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Beginning with the interaction between the coming-out process and adolescent development, this paper explores the young lesbian experience. The words and perceptions of over 20 young lesbians are used to depict the experience from their own points of view.
G. Stanley Hall's two-volume work on adolescence is assessed from the perspective of modern psychology, 100 years after he published it. A surprising number of similarities exist between Hall's views of adolescence and our own, and several of those similarities are discussed here. Some of the most striking differences between Hall's views and the views of today's psychologists are also discussed, specifically, Hall's grounding of his beliefs about adolescent development in a Lamarckian evolutionary psychology that assumed the inheritance of acquired characteristics and memories; his views of sexuality, especially masturbation; and his claim that religious conversion is normative in adolescence. The cultural and historical context of Hall's views is then discussed, with an emphasis on how an awareness of the context of Hall's views can enhance our awareness of the context of our own views today.
OBJECTIVE: To measure testicular volume and the gonadotrophin response to gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) stimulation in adolescents undergoing left varicocelectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirteen adolescents undergoing varicocelectomy had their testicular volume and endocrine function evaluated before and after surgery. RESULTS: The initial left testicular volume was consistently smaller than the right but after surgery both increased. Baseline follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels and the FSH response to GnRH stimulation increased after surgery. There were no differences in luteinizing hormone and testosterone levels, and no changes in Tanner staging. CONCLUSIONS: Unilateral varicocelectomy with ipsilateral testicular atrophy results in bilateral testicular growth and increased FSH levels. In adolescent development, elevated FSH levels in conjunction with an increased response to the GnRH stimulation test represent a normal physiological response. The GnRH stimulation test cannot be used to determine which adolescent would benefit from surgical repair.
PURPOSE: To describe the strategies used to obtain and retain a sample of young adolescents and their families. METHODS: The sample was 847 families with young adolescents aged 11 to 14 years who resided in a large urban Midwestern community of the U.S. The first design strategy was becoming credible within the community. For 5 years before conducting the intervention research in the community, surveys were conducted of the needs of middle-school students as they entered adolescence, and programs were delivered to meet the assessed needs. The second design strategy was instituting developmentally appropriate recruitment and retention strategies based upon direct consultation with groups of young adolescents. The consultants recommended referring to young adolescents as young adults and holding the training sessions in sites not associated with schools. The third design strategy was setting up participation methods that were nonburdensome to schools and families. CONCLUSIONS: The successful recruitment of over 800 families and the retention of 80% of them for survey participation and 77% of them for the intervention protocol can be attributed to three major strategies: (a) community involvement; (b) adherence to principles of adolescent development; and (c) ease of participation for school personnel and families.
This work aims at learning about the perception of health of overweight adolescents participating in the Multidisciplinary Program of Assistance to Overweight Adolescents developed in the Campus of Ribeirão Preto (University of São Paulo). The qualitative approach based on Minayo (1994) was adopted. Data were collected from sentences and compositions done by 17 adolescents, who were participating in the program. The theme of the compositions and sentences were: "What being healthy means?". Data analysis and interpretation was done based on the thematic analysis technique proposed by Bardin (1976). Through this analysis, the following meaning units were identified: "health is beauty", "diet and hygiene" and "practice of sports". Therefore, the study showed that the ideal body image adolescents want for themselves is related to the beauty standards established by the media and to the stereotypes of physical perfection. Another aspect detected by the study was that adolescents are aware of the need of practicing sports and having a balanced diet.
Quality of life is the most controversial issue surrounding home hemodialysis. We examined how sixteen adolescents and their six families reacted to having a father on home hemodialysis, exploring the interplay between adolescent developmental conflicts and family stresses. Family members underwent role changes to adjust to alterations imposed by hemodialysis. Some adolescents helped relieve family stresses by taking an active role in dialysis. These eight adolescents developed greater self-esteem which enhanced identity growth and facilitated separation. Psychological responses were observed that resembled the "death guilt," "psychic numbing," and "invisible contamination" described in Hiroshima survivors. Adolescent developmental problems can be dwarfed by family conflicts around chronic illness and dialysis. Families adjusted to home hemodialysis showing new growth, managing with a barely workable arrangement, or adapting unsuccessfully. Understanding more about how home hemodialysis can influence family interactions can enable the medical staff to facilitate beneficial changes, and thereby improve the quality of life for patient and family.
An epidemiologic background of chronic illness in children in the United States is presented, including prevalence data for 21 major chronic conditions. Normal adolescent development is reviewed, and the impact of chronic disease on this development is discussed. Finally, access to care for these patients and participation by primary providers are examined.
