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ESSENTIALS OF LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT, 5e
JOHN W. SANTROCK

Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence

Chapter Outline

The nature of adolescence
Physical changes
Adolescent health
Adolescent cognition
Schools

The Nature of Adolescence

Influences on the adolescent
Cultural
Gender
Socioeconomic
Age
Lifestyle differences

Physical Changes

Puberty: A brain-neuroendocrine process that provides stimulation for rapid physical changes that occur in early adolescence
Sexual maturation
Marked weight and height gains
Hormonal changes
Menarche: Girl’s first menstruation

Figure 9.1 - Pubertal Growth Spurt

Physical Changes

Hormones: Chemicals secreted by the endocrine glands and carried throughout the body by the bloodstream
Endocrine system’s role in puberty involves interaction:
Hypothalamus: A structure in the brain that monitors eating and sex
Pituitary gland: An important endocrine gland that controls growth and regulates other glands
Gonads: The testes in males, the ovaries in females
Increases in testosterone and estradiol concentrations in body

Physical Changes

Timing and variations in puberty
Basic genetic program hardwired into species
Nutrition, health, stress, and other environmental factors affect timing
Average age of menarche has declined significantly since mid-19th century
Improved nutrition and health
Pubertal sequence begins:
Boys - 10-13½ years
Girls - Between ages of 9 and 15 years

Physical Changes

Body image
Preoccupation with body image is strong throughout adolescence
Girls are less happy with their bodies and have more negative body images
Both boys’ and girls’ body images become more positive over time

Physical Changes

Early and late maturation
Early-maturing boys view themselves more positively and have more successful peer relations
Late-maturing boys report a stronger sense of identity in their 30s
Early-maturing girls show greater satisfaction early but less satisfaction later
Early maturation predicted a stable higher level of depression for adolescent girls
More likely to smoke, drink, be depressed
More likely to have an eating disorder
More struggle for earlier independence
Have older friends

Figure 9.2 – The Changing Adolescent Brain

Physical Changes

Brain
Context-induced plasticity
Certain brain linkages mature earlier than others
Corpus callosum - fibers connecting left and right brain hemispheres
Thickens in adolescence, improves information processing
Amygdala – seat of emotions
Almost completely developed by early adolescence
Prefrontal cortex, involved in reasoning, decision-making, and self-control
Matures between approximately 18-25 years
Has not matured to the point of controlling strong emotions

Physical Changes

Adolescent sexuality
Developing a sexual identity
Learning to manage sexual feelings
Developing new forms of intimacy
Learning skills to regulate sexual behavior
Sexual identity includes:
Activities
Interests
Styles of behavior
Indication of sexual orientation

Physical Changes

Different developmental pathways for gay and lesbian adolescents
Diverse patterns of initial attractions
Some struggle with same-sex attractions in childhood
Gradual recognition of same-sex sexual orientation
Timing of adolescent sexual behaviors
Becoming sexually active
Role of oral sex
Sexual risk-taking
Many adolescents are not emotionally equipped to handle sexual experiences
Especially in early adolescence
Engage in sports and risky sexual behaviors among males and females

Adolescent Sexuality

Contraceptive use
Two kinds of risks
Unintended, unwanted pregnancy
Sexually transmitted infections
Adolescents are increasing their use of contraceptives
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs): Contracted primarily through sexual contact
Including oral-genital and anal-genital contact

Adolescent Sexuality

Adolescent pregnancy
U.S. has one of the highest rates in the industrialized world
Decline overall in adolescent pregnancy in the United States
Ethnic variations in rates of teenage pregnancy
Health and social risks
Low birth weight, neurological problems, childhood illness
Mothers drop out of school and never catch up economically
Sex education
Abstinence-only or contraceptive knowledge programs
Contraceptive knowledge programs do not increase incidence of sexual intercourse
More likely to reduce adolescent pregnancy and sexually-transmitted infections

Figure 9.3 – Birth Rates for U.S. 15- to 19-Year-Old Girls

Adolescent Health

Poor health habits linked to early death in adulthood begin during adolescence
Early formation of healthy eating patterns and exercise can delay or prevent disability and mortality from many diseases
Nutrition and exercise
Increasing numbers of overweight adolescents in recent decades
Individuals become less active as they reach and progress through adolescence
Exercise linked to positive physical outcomes

Adolescent Health

Sleep patterns
Only 31% of U.S. adolescents sleep 8 or more hours a night
Inadequate sleep on school nights
Sleep deficits experienced, try to make up on weekends
Leading causes of death in adolescence
Unintentional injuries
Homicide
Suicide

Adolescent Health

Substance use and abuse
Illicit drug use has declined in recent decades
Marijuana as most widely used drug, use rates on the increase
Alcohol and cigarette consumption has declined
Special concerns for adolescents who begin to use drugs early in adolescence or even childhood
Parents and peers play role in substance use
Educational success as a strong buffer for drug problems

Figure 9.4 – Trends in Drug Use by U.S. Eighth-, Tenth-, and Twelfth-Grade Students

Adolescent Health

Eating disorders
Anorexia nervosa: Relentless pursuit of thinness through starvation
Main characteristics
Weight less than 85% of what is considered normal for a person’s age and height
An intense fear of gaining weight that does not decrease with weight loss
Having a distorted image of their body shape
Amenorrhea
10 times more likely to occur in females than males

Adolescent Health

Bulimia nervosa: Individual consistently follows a binge-and-purge patterns
Preoccupied with food
Intense fear of becoming overweight
Depressed or anxious
Distorted body image
Typically fall within a normal weight range

Adolescent Cognition

Piaget’s Formal Operational stage (ages 11+)
More abstract thought
Make-believe situations, abstract propositions, hypothetical events
Increased verbal problem-solving ability
Think about thought itself
Thoughts of idealism and possibilities
More logical thought
Hypothetical-deductive reasoning: Creating a hypothesis and deducing its implications

Adolescent Cognition

Adolescent egocentrism: Heightened self-consciousness of adolescents
Imaginary audience: Adolescents’ belief that others are as interested in them as they themselves are
Attention-getting behaviors
Personal fable: Involves a sense of uniqueness and invincibility

Adolescent Cognition

Information processing
Executive functioning – managing one’s thoughts to engage in goal-directed behavior and exercise self-control
Increased cognitive control
Increased decision making

Schools

Transition to middle or junior high school
Drop in school satisfaction
Occurs simultaneously with a host of other developmental changes
Top-dog phenomenon: Move from the top position in elementary school to the lowest position in middle or junior high school
Positive elements of transition:
Feeling more grown up
More subjects to select from
More opportunities to spend with peers and locate compatible friends
Increased independence from direct parental monitoring
More intellectually challenging work

Schools

Effective schools for young adolescents
Develop smaller communities that lessen impersonality of middle schools
Lower student-counselor ratios to 10-to-1
Involve parents and community leaders
Integrate several disciplines in a flexible curriculum
Boost students’ health and fitness with more programs
Provide public health care

Schools

High schools
Critiques include:
Low expectations for success
Inadequate standards for learning
Lack of pathways to create identity
Graduating without adequate reading, writing, and mathematical skills
Drop out rates

Schools

Service learning
Promotes social responsibility and service to the community
Takes education out into the community
Linked to higher grades, increased goal setting, higher self-esteem, serving as a volunteer in the future