Adolescent Development

The relationship between puberty and social emotion processing

by Geoff Bird

Goddings A-L., Burnett Heyes S., Bird G., Viner R.M., & Blakemore S-J.

The social brain undergoes developmental change during adolescence, and pubertal hormones are hypothesised to... more The social brain undergoes developmental change during adolescence, and pubertal hormones are hypothesised to contribute to this development. We used fMRI to explore how pubertal indicators (salivary concentrations of testosterone, oestradiol and DHEA; pubertal stage; menarcheal status) relate to brain activity during a social emotion task. 42 females aged 11.1 to 13.7 years underwent fMRI scanning while reading scenarios pertaining either to social emotions, which require the representation of another person’s mental states, or to basic emotions, which do not. Pubertal stage and menarcheal status were used to assign girls to early or late puberty groups. Across the entire sample, the contrast between social versus basic emotion resulted in activity within the social brain network, including dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC), the posterior superior temporal sulcus, and the anterior temporal cortex (ATC) in both hemispheres. Increased hormone levels (independent of age) were associated with higher left ATC activity during social emotion processing. More advanced age (independent of hormone levels) was associated with lower DMPFC activity during social emotion processing. Our results suggest functionally dissociable effects of pubertal hormones and age on the adolescent social brain.

Adolescent impulsivity phenotypes characterized by distinct brain networks

by Robert Whelan

Nature Neuroscience. doi:10.1038/nn.3092

Robert Whelan, Patricia J Conrod, Jean-Baptiste Poline, Anbarasu Lourdusamy, Tobias Banaschewski, Gareth J Barker, Mark A Bellgrove, Christian Büchel, Mark Byrne, Tarrant D R Cummins, Mira Fauth-Bühler, Herta Flor, Jürgen Gallinat, Andreas Heinz, Bernd Ittermann, Karl Mann, Jean-Luc Martinot, Edmund C Lalor, Mark Lathrop, Eva Loth, Frauke Nees, Tomas Paus, Marcella Rietschel, Michael N Smolka, Rainer Spanagel, David N Stephens, Maren Struve, Benjamin Thyreau, Sabine Vollstaedt-Klein, Trevor W Robbins, Gunter Schumann, Hugh Garavan & the IMAGEN Consortium

The impulsive behavior that is often characteristic of adolescence may reflect underlying neurodevelopmental... more The impulsive behavior that is often characteristic of adolescence may reflect underlying neurodevelopmental processes. Moreover, impulsivity is a multi-dimensional construct, and it is plausible that distinct brain networks contribute to its different cognitive, clinical and behavioral aspects. As these networks have not yet been described, we identified distinct cortical and subcortical networks underlying successful inhibitions and inhibition failures in a large sample (n = 1,896) of 14-year-old adolescents. Different networks were associated with drug use (n = 1,593) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms (n = 342). Hypofunctioning of a specific orbitofrontal cortical network was associated with likelihood of initiating drug use in early adolescence. Right inferior frontal activity was related to the speed of the inhibition process (n = 826) and use of illegal substances and associated with genetic variation in a norepinephrine transporter gene (n = 819). Our results indicate that both neural endophenotypes and genetic variation give rise to the various manifestations of impulsive behavior.

Dynamic Patterns of Time Use in Adolescence

by Brian Flaherty

Sociosexuality as predictor of sexual harassment and coercion in female and male high school students

by Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair

Co-authored with Mons Bendixen, in press, Evolution and Human Behavior

Sexual harassment and coercion have mainly been considered from a sex difference perspective. While traditional social... more Sexual harassment and coercion have mainly been considered from a sex difference perspective. While traditional social science theories have explained harassment as male dominance of females, the evolutionary perspective has suggested that sex differences in the desire for sex are a better explanation. This study attempts to address individual differences associated with harassment from an evolutionary perspective. Considering previous research that has found links between sociosexual orientation inventory (SOI) and harassment, we consider whether this association can be replicated in a large, representative sample of high school students (N=1199) from a highly egalitarian culture. Expanding the previous studies which mainly focused on male perpetrators and female victims, we also examine females and males as both perpetrators and as victims. We believe that unrestricted sociosexuality motivates people to test whether others are interested in short-term sexual relations in ways that sometimes might be defined as harassment. Furthermore, unrestricted individuals signal their sociosexual orientation, and while they do not desire all individuals that react to these signals with sexual advances, they attract much more sexual advances than individuals with restricted sociosexual orientations, especially from other unrestricted members of the opposite sex. This more or less unconscious signaling thus makes them exploitable, i.e., harassable. We find that SOI is a predictor for sexual harassment and coercion among high school students. The paper concludes that, as expected, unrestricted sociosexuality predicts being both a perpetrator and a victim of both same-sex and opposite-sex harassment.

