Puberty
A period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and bodily changes that occur primarily during early adolescence
Growth spurt
On average, the peak of the growth spurt during puberty occurs two years earlier for girls (11 1/2) than for boys (13 1/2).
hormonal changes
powerful chemical substances secreted by the endocrine glands.
Timing and variations in puberty
The basic genetic program for puberty is wired into species but nutrition, health and other environmental factors affect timing and makeup of puberty.
Body image
Preoccupation with body image is strong throughout adolescence, but is especially acute during puberty, a time when adolescents are more dissatisfied with their bodies than in late adolescence.
Girls are less satisfied with their body images and have more
Early\Late maturation
Teens that mature earlier or later than their peers perceive themselves differently.
Early maturing boys perceive themselves more positively and had more successful peer relations than did their late maturing counterparts.
Early maturation in girls increa
Brain Development
Study of the adolescent brain is still in its infancy.
Pruning of the excessive synaptic connection resulting in fewer but more selective and more effective neural connections than were present in childhood. The pruning indicates the activities that the a
Sexuality
Adolescence is the bridge between the asexual child and the sexual adult. This is the time in which sexuality is incorporated into one's identity.
A time of learning to manage sexual feelings, developing new forms of intimacy, and learning the skills to r
Pregnancy
The US has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy and childbearing rates in the industrialized world.
Latina adolescents have a higher than non-Latina, Whites, and African Americans.
Daughters of teen mothers are at risk for teenage childbearing thus per
Eating disorders
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are more common in females than in males. 10x more likely in females than in men.
Slightly less than 1% ever develops anorexia nervosa.
Anorexia is relentless pursuit of thinness and starvation.
3 signs of anorexia
1.
bulimia nervosa
binge purge pattern. Purging involves self induced vomiting or the use of laxatives. Bulimia is considered serious if episodes occur at least twice a week for 3 months. bulimia tend to fall within normal body weights making bulimia harder to detect.
Formal operational stage
Thought is more abstract. Adolescents can conjure up make believe situations, abstract propositions and events that are purely hypothetical and can reason logically about them. (evident in verbal problem solving ability& hypothetical deductive reasoning)
hypothetical deductive reasoning
involves creating a hypothesis and deducting its implications which provide ways to test the hypothesis. This is developing hypothesis aout ways to solve problems and them systematically deducing the best path to follow to solve the problem.
Adolescent egocentrism
the heightened self consciousness of adolescents
two components of egocentrism
imaginary audience and personal fable
imaginary audience
the belief that others are as interested in themselves as they are in themselves. This can involve attention seeking behaviors.
personal fable
involves a sense of uniqueness and invincibility. This sense of uniqueness makes the adolescent feel as if no one can understand how they really feel. Adol will sometimes try to maintain this sense of uniqueness by inventing a story about themselves that
Erikson's stage
...
Marcia's Four Statuses of Identity
Identity diffusion: Marcia's term for adolescents who have not yet experienced a crisis (explored meaningful alternatives) or made any commitments.
Identity foreclosure: Marcia's term for adolescents who have made a commitment but have not experienced a c
Cliques
small groups that range from 2 to about 12 individuals and average about 5 to 6 individuals.
Crowds
larger than cliques and less personal. Usually formed based on reputation, and members may or may not spend much time together.