Module 8

Question 1

As we’ve discussed throughout this course, children develop in context. One of the most important contexts in which they develop is the _________ context.

Answer 1

relational

Humans are a social species and we are dependent on each other for survival. As young children, we rely on our families to take care of our basic needs, teach us about the world, and let us explore and develop within it. As we develop, we branch out from the family environment and increasingly rely on our peers for social support.

Question 2

Dr. Diana Baumrind research (1966) described what three distinct parenting styles?

Answer 2

authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive.

Question 3

Maccoby and Martin (1983) expanded Baumrind’s work by adding what 4th parenting style?

Answer 3

Rejecting-Neglecting

Question 4

Describe the Authoritative parenting style.

Answer 4

High in both responsiveness and high in behavioural control.

Parents typically set limits and enforce rules, but also explain their reasoning behind it. They both love and limit their children.

Parents respect children and listen receptively to their requests and questions.

Authoritative parents commonly balance behavioural control and responsiveness by allowing children to make choices within the parents’ standards. For example, do you want carrots or broccoli for the supper vegetable tonight?

Question 5

Describe the Authoritarian parenting style.

Answer 5

High in behavioural control, low in responsiveness.

Parents have absolute control over their children and value unquestioned obedience.

Parents try to control children’s behaviour and attitudes.

“Bad” behaviour is punished, while affection and praise are rarely given.

This type of parenting is very militarian, where parental word is law. For example, rather than explain their decision-making, parents might respond with “because I said so!”

Question 6

Describe the permissive parenting style.

Answer 6

High in responsiveness, low in behavioural control.

Parents have lax discipline – there might be rules but they are rarely enforced and parents rarely give punishments or consequences.

There are few demands placed on children, and children are generally considered to be “the boss”. The relationship is very indulgent.

Parents generally have a “kids will be kids” attitude, and may view their role as more of a friend than a parent.

Question 7

Describe the rejecting-neglecting parenting style.

Answer 7

Low in behavioural control and low in responsiveness.

Parents are disengaged – they have very little involvement in the child’s life.

Parents are usually more concerned about their own problems.

For example, parents rarely know what the child is up to or where they are, and give them little guidance.

Question 8

What are the Developmental Correlates of authoritative parenting style?

Answer 8

In children: Higher adaptive skills, More competent, popular with peers, Less antisocial behaviour

In adolescents: High social and academic competence, Self-reliant, Adaptive coping skills

Why?

Authoritative parents act as role models and exhibit the same behaviours they expect from their children. Because of this, their kids are more likely to internalize these behaviours and exhibit them as well. Consistent rules and discipline allow children to know what to expect from their behaviours.

These parents tend to exhibit good emotional understanding and control. Their children also learn to manage their emotions and learn to understand others.

Authoritative parents also allow children to act independently. This teaches kids that they are capable of accomplishing things on their own, helping to foster strong self-esteem and self-confidence.

Question 9

What are the Developmental Correlates of authoritarian parenting style?

Answer 9

In children: Lower in social and academic competence, less happy, lower self-confidence, boys tend to be more impacted than girls.

In adolescence: More ineffective coping strategies, Higher rates of delinquency, depression, aggression, and alcohol use.

IMPORTANT:
The negative outcomes above are generally only found in WEIRD cultures. It is not appropriate to impose Western parenting norms on other cultures.
Ie: among Chinese parents and children, this parenting style is NOT linked with negative outcomes. This is because in this cultural context, high control is related to high warmth. In other words, parental strictness is often viewed as a sign of love and care in Chinese culture.

Authoritarian parenting also tends to be more common in low SES environments. This may be related to differences in beliefs about parenting or education levels, but is also likely a product of the environment. For example, if you live in an unsafe neighbourhood, it is very sensible for parents to exert more control over their children in order to help keep them safe.

Question 10

What are the Developmental Correlates of permissive parenting style?

Answer 10

In children: Impulsive, low self-control, Higher externalizing problems (e.g., aggression, rule breaking).

In adolescents: More school misconduct, Higher rates of drug and alcohol use.

Notice how this parenting style is not related to issues with happiness or self-confidence. Why do you think this is the case?

Question 11

What are the Developmental Correlates of rejecting-neglecting parenting style?

Answer 11

In children: Disturbed attachment in relationships, Difficulties with peer relationships.

In adolescents: More antisocial behaviour, internalizing problems, substance abuse, risky sexual behaviour, Lower academic achievement.