Even if it is difficult to obtain correct epidemiological evidence, there is a body of evidence which suggests that the frequency of allergic respiratory diseases is increasing. The majority of atopic patients, in particular in childhood and adolescence, develop immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies with clinical symptoms to aeroallergens, such as those derived from house dust mites, pollens and pets. Since, in the economically-developed countries individuals spend most of their time indoors (home, school and workplace), indoor pollutants (tobacco smoke etc.) and allergens (house dust mite, cats, etc.) are the most important source of exposure. Indoor allergens are associated with a wide variety of particles in a broad size range, only some of which are microscopically identifiable, culturable, or detectable with existing immunoassay. Evaluation of indoor allergens requires both air and source sampling, and several different analytical techniques. It is likely that the increased prevalence of allergy and asthma may be caused in the indoor environment by the synergistic action of air pollution (in particular derived from tobacco smoking) with allergic sensitization. Passive smoking in infancy has also been involved in the airways allergic sensitization to common aeroallergens.
This study investigated conflictual independence from parents (defined as a relationship free of anger and resentment), adjustment, and alcohol use among college students at a midwestern technical university (N = 109). Results showed that adjustment, as measured by the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (1989), was associated with having achieved conflictual independence from one's parents as measured by Hoffman's (1984) Psychological Separation Inventory. Additionally, greater alcohol use was associated with having achieved less conflictual independence from parents; the most frequent and strongest relationships occurred with respect to the mother-student relationship. The results suggested that the parent-student relationship has an impact on late adolescent development and that it also may play a role in alcohol use by college students.
Adolescence is a period during which many social behaviors emerge. One such behavior, flank marking, is a testosterone-modulated scent marking behavior that communicates dominance status between adult male Syrian hamsters. Testosterone modulates flank-marking behavior by altering neural transmission of vasopressin within a forebrain circuit. This study tested whether testicular hormones secreted during adolescence play purely a transient activational role in the display of flank-marking behavior, or whether adolescent steroid hormone secretions also cause long-term organizational changes in vasopressin binding within brain regions underlying flank-marking behavior. We tested this hypothesis by manipulating whether testicular secretions were present during adolescent development and then tested for flank-marking behavior and vasopressin receptor binding within the flank-marking neural circuit in young adulthood. Specifically, males were gonadectomized immediately before or after adolescence, replaced with testosterone 6 weeks following gonadectomy in young adulthood, and behavior tested 1 week later. Adult testosterone treatment activated flank-marking behavior only in males that were exposed to testicular hormones during adolescence. In addition, males exposed to testicular hormones during adolescence exhibited significantly less vasopressin receptor binding within the lateral septum than males deprived of adolescent hormones, suggesting that hormone-dependent remodeling of synapses normally occurs in the lateral septum during adolescence. These data highlight the importance of gonadal steroid hormone exposure during adolescence for the organization of neural circuits and social behavior.
Adolescent development is associated with progressive increases in the ratio of cerebral white-to-gray matter volume, but it is unclear how these changes relate to cognitive development and whether they are associated with sex-specific variability in cerebral maturation. We examined sex differences in the relation between cerebral tissue volume and cognitive performance in 30 healthy adolescents (ages 13 to 17 years using morphometric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In the 10 boys, greater white matter volume during adolescence was positively correlated with faster speed of information processing and better verbal abilities, while cerebrospinal fluid volume was negatively correlated with verbal abilities. No significant relations between cerebral tissue volume and cognitive abilities were found for the sample of 20 girls, raising the possibility of a different developmental trajectory for females that was not sampled in the age range of this study. Findings suggest sex-specific developmental differences in the relations between cerebral structure and function.
Contraceptive behavior of adolescent females was examined in relation to their level of knowledge, and time and method of contraceptive counseling. Subjects were 122 subscribers to a prepaid health plan, 13-18 years of age, unmarried, sexually active, and not desiring pregnancy. Contraceptive counseling was offered to 62 adolescents following receipt of a negative pregnancy test and to 60 adolescents following a routine medical visit. The 80 adolescents who chose to participate in the study were randomly assigned to a conventional or developmental method of counseling. The effectiveness of their contraceptive practice was measured 1 year later. Two hypotheses were not upheld: Sexually active adolescents were not more likely to accept contraceptive counseling at the time of a negative pregnancy test than at a time of a routine medical visit, and did not subsequently become more effective users of contraceptives. Two hypotheses were upheld: Effective and ineffective users of contraception did not differ in level of knowledge, and adolescents counseled by a developmental method practiced contraception more effectively than those counseled by a conventional method. Findings are discussed in terms of the theory of adolescent development and the proposition that a pregnancy scare motivates teenagers to control fertility.
