Introduction to the Biopsychology of Adolescence PDF

Introduction to the Biopsychology of Adolescence Childhood lasts a long time in humans relative to other species and adolescence is unique to humans. In other hominids, dispersal or leaving mother and the natal group is an important life event that happens just after puberty. Leaving brings loss of...

Introduction to the Biopsychology of Adolescence Childhood lasts a long time in humans relative to other species and adolescence is unique to humans. In other hominids, dispersal or leaving mother and the natal group is an important life event that happens just after puberty. Leaving brings loss of protection, risk of death, and the stress of having to forge new social bonds. In monogamous apes, orangutans, and gorillas both sexes disperse. Chimpanzees and bonobos have a female only dispersal pattern. Although there is variation, in humans either only females leave the family or both sexes disperse (Koenig & Borries, 2012). Adolescence is particularly different in WEIRD nations where individuals reach sexual maturity but are not yet ready for independence and adult roles. The continued dependence of teens creates tension in the family as parents seek to control their offspring’s behavior, especially their sexual behavior and reproduction. Full reproductive maturation takes many years and is usually not complete until after age 18. Prior to full maturation both males and females incur excessive physical and/or psychological costs if they become parents (see Chapter 5). That is true for all human societies. Domain of Maturation Milestones Physical Growth spurt; increases in body fat (♀)/muscle mass (♂); (see Chapters 1 and 2) maturation of gonadal function; breast development (♀); voice changes; increased body hair and skin oil. Emotional Maturation of the BAS and BIS; attachment to peers and sexual (see Chapters 4 and 5) partners; increases in empathy and perspective taking; maturation of the dominance system; maturation of gender identity, sexual orientation and sociosexual orientation. Cognitive Abstract and advanced reasoning; self-regulation skills including (see Chapter 3) executive function and emotion regulation. Identity and Social Increased self-awareness, development of personal (see Chapters 5 and 6) narrative/life story, increased self-concepts, conscience, changes in peer and family relationships, preparation for career. Table 1. Developmental milestones of adolescence. Puberty is the time of life when the brain signals to the gonads that it is time to mature sexually. Adolescence begins with puberty and ends with the achievement of physical, emotional, cognitive, and social developmental milestones (Table 1) (Hazen et al., 2008). The English word “adolescence” has been in use since the 15th century. It comes from the Latin word “adolescere,” which means “to ripen.” In 1904 the first president of the American Psychological Association, G. Stanley Hall, popularized the term adolescence and was the first to study this stage of life and its association with “storm and stress” (Crosnoe & Johnson, 2011). Hall was ahead of his time in extending adolescence into the early 20s (see Chapter 7).  Transitioning out of Childhood The capacity to care for oneself physically, psychologically, and socially is the goal of adolescence and emergent adulthood. In WEIRD nations offspring are now often remaining in the parental home and so leaving home may not be the only sign of adult status. There are advantages to continued family ties for both parents and offspring (Chapter 9). Poverty rates in relation to living arrangements in early adulthood are discussed in Chapter 7. Societies have mechanisms that assist children in transitioning from the dependency of childhood to the independence of early adulthood. Namely education and job training and also rites of passage that help individuals build an adult identity. Next, we discuss common rites of passage that are practiced in the US. We also consider the practices and causes of abusive rites of passage. We consider the plight of teens who lose parental protection before gaining the ability to care for themselves. We hope students will examine how the biopsychology of the human species shapes and is shaped by social structure or lack thereof and by cultural practices. Biopsychology also determines the sex differences and mating patterns that impact social structure (Chapter 10). Rites of Passage Name Summary Bar and Bat Mitzvah Jewish coming of age ritual where at age 12 girls and age 13 boys receive adult status with respect to religious life. Read more. Quinceanera Hispanic coming of age ritual for girls at age 15. Read more. Rumspringa Time of exploration for Amish youth beginning at age 16. Read more. Sweet 16 Celebration Celebration of girl’s 16th birthday. Once called a debutante party its purpose was to introduce a young girl to adult society. Senior Prom Short for "promenade,” proms are modeled after the debutante balls of European high society. Read more. Seijin-no-Hi Celebrated on the second Monday in January in Japan for all who turned 20 in the prior year. Read more Table 2. Popular rites of passage for adolescents. Many societies mark puberty and time points in adolescence/early adulthood with coming-of-age rites of passage. We discuss these here so that students of the helping professions can be familiar with the mostly fun and celebratory rites of passage observed by various ethnic groups in the US. We also want students to know about rites of passage practiced in other parts of the world. Rites of Passage serve to assist the young person in leaving childhood behind to become something different. The rite may include a name change, a ceremony or ritual of some sort, and/or a physical challenge. Rites of passage create new social identities for initiates and announce these changed identities to the larger social group. Participation in these rites prepares individuals for their new roles and statuses by inculcating new behavioral norms and expectations. Rites of passage may be simple and brief or complex― lasting days, weeks, or months. Whether simple or complex, rites of passage universally share two important characteristics: (1) all have rituals and (2) all exhibit a three-part structure involving separation, liminality, and reintegration (Alcorta & Sosis, 2019). At the beginning of the ritual the child is separated from their familiar, secure physical, psychological, and social space and placed into a new, mysterious, and possibly disorienting space. In some rites of passage, children are subjected to terrifying physical and psychological ordeals that can include food and water deprivation as well as bodily mutilation. The purpose of the stress in this liminal space is to break down old identities so that new ones can be built. Once new identities and beliefs are built, the former child is reintroduced into the group. Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable state that results from inconsistency between two or more elements in a cognitive system. Individuals are motivated to reduce dissonance by removing the inconsistency. The outcome is that the more an individual pays for something, the more they value it, irrespective of the actual worth. Individuals who pay a large price in an initiation ceremony value their group membership more. The strength of commitment to the new identity is directly proportional to the personal cost of the rite of passage (Alcorta & Sosis, 2019). The commitment to the group also serves to perpetuate the rite of passage from one generation to the next. This is why parents may participate in rituals where their children are being abused. Polygyny, Warfare and Rites of Passage: Boys If one man has 4 wives, there are 3 men who have no wives. Polygyny creates an excess of young males relative to available mates. Cross-cultural research has found that the costliest rites of passage, as defined by the severity of ordeals inflicted on boys, are positively and significantly associated with the frequency of warfare in pre- state societies. Costly rites of passage subject initiates to intense, terrifying, and painful psychological and physical ordeals (see video about Fulani ritual), including scarification, bodily mutilation, and circumcision (see one boy’s story). The costly rituals increase bonding among young males and increase commitment to the group. One of the purposes of warfare historically was to steal women from other groups (Ayres, 1974). In the US the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) is a religious group that practices polygyny. They believe that to reach the highest heaven a man must have at least three wives. The competition for women leads to the expulsion of boys from the group. These boys find themselves homeless and without the skills needed to start their lives. Read more about the Lost Boys of Polygamy; watch the documentary. Female Genital Mutilation Perhaps the costliest adolescent rite of passage is female genital mutilation or “cutting.” The purpose of the practice is control over female sexuality because it involves removing genital tissue involved in orgasm and causes sexual dysfunction (Alsibiani & Rouzi, 2010). Female genital mutilation (FGM) involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The practice has no health benefits for girls and women. FGM can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths. More than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is practiced. FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15. Country FGM% Year Population 1 Somalia 99.20 2020 15.89 million 2 Guinea 94.50 2018 13.13 million 3 Djibouti 94.40 2012 988,002 4 Mali 88.60 2018 20.25 million 5 Egypt 87.20 2015 102.3 million 6 Sudan 86.60 2014 43.85 million 7 Eritrea 83.00 2010 3.62 million 7 Sierra Leone 83.00 2019 8.42 million 9 Burkina Faso 75.80 2010 22.1 million 10 The Gambia 72.60 2020 2.64 million Table 3. Ten countries with the highest prevalence of FGM. Because there are more people in Egypt, in absolute numbers more girls in Egypt subjected to FGM than anywhere else (Table 3). Although primarily concentrated in 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East, female genital mutilation is a universal problem and is also practiced in some countries in Asia and Latin America. Female genital mutilation continues to persist amongst immigrant populations living in Western Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Helping professionals in the US may work with women who are survivors of FGM. February 6th is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM. Read more about FGM. Watch one woman tell her story. Homelessness and Trafficking of Adolescents in the US The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act of the US Federal Government, defines homeless youth as unaccompanied individuals under age 21 and directs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to care for these youths. The McKinney- Vento Homeless Assistance Act established the federal Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program. This program defines homeless children and youths as individuals who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence, and includes those who: 1) Share the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship or a similar reason; 2) Live in motels, hotels, trailer parks or camping grounds due to the lack of other choices; 3) Live in emergency or transitional shelters or are abandoned in hospitals; 4) Have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for nor ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings; or live in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and 5) Who are migratory children living in one of the above circumstances (read more). Every year in the US, about 4.2 million adolescents and young adults find themselves homeless. Seventeen percent or 700,000 of these are not with their parents or guardians. In other words, one in ten individuals aged 18-25 and one in 30 youth age 13-17 experience homelessness every year. Homeless adolescents and young adults come from rural, suburban, and urban communities at similar rates, but many go to large cities where they become victims of crime including trafficking. Risk factors for homelessness include leaving the foster care system and the youth’s sexual orientation (Chapter 2), school problems, pregnancy (Chapter 5) and substance use. Discord between youths and caregivers that leads to thoughts/feelings of alienation among youths and running away. Family conflict is the reason given most often by youth for their homelessness or episodes of running away. Girls are more likely than boys to run away, and among white, Black and Hispanic youth, Black youth have the highest rates of running away. All homeless youth, due to their unstable housing and lack of adult protection are vulnerable to exploitation. Youth in or aging out of foster care and youth involved in the juvenile justice system are particularly vulnerable. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act defines sex trafficking as: the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act…induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age. Although the following statistics may not be accurate, the best estimates say that 10% of youths in shelters and in the criminal justice system and 28% of homeless youths have been trafficked (read more). As you learn about adolescence and emergent adulthood, keep in mind the dialectic of autonomy versus interdependence. Although many consider independence and autonomy to be developmental goals, supportive family and friendship ties are central to wellbeing across the lifespan. References Alcorta, C. S., & Sosis, R. (2019). Adolescent religious rites of passage: An anthropological perspective. The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development, 1–12. Alsibiani, S. A., & Rouzi, A. A. (2010). Sexual function in women with female genital mutilation. Fertility and Sterility, 93(3), 722–724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2008.10.035 Ayres, B. (1974). Bride Theft and Raiding for Wives in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Anthropological Quarterly, 47(3), 238. https://doi.org/10.2307/3316978 Crosnoe, R., & Johnson, M. K. (2011). Research on Adolescence in the Twenty-First Century. Annual Review of Sociology, 37, 439–460. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev- soc-081309-150008 Hazen, E., Schlozman, S., & Beresin, E. (2008). Adolescent psychological development: A review. Pediatrics in Review, 29(5), 161–168. Koenig, A., & Borries, C. (2012). Hominoid dispersal patterns and human evolution. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 21(3), 108–112. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21300