Case Study # 1 Adolescent Development

Adolescence is popularly known to be a very tumultuous stage in a person’s life. In the adolescent stage (also coined the identity vs. role confusion stage by theorist Erik Erikson) bodies are changing rapidly, emotions are unfamiliar and unexplainable, and refraining from succumbing to peer pressure is more challenging than ever.

A clear example of this sense of equilibrium is in the second chapter as is talks about the necessity of the presence of both extremes so that one can appreciate both, invariably proving that the only way to recognize things is to accept the opposite of it, be it a good or bad thing. It is a simple equation of comparison plus balance which equals to tranquil understanding but the real task is putting that into practice.

Despite the large amount of people that feel confident and comfortable in expressing themselves freely, many adolescents have a deteriorating concept of self because of the belief that they should have to conform to their peer’s ideals. The identities of these children are being dictated by a need of acceptance from prominent social groups in their environment; however, teenagers must realize one’s own individuality as something beneficial and recognizing that conforming can become problematic in certain situations.

As young people progress through the adolescent stage they begin to view the world and themselves very differently than as they did a few years earlier. They become more intellectual. In the later stages of adolescence young people become less concerned about their appearance and social acceptance and more concerned about worldly issues and "who they really are." From the required text I have learned that by late adolescence, most teenagers think of themselves in terms of enduring traits, beliefs, personal philosophy, and moral standards. As they get older, children and adolescents define themselves less and less by what they look like and more and more by what they believe or feel (Child and Adolescent Behavior, pg. 196).

It’s no surprise that adolescents tend to withhold some of their personal information from their parents for a variety of reasons. When the health of the adolescent in concerned, on the other hand, how should the situation be handled? Teenagers are an extremely vulnerable population due to the many changes, stresses, and difficulties that they experience during their everyday life. This is the time in which adolescents value their privacy the most. The same goes for how they handle their medical situations. When they are just going in for a yearly checkup, a vaccine, or a common illness, most teenagers have no problem sharing the information with their parents to ensure that they are well taken care of. Also, teens typically rely on

The hypothesis supports David Elkind’s theory of adolescent egocentrism that adolescents have an idea that everyone around them is constantly talking about them,their actions, and the idea that they are unique. The survey supports the imaginary audience that David Elkind states in his theory, as 9 out of 10 adolescent think that they are constantly being watched for their actions. In this research it is shown that by the time adolescents turn 19 these factors do not relate to them as much as they do when they are around 13-18 years old. Throughout this research, David Elkind’s theory is proved to be accurate and relate to many adolescents even in contemporary time.

What were the Research Questions or Hypotheses in the article? Copy them directly from the article. Then, using YOUR OWN WORDS, briefly paraphrase what these mean. 5 points

The following essay is an overview of mental health in persons between the ages 13-18 known in human development as adolescences. This stage differs and has specific vulnerabilities as a person make their transition into adulthood and responsibilities associated with it. In (Erikson, 1963 Identity, Youth and Crisis) Eric Erikson referred to this stage as the forming one’s identity away from one’s parents to overcome dependence of a child. This essay hopes to present research data with in Australia concerning the overall health of the Adolescent population in an objective manner. These include the most common forms of mental illness for this age group such substance abuse disorder and self-inflicted injuries. It uses specific examples of issues which the group faces such income educational inequality due to family circumstance and its effect on mental disorders. The essay continues to present particular concerns of the age group stress in general and school work and the adolescences ability to achieve. Points raised in the essay also concerns female and male and the impact of their particular pressure they deal with as they move towards adulthood and the forming of their identity. The research is concludes with findings in the paper and compared against theories concerning the age as a whole. The essay reiterates findings bring a perspective to mental health in the age group and the uniqueness of the problems of the mental