Rejecting-neglecting parenting is associated with the worst outcomes for children across cultures.

Question 12

Children of which type of parents tend to be the most well-adjusted in terms of competence, antisocial behaviour, and self-confidence?

a) Authoritarian

b) Permissive

c) Rejecting-Neglecting

d) Authoritative

Answer 12

d) Authoritative

Question 13

Imagine that you have a 5-year-old who has gotten into trouble for hitting their younger sibling. What type of parenting would this response be an example of:

“Hitting isn’t very nice. How can we apologize to your sister?”

Answer 13

authoritative

Question 14

Imagine that you have a 5-year-old who has gotten into trouble for hitting their younger sibling. What type of parenting would this response be an example of:

“Go to your room now!”

Answer 14

authoritarian

Question 15

Imagine that you have a 5-year-old who has gotten into trouble for hitting their younger sibling. What type of parenting would this response be an example of:

Laughs off the hitting incident.

Answer 15

permissive

Question 16

Imagine that you have a 5-year-old who has gotten into trouble for hitting their younger sibling. What type of parenting would this response be an example of:

Does not notice the hitting incident.

Answer 16

rejecting-neglecting

Question 17

In 1961, married families accounted for 91.6% of census families. By 2011, this proportion had declined to _______.

Answer 17

67%.

(mostly due to the increase in common-law families - note that we didn’t even measure these types of families in early versions of the census!).

Question 18

The proportion of lone-parent families has approximately ________ since 1961.

Answer 18

doubled.

(8.4% to 16.3%).

Question 19

4 out of 5 lone-parent families are ________.

male or female?

Answer 19

Female.

Question 20

In the 1960s, the average age of first marriage was 22 years for women and 25 years for men. In 2008, these ages increased to _____ years for women and _____ years for men.

Answer 20

29, 31

Question 21

Canadian divorce rates peaked in what year?

Answer 21

1987, during which time 50% of marriages ended in divorce.

(This increase was related to changes in the law, making it easier for couples to get divorced.)

Question 22

What is the current divorce rate estimate in Canada?

Answer 22

35-42%

Additionally, more people remarry or cohabit post divorce, creating more complex family structures.

Question 23

Should couples stay together for the kids?

Answer 23

It depends. Divorce is stressful for most children in the short-term. In the long-term, longitudinal research indicates that children of divorce are less well-adjusted across social, emotional, and behavioural domains.

Moderator affecting impacting the strength of the relationship between divorce and negative outcomes for children (at both the child and parental levels) include: when parents avoid making children feel caught in the middle, maintain high-quality relationships with both parents (especially the non-custodial parent), and use positive, cooperative, and respectful parenting strategies, the negative impacts of divorce are reduced.

The effects of divorce also has many confounds, particularly marital conflict. This leads to the question of whether it is better to stay in a conflictual, married relationship, or a non-conflictual divorced relationship. While this is challenging to study, the research suggests that the parental relationships with the least amount of conflict are best for children’s development.

Divorce also is associated with other factors that negatively contribute to child development. For example, divorce often means that children have reduced or no contact with the non-custodial parent. Divorce can also result in a change in socio-ecomonic status (especially for women), as parental resources are no longer combined.

Question 24

Approximately ______% of all Canadian couples are same-sex, with one third of these couples in married relationships.

Answer 24

1%

Question 25

Approximately _______% of Canadian same-sex couples have children, compared to approximately half of mixed-sex couples.

Answer 25

12%

Question 26

True or False?

Children raised by LGBTQ+ parents have similar adjustment levels as children raised by opposite-sex parents.

Answer 26

True.

Unfortunately, there is mixed research on how children with LGBTQ+ parents are accepted by other children. Children with LGBTQ+ parents may face verbal discrimination or bullying at school related to the gender- or sexual-identity of their parents.

Question 27

Today, the total fertility rate in Canada is ~______.

Answer 27

1.6.

This rate refers to the number of children that a woman is likely to have over the course of reproductive years, based on age-specific fertility rates.

Question 28

the Canadian “baby boom” peaked in _______ when the total fertility rate in Canada reached 3.94 children per woman.

Answer 28

1959

Question 29

1971 was the last year that Canada reached the replacement level of fertility – what does this mean?

Answer 29

That each couple had approximately two children and could essentially replace themselves in terms of population growth. This means that Canada is increasingly reliant on immigration for population growth.