Keywords: Sociosexual orientation inventory, Harassment and coercion, Unrestricted sociosexuality, Adolescence

variasi pengaruh peer pressure terhadap latar belakang status sosial ekonomi remaja

by fredy maulana

Heritability of schizotypal traits during adolescence

by Marissa Ericson

Examining the Adolescents’ Smoking According to Their Peer Pressure Levels and Gender

by Halil Eksi

Binnaz KIRAN-ESEN
Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice
3 (1) •  / May 2003 • 179-188

In this research the difference in the students’ smoking according to their peer
pressure levels and gender is... more In this research the difference in the students’ smoking according to their peer
pressure levels and gender is examined. This study is executed in 2001-2002
academic year on 718 2nd grade high school students (311 girls and 407 boys)
between ages 15-17 who are impartially selected by cluster sampling and
random sampling techniques. A Peer Pressure Scale, developed by the author, is used to
determine the peer pressure. Information about the frequency of
students’ smoking is calculated according to the answers of students. The
relations between variables and the difference between scores are analyzed by
chi-square test. The results show that, there is a significant relation (p< 0.05)
between peer pressure levels and smoking. It is, however, determined that
gender does not bring about a meaningful differentiation on adolescents’
smoking. Existence of a relation between smoking and peer pressure among
adolescents makes it necessary for the schools’ psychological counseling and
guidance services to cover studies about decreasing peer pressure.

The seeds of tomorrow: Cultivation theory, media socialization, and adolescents' identity formation

by CarrieLynn Reinhard

Written for a 2003 graduate studies seminar on media theory, this is an exploration of cultivation theory as it relates to adolescents and issues of identity formation.

Adolescents undergo the process of identity formation as one of their foremost development challenges. This paper... more Adolescents undergo the process of identity formation as one of their foremost development challenges. This paper addresses what role the mass media play in this process. One avenue of exploration would be to examine how the media can impact the adolescent’s perceptions of social reality, which could lead to the internalization of certain attitudes as the adolescent struggles to develop a stable core repertoire of attitudes, beliefs and values. Thus, cultivation theory could be one way of understanding this process, because it predicts media exposure would lead to perceptions of reality that will in turn foster certain attitudes to be held. However, there are limitations in making this connection. These limitations will be discussed as avenues for future research that need to be conducted before this connection can be fully utilized.

The Relationship between the Perceived Social Support and the Level of Depression and Anxiety in University Students

by Halil Eksi

Jale ELDELEKLİOĞLU
Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice
6 (3) • September 2006 • 742-752

The relationship between social support that students perceived from their friends
and families and their... more The relationship between social support that students perceived from their friends
and families and their depression and anxiety levels is investigated in this study.
The study is conducted with 325 students (200 females 125 males aged between 18
and 21, mean age = 20.41) attending to different universities in the 2002-2003 academic
year. Three scales were used in the study to measure perceived social support,
depression and anxiety levels: the Social Support Perceived from the Family
and Friends, adapted to the Turkish by Eskin, “the Beck Depression Scale” adapted
to the Turkish by Tegin and “the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory” adapted
to the Turkish by Öner. These three scales were administered simultaneously to the
students participating in the study and the relations among them were calculated. As
a result, there found to be a positive significant relationship between trait anxiety
and depression scores (p<.01) and a negative relationship between social support
perceived from the friends (p<.01) and family (p<.05) and depression scores.

Female adolescents, sexual empowerment and desire: A missing discourse of gender inequity

by Deborah Tolman

Response to Lamb & Peterson, 2011 and Lamb, 2010 on feminist perspectives and research on female adolescent sexuality

Explaining English language proficiency among adolescent immigrant students

by Avary Carhill-Poza

Youth sense of community: Voice and power in community contexts

by Scotney Evans

Published 2007 in Journal of Community Psychology, 35 (6), 693-709

Sense of Community theory suggests that people feel more attracted to groups and settings in which they feel... more Sense of Community theory suggests that people feel more attracted to groups and settings in which they feel influential or powerful. Unfortunately, young people have no voice or influence in many of the contexts in which they find themselves. Furthermore, teenagers are often unequipped and undersupported to participate fully and feel like they are making meaningful contributions to society. This is especially the case for young people who are disadvantaged or members of a minority groups. A two-part study was undertaken to explore sense of community in adolescents. The first phase utilized existing tools to measure adolescent sense of community in school, neighborhood, and city contexts. The second phase of the study relied on in-depth interviews with teenagers to better understand how they construct their sense of community. This article reports findings from the second phase and looks closely at the sense of community domain of “influence” as it applies to adolescents. Interviews with young people suggest that they feel a stronger self-described sense of community in contexts where they experience voice and resonance, some power and influence, and adequate adult support and challenge.

