Adolescence, Young, Middle, Old

• Adolescence


  12-19 years of age
• Cognitive stage of adolescence

  • Formal Operational Stage (able to think abstractly and answer question)
• Psychosocial stage of adolescence

  • Identity vs. Role Confusion
• Cognitive changes in adolescence

  • Marks the transition from childhood to adulthood
  • Propositional Reasoning – ability to reason both deductive and inductive, can hypothesize and can apply logic principles to situations never encountered before
  • Egocentrism – obsessed of what they think as well as what others are thinking
  • Imaginary audience – explains their pervasive self-consciousness
  • Personal fable – belief that they are invulnerable
  • Indulge in comparing their self-image with an ideal image
  • Demand personal space, control, privacy, and confidentiality
• Teaching strategies for adolescence

  Provide privacy, understanding, honest, and straightforward, and unqualified acceptance in the face of embarrassment, loss of independence, identity, and self-control
• Short term learning strategies for adolescence

  1. Use one to one instruction to ensure confidentiality of sensitive information

  2. Choose peer group discussion sessions

  3. Share decision making whenever possible

  4. Give rationale for all that is said and done

  5. Approach them with respect, tact, openness, and flexibility

  6. Expect negative response, which are common when their self-image and self integrity are threatened

  7. Avoid confrontation acting like an authority
• Long term learning strategies for adolescence

  1. Accept adolescent's personal fable and imaginary audience as valid, rather than challenging their feelings of uniqueness and invincibility

  2. Allow them to test their own convictions
• Young adulthood


  Approximate age 20-40 years old
• Cognitive stage of young adulthood

  • Formal Operational Stage
• Psychosocial stage of young adulthood


  • Intimacy vs. Isolation
• Characteristics of young adulthood

  • Physical Abilities – at their peak, and to body is at its optimal functioning
  • Cognitive capacity is fully developed – accumulate new knowledge and skills from an expanding reservoir of formal and informal experiences
  • Individuals work to establish trusting, satisfying, and permanent relationships with others
• Teaching strategies for young adulthood

  • Allow them the opportunity for mutual collaboration in health decision-making
  • Encourage to select what to learn and how they want materials to be presented
  • Do well with written patient education materials, audiovisuals, and CAI's to self-pace their learning independently
• Middle aged adulthood


  41-64 years age
• Cognitive stage of middle aged adulthood

  • Formal Operational Stage
• Psychosocial stage of middle aged adulthood


  • Generativity vs. Self Absorption and Stagnation
• Cognitive changes in middle aged adulthood

  • Midlife is the transition period between young and adulthood and older adulthood
  • Adults realize that half of their potential life has been spent, questions their level of achievement and success
  • Physiological changes begin (skin, muscle tone decreases, metabolism slows down, hormonal changes, hearing and visuality starts to diminish)
  • Dialectical Thinking – ability to search for complex and changing understanding to find a variety of solutions to any given situation or problem
• Teaching changes for middle aged adulthood

  • Focus on maintaining independence and reestablishing normal life
  • Assess positive and negative past experiences with learning
  • Assess potential sources of stress caused by midlife crisis
  • Provide information to coincide with life concerns
• Older adulthood


  65 years and above
• Cognitive stage of older adulthood

  • Formal Operational Stage
• Psychosocial stage of older adulthood

  • Ego Integrity vs. Despair