Question 30

Why has Canada seen such declines in fertility?

Answer 30

The factors are mainly related to social and economic changes in our society.

It used to be economically advantageous to have many children to help support family enterprises like farming – now, having more children usually means more costs (e.g., daycare), as most adults now work outside of the home.

Other contributing factors include societal changes related to women’s reproductive rights and access to divorce.

Question 31

Research consistently indicates that it is relationship ______________ that is the biggest predictor of children’s outcomes.

Answer 31

quality (not quantity or structure)

Question 32

High quality family relationships are characterized by what 3 qualities?

Answer 32

Open communication, supportiveness, and trust.

Question 33

Canada actively monitors the health and well-being of our young people using the ____________________ study.

Answer 33

Health Behaviours in School-Aged Children study, which is conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organization every 4 years.

(29,000 youth in grades 6-10 across Canada.)

Question 34

The majority of Canadian youth in Grades 6-10 report that they have a happy home life. However, reports of feeling happy at home decline with _____ and are lower among _____ than _____.

Answer 34

age

girls than boys

(Similarly, most Canadian youth feel like they get the support they need from their families but this declines with age and is lower for girls than for boys)

Question 35

What did the research study “Family Dinners, Communication, and Mental Health in Canadian Adolescents” find?

Answer 35

The frequency of family dinners is negatively correlated with indicators of poor mental health, and also positive correlated with indicators of positive mental health.

This pattern was consistent across age, gender, and socioeconomic status.

Family dinners benefit well-being because they serve to foster open family communication and connectedness. For example, family dinners might be the one time every day in which all family members sit down together to talk about their days. Family dinners present opportunities for youth to discuss social and emotional issues they might be facing and to develop their coping strategies with their parents. Moreover, family dinners facilitate parental monitoring, as parents can check in on boundaries and expectations regarding their children’s behaviour.

Question 36

Which family arrangement has DECLINED in Canada since the 1960s?

a) Married families with children

b) Married families without children

c) Lone-parent families with children

d) Common-law families without children

Answer 36

a) Married families with children

Question 37

Which variable has been found to be an important factor in the adjustment of children of lesbian and gay parents?

a) The gender of the child

b) The closeness of the parent‒child relationship

c) Whether the child identifies as gay or lesbian

d) Whether the parents identify as male or female

Answer 37

b) The closeness of the parent‒child relationship

Question 38

Which of the following can be considered limitations of the Family Dinners study described above? (select all that apply):

Use of a large, nationally-representative sample

It is correlational, so the reverse interpretation could be true (e.g., youth with more positive mental health are more likely to communicate with their families)

Considering both positive and negative mental health outcomes

Self-report data were obtained from children only

Third-variable problem - there may be another variable that accounts for both family communication and child well-being (e.g., parenting style)

Consideration of gender, age, and socio-economic differences

Answer 38

It is correlational, so the reverse interpretation could be true (e.g., youth with more positive mental health are more likely to communicate with their families)

Self-report data were obtained from children only

Third-variable problem - there may be another variable that accounts for both family communication and child well-being (e.g., parenting style)

Question 39

Flip to go back to some of our foundational developmental theorists to review the importance and function of friendships.

Answer 39

Piaget - posited that peers are crucial for learning. Because peers are typically close in age, they are more equal in status than a parent-child relationship and therefore more likely to have disagreements. Piaget believed that disagreements within friendships fostered learning and cognitive development.

Vygotsky - emphasized learning through collaboration within friendships. For example, friends can help each other learn through the zone of proximal development. Through collaboration, friends can accomplish a task larger than either could do on their own.

Sullivan - argued that friendships are important sources of emotional support. While we haven’t covered his theories yet, Harry Stack Sullivan (1892-1949) developed an interpersonal theory that is particularly relevant for relationships. Briefly, he theorized that people develop their sense of self through important relationships. In peer relationships, Sullivan argued that we have a chance to practice intimacy that is used in relationships later in life.

Question 40

Overall, peer relationships are important for children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. Peer relationships have unique developmental benefits because of _____________________________________.

Answer 40

how they differ from family relationships – namely in terms of similarity in age and power.

Question 41

Early peer interactions mainly consist of children having fun and playing with one another. Parten (1932) identified what 6 stages of play that children develop, based on their level of social skills?

