Adolescence

• Identity crisis


  A developmental event that involves a person questioning their sense of self or place in the world
• Identity


  Something that shifts and changes throughout life as people confront new challenges and tackle different experiences
• Marcia's four identity statuses

  • Diffusion
  • Foreclosure
  • Moratorium
  • Achievement
• Diffusion


  • The individual is overwhelmed by the task of achieving an identity and does little to accomplish the task
• Foreclosure


  • The individual has a status determined by adults rather than by personal exploration
• Moratorium


  • The individual is examining different alternatives but has yet to find one that's satisfactorily
• Achievement


  • The individual has explored alternatives and has deliberately chosen a specific identity
• The common element in these phases is that teens are not exploring alternative identities. They are avoiding the crisis altogether or have resolved it by taking on an identity suggested by parents or other adults
• As individuals move into young adulthood, they have more opportunity to explore alternative identities. Diffusion and foreclosure become less common in young adults and, as Figure 6.1 shows, achievement and moratorium become more common
• Characteristics of adolescence thinking


  • Adolescent egocentrism
  • Imaginary audience
  • Personal fable
  • Illusion of invulnerability
• Adolescent egocentrism


  Adolescents are overly concerned with their own thoughts and feelings
• Imaginary audience


  Adolescents believe that others are watching them constantly
• Personal fable


  Adolescents believe that their experiences and feelings are unique
• Illusion of invulnerability


  Adolescents think that misfortune happens only to others
• As adolescents make progress toward achieving an identity, adolescent egocentrism, imaginary audiences, personal fables, and the illusion of invulnerability become less common
• Circumstances that help adolescents achieve identity

  • Parents encourage discussion and recognize children's autonomy
  • Parents set rules with little justification and enforce them without explanation
• Self-esteem in adolescence


  The social component of self-esteem becomes particularly well differentiated
• Adolescents distinguish self-worth in many different social relationships
• Influences on adult's self-esteem


  • Children's actual competence in domains that are important to them
  • How others, particularly important people, view them
• Parents' discipline is related to self-esteem
• Peers' views are important for children's and particularly adolescents' self-worth
• By encouraging children to find their special talents and by being genuinely interested in their progress, parents and teachers can enhance the self-esteem of all students
• Parent-child relations change during adolescence. As teens become more independent, their relationships with their parents become more egalitarian
• Most adolescents admire and love their parents, rely upon their parents for advice, embrace many of their parents' values, and feel loved by their parents
• Adolescence is not inherently tempestuous, as the myth of "storm and stress" would lead us to believe
• Romantic relationships in adolescence

  • For younger adolescents, they offer companionship and an outlet for sexual exploration
  • For older adolescents, trust and support become important features
• Cultural factors strongly influence dating patterns
• Adolescents involved in a romantic relationship are often more self-confident
• Romantic relationships for younger adolescents

  Offer companionship like that provided by a best friend and an outlet for sexual exploration
• Romantic relationships for older adolescents

  Trust and support become important features
• European American parents


  Tend to encourage independence in their teenagers more than traditional Latino American and Asian American parents
• Latino American and Asian American parents

  Emphasize family ties and loyalty to parents
• Dating for Latino American and Asian American adolescents


  Often begin at an older age and date less frequently
• Teen romances


  • Adolescents involved are often more self-confident
  • They report more emotional upheaval and conflict
  • Early dating with many different partners is associated with problems in adolescence and less satisfying romantic relationships in adulthood
• Adolescents are less likely to have sex


  When they feel close to their parents, when parents monitor their activities, and when parents' values discourage sex
• Adolescents are more likely to have sex


  When their peers approve and when they believe their peers are also having sex
• For girls, sexual behavior


  Is viewed as romantic and is interpreted through their capacity to form intimate interpersonal relationships
• For boys, sexual behavior

  Is viewed as recreational and self-oriented
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases


  • Chlamydia
  • Gonorrhea
  • Syphilis
  • Genital Herpes
  • Genital Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)
  • Hepatitis B
  • HIV
• Teenage pregnancies in the Philippines declined by 13 percent in 2020