We propose a family process model that links economic stress in family life to prosocial and problematic adolescent adjustment. Employing a sample of 205 seventh-grade boys aged 12 to 14 years (M = 12.7) and living in intact families in the rural Midwest, the theoretical constructs in the model were measured using both trained observer and family member reports. In general, results were consistent with the proposed model. Objective economic conditions such as per capita income and unstable work were related to parents' emotional status and behaviors through their perceptions of increased economic pressures such as the inability to pay monthly bills. These pressures were associated with depression and demoralization for both parents, which was related to marital conflict and disruptions in skillful parenting. Disrupted parenting mediated the relations between the earlier steps in the stress process and adolescent adjustment. The emotions and behaviors of both mothers and fathers were almost equally affected by financial difficulties, and disruptions in each parent's child-rearing behaviors had adverse consequences for adolescent development.
BACKGROUND: Psychoactive substance use is strongly associated with psychiatric morbidity in both adults and adolescents. AIMS: To determine which of alcohol, nicotine and cannabisis mostclosely linked to psychiatric disorders in early adolescence. METHOD: Data from 2624 adolescents aged 13-15 years were drawn from a national mental health survey of children. The relationship between psychiatric morbidity and smoking, drinking and cannabis use was examined by logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Having a psychiatric disorder was associated with an increased risk of substance use. Greater involvement with any one substance increased the risk of other substance use. Analyses of the interactions between smoking, drinking and cannabis use indicated that the relationship between substance use and psychiatric morbidity was primarily explained by regular smoking and (to a lesser extent) regular cannabis use. CONCLUSIONS: In this sample, links between substance use and psychiatric disorders were primarily accounted for by smoking. The strong relationship is likely to be due to a combination of underlying individual constitutional factors and drug-specific effects resulting from consumption over the period of adolescent development and growth.
Lung functions (FVC, FEV1, ERV, IC AND MVV) were evaluated in 14 boys and 11 girls practising for middle distance running events in the age range of 13 to 17 years before and after one year training. The findings suggest that during adolescence, development of lung under proper nutritional and health conditions is governed by the process of growth with negligible additional effect of physical activity. However, physical exercises during growth may help in developing a reduced resistance to expiration and a greater endurance in respiratory muscles.
OBJECTIVE: Based on hypotheses generated during clinical interviews with 80 women with a lifetime history of bulimia nervosa (BN), we designed an instrument for assessing the extent to which women with BN report parental intrusiveness and breakdown of appropriate role boundaries during their adolescent development. METHOD: Through an iterative process of item generation and scale administration, the Parental Intrusiveness Rating Scale (PIRS), consisting of 20 maternal items and 20 paternal items, was developed. Maternal subscales include Invasion of Privacy, Jealousy and Competition, and Overconcern with the Daughter's Eating, Weight, and Shape. Paternal subscales include Invasion of Privacy, Seductiveness, and Overconcern with the Daughter's Eating, Weight, and Shape. We validated the instrument using a subset of the above BN and comparison women (ns = 55 and 33, respectively), as well as an independent sample of women with BN and college comparison subjects (ns = 31 and 540, respectively). RESULTS: Parental intrusiveness scores were significantly positively correlated with disturbed relationships in the family of origin of our initial cohort. Reliability analyses, both test-retest and item-scale correlations, revealed adequate to strong statistical associations in the combined sample. CONCLUSION: The PIRS promises to enrich our understanding of problematic parental behaviors among women who develop BN and allows us to broaden the conceptualization of familial risk factors for this disorder.
This study was designed to explore the influence of a unit of instruction in developmental psychology upon the self-concept and academic achievement of 13-year-old adolescents. Participants were 82 junior high school students in British Columbia. Forty-three students received ten 45-minute instructional sessions dealing with the principles of adolescent development; 39 students served as a control group. It was concluded that the unit of instruction did not significantly improve self-concept. The short duration of treatment was identified as the most probable factor in the failure to achieve change. A positive relationship was established between the achievement scores on the knowledge test of developmental psychology and self-concept.
Multiple group psychotherapy was employed as the primary treatment modality in a day-treatment program as an innovative multifaceted approach to treating adolescents comorbid for psychiatric and substance abuse diagnoses. The concurrent educational program included a high school on site. The groups included Substance Abuse Group, which promoted the 12-step model; Health Group; Psychotherapy Group; Leisure Time Group; Self-Awareness Group; and Multiple Family Group. The effect of the multiple groups was to provide a variety of experiences focusing on varied aspects of normal and dysfunctional adolescent development. Together the combination of groups served to strengthen the participants' cohesiveness, communicating skills, and hopefulness.