2.7C - Lecture 5 – The challenges of COVID - Fabienne van Rossenberg – May
2022
Adolescents & Covid19 = social media portrays adolescents rather negatively e.g. they
don’t adhere to the rules, cause riots, have home parties etc.
1. The brain development of adolescents
Something happens during adolescence that make elder people suffer from them, it
seems to be happening over and over again. Even Socrates (400 BC) said “today’s youth
loves luxury (..) have bad manners, contempt for authority and disrespect for elders.
They’re tyrants, not the servants of their households”.
Distinction developmental psychology:
Adolescence start around 8/9/10 when puberty and hormones hit, the end of
adolescence is culture dependant. Some countries see 18 years as adulthood but in
developmental psychology we’re now talking about the term emerging adulthood, and
the brain stops fully developing around age 25.
For this lecture: adolescence is age 12-25.
A period of change in friendships, self-view, need for autonomy, risk taking, physical
change, need for impact.
When looking at the brain; the first years after born, your brain makes a lot of brain cells.
The brain cell start to decrease with the years due to pruning, but the brain connections
starts to increase = brain in development.
Not all parts of brain develop in same way. Mostly the frontal areas (control planning,
decision making, behavioral control) of the brain are still developing in the late teens
whereas subcortical areas (emotional activity) are fully developed. Thus situation is
important as adolescents are more likely to copy what they see peers do.
- Positive outcomes: exploring the world, social competency. Evolutionary
perspective this period is also important, as adolescents are more inclined to
environmentally explore, seek sensation, social sensitivity – which in creases
cognitive functioning and the ability to take perspective of others.
- Negative outcomes: because emotional area is so active, more prone to anxiety,
depression and risk taking which can endanger adolescents.
2. What happens when a global crisis (COVID19) hits during such a sensitive
time?
2022
Adolescents & Covid19 = social media portrays adolescents rather negatively e.g. they
don’t adhere to the rules, cause riots, have home parties etc.
1. The brain development of adolescents
Something happens during adolescence that make elder people suffer from them, it
seems to be happening over and over again. Even Socrates (400 BC) said “today’s youth
loves luxury (..) have bad manners, contempt for authority and disrespect for elders.
They’re tyrants, not the servants of their households”.
Distinction developmental psychology:
Adolescence start around 8/9/10 when puberty and hormones hit, the end of
adolescence is culture dependant. Some countries see 18 years as adulthood but in
developmental psychology we’re now talking about the term emerging adulthood, and
the brain stops fully developing around age 25.
For this lecture: adolescence is age 12-25.
A period of change in friendships, self-view, need for autonomy, risk taking, physical
change, need for impact.
When looking at the brain; the first years after born, your brain makes a lot of brain cells.
The brain cell start to decrease with the years due to pruning, but the brain connections
starts to increase = brain in development.
Not all parts of brain develop in same way. Mostly the frontal areas (control planning,
decision making, behavioral control) of the brain are still developing in the late teens
whereas subcortical areas (emotional activity) are fully developed. Thus situation is
important as adolescents are more likely to copy what they see peers do.
- Positive outcomes: exploring the world, social competency. Evolutionary
perspective this period is also important, as adolescents are more inclined to
environmentally explore, seek sensation, social sensitivity – which in creases
cognitive functioning and the ability to take perspective of others.
- Negative outcomes: because emotional area is so active, more prone to anxiety,
depression and risk taking which can endanger adolescents.
2. What happens when a global crisis (COVID19) hits during such a sensitive
time?
