Adolescent Development (AD)
A combination of online scientific articles and Adolescence - 13th Edition- (L.,Steinberg).
Table of contents
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: Biological transitions 4
Chapter 3: Social transactions 15
Chapter 2: Cognitive transitions 20
Chapter 9: Autonomy 29
Chapter 8: Identity 35
Chapter 13: Psychosocial problems in adolescence 42
Chapter 4: Families 51
Chapter 5: Peer groups 60
Chapter 10: Intimacy 68
Chapter 11: Sexuality 76
Chapter 6: Schools 83
Chapter 12: Achievement 89
Chapter 7: Work, leisure, and media 98
Emergent Emotions in Adolescence - S. J. Coe-Odess, R.l K. Narr & J. P. Allen (2019)
103
The increasing global health priority of substance use in young people - L.
Degenhardt et al. (2016) 104
The effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental health - A.
Orben et al. (2020) 105
Leveraging Neuroscience to Inform Adolescent Health: The Need for an Innovative
Transdisciplinary Developmental Science of Adolescence - A. Ballonoff & R. E. Dahl
(2017) 107
Microaggressions and depressive symptoms in sexual minority youth: The roles of
rumination and social support - T. Kaufman (2017) 109
Plugged in: How media attract and affect youth - P. Valkenburg & J. Piotrowski (2017)
111
Social media and self-esteem - D. Cingel, M. Carter, & H. Krause (2022) 114
, 1
Book: Adolescence (13th edition) - Laurence Steinberg (2022)
Introduction
The boundaries of adolescence
Adolescence = the stage of development that begins with puberty and ends when individuals
make the transition into adult roles, roughly speaking, from about age 10 until the early 20s.
- Types of changes:
● Biological changes
● Psychological changes
● Social changes
● Economic changes
Development during adolescence can be seen as a series of transitions from immaturity to
maturity.
- The length of adolescence has grown in the past 100 years.
Most social scientists differentiate three types of adolescence:
1. Early adolescence (10-13)
2. Middle adolescence (14-17)
3. Late adolescence (18-21)
➢ Some even suggest the emerging adulthood (early 20s).
○ Despite the popularity there is little evidence that emerging adulthood is a
universal stage.
A framework for studying adolescence by Hill (1983).
- It contains three components:
1. The fundamental changes of adolescence
What is distinctive about adolescence as a period in development?
Three components, according to Hill:
1) The onset of puberty; biological.
a) Puberty = the biological changes of adolescence.
i) E.g. changes in appearance and the development of
the ability to conceive children.
2) The emergence of more advanced thinking abilities; cognitive.
a) E.g. becoming able to think about hypothetical situations and
abstract concepts.
3) The transition into new roles in society; social.
a) Changes in rights, privileges, etc. due to the changed view the
society will have on an individual when they change from child
to adolescent to adult.
➢ All adolescents in every society go through them.
2. The contexts of adolescence
Why isn't everyone affected in the same way by puberty, by advanced
thinking abilities, and changes in legal status?
This is due to the context/environment where the individual is in.
● Psychological development during adolescence is a product of the
interplay between a set of three universal changes and the context in
which these changes are experienced.
, 2
● You can only understand people by examining their environment.
● A few key contexts:
○ Families
○ Peer groups
○ Schools
○ Work, leisure, and the mass media
3. The psychosocial developments of adolescence
What psychosocial developments occur during adolescence?
Psychosocial = development that is both psychological and social in nature.
● E.g. sexuality
Five basic developmental challenges that we face as we grow and change:
1) Identity - discovering and understanding who we are as individuals.
2) Autonomy - establishing a healthy sense of independence.
3) Intimacy - forming close and caring relationships with others.
4) Sexuality - expressing sexual feelings and enjoying physical contact
with others.
5) Achievement - being successful and competent members of society.
Three main problems associated with adolescence:
1) Drug and alcohol use and abuse
2) Delinquency and other ‘externalising problems’
3) Depression and other ‘internalising problems’
Theoretical perspectives on adolescence
Five major theories on adolescence:
1. Biosocial theories
= theories of adolescence that emphasise the biological changes of the period.
The most important biosocial theorist was Hall (1904).
- Hall saw adolescence as a period of ‘storm and stress’. This caused upheaval
for the individual and their surroundings.
Contemporary theories in this field focus on the genetic bases of individual
differences in adolescence.
An alternative biosocial theory has risen due to advances in brain science:
a. Dual systems/ maturational imbalance theories = the simultaneous
development of two different brain systems.
