Carol A. Markstrom

Ethnic Differences in the Imaginary Audience

Elkind and Bowens study was used as a basis for examining ethnic differences in the Imaginary Audience Scale (IAS) and its two subscales, the Abiding Self (AS) and the Transient Self (TS). Eighty-five Sioux and 100 Caucasian adolescents in the 7th, 8th, 11th, and 12th grades were administered the IAS. Some of Elkind and Bowens findings were replicated. Ethnic differences were found in correlations between the IAS and measures of self-concept. No ethnic differences in IAS scores were found for younger adolescents; however, older Caucasian adolescents had lower AS scores than older Sioux adolescents. The need for more research on the IAS with different racial and cultural groups was discussed.

Depression and Suicide in Adolescence

This chapter focuses on the relationship between depression and incidences of suicide in adolescence. Among mental health professionals clinical depression is synonymous with the phrase affective disorders. The most common affective disorders are major depression, unipolar depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, manic episode, bipolar disorder, and cyclothymic disorder. Suicide is a conscious, deliberate attempt to take ones life quickly. Adolescents attempt suicide to express anger, to control another, to call for help, to protect themselves, or to join a deceased relative. Thoughts of death and dying are not strange or foreign to adolescents of this or past generations. Unable to look beyond their immediate behavior or to understand the implications of their actions, young people can entertain thoughts of suicide. These thoughts are further stimulated by the cultural attitude that death is a taboo subject. Two principle groups of theories, one emerging from psychoanalytic thought and the other from sociological observations, have been proposed as explanations for suicide. The first set of explanations focuses on internal variables, while the second views external social forces as influencing the decision to take ones own life. Studies show that many young people who attempt suicide feel unloved and unwanted or with family relationships. The first therapeutic effort that needs to be made to assist an individual who has attempted suicide is to extend a lifeline of support, guidance, and friendship. Medications can also be very helpful in assisting the depressed or suicidal adolescent. Suicide among young people can be prevented by strengthening the family and friendship units while at the same time building a sense of social cohesiveness.

An Analysis of the Imaginary Audience Scale

Tests of reliability and construct validity of the Imaginary Audience Scale (IAS) and its two sub-scales, the Abiding Self (AS) and the Transient Self (TS), were carried out with a sample of 185 adolescents. Results were compared with those of Elkind and Bowen who developed the IAS, TS and AS Scales. Alpha coefficients and item-total correlations were similar to those reported by Elkind and Bowen. In addition, two factors were found for the AS corresponding to the AS and TS sub-scales identified by Elkind and Bowen.

Theories and Research Methods

This chapter examines several theoretical explanations, which helps to describe, explain, and predict adolescent behavior, and examines how research studies on this issue are designed. The first theoretical perspective on adolescence, known as psychoanalytic theory, was introduced to North American audiences in the early 1900s when Sigmund Freud addressed the faculty at Clark University. It consists of the recognition of two powerful forces in direct opposition, namely, inherent instinctual (sexual and aggressive) needs and the need to live in a social group. Another theory, known as psychosocial perspective of adolescence, examines the relationship between the psychological adjustment of growing up and the social conditions that foster or hinder it. Stress and crisis are important psychological elements in this growth process as are stages of development and turning points. The social learning theory provides important learning principles that can be used to understand adolescent behavior. Foremost among the modern social learning theorists is Albert Bandura, who proposed that the cognitive processes that mediate behavioral change, like those in adolescence, are influenced by prompting or modifying the self-efficacy or experience leading to the mastery of skills or tasks. Adolescence researchers gather data systematically and, if possible, assess them experimentally. The most common method of collecting data about adolescents is through surveys or interviews. During the study of many behaviors, particularly more public or common behaviors, observational studies may provide the most direct objective information. A less frequently used technique in the study of adolescence is experimentation. The basic experimental design involves a direct comparison of an experimental group and a control group.

Of Time and Soothsaying

This chapter presents the future trends in various issues related to adolescents. On theories of behavior, it predicts a consolidation and integration of existing theories of human behavior. It also expects an exaggeration of masculine behaviors for males and feminine behaviors for females during the adolescent years. For young people uncomfortable with their sexual identity, it will continue to be a very painful time of life. While society has gradually come to applaud the accomplishments of exceptionally talented youths who cross gender boundaries like the male figure skater and the female basketball player, this will not generalize to a wider population of youths in near future. Biological advances in understanding the onset and course of development in adolescence is expected to continue well into the next century. For a very small percentage of the population who suffer from very specific developmental disorders like precocious puberty wherein the gonads sexually mature in girls before age 8 and in boys before age 9, specific genes causing these disorders may be identified. Powerful new strains of old sexually transmitted diseases are expected to emerge, severely testing the abilities of researchers to develop new effective drug treatments.

