Adolescent PsychologyChapter 2

Did you ever feel like this?

I am pretty confused. I wonder whether I am weird or normal. My body is starting to change, but I sure don’t look like a lot of my friends. I still look like a kid for the most part. My best friend is only 13, but he looks like he is 16 or 17. I get nervous in the locker room during PE class because when I go to take a shower, I’m afraid somebody is going to make fun of me since I’m not as physically developed as some of the others.

I don’t like my breasts. They are too small and they look funny. I’m afraid guys won’t like me if they don’t get bigger.

I can’t stand the way I look. I have zits all over my face. My hair is dull and stringy. It never stays in place. My nose is too big. My lips are too small. My legs are too short. My body is a disaster.

I’m short and I can’t stand it. My father is 6 feet tall, and here I am only 5 feet 4. I’m 14 already. I look like a kid, and I get teased a lot, especially by other guys. I’m always the last one picked for sides in basketball because I’m so short. Girls don’t seem to be interested in me either because most of them are taller than I am.

Today we’re going to talk about Puberty, Health, & Biological Foundations

PubertyDeterminantsSecular TrendsPsychological Aspects

Adolescent HealthRisk-taking behaviorsNutrition & ExerciseWhat we can do…

Puberty

The period of rapid physical maturation predominantly occurring during early adolescence, and involves hormonal & bodily changes.

DeterminantsHeredity

Hormones

The Endocrine System

Weight, Body, Fat, and Leptin

Weight at Birth and in Infancy

Sociocultural and Environmental Factors

Heredity

It is programmed into our genes

There is variability in both onset &duration

Onset ranges between 9 &16 years of age

Why is there variability?

Hormones

Powerful chemicals secreted by the endocrine glands; carried through the body by the bloodstream.

Androgens: The main class of male sex hormones

Estrogens: The main class of female sex hormones

HormonesHormone Levels by Sex and Pubertal

Stage for Testosterone and Estradiol

Fig. 3.1

The Endocrine SystemEnsures that hormonal stimulation prompts maturation & maintains reproductive capacity

Hypothalamus: structure in the brain that monitors eating, drinking, & sex

Pituitary Gland: controls growth & regulates other glands

Thyroid: works with pituitary to release growth hormones

Adrenal Glands: works with pituitary and plays a role in adrenarche

Gonads: sex glandsTestes & Ovaries

The Endocrine System Major Endocrine Glands Involved in Pubertal Change

Fig. 3.2

How does it work?Negative Feedback Loop

Thermostat-Furnace Metaphor

Hypothalamus Pituitary Gland Gonads…

Hypothalamus secretes Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)

Pituitary Gland secretes 2 Types of GonadotropinsFollicle-stimulating hormone (FSH): stimulates follicle development in females & sperm production in males

Luteinizing hormone (LH): regulates estrogen secretion & ovum development in females; testosterone production in males

Gonads secrete androgens & estrogens

Feedback System of Sex Hormones

(Testes in males, ovaries in females)

Fig. 3.3

Phases of Puberty

Adrenarche: from about 6-10 years of age

Adrenal androgens

Gonadarche: sexual maturation & development of reproductive maturity

HPG axis reactivated

Spermarche: A boy’s first ejaculation of semen

Menarche: A girl’s first menstrual period

Weight, Body Fat, & Leptin

It is hypothesized that a child must reach a critical body mass before puberty, especially menarche, emerges.

Percent body fat influences the onset of menarche

Leptin may signal the beginning & progression of puberty

Weight at Birth & in Infancy

Low birth weight girls experience menarche approximately 5-10 months earlier than normal birth weight girls (Ibanez & de Zegher, 2006; van Weissenbruch & Delemarre-van de Waal, 2006).

Rapid weight gain in infancy is related to earlier pubertal onset (Dunger, Ahmed, & Ong, 2006).

Sociocultural & Environmental Factors

Are there links between environment & puberty?Adolescents in developed countries & large urban areas reach puberty earlier than individuals in less developed countries &rural areas (Graham, 2005).

Children adopted to developed countries from less developed experience puberty earlier than those children who stay in the less developed country (Teilman, et al. 2002).

