psychology of adolescence dep 4304 samuel r. mathews, ph.d. school of psychological and behavioral...

Psychology of AdolescenceDEP 4304

Samuel R. Mathews, Ph.D.

School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences

The University of West Florida

Complete the following items:

• List 3 terms or phrases that come to mind when you think of adolescence.

• List the major problem, from your perspective, adolescents face in today’s US culture.

• List the major problem, from your perspective, adolescents face from a global perspective.

Adolescence: Historical Perspective

• Relatively recent category• Based on labor market

– Labor intensive to knowledge intensive– Rural, agricultural to technological

• Lifespan perspective– Changes in healthcare– Changes in environmental conditions– Changes in pregnancy and childbirth

practices

Adolescence: Historical Perspective

• Emerging Adulthood (Arnett, 2000)– Recently established category– Physical relocation frequent– Reflects extended adolescence– Extended dependency on family of origin– Extended time to economic independence– Extended educational experiences (graduate

school or second undergraduate degree common)

BioPsychoSocial Model

• Human development can best be understood as the interaction of:– biological forces (genetics, physical

maturation), – individual psychological factors (intellectual,

social, emotional), and – social forces (family, peers, social institutions,

cultural factors).

Perspectives on Adolescence

• Constructivist: we form unique interpretations of our experiences based on:– history, – culture, and – cognitive strategies;


• Contextualist: our culture and context provide the lens through which we see our and others’ worlds—consciously or unconsciously;– Bronfenbrenner defines multiple levels of

contexts—microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem

– Contexts range from individual interactions to larger cultural institutions that govern individuals


• Lifespan: adolescence reflects a process of maturation that is similar to yet different from periods prior to and subsequent to it.– Early adolescence—pubescent through 14-15

years old;– Late adolescence—typically 16-19 years old– Emerging adulthood—typically post

secondary school through establishing individual values, emotional independence,etc.

Diversity and the Adolescent Population

• Although the demographics of the US population are changing, adolescence remains a significant and growing group (11-19years);

• Diversity among adolescents reflects diversity among the broader population.

Concepts of Diversity

• Gender—social roles, not biological sex, individuals adopt or those roles to which individuals are limited by the dominant culture; – Feminine– Masculine– Androgynous


• Ethnic group—– Typically defined by racial, cultural, linguistic,

economic, religious, ideological, and/or political status.

– Members of the same ethnic group may or may not share common values and characteristics of all those defining the group.


• Sexual Orientation– Heterosexual (straight)—attracted to

members of the opposite sex– Homosexual (gay, lesbian)—attracted to

members of the same sex– Bisexual—attracted to members of either sex.

Scientific Study of Adolescence & Emerging Adulthood

• How we know about adolescents/adolescence and emerging adults/adulthood– Media– Experience– Science/scientific study

• Why science? Because it strives to be– Systematic– Unbiased– Self-correcting


• Types of Relationships– Correlational – what happens, descriptive, predictive– Causal – why something happens, what causes it

• Types of Data– Qualitative (personal narratives, written records of

observations)– Quantitative

• Nominal—Frequencies • Ordinal—Rank Orders• Interval—Measurements that have equal intervals between

units of measurement• Ratio—Measurements that have a true zero point and equal

intervals


• Types of Designs– Rigor of control

• Correlational – can show us whether A and B are related, but cannot show us which one caused which

• Experimental – controlled such that we can begin to say whether A caused B because experiments include the following:

– Random assignment – Systematic control of variables

• Quasi-Experimental


• Types of Designs (cont.)– Temporal Aspects

• Cross Sectional – uses different groups of participants from different age ranges for comparison at one time (e.g., comparing 6th graders’ and 10th graders’ relationships with their parents)

• Longitudinal – uses the same group of participants, taking measures over time at different ages (e.g., measuring one group of adolescents’ attitudes toward alcohol use when they are in 6th, 8th, 10th, and then 12th grade)

• Cohort Sequential – uses different groups, taking measures over time at different ages (e.g., measuring attitudes about gender roles in 6th and 10th graders in 2008 and then in 2010, when they are in 8th and 12th grade)


• Interpretations of research– Reliability – the extent to which a measure yields

similar results when used multiple times

– Validity – the extent to which something measures what it claims to measure

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