Welcome to the Study of Adolescence

This chapter presents an introduction to the book on adolescence. A physiological definition is a commonly used measuring stick to define the adolescent period. Adolescence begins when the reproductive organs and secondary sex characteristics such as body hair and breasts begin to change in late childhood. Given that testicle growth is predictive of pubic hair and skeletal changes in boys, it is assumed that the beginning and end of male adolescence are related to sexual development. Similarly, consistent production of fertile eggs and regularity of the menstrual cycle signal the end of adolescence for gifts. Others have suggested a reasoning-based, cognitive definition of adolescence. From this perspective, children come to develop thinking processes that are independent of concrete and observable objects in the immediate environment to include abstract thoughts and metacognition. Since cognitive development doesnt occur all at once, but happens gradually in a complex manner, a cognitive definition of adolescence is limited in its ability to set out the beginning and ending of adolescence.

Helping Adolescents: Intervention and Prevention

This chapter presents a broad overview of both treatment and prevention programs for troubled adolescent behavior. The secret of working with adolescents is being trustworthy, genuine, empathic, and honest. For this formula to work, the adolescent must perceive the mental health worker as having these qualities. Therapy involves diagnosing a clients emotional problem and, where appropriate, acting to correct that problem by increasing the individuals capacity to cope with life. There are four basic categories of therapy. The first and perhaps still the most common is individual therapy, in which the client and the therapist explore together in private the feelings, thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes of the client. The second category of therapy, which has become the standard for nearly all interventions with young people, is family therapy. The third category is, in which the therapist interacts with each individual and encourages them to interact with one another. The last category is couple therapy, in which a mental health worker works through the problems between two individuals. The two primary locations in which therapy takes place are treatment (outpatient) settings and rehabilitation (inpatient) settings. The five primary groupings of therapies include analytical, behavioral, humanistic, transpersonal, and biogenic. The four prevention tools include education, community organization/systems intervention, competency promotion, and natural care giving.

Chapter 13 – Crime and Delinquency

This chapter focuses on violent juvenile crime, treatment approaches to delinquency, and prevention of delinquency. Although the link between poverty and crime remains a popular explanation for delinquency, some find physiological sources of criminal behavior, others stress psychological causes, and still others blame society for its failure to provide young people with adequate and acceptable opportunities. A delinquent is often described in studies as having identity problems or as being neurotic or pathological. The delinquents family is seen as inconsistent, uncaring, or hostile. These findings, however, must be viewed with caution as research shows that many emotionally healthy young people from stable, caring families engage in delinquency. There are several strategies for treating or preventing delinquency, which include therapy, benign neglect or radical nonintervention, and strengthening of social control. The prevention of delinquency involves changing the systems (community, school, and family) that fail to meet the social and emotional needs of young people while at the same time attempting to promote the social competency of youth. Parental involvement in the adolescents life and providing effective and positive discipline are critical components in the prevention of violent delinquency. Emotionally close but not enmeshed families are an important factor in the prevention of youth violence.

Adolescent Sexuality: Issues for Concern

This chapter focuses on various problems related to adolescent pregnancy, adolescent marriages, sexually transmitted diseases, or adolescent prostitution. The problems faced by expectant teenagers include poor future educational employment prospects, lower marital satisfaction, and a high divorce rate. The family life of many adolescents who become pregnant has been described as very stressful before the pregnancy, but the relationship between the adolescent and her mother is thought to improve during the time the adolescent is pregnant. Social support appears to be a supportive factor for African-American adolescent mothers. However, the potential for conflict and exhibition of negative parenting behaviors exist particularly when mothers and grandmothers share parenting responsibilities. Although birth control methods are widely available, more than one in 10 adolescents become pregnant every year, about half that number will carry to term. Explanations for not using contraceptives include feeling uncomfortable about ones sexuality, lack of information, relationship factors, and a desire to become pregnant. Sexually transmitted diseases could be brought under control if only sexually active individuals would combine the use of condoms with vaginal foams. Social support can serve a protective function against HIV, while use of alcohol and drugs heighten risk for HIV infection. Strained family relationships, often including parental sexual abuse, the desire for adventure, and the economic lure are some of the factors that draw young people into prostitution.

Gender Differences and Sex-Role Development

This chapter examines various issues regarding gender differences and sex-role development in adolescents. It examines the evidence of how society has liberalized its views about sex roles, and also reviews the costs and benefits that adolescents might expect as they grow toward adulthood. Gender differences focuses on whether biological or genetic distinctions exist between boys and girls beyond their obvious physical differences. Sex-role development is concerned with the degree to which males and females internalize traditional societal characteristics thought to be associated with being female or male. Many of the differences between males and females are based on their acceptance of what they and society judge to be appropriate sex-typed behavior. This process of identifying and accepting specific sex-typed behavior based on societal standards results in a sex-role identity. Although many researchers argues that society is becoming increasingly liberalized, research evidence however suggests that attitudes about mens and womens roles are changing only gradually. Several cognitive development theories have evolved to describe sex-role development. In all cognitive development theories, young people move from oversimplified, underdeveloped, or disorganized states of sex-role perceptions into a more stable pattern of conformity to gender-specific societal standards, with a final movement to greater selection, choice, and integration of both masculine and feminine characteristics later in life.