1 Child Psychology Late Adolescence Chapters 13 & 14 Physical, Cognitive, Social & Emotional Development

2 Agenda Health & safety issues Cognitive development Gender differences in self-esteem & gender research in general Autonomy, sexuality, & consequences Adolescent psychopathology

3 Health & safety issues Accidents Homicides Suicide Sexually Transmitted Diseases

4 Accidents & Homicide First and second leading causes of death of year-olds Accidents High rates of risky behaviors New drivers = poor drivers Homicide US: highest homicide rate Unable to plan & weigh consequences

5 Suicide Risk Factors in Adolescents A psychiatric problem, antisocial behavior, substance abuse Belonging to a family with a history of suicide Experiencing high levels of stress Experiencing family problems or high levels of family conflict

6 Sexually Transmitted Diseases Diseases that may be transmitted from one person to another through sexual contact Teen STD risk factors: Multiple sexual partners rather than a single long-term relationship Unprotected sexual intercourse High-risk partners AIDS Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

7 Cognitive Development Social cognition Thinking about people and interpersonal relationships Social perspective taking Understanding Other People’s Perspectives

8 Gender Differences in Self-Esteem Meta analysis Purpose & techniques Meta analysis: Gender Differences in Self-Esteem Gender & self-esteem became an especially hot issue after AAUW study, followed by two widely read books How big is the difference?

9 Headlines

10 Reviving Ophelia (94, 95 papback)

11 Failing at Fairness (94, 95 papback)

12 AAUW study data – Sadker

13 No meta-analyses…until O’Brien, Leitzel, Mensky, Jeffreys, O’Brien, & Marchese (1996). Gender differences in self- esteem among adolescents: A meta-analysis. 104th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Toronto. 129 effect sizes from 80 studies two individuals rated each represented 71,113 subjects mean d value across studies was 0.20, 0.22 corrected for reliability of measures

14 Theoretical overlap

15 Military adolescent data

16 Misconceptions about sex differences Eagly, A. (1995) The science and politics of comparing men and women. American Psychologist, 50, Sex differences are small Sex differences are quite inconsistent across studies Sex-differences are artifactual Sex-difference findings disconfirm gender stereotypes

17 Misconceptions: sex differences Sex differences are small in general the findings with respect to sex differences are effects in the small to medium range that is fairly typical of psychological research generally large effects are unusual in gender comparisons, as they are in psychological research generally. Sex differences are inconsistent across studies Inconsistencies across studies no more than is typical across many areas of psychological research Growing awareness that just about everything we measure in psychology is context dependent in some way

18 Misconceptions: sex differences Sex-differences are artifactual Publication bias for significant findings Gender differences are often peripheral to main aims of study Gender of author(s) – significant in some areas of social psychology (conformity & gender) not in meta-analysis of SE. Sex-difference findings disconfirm gender stereotypes Differences favor males in: Aspects of visuospatial ability Agentic behavior, dominant, controlling, independent Females favored in: Measures of verbal fluency Communal behavior, socially sensitive, friendly, concerned with others welfare

19 Conclusion Gender differences research Magnitude and consistency of differences across studies very similar to most areas of inquiry in psychology

20 Development of Autonomy Emotional autonomy understands oneself as a person who is emotionally distinct from one's parents Behavioral autonomy can make and follow through with decisions regulating one's behavior Values autonomy makes judgments and choices about personal beliefs and principles Factors that Contribute to Adolescent Autonomy

21 Adolescent Sexual Development Double standard Adolescent contraceptive use success information acknowledging likelihood of sex obtaining contraception communication with partner using correctly Teen Pregnancy

22 Adolescent Sexual Devel. (cont.) Effective sex ed. programs: communication, negotiation, and refusal skills reduce behaviors leading to preg. or STDs basic, accurate information address social and media pressures re: sex Adolescent parents often exhibit Lack of knowledge about child development Anxiousness and frustration about parenting Little interaction with infants Negative exchanges with their children Negative attitudes toward parenting

23 Problems of development Delinquency < 21 year olds account for 30% of arrests in US Factors related to delinquency Gender Difficult temperament Low intelligence Peer rejection in childhood Family environment Prevention and treatment Early and targeting parents, schools and communities Treatments that work include teaching cognitive and social skills to assist in overcoming difficulties

24 Problems (con’t) Depression Symptoms Factors related to depression Genetics Parental depression (maladaptive parenting) Learned helplessness Gender differences Suicide Second or third leading cause of death Gender differences

25 Adolescent Psychopathology Lewinsohn, P.M., Hops, H., Roberts, R.E., Seeley, J.R., & Andrews, J.A. (1993). Adolescent psychopathology: I. Prevalence and incidence of depression and other DSM-III-R disorders in high school students. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102(1), Randomly selected sample of high school students n=1,710 at point of entry and 1,508 at 1-yr follow- up Western Oregon, Eugene area Representative sample Clinical interview Very expensive study

26 One year incidence

27 Prevalence of disorders

28 General findings almost 10% - current psychiatric disorder nearly 40% had experienced disorder during lifetime females experienced greater incidence most common: depression, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, and disruptive behavior disorders indicates need for stronger prevention efforts