Section VI Adolescence Chapter 12 Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence Summary

1.0 Images of Life-Span Development: Puberty's Mysteries and Curiosities

Adolescents experience many physical changes that prompt anxieties and questions about their bodies. Physical descriptions become important to peer relationships.

2.0 Transition to Adolescence

The transition from childhood to adolescence entails both continuity and discontinuity resulting from the interaction of biological, environmental, and experiential factors. Menarche is one clear marker for puberty.

3.0 Physical Development

Pubertal Change. Adolescence is marked by the onset of puberty in which sexual maturation and a growth spurt are the most prominent signs. The endocrine system contributes to growth and sexual maturation through the release of hormones such as testosterone or estradiol. The growth spurt begins for girls at about 10.5 years of age, and for boys at about 12.5 years. During the growth spurt, females gain about 3.5 inches per year, and males 4 inches per year. Individual differences in maturation characterize pubertal change.

Psychological Accompaniments of Physical Changes. Adolescents show a heightened interest in their body image. The timing of puberty can have consequences for the psychological well-being of the individual. Early-maturing boys perceive themselves more positively and are more successful in peer relations than later-maturing boys. For girls, early maturation is a mixed blessing. Some researchers now question whether the effects of puberty are as strong as once believed.

4.0 Cognitive Developmental Changes

Formal Operational Thought. Formal operational thought is the fourth and final stage of Piaget's theory of cognitive development. This stage, characteristic of adolescents and adults, entails abstraction, idealism, and hypothetical-deductive reasoning. Thought is no longer limited to the real and concrete, but can be applied to the possible and to abstract propositions. Formal operational thought occurs in two phases. The early one constitutes an assimilation phase in which reality is overwhelmed. The later one constitutes an accommodation phase in which intellectual balance is restored.

Social Cognition. During adolescence, egocentrism is reflected in two types of thinking: construction of the imaginary audience and the personal fable. The imaginary audience is the adolescent's belief that he or she will be the center of attention for everyone else, and the audience will be very critical. The personal fable refers to the adolescent's sense of personal uniqueness and indestructibility. David Elkind's view is that egocentrism is the result of formal operational thought, whereas others argue that it results from perspective taking. The personal fable may be responsible in part for the high number of teenage pregnancies. Adolescents begin to think about personality in a way similar to personality theorists and engage in extensive social monitoring.

Decision Making. Adolescence entails increased decision making. Older adolescents are better than younger adolescents at making decisions, who in turn are more competent than children. An ability does not ensure that decision making will be exercised in realistic situations. Adolescents need opportunities to practice realistic decision making, but our society often fails to provide many such opportunities.

5.0 The Nature of Adolescents' Schooling

The Controversy Surrounding Secondary Schools. Schools play an important role in the social world of adolescents. One controversy concerns what schools should provide to adolescents in order to balance academics against alienation. The back-to-basics movement gained ground in the 1980s. Although this approach emphasizes rigorous academic training, many question whether this approach addressed the individual differences in children and adolescents and their emotional and social development.

The Transition to Middle or Junior High School. Junior high schools emerged in the 1920s and 1930s because early adolescence entailed many physical, cognitive, and social changes, and because there was a need for more schools. In recent years middle schools have become more popular. The transition to middle school or junior high can be difficult because it occurs at the same time as physical changes of puberty, places more demands on students, and emphasizes achievement and performance. Students also move from the top position to the lowest position in status—the top dog phenomenon.

Effective Schools for Young Adolescents. Successful schools for young adolescents take individual differences in development seriously, show concern for what is known about early adolescence, and emphasize social and emotional development as much as cognitive development. The 1989 Carnegie Corporation report suggested a major redesign of middle schools.

High School Dropouts. School dropouts are a serious educational and social problem. The drop out rate is lower now than in the 1940s, but 5.2 percent of students dropped out of school since 1983. Minority and low-income students are more at risk than others. The causes of dropping out include school-related problems, economic problems, and personal problems such as pregnancy. Strengthening schools and improving the connection between work and school may help reduce the drop out rate.

6.0 Adolescent Problems and Disturbances

Drugs. The United States has the highest rate of adolescent drug use in any industrialized nation; however, a national survey indicates that drug use has declined since 1980. Adolescent males are more involved in drug use than adolescent females. Alcohol is the most widely used of all drugs by adolescents. Cocaine can cause death. Use of cocaine by high school students was about 10 percent in 1987, a number down from previous years. Parents, peers, and schools play important roles in adolescent drug use and prevention.