Early experiences linked with earlier onset include: father absence, low SES, family conflict, and maltreatment.

Pollutants have also been thought to influence puberty.

Physical Changes In Puberty

Growth SpurtMost rapid since infancy

earlier for girls (age 11.5) than boys (13.5) on average

3.5 - 4 inches per year

Weight gain follows roughly same timetable as height gain

Skeletal changes

Sexual MaturationMales: increase penis & testicle size, pubic hair, voice change, spermarche, armpit & facial hair

Females: breasts enlarge, pubic & armpit hair, menarche

Sexual Maturation

Fig. 3.5

Normal Range and Average Development of Sexual Characteristics in Males and Females

Secular Trends in Puberty

Imagine a toddler displaying all the features of puberty.

A 3-year old girl with fully developed breasts

A 3-year old boy with a deep male voice.

That is what you’d see by the year 2250 if the age of onset continued to drop at the rate at which it occurred for much of the 20th century.

Is this possible?

The Age at Menarche has Declined

Median Ages at Menarche in Selected Northern European Countries and the United States from

1845 to 1969

Fig. 3.7

Psychological Dimensions of Puberty

Body Image

Hormones & Behavior

Menarche & the Menstrual Cycle

Early & Late Maturation

Are Puberty’s Effects Exaggerated?

Activity Time Break up into groups of 4-6 people.

Need Guys and Girls in each Group

Each of you has two children, a boy and a girl, about to enter adolescence. You are a long distance from your children presently and tomorrow you will be leaving on a long journey that will prevent you from having contact with either child for the next ten years. This morning is your last opportunity to inform your children of the changes they will experience during puberty, so you need to use this chance to tell your children what you consider important to help them better deal with these changes. The only form of communication available to you is the mail. Each of you is to assist your group in writing two letters, one to your daughter and one to your son. As a group you must decide what to put in your letters. The choice is yours except in the letter to your daughter you must discuss menarche, and in the letter to your son you must discuss nocturnal emissions and spontaneous erections. You are to write these letters using a vocabulary that will be understood by these children and that will give them a positive attitude toward the changes they will experience. Each group must decide which letter it is going to write first.

Lets Talk About Adolescent Health

Adolescence is a critical juncture in the adoption of behaviors that are relevant to health.

Nutrition

Exercise

Sleep

Maladaptive vs. Adaptive behaviors

Despite us becoming a more health conscious nation…many adolescents still smoke, have poor nutritional habits, and spend too much of their time as couch potatoes….WHY?

Risk Taking Behavior

Adolescents seek experiences that create high intensity feelings.

They are drawn to music videos that shock and bombard the senses.

It is a time when sex, drugs, loud music, and other high-stimulation experiences take on great appeal.

What are some strategies for assisting adolescents to satisfy their motivation for risk-taking without compromising their health?

Health ServicesAdolescents suffer from a greater # of acute health conditions than adults do.

Adolescents underutilize health care services

Barriers to better health care include:Cost, poor organization and availability, lack of confidentiality, and reluctance to communicate with adolescents

Adolescents’ don’t believe that health care providers can help

Must talk about important issues:STI, contraception, drug use, depression, nutrition, stress

Only 25% of health care providers talk with adolescents during their last visit

Leading Causes of Death

1. Unintentional Injuries/Accidents• ½ of deaths between 15-24• Car accidents

2. Homicide

3. Suicide• Suicide rate has tripled since 1950s

Nutrition and Exercise

Adolescents have poor nutritionPoor food choices

An increasing number of eating disorders…more on that later though.

Adolescent exercise behavior is also poorLess activity

Many benefits to being active!!

Sports56% play at least one sport

Positive and negative influences

Lets Talk Sleep

Its reported that 45% of adolescents get inadequate sleep on school nights (National Sleep

Foundation, 2006).This appears to worsen the older we get (62% older adols vs 21% younger adols).

Maladaptive sleep patterns are correlated with sleepiness (obviously), irritability, depression, and caffeine addiction.

Also, research has found that the less sleep we get the less likely we are to exercise regularly, eat healthily, and de-stress appropriately.