environment can be a signal that it is
necessary to reproduce in order to survive as a species.
, Implications of the secular trend
Why does it matter that people go through puberty earlier
- The body changes, but the mind does not change that fast
- There is an increase in risk taking behavior
o Male mortality humps
Effects of early or late puberty psychosocially
Early maturation boys
- Emotional effects:
o Increased popularity
o Improved self-concept + self-esteem
o Though: increase internalizing problems (minority)
- Behavioral effects
o Deviant friends (less supervision)
o Risk-taking, substance use
Early maturation girls
- Emotional effects
o Increased emotional difficulties (depression, self-image, eating disorders)
o Greater emotional arousal
o Increased popularity
o But, cultural differences
- Behavioral effects.
o Deviant friends
Why this difference
- Maturational deviance hypothesis
o Early girls are the first of both boys and girls and really stand out in a time that one wants to
fit in
▪ Don’t have the resources to deal with these feelings → problems
o Late boys are the last of both boys and girls also stand out when they actually wants to fit in
▪ Do have the resources to deal with these feelings → less a problem
- Developmental readiness hypothesis
o Young adolescents struggle to cope with challenges of early maturation
o Early boys are relatively older and psychologically more mature
- Cultural desirability of body types
o Tall and muscular vs increase in body fat
The end of adolescence
There is a mismatch of biological and psychological transitions. This is called the maturity gap. This mismatch
started during the industrial revolution and due to cultural changes, the gap became greater.
Milestones are shifting
Many other adult social roles occurring a decade or more after puberty:
- Starting careers, stable relationships, owning a home, choosing to become parents
Adolescence has expanded from a 2-4 years period in traditional societies to an 6-15 year interval in
contemporary societies.
These changes have advantages and costs.
LECTURE NOTES
Lecture 1 – Introduction to the study of adolescence
What is adolescence? Conceptualizations and definitions
Teenage brain
Thoughts on the “puberbrein”
- People mention undesirable behavior when they think about the word teenage brain
- Adolescent think that parents have a negative association, and that is the case
- Some teenagers have a negative association, but a lot less than the parents
Stanly Hall
- Adolescence is characterized by a period of ‘storm and stress’
- Hormonally, biologically determined = unavoidable
Today, there is a more positive view on adolescents. Adolescents should be viewed as a second
developmental period, because there are a lot of developments. This makes it a period of opportunity and
vulnerability.
Empirical evidence for:
- Increased conflicts with parents
- Mood volatility
- Increased risk behavior
Stereotypes lead to behaving up to those stereotypes. In adolescence, the negative stereotypes may lead to
adolescents behave like those stereotypes. But if they are exposed to positive stereotypes they behave more
positively.
Define adolescence
The period between the onset of sexual maturation (puberty) and the attainment of adult roles and
responsibilities. The transition from child status to adult status.
Age boundaries:
- Early adolescence (10-13 years)
- Middle adolescence (14-17 years)
- Late adolescence (18-21 years)
- Young adulthood (22-30 years)
Others: emerging adulthood (18-25 years) and then young adulthood
There are three primary changes during adolescence
- Biological: puberty (body and brain)
- Cognitive: abstract thinking, executive functions, social cognition
- Social: redefinition of an individual from child to an adult
Development doesn’t occur in a vacuum. These developments occurs in a environment (Bronfenbrenner’s
ecological model).
The beginning of adolescence: puberty
Puberty → maturational process during which primary and secondary sex characteristics mature resulting in
capacity to reproduce.
- Puberty can also have an effect on how people interact with an adolescence
,Five areas of change
- Maturation of reproductive organs, secondary sex characteristics
- Nervous and endocrine system
- Skeletal growth
- Bodu composition, change in distribution of fat and muscle
- Circulatory and respiratory systems.
Measuring pubertal development
- Tanner staging
o Girls: breast/pubic hair development
o Boys penis & testes/;ubic hair development
o 5 stages where 1 = no development, 2 = beginning stages and 5 = adult.
o Now with a questionnaire
- Self-report → Line drawing of tanner stages
- Visual inspection by researcher of clothed adolescent
- Hormone levels
Different axis
- During childhood they are already present and
interacting, but during adolescence the set point
of the hormonal systems are changed
Adolescent growth spurt
Girls start early in puberty and also have an earlier growth
spurt. This can result in that girls are temporarily longer
than boys around the age of 13.
Pubertal compared to peers
Boys will start puberty later than girls. This can be caused through some environmental factors
- Genetics
- Increase kisspeptin via leptin and melatonin
o Leptin is related to fat tissue (high
levels of leptin, earlier puberty)
o Melatonin (low levels of melatonin,
earlier puberty)
- Environmental factors e.g. nutrition, health care
- Social factors
o Environmental stress
o Conflict
o Related vs unrelated family members of opposite sex
▪ Presence of unrelated family members can lead to earlier puberty
Evolutionary point of view → if the environmental resources are available to reproduce, it is important that
they go to puberty.
The age on which puberty starts declining, because the environmental factors are getting better. Boy and girls
both start earlier with puberty.
A very dangerous environment can also lead to early puberty. Dangerous environment can be a signal that it is
necessary to reproduce in order to survive as a species.
, Implications of the secular trend
Why does it matter that people go through puberty earlier
- The body changes, but the mind does not change that fast
- There is an increase in risk taking behavior
o Male mortality humps
Effects of early or late puberty psychosocially
Early maturation boys
- Emotional effects:
o Increased popularity
o Improved self-concept + self-esteem
o Though: increase internalizing problems (minority)
- Behavioral effects
o Deviant friends (less supervision)
o Risk-taking, substance use
Early maturation girls
- Emotional effects
o Increased emotional difficulties (depression, self-image, eating disorders)
o Greater emotional arousal
o Increased popularity
o But, cultural differences
- Behavioral effects.
o Deviant friends
Why this difference
- Maturational deviance hypothesis
o Early girls are the first of both boys and girls and really stand out in a time that one wants to
fit in
▪ Don’t have the resources to deal with these feelings → problems
o Late boys are the last of both boys and girls also stand out when they actually wants to fit in
▪ Do have the resources to deal with these feelings → less a problem
- Developmental readiness hypothesis
o Young adolescents struggle to cope with challenges of early maturation
o Early boys are relatively older and psychologically more mature
- Cultural desirability of body types
o Tall and muscular vs increase in body fat
The end of adolescence
There is a mismatch of biological and psychological transitions. This is called the maturity gap. This mismatch
started during the industrial revolution and due to cultural changes, the gap became greater.
Milestones are shifting
Many other adult social roles occurring a decade or more after puberty:
- Starting careers, stable relationships, owning a home, choosing to become parents
Adolescence has expanded from a 2-4 years period in traditional societies to an 6-15 year interval in
contemporary societies.
These changes have advantages and costs.
