Slide 1 Why study adolescent

development?

Joseph Szabo, photographer

Slide 2 What is it?

• The word derives from the Latin verb

adolescere meaning "to grow up."

Slide 3

12

71

15

74

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Negative descriptions of adolescents

(such as lazy, disrespectful, or wild)

Postive descriptions of adolescents

(such as smart, curious and energetic)

General Public Parents

%

%

%

%

if you were to describe today's teenagers, what would be the first thing that

comes to your mind?

Public Agenda, 1999 Based on 1,005 adults age 18 and older,

Telephone interviews in 1998

Slide 4

38

40

32

0 10 20 30 40

General public

Parents

Adolescents

Public Agenda, 1999

Percentage saying "will make it a better place"

When today's children grow do you think they're likely to make America a

better place, a worse place, or will they probably make little difference?

Slide 5

14%

13%

50%

52%

35%

34%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Adolescents who

are friendly and

helpful towards

neighbors

Adolescents who

treat people with

respect

Very Common Somewhat common Not too/Not common at all

Now, I'm going to describe different types of teenagers and ask you if you

think they are common or not. Are they very common, somewhat common,

not too common, or not common at all?

Public Agenda, 1999Based on 1,005 adults age 18 and older,

Telephone interviews in 1998

Slide 6

Slide 7

Slide 8

Slide 9

1964

Slide 10

19691965

Slide 11

19721970

Slide 12

19851975

Slide 13

1989 1990

Slide 14

1993 1993

Slide 15

1999 1999

Slide 16

1999 1999

Slide 17

2000 2000

Slide 18

2001 2001

Slide 19

20052004

Slide 20

20062005

Slide 21

2006

Slide 22 How do we find out about

adolescents? Research

• Interviews

• Questionnaires

• Observations

• Experiments

Slide 23 Research Designs

• Cross-Sectional Studies (different participants -

ages/same time)

Sample A

13 year old

Sample B

16 year old

Compare with

• Longitudinal Studies (same participants/different times)

Sample C

13 year old

Sample C

16 year old

Studied again as

Slide 24 Where the Youth are:

Distribution of world’s young people

9.0%

9.4%

61.5%

15.7%

4.0%

0.4%

Africa

Oceania

North America

Latin America & the

Caribbean

Europe

Asia

Slide 25 The adolescent population in the US

Adolescent population is slowly growing

Shrinking relative to other age groups, especially the elderly

Slide 26

Percent of Persons Under 18 Years: 2000

20.1-22.8

23.6-25.1

27.3-28.7

30.4-32.2

25.2-26.8

US Census 2000

Slide 27

Projected Change in U.S. Juvenile Population: 1995 to 2015

25% to 35% (10 states)

15% to 25% (10 states)

-15% to 0% (10 states)

-30% to -15% (12 states)

0% to 15% (9 States)

Slide 28

Hispanic, 15%

Am. Indian, 1%

Black, 15%

White, 60%

Biracial, 2%

Pacific Isander, 0.1%

3.5%Asian Am.

Distribution of adolescents in the United States by ethnicity

Slide 29

Change

A picture a day

Female 14 to 17 years

Male Started age 19

Slide 30 Boundaries of Adolescence

Perspective When

Adolescence

Begins

When

Adolescence

Ends

Biological Onset of Puberty Development of

capacity for

sexual

reproduction

Emotional Beginning of

detachment from

parents

Attainment of

separate sense

of identity

Cognitive Emergence of

more advanced

reasoning

abilities

Consolidation of

more advanced

reasoning skills

Slide 31 Boundaries of Adolescence

Perspective When

Adolescence

Begins

When

Adolescence

Ends

Interpersonal Beginning of a

shift in interest

from parental to

peer relations

Development of

capacity for

intimacy with

peers

Social Beginning of

training of adult

work, family, and

citizen roles

Full attainment of

adult status and

privileges

Educational Entrance into

junior high school

Completion of

formal schooling

Slide 32 Boundaries of Adolescence

Perspective When

Adolescence

Begins

When

Adolescence

Ends

Legal Attainment of

juvenile status

Attainment of

majority status

Chronological Attainment of

designated age

of adolescence

(e.g., 10 years

old)

