Adolescence and Adulthood (pp. 486-517)

Adolescence and Adulthood (pp. 486-517) Music:“When I Grow Up” Pussy Cat Dolls “I’m an Adult Now” The Pursuit of Happiness

Today’s Agenda 1. Adolescence • a) Storm and Stress? • b) Moral Development • c) Identity Formation • 2. Adulthood • a) What makes marriages last? • b) Midlife: The Best Years • 3. Old Age: • a) Alzheimer’s Disease • b) Predictors of longevity • 4. Movie: Skin Deep: Understanding Self-Injury(20 minutes)

Begins at puberty: Follows 2 years of pubescent growth spurt Puberty: Marked by sexual maturity Girls: menarche, 12.5 yrs (10-15 yrs) Boys: production of live sperm, 14 years (11-16 yrs) Last roughly from age 13 to 22 Ends when you become independent from parents Emotionally and financially Adolescence

Adolescence (cont’d.) • Development of primary and secondary sexual characteristics, p. 490

1. Adolescence (cont’d.) • a) Period of storm and stress? • (i) Conflict with parents • Issues: Appearance, dating, curfews • (ii) Mood disruptions • Extreme emotions & higher rates of depressed mood • (iii) Risky behaviours: • potential for harm to self and/or others. • E.g. crime, drug use, risky sexual behaviour • Attributable to personality and underdeveloped frontal lobes affecting judgment (brain fully mature by 25-30 years) • Canadian campus survey: • 68% sexually active • 30% never use condom; 30% irregular • 30% contract STD; 1 in 7 get pregnant

b) Moral development • Pre-conventional level: before 9 yrs • Self-interest determines what is right and wrong • What is punished (1) or rewarded (2) • Conventional level: early adolescence • Society (social approval) dictates what is right and wrong • Approval by others (3) or laws (4) • Post-conventionallevel: • Affirm agreed upon human rights but also affirm personal ethical guidelines • Recognize fallible laws (5); abstract principles (6) • Example by teenager: What’s the stage? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fXkVlZOypI

Kohlberg’s Stages • And trends over adolescent development (fig. 11.15)

1. c) Identity Formation • Erikson’s stages, Fig. 11.9, p. 477 • Identity Crisis: WHO AM I?? • What needs to be resolved: • Integrate different roles to form a comfortable sense of self • Acquire self-certainty, self-esteem • Develop comfortable sexual identity • Make plans for future career: Where am I going in life? • Differentiate between legitimate and arbitrary authority • Make an ideological commitment (find set of values)

c) Identity: 4 Stages (p. 495) • Identity Achievement • Sense of self and direction, after having considered alternatives • Identity Foreclosure • Premature adoption of values and roles based on parents or society’s views • Identity Moratorium • Active struggle for a sense of identity • Experiment with different ideologies and careers • Identity diffusion • Absence of struggle, apathy, cynicism and a lack of direction • Emergent Adulthood: 18-25 years, p. 496 • Expanded period in which questions around identity can be resolved http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prD3UHDQ-2M

2. Adulthood • Erikson’s stage: Intimacy vs. Isolation • a) What makes marriages last? • Survey of 350 couples married 15 years: • My spouse is my best friend • Value commitment/ Want the relationship to succeed • Agree on aims and goals & philosophy of life • Find spouse interesting • Laugh together • Agree on how to show affection

2. Adulthood • b) Midlife (40-60 years): The best years • Erikson: Generativity vs. self-absorbtion • Psychic equanimity: • Increased well-being • Greater sense of control • Active and involved • Only 7% report a midlife crisis related to aging • Feel younger than their age

a) Alzheimer’s Disease • Damage to brain and decrease in mental functioning 3. Old Age • Variety of causes, eg., multiple strokes, tumors, viral infections • Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) most prevalent form • age 65-74: 3% of population • age 75-84: 11% • age >85: 35%

Progressive loss of memory and one other mental function (language, visual spatial, personality) Cortical atrophy Healthy aged Alzheimer’s disease • Characteristics of Alzheimer’s:

3. Old age • b) Erikson: Integrity vs. Despair • Predictors of longevity: • Heredity • Intelligence / Education • Cognitive stimulation helps prevent dementia • Not being overweight • Eating fruits and vegetables • Not smoking • Drinking alcohol moderately • Exercise: Keep Active! • Improves memory! • Good sleep • Being married • Having at least 2 close friend

Movie: • “Skin Deep: Understanding Self-Injury” • Each year, nearly two million people injure their own bodies using knives, scissors, glass, cigarettes, candles, razors, in fact, practically any destructive item they can find. Through interviews with patients and mental health professionals and footage of actual therapy sessions, this compelling program seeks to understand a deeply disturbing and often secretive mental disorder that affects as many teens and young adults as anorexia (22 min. 2000). • Available in the Sound and Moving Image Library in Scott: DVD 10395 Exercise, Love, and Eat Well!

Adolescence and Adulthood (pp. 486-517)