CFD 1450 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Major Depressive Episode, Peer Pressure, Dating Abuse
Friendships, Cell Phones, And The Internet
• Calling/texting, social networking, and instant messaging support close friendships.
• Adolescents use the internet
o To meet new people.
o To explore central adolescent concerns in less threatening contexts.
• Very high social media use is linked to unsatisfying real-world social experiences.
• Parents are wise to point out risks of internet communication, including harassment and exploitation
Benefits of Adolescent Friendships
• Close friendships
o Provide opportunities to explore the self and form deep understanding of another.
o Provide a foundation for future intimate relationships.
o Help young people deal with stresses of adolescence.
o Can improve attitudes toward and involvement in school
Cliques and Crowds
• Clique: group of 5–8 members who are friends
o Similar in family background, attitudes, values, interests
o Membership more important to girls
o Provides context for acquiring social skills, experimenting with values and roles
• Crowd: larger group made up of several cliques
o Membership based on reputation, stereotype
o Grants adolescents an identity within the social structure of the school.
• Clique or crowd membership can modify beliefs and behaviors.
• As dating increases, cliques and crowds decline in importance
Dating in Adolescence
• Cultural expectations determine when dating begins.
• Early adolescents date for recreation, group activities; form shallow relationships.
• By late adolescence, teens seek greater psychological intimacy with dating partners.
• Too-early dating is related to drug use, delinquency, and poor academic achievement.
• About 10–20% of adolescent’s experience dating violence.
• Lesbian and gay youths face special challenges in romantic relationships because of prejudice
Peer Conformity
• Adolescents feel greatest pressure to conform to dress, grooming, participation in social activities.
• Peer pressure is also strong to engage in pro-adult behavior.
• Brain changes contribute to increased reward seeking and receptiveness to peer influence, which
decline with age.
• Authoritative parenting acts as antidote to unfavorable peer pressure
Depression in Adolescence
• Depression is the most common psychological problem of adolescence.
• About 15–20% of adolescent’s experience one or more major depressive episodes.
• Teenage girls are twice as likely as boys to report persistent depressed mood.
• Factors influencing depression include
o Heredity
o Childrearing practices
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