Juvenile Delinquency. Juvenile delinquency refers to behaviors that range from socially unacceptable behavior to status offenses to criminal acts. The legal system distinguishes between index offenses (criminal acts) and status acts (performed by youth under a certain age). Predictors of delinquency include a negative identity, little self-control, early delinquency, being male, low expectations and commitment to education, limited resistance to peer pressure, inadequate parental monitoring, and residence in an urban, high-crime, mobile neighborhood. Successful programs focus on multiple components rather than on delinquency alone.

Adolescent Pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy in the United States occurs at the rate of 1 in 10, the highest incidence in the western world. It increases the health risk of both mother and infant. It can have a lasting impact on the educational level of the mother and may condemn her and her child to a life of poverty. Experts now call for increased sex education and family planning, access to contraceptive methods, and broad community involvement and support. Abstinence is another important consideration.

Suicide. The overall rate of suicide has increased. The rate peaks at about age 15. Both proximal and distal factors are involved in instances of suicide. For example, a long-term history of negative family experiences is often involved, as is depression. There is usually an immediate precipitating factor such as the breakup of a relationship or failure in school. There are guidelines for what to do and what not to do when you suspect that someone is likely to commit suicide.

Eating Disorders. Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa (a refusal to eat) and bulimia (periods of heavy eating followed by self-induced vomiting) involve a preoccupation with food and a distorted body image. They are much more frequent in adolescent females than in any other population, and are related to societal, psychological, and physiological variables.

7.0 The Current Status of Adolescents and At-Risk Youth

The Current Status of Adolescents. Most adolescents successfully make the transition from childhood to adulthood. Although today's adolescents generally are doing better than their counterparts of recent decades, many adolescents today lack adequate opportunities and support to become competent adults. Adolescents are clearly a heterogeneous group because the emerging portrayal depends on the particular group of adolescents.

Idealized Images of Adolescents and Society's Ambivalent Messages to Adolescents. Adolescents encounter ambiguous messages from American society about what they should and should not be. The areas include independence, sexuality, laws and values, and education. Such ambivalent messages contribute to adolescent problems.

At-Risk Youth. About 5 to 10 percent of adolescents have multiple problems regarding delinquency, substance abuse, adolescent pregnancy, and school failures. Common elements of programs designed to prevent or reduce adolescent problems include individual attention for high-risk children and community wide intervention.

8.0 Contemporary Concerns

Sociocultural Worlds of Development 12.1: Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Secondary Schools. Secondary schools in different countries share some features in common and differ on other features. One common feature is that most countries mandate school attendance from 6 to 7 through age 14 to 17. Most secondary schools entail two or more levels such as middle (or junior high) school and high school. Although curricula differ in content and philosophy, the nature of the curriculum is often similar.

Sociocultural Worlds of Development 12.1: 77ie Midnight Basketball League. The Chicago Housing Authority developed a Midnight Basketball League that provides prosocial interactions at a time when males in their late teens and early twenties are most likely to commit crimes. The program emphasizes attitude over ability, and requires players to practice and attend workshops. In addition to keeping participants out of trouble, the program has encouraged a number to enroll in adult education classes.

Perspectives on Parenting and Education 12.1: The Life-Skills Training Program. Gilbert Botvin's Life Skills Training Program is a model program for drug prevention and intervention. The five-part curriculum aims to reduce pressure to smoke, develop personal competence, and learn how to resist peer pressure. The program is most successful when lead by older peers.

Life-Span Practical Knowledge 12.1: Fateful Choices. Fred Hechinger recommends ways to improve the health and well-being of all adolescents, especially those at risk for problems.

Life-Span Practical Knowledge 12.2: You and Your Adolescent. This book by Laurence Steinberg and Ann Levine is for parents of adolescents. The authors endeavor to educate parents about adolescent development and provide strategies for coping with teenagers.

Life-Span Practical Knowledge 12.3: All Grown Up and No Place to Go. David Elkind's book argues that teenagers now must confront adult challenges too early in their lives. Elkind argues parents and schools neglect adolescent's emotional needs, and that the media exploits adolescents.

Life-Span Health and Well-Being: Some Guidelines for Seeking Tlierapy Wlien an Adolescent Shows Problem Behaviors. Laurence Steinberg and Ann Levine offer five guidelines for determining when parents should seek professional help for adolescents with behavior problems.