This group of teenagers were clearly obsessed with themselves and constantly worried about other’s views towards them. The group consisted of four boys and four girls who were obviously interested in each other romantically and sexually. The girls were frequently staring up at me because they immediately noticed that I was looking at them and taking notes. The girls would look up at me and then fix their hair and turn to one of the other girl’s and make a comment. This is an example of egocentrism because the girls thought very highly of themselves and what others think of them. This can be very common amongst teenagers who are anxious, deal with depression or are put into new situation (Berger, 2014, p.430). Watching the group of eight teenagers interact with each other, it was clear that they were trying to figure out who they are in life and what they like in a person. Erikson’s term for the 5th stage of development describes the feeling of not understanding who they are as a teenager. Erikson called this stage the identity versus role confusion stage in which teenagers ask themselves who they are as a person and what they mean in life (Berger, 2014, p. 459). The best part about observing this group of teenagers was when one of the girls spotted me observing them and she decided to comment towards me. I was looking at the group of girls and commented to a friend

The names used in this Adolescent Observation Report are fictitious. This is absolutely necessary to protect the privacy of the adolescent being observed.

The purpose of this issue paper is to compare and contrast two different articles one written by L.E. Berk in 2010 that explores lifespan development. The other article was written by the staff and research team at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford in 2012 that addresses what cognitive development is and the progress of adolescence cognitive development. Cognitive development begins from the moment of birth and continues throughout life. However, this student finds the cognitive abilities are more complex during the adolescent years. Therefore, the issue this paper will address is adolescence cognitive development.

There are five characteristics that all adolescents have. These characteristics are biological growth and development, an undefined status, increased decision-making, increased pressures, and the search for self. The brain and the endocrine system control biological growth and development. During the early stages of adolescence, individuals experience growth in height and weight, changes in the body, the development of sexual characteristics, and skin problems. For example, I started getting curves in my body when I hit puberty. My body started to develop changes. Our society’s expectations for children and adults are clear, but for the adolescent, expectations are inexplicit. Some adolescents are treated like children, but some are treated like adults. There is an undefined status. For example, my parents pay for my lunch, but I have to have a job so I can support myself.

Adolescence is the distinct transitional stage between childhood and adulthood in human development, extending primarily over the teenage years and terminating legally when the age of majority is reached (Rathus, 2014). However in some instances, this biological, cognitive, social and emotional maturity may not be reached until a later stage and may be dictated by gender. Adolescence is characterised by rapidly changing and unpredictable behaviour (Freud, as cited in Rathus 2014), heightened and unstable emotions (Hall, as cited in Rathus 2014), disturbances in identity, the gradual development of one’s moral reasoning (Kohlberg, as cited in Rathus, 2014) and the gradual establishment of one’s independence. Several of these changes may occur at differing phases in adolescent growth. This development is categorized into three separate stages; early adolescence, middle adolescence, and late adolescence. Early Adolescence, commencing from the ages of eleven or twelve until the age of fourteen, comprises of several features such as rapid biological development and maturity, heightened stress levels and limited coping capabilities. On the other hand, middle adolescence, from the approximate age of fourteen to sixteen, involves the gradual cease of biological change, an increase in coping strategies and declined stress levels. Furthermore, late adolescence, commencing from the age of sixteen until the age of eighteen or nineteen, encompasses physical maturity, whereby the

During adolescence is also when Piaget says the idea of egocentrism remerges. This is related to body image problems, imaginary audience and personal fable. A personal fable is when an adolescent believes that their problems are unique and imaginary audience is when adolescents believe everyone is talking about them (McGraw-Hill Education, 2015) . When looking at my life knowing about these ideas I realized just how much I experienced imaginary audience and personal fable. I remember going through an emo phase, which is a phase defined by rebellion and a certain “Goth”, aesthetic in which I thought that “no one understood me”, which I am

From birth through adolescence, a significant amount of developmental changes occur. Children grow and develop physically, cognitively and emotionally. Each individual aspect of development has an effect on the child as a whole. If a child struggles developmentally in any of the areas (physically, emotionally or cognitively), it can affect one of the other areas of development as well. For example, if a child is underdeveloped physically, they may experience emotional development issues because they may be made fun of and teased by other children.