Book Review of of Deep Secrets: Boys’ Friendships and the Crisis of Connection by Niobe Way

by Shenila Khoja-Moolji

Published in Teachers College Record journal.

Disorganized attachment behavior observed in adolescence: Validation in relation to adult attachment interview classifications at 25.

by Bjarne Holmes

A influência da situação profissional parental no desenvolvimento vocacional dos adolescentes

by Joaquim Luís Coimbra

The influence of family factors in young sexual offenders behaviours

by Ricardo Barroso

Published in "Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll: Psychological, Legal and Cultural Examinations of Sex and Sexuality". Oxford: Inter-Disciplinary Press

The Internet and Adolescent Sexual Identity

by Lelia Samson

A Factor Analytic Examination of the Adolescent Individuation Measure.

by Nicholas Santilli

Estimulação da auto-exploração narrativa: Uma proposta de intervenção vocacional na adolescência

by Paulo Jesus

Ferreira, A., Barandela, T. & Jesus, P. (2010). Estimulação da auto-exploração narrativa: Uma proposta de intervenção vocacional na adolescência. In M. C. Taveira & D. Silva (Coords.), Desenvolvimento vocacional: Avaliação e intervenção (VI Conferência de Desenvolvimento Vocacional, Universidade do Minho, Braga, 22-23 de Abril, 2010). Braga: APDC, pp. 79-90. (Edição em CD-ROM, ISBN: 978-989-96700-3-7.)

Reconhecendo que a técnica de intervenção vocacional mais difundida implica uma “tarefa terapêutica” de exploração... more Reconhecendo que a técnica de intervenção vocacional mais difundida implica uma “tarefa terapêutica” de exploração identitária e que a expressão simbólica da identidade pessoal é essencialmente narrativa, a presente investigação pretende avaliar a relevância e a eficácia da auto-exploração narrativa, numa amostra de adolescentes e jovens adultos em risco psicossocial. Os sujeitos, sinalizados com problemas de comportamento (21 indivíduos de ambos os sexos dos 12 aos 25 anos), foram remetidos para consulta psicológica em contexto escolar. Procedeu-se a entrevistas narrativas individuais e à exploração guiada dos construtos pessoais e das posições identitárias subjacentes à auto-interpretação narrativa. Seguiu-se, para uns, a repetição da entrevista após experiências significativas e, para outros, a comunicação narrativa em grupo com exercícios dialógicos de interpretação (em ambos os casos, discutiram-se interpretações alternativas e estimularam-se dissonâncias ideológicas). Assim, a intervenção centrou-se na transição cíclica entre conteúdos vividos e categorias de auto-interpretação. Detectaram-se vários padrões de auto-construção que conjugam diversos graus de rigidez e de plasticidade interpretativa bem como de integração e de disjunção semântica, verificando-se um efeito positivo do envolvimento em conflitos sócio-cognitivos para a exploração de novos padrões de auto-compreensão narrativa e para a optimização da intencionalidade projectiva.

Risk-taking in youth culture as a ritual process.

by Paulo Jesus

Jesus, P.; Formosinho, M.; & Damião, M. H. (2011). Risk-taking in youth culture as a ritual process. International Journal of Developmental and Educational Psychology. INFAD: Revista de Psicología, XXIII, 1 (5), 451-458.

This paper proposes a theoretical rereading of adolescent risk-taking experiences by adopting a sociocultural... more This paper proposes a theoretical rereading of adolescent risk-taking experiences by adopting a sociocultural perspective. Thus, drawing from E. Erikson’s (1963, 1968) conception of identity exploration and experimentation, combined with V. Turner’s (1969, 1974) anthropological research on symbols, rituals, and liminal processes, as well as with recent research on the culture of risk-taking in adolescence (e.g., Eagan & Thorne, 2010; Lightfoot, 1997; Thorne & McLean, 2003), this paper argues that the so-called externalizing problems (and, more specifically, engagement in antisocial acting out) embody deep cultural scripts. These scripts, as we construe them, seem to obey a general schema that is crucial to contemporary youth culture and that one may phrase as “less structure and more intensity”, in line with Turner’s “anti-structure” concepts of “liminality” and “communitas”. In addition, this correlates with a sui generis style of reflexive storytelling strongly marked by discontinuity and ruptures, emblematically illustrated by episodes of interpersonal loss and ephemeral deviancy. We maintain that such forms of acting out constitute the embodiment of symbols which are rewritten and ritualized in peer groups, and whose appropriation and reiteration become the determining condition for gaining social recognition and personal worth.