1) Governs the ways in which the brain processes rewards,
punishments, and social and emotional information.
a) Early adolescence.
2) Regulates self-control and advanced thinking abilities, such as
planning or logical reasoning.
a) Later on in life.
➢ This creates a maturational imbalance.
○ It’s comparable to starting a car without a braking system.
○ The main challenge for the adolescent is developing better
self-regulation to prevent further problems.
2. Organismic theories
= theories of adolescence that emphasise the interaction between the biological
changes of the period and the context in which they take place.
Three main theorists:
, 3
1) Sigmund Freud
Development are psychosexual conflicts that arise at different points in
development.
- Puberty temporarily throws the adolescent into a period of
psychological crisis by reviving old conflicts over uncomfortable sexual
urges that had been buried in the unconscious.
2) Erik Erikson
Internal, biological developments move the individual from one developmental
stage to the next. Erikson especially focused on the psychosocial conflicts
during development. He defined eight stages in psychosocial development,
each characterised by a crisis.
- His theory revolves around the identity crisis of adolescents.
3) Jean Piaget and Inhelder
Children pass through distinct stages of cognitive development as they
mature.
- He saw adolescence as the transition from concrete to abstract
thought.
● Adolescents become able to think about hypothetical
situations.
● This type of thinking is influenced by the interaction between
the internal, biological changes and someone’s environment.
3. Learning theories
= theories of adolescence that emphasise the ways in which patterns of behaviour
are acquired through reinforcement and punishment or through observation and
imitation.
- These theorists have little to say about adolescence as a developmental
period, because they assume that the basic processes of human behaviour
are the same during adolescence as during other periods of the life span.
- There are two general categories of learning theorists:
1) Behaviourists (behaviourism)
Reinforcement and punishment are seen as the main influences on
adolescent behaviour.
- Skinner was the most famous behaviourist. He proposed the
theory of operant conditioning.
● His idea highlights that reinforcement of behaviour
makes it more likely for the behaviour to be displayed
again.
2) Social learning theory
Adolescents learn how to behave by watching and modelling those
around them.
● Especially peers, family, media figures, etc.
4. Sociological theories
= theories of adolescence that emphasise the ways in which adolescents, as a group,
are treated by society.
● This theory focuses more on the common factors rather than the individual
differences among adolescents.
Two main themes:
1) Adolescent marginality
A combination of online scientific articles and Adolescence - 13th Edition- (L.,Steinberg).
Table of contents
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: Biological transitions 4
Chapter 3: Social transactions 15
Chapter 2: Cognitive transitions 20
Chapter 9: Autonomy 29
Chapter 8: Identity 35
Chapter 13: Psychosocial problems in adolescence 42
Chapter 4: Families 51
Chapter 5: Peer groups 60
Chapter 10: Intimacy 68
Chapter 11: Sexuality 76
Chapter 6: Schools 83
Chapter 12: Achievement 89
Chapter 7: Work, leisure, and media 98
Emergent Emotions in Adolescence - S. J. Coe-Odess, R.l K. Narr & J. P. Allen (2019)
103
The increasing global health priority of substance use in young people - L.
Degenhardt et al. (2016) 104
The effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental health - A.
Orben et al. (2020) 105
Leveraging Neuroscience to Inform Adolescent Health: The Need for an Innovative
Transdisciplinary Developmental Science of Adolescence - A. Ballonoff & R. E. Dahl
(2017) 107
Microaggressions and depressive symptoms in sexual minority youth: The roles of
rumination and social support - T. Kaufman (2017) 109
Plugged in: How media attract and affect youth - P. Valkenburg & J. Piotrowski (2017)
111
Social media and self-esteem - D. Cingel, M. Carter, & H. Krause (2022) 114
, 1
Book: Adolescence (13th edition) - Laurence Steinberg (2022)
Introduction
The boundaries of adolescence
Adolescence = the stage of development that begins with puberty and ends when individuals
make the transition into adult roles, roughly speaking, from about age 10 until the early 20s.
- Types of changes:
● Biological changes
● Psychological changes
● Social changes
● Economic changes
Development during adolescence can be seen as a series of transitions from immaturity to
maturity.
- The length of adolescence has grown in the past 100 years.
Most social scientists differentiate three types of adolescence:
1. Early adolescence (10-13)
2. Middle adolescence (14-17)
3. Late adolescence (18-21)
➢ Some even suggest the emerging adulthood (early 20s).
○ Despite the popularity there is little evidence that emerging adulthood is a
universal stage.
A framework for studying adolescence by Hill (1983).
