pedia adolescent

• Comedones


  Blocked hair follicle
• Hazing


  A form of organized bullying which refers to demeaning or humiliating rituals that prospective members must undergo to join sororities, fraternities, adolescent gangs, or sports teams
• Substance use disorder


  Use of chemicals to improve a mental state or induce euphoria
• The secondary sex characteristics that began in the late school-age period continue to develop during adolescence
• Adolescent periods


  1. Early period (13 to 14 years)

  2. Middle period (15 to 16 years)

  3. Late period (17 to 20 years)
• Puberty


  When an individual first becomes capable of sexual reproduction
• Secondary Sex Changes: Body hair configuration and breast growth are those characteristics that distinguish the sexes from each other but that play no direct part in reproduction
• Formal operational thought


  The ability to think in abstract terms and use the scientific method (deductive reasoning) to arrive at conclusions
• Puberty: An individual first becomes capable of sexual reproduction
• Physiologic Development

  1. Onset of puberty at 8 to 12 years of age and the cessation of body growth around 16 to 20 years

  2. Between these milestones, physiologic growth and development of adult coordination occur

  3. Growth stops with closure of the epiphyseal lines of the long bones, which occurs at about 16 to 17 years of age in females and about 18 to 20 years of age in males

  4. Pulse rate and respiratory rate decrease slightly to 70 beats/min and 20 breaths/min, respectively by late adolescence

  5. Androgen stimulates sebaceous glands to extreme activity, sometimes resulting in acne, a common adolescent skin problem

  6. Apocrine sweat glands form shortly after puberty
• Adolescents invariably feel a sense of pressure throughout this period because they are mature in some respects but still young in others
• The age of first menstruation in girls is gradually decreasing from a mean of 13 years to 12.4 years, which is probably related to more weight gain in girls
• Identity


  The task of forming a sense of identity is for the adolescent to decide whom they are and what kind of person they will be
• Teeth: Adolescents gain their second molars at about 13 years of age and their third molars (wisdom teeth) between 18 and 21 years of age
• Stalking


  Repetitive, intrusive, and unwanted actions such as constant and threatening pursuit directed at an individual to gain the individual’s attention or to evoke fear
• Developing a sense of intimacy


  Means a late adolescent can form long-term, meaningful relationships with persons of the opposite as well as their same sex
• Physical development in late school-age period continuing during adolescence


  1. Growth spurt continuing; pubic hair abundant and curly; testes, scrotum, and penis enlarging further; axillary hair present; facial hair fine and downy; voice changes happen with annoying frequency

  2. Pubic hair thick and curly, triangular in distribution; breast areola and papilla form secondary mound; menstruation is ovulatory, making pregnancy possible

  3. Genitalia adult; scrotum dark and heavily rugate; facial and body hair

  4. Pubic hair curly and abundant; may extend onto medial aspect of thighs; breast tissue appears adult; nipples protrude; areolas no longer project as separate ridges from breast; may have some degree of facial acne

  5. Pubic hair may extend along medial aspect of thighs; testes, scrotum, and penis adult in size; may have some degree of facial acne; gynecomastia (enlarged breast tissue), if present, fades

  6. End of skeletal growth
• Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development: Developmental task in early and mid-adolescence is to form a sense of identity versus role confusion. In late adolescence, it is to form a sense of intimacy versus isolation
• Late Adolescent Developmental Task: Intimacy vs Isolation
• Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development: Genital Stage


  • Site of gratification: genitalia
  • Activity: Learns to establish satisfactory relationship to the opposite sex
  • Nursing significance: Give an opportunity to relate to the opposite sex
  • Resurgence of sexual drives
  • Sexual pleasure through genitals
  • Sexual identification
  • Heterosexual is normal
  • Basic Concept: Matured Sexuality
  • Major Conflict: Develops ability to love and work
  • Maturation of the reproductive system
  • Mastery of this period results in the development of the ability to love and to work
  • Psychological theme: Maturity, creation, and enhancement of life (intellectual and artistic creativity)
  • Task: Learn how to add something to life and society
  • How to achieve this state: Balance both love and work
• Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development: Genital Stage
• Those who do not develop a sense of intimacy


  Are left feeling isolated; in a crisis, they have no one to whom they feel they can turn to for help or support
• Early Adolescent Developmental Task: Identity vs Role Confusion
• Zinc is necessary for sexual maturation and final body development
• Formal Operational Thought begins at age 12 or 13 and grows in depth over the adolescent years
• Adolescent development


  1. 13-year-olds tend to be loud and boisterous

  2. Impulsive in wanting immediate gratification

  3. Begin to experience crushes or infatuations

  4. By age 14, become quieter and more introspective

  5. Watch adults for role models

  6. Idolization of famous people fades

  7. Most 15-year-olds fall in love multiple times

  8. By age 16, boys become sexually mature

  9. By age 17, tend to have adult values and responses
• Adolescents need an increased number of calories to support rapid body growth
• Iron is necessary to meet expanding blood volume requirements
• Formal Operational Thought


  • Ability to think in abstract terms
  • Use of scientific method (deductive reasoning)
  • Problem solving depends on abstract and logical thinking
• Play or Recreation for 13-year-olds


  1. Activities change to more adult forms such as listening to music, texting, chatting, following sports teams

  2. Team loyalty becomes intense

  3. Overuse injuries from athletics occur

  4. Spending time talking with peers

  5. Desire for part-time jobs to earn money

  6. Engage in charitable endeavors
• Increased Calcium, Vitamin D, and physical exercise are necessary for rapid skeletal growth and to prevent osteoporosis later in life
• Almost all adolescents question the existence of God and religious practices they have been taught
• Zinc


  • Necessary for sexual maturation and final body growth
• Acne


  • Self-limiting inflammatory disease involving sebaceous glands, common skin disorder of adolescence, categorized as mild, moderate, or severe, goal of therapy is to decrease sebum formation, prevent comedones, and control bacterial proliferation
• Poor posture issues

  • Rounded shoulders, slouchy walk, imbalance of growth, heavy backpacks
• Iron


  • Necessary to meet expanding blood volume requirements
• Obesity


  • Most overweight adolescents have obese parents, inheritance and environment play a role in development
• Body piercing and tattoos


  • Way for adolescents to make a statement of who they are and that they are different from their parents, risk of infection or blood-borne disease
• High school athletes

  • Need more carbohydrates or energy. Best source of carbohydrate comes from the breakdown of glycogen for a slow and steady release of glucose
• Glycogen loading


  Procedure used to ensure there is adequate glycogen to sustain energy through an athletic event