Attainment of

designated age

of adulthood

(e.g., 22 years)

Cultural Entrance into

period of training

for a ceremonial

rite of passage

Completion of

ceremonial rite

passage

Slide 33 Stages of Adolescence

• Early Adolescence (10-13 years of age)

• Middle Adolescence (14 to 18 years of

age)

• Late Adolescence (18 to 22 years of age)

Slide 34 Definition of adolescence

• Period of transition spanning from the

second decade of life during which a

person’s biological, psychological, and

social characteristics undergo change in

an interrelated manner and the person

goes from being childlike to adultlike.

Slide 35 Levels of Influence

Biological

Psychological

Society-Culture

Slide 36

Andrea

Colombia

Sarah

UK

Nie Dee

China

Sara

IranRilind

Kosovo

Silvino

Angola

Osama

Egypt

Sasha

Russia

Slide 37 Diversity: Differences among

people (Inter-individual differences)

• Race, ethnicity, gender, physical

characteristics, age, culture

Slide 38 Diversity: Changes within

individuals (Intra-individual Change)

.

Slide 39 Developmental trajectories

• Differences in how young people go though these transitions. Differ in timing of onset, speed of transition and outcomes.

• Dependent on context (e.g., family, work, peer group, school, neighborhood, community society, culture and historical time).

Slide 40 The Adolescent

Health

Slide 41 Bi-drectional Influences

HealthHealth

Parent Adolescent

Slide 42

Adolescent

Peers

Church

Neighborhood

Family

School

Slide 43

Adolescent

Peers

Church

Neighborhood

Family

School

Society

HistoryWars, Economy, Internet

Slide 44

Child

Family

Neighborhood Peers

Church Group

School

Family

Mass Media

Workplace

School Board

LegalServices

Neighbors

ExtendedFamily

Culture,

historical time

Micro-system

Brofenbrenner-

Ecological

perspective on

human

development

Slide 45 Theories of Adolescence

Nature Nurture

Biology Environment

Slide 46

Biological Theories

G.Stanley Hall 1844-1924

Slide 47 Theory of Recapitulation

• Internal maturational factors control and

direct development, growth and behavior.

• Infancy: 0-4 years- reenacting the animal

stage of the human race. crawling

• Childhood:4-8 years-hunting and fishing.

Hide and seek, toy weapons, building of

caves, shacks and other hiding-cave

dwelling

Slide 48 Theory of Recapitulation

• Youth. 8-12 years. “humdrum life of slavery”, favorable disposition predisposition to practice and drills (learning).

• Adolescence. 12-adult status. “Storm and Stress”. Human race in a turbulent, transitional stage. Emotional life as oscillating between contradictory tendencies. (gaiety, laugher, sadness)

• Late Adolescence. Recapitulates the beginning of civilization, maturity.

Slide 49

Sigmund Freud

Organismic Theories

Erik Erikson Jean Piaget

Slide 50 Learning Theories

• Stress on context

Sociological Theories

Historical and Anthropological

Approaches

Slide 51 Storm and Stress?

OR

Slide 52

72%

67%

66%

61%

50%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

I can always trust my parents to be there for me

when I need them

If I ever need to talk to an adult, there is someone

other than my parents I can go to

Faith in God is an important part of my life

I can always trust my friends to be there for me

when I need them

I am usually happy

Public Agenda

Slide 53

1

2

3

US

Sou

th A

frica

White

Sou

th A

frica

-Color

ed

Sou

th A

frica

Black

India

Gaz

a

columbia

Ban

glad

esh

Bos

nia

China

Ger

nany

Maternal Support Paternal Support

Across nations adolescents view their parents as supportive

Barber, Stolz & Olsen, 2005

Slide 54 The Adolescent-Storm and Stress

Health

Prior development

Slide 55 Multiple Paths through Early

Adolescence

• Continuous

Growth

• Surgent Growth

• Tumultuous

Growth

Offer, 1969