- It contains three components:
1. The fundamental changes of adolescence
What is distinctive about adolescence as a period in development?
Three components, according to Hill:
1) The onset of puberty; biological.
a) Puberty = the biological changes of adolescence.
i) E.g. changes in appearance and the development of
the ability to conceive children.
2) The emergence of more advanced thinking abilities; cognitive.
a) E.g. becoming able to think about hypothetical situations and
abstract concepts.
3) The transition into new roles in society; social.
a) Changes in rights, privileges, etc. due to the changed view the
society will have on an individual when they change from child
to adolescent to adult.
➢ All adolescents in every society go through them.
2. The contexts of adolescence
Why isn't everyone affected in the same way by puberty, by advanced
thinking abilities, and changes in legal status?
This is due to the context/environment where the individual is in.
● Psychological development during adolescence is a product of the
interplay between a set of three universal changes and the context in
which these changes are experienced.
, 2
● You can only understand people by examining their environment.
● A few key contexts:
○ Families
○ Peer groups
○ Schools
○ Work, leisure, and the mass media
3. The psychosocial developments of adolescence
What psychosocial developments occur during adolescence?
Psychosocial = development that is both psychological and social in nature.
● E.g. sexuality
Five basic developmental challenges that we face as we grow and change:
1) Identity - discovering and understanding who we are as individuals.
2) Autonomy - establishing a healthy sense of independence.
3) Intimacy - forming close and caring relationships with others.
4) Sexuality - expressing sexual feelings and enjoying physical contact
with others.
5) Achievement - being successful and competent members of society.
Three main problems associated with adolescence:
1) Drug and alcohol use and abuse
2) Delinquency and other ‘externalising problems’
3) Depression and other ‘internalising problems’
Theoretical perspectives on adolescence
Five major theories on adolescence:
1. Biosocial theories
= theories of adolescence that emphasise the biological changes of the period.
The most important biosocial theorist was Hall (1904).
- Hall saw adolescence as a period of ‘storm and stress’. This caused upheaval
for the individual and their surroundings.
Contemporary theories in this field focus on the genetic bases of individual
differences in adolescence.
An alternative biosocial theory has risen due to advances in brain science:
a. Dual systems/ maturational imbalance theories = the simultaneous
development of two different brain systems.
1) Governs the ways in which the brain processes rewards,
punishments, and social and emotional information.
a) Early adolescence.
2) Regulates self-control and advanced thinking abilities, such as
planning or logical reasoning.
a) Later on in life.
➢ This creates a maturational imbalance.
○ It’s comparable to starting a car without a braking system.
○ The main challenge for the adolescent is developing better
self-regulation to prevent further problems.
2. Organismic theories
= theories of adolescence that emphasise the interaction between the biological
changes of the period and the context in which they take place.
Three main theorists:
, 3
1) Sigmund Freud
Development are psychosexual conflicts that arise at different points in
development.
- Puberty temporarily throws the adolescent into a period of
psychological crisis by reviving old conflicts over uncomfortable sexual
urges that had been buried in the unconscious.
2) Erik Erikson
Internal, biological developments move the individual from one developmental
stage to the next. Erikson especially focused on the psychosocial conflicts
during development. He defined eight stages in psychosocial development,
each characterised by a crisis.
- His theory revolves around the identity crisis of adolescents.
3) Jean Piaget and Inhelder
Children pass through distinct stages of cognitive development as they
mature.
- He saw adolescence as the transition from concrete to abstract
thought.
● Adolescents become able to think about hypothetical
situations.
● This type of thinking is influenced by the interaction between
the internal, biological changes and someone’s environment.
3. Learning theories
= theories of adolescence that emphasise the ways in which patterns of behaviour
are acquired through reinforcement and punishment or through observation and
imitation.
- These theorists have little to say about adolescence as a developmental
period, because they assume that the basic processes of human behaviour
are the same during adolescence as during other periods of the life span.
- There are two general categories of learning theorists:
1) Behaviourists (behaviourism)
Reinforcement and punishment are seen as the main influences on
adolescent behaviour.
- Skinner was the most famous behaviourist. He proposed the
theory of operant conditioning.
● His idea highlights that reinforcement of behaviour
makes it more likely for the behaviour to be displayed
again.
2) Social learning theory
Adolescents learn how to behave by watching and modelling those
around them.
● Especially peers, family, media figures, etc.
4. Sociological theories
= theories of adolescence that emphasise the ways in which adolescents, as a group,
are treated by society.
● This theory focuses more on the common factors rather than the individual
differences among adolescents.
Two main themes:
1) Adolescent marginality