Answer 41

Stages 1-3: unoccupied, solitary, and onlooker - do not involve others. Initially, children explore and play on their own.

The second three stages of play involve social play, which starts to develop around 12 months of age:

1) Parallel play (begins ~12m): children tend to play next to each other, but not together. For example, children may drive toy cars next to each other.

2) Associative play (begins ~15-18m): children first start to interact and explore toys together. For example, they may show each other blocks but do not engage in very much collaboration.

3) Cooperative play (begins ~24m+): children begin to develop goals or rules for their play. Play becomes much more complex and includes cooperation, conflict, taking turns, and negotiation. For example, children may play a board game with rules, or cooperate in pretend-playing a tea party.

Question 42

Overall, with development, children’s play becomes more _______.

Answer 42

social.

Question 43

What are the benefits of play?

Answer 43

Children learn academic skills like math, science, reading, language, and literacy. They learn social skills like effective communication, conflict resolution, problem solving and cooperation. Maybe most importantly, they learn about themselves – they get to know their personalities including their likes and dislikes, strengths and interests.

Question 44

How do adults play a role in early peer interactions?

Answer 44

As you can imagine, parents play a big role in children’s early peer interactions. Parents might be in the role of playmate, social director, coach, or mediator (more on this below!).

Question 45

True or False?

Most research doesn’t consider toddlers as having “true friendships”.

Answer 45

True.

Young children may have a preference for certain children; however, early peer interactions are highly facilitated by parents.

Question 46

What are some of the developmental changes we see in peer relationships across early childhood (3-7 years)?

Answer 46

Primary Concerns: Maximize excitement, Entertainment, Play

Main processes/purposes of communication: Coordinating play, Escalate and de-escalate play
Conflict resolution

Emotional development: Learning to manage emotional arousal

Question 47

What are some of the developmental changes we see in peer relationships across Middle childhood
(8-12 years old)?

Answer 47

Primary Concerns: Inclusion, Present oneself positively to peers

Main processes/purposes of communication: Coordinating activities, Shared enjoyment, Gossip about others

Emotional development: Acquiring rules for displaying emotions, Managing rejection

Question 48

What are some of the developmental changes we see in peer relationships across Adolescence
(13-17 years old)?

Answer 48

Primary Concerns: Self-exploration, Identity-development, Sexual development

Main processes/purposes of communication: shared values and interests, Self-disclosures, Problem solving

Emotional development: Implications of emotions for relationships

Question 49

Flip for a summary of peer relationships in early childhood.

Answer 49

In early childhood, friendship is all about playing together. This typically occurs with those we are physically close to le.g., neighbours, classmates). During early childhood, friends actually have more disagreements than non-friends. This means that friendships are an important resource for developing conflict resolution skills. This means that friendships are an important resources for developing conflict resolution SKIllS.

Question 50

Flip for a summary of peer relationships in middle childhood.

Answer 50

In middle childhood, friendships are still focused primarily on shared activities. Social status (e.g., being popular and well-liked) starts to matter more (more on this in later modules!). Through relationships, children learn to manage feelings of inclusion and rejection from peers.

Question 51

Flip for a summary of peer relationships in adolescence.

Answer 51

In adolescence, friendships become much more complex. Adolescent friendships are about loyalty, commitment, shared values and interests, intimacy, and defining oneself through interactions with others. Not only does the function of friendship change in adolescence, but also its composition. Same-gender friendships peak at age 14, with an interest in mixed-gender friendships corresponding with puberty and sexual development.

Question 52

What are 3 main factors that contribute to friendship formation?

Answer 52

1) homophily,
2) social-emotional skills, and
3) role of adults

Question 53

What is homophily?

Answer 53

the tendency to form relationships with similar others. “birds of a feather flock together”. Especially pertinent/relevant in adolescents (think highschool cafeteria).

Homophily consists of both selection and socialization effects. That is, we select friends who are similar to us in some way, and over time, we become more similar to our friends. Interestingly, we see homophily effects for almost everything! For example, youth tend to form relationships with others who are similar in ethnicity, psychological well-being, substance use, and academic achievement.

Overall, similarities help youth to develop and maintain friendships, but do not necessarily contribute to friendship quality.

Question 54

While similarity is a great starting point for friendship development, social-emotional skills help build a high-quality friendship. What are some of these skills?

Answer 54

Include things like emotional expression, mutual support, and conflict resolution. Additionally, boys and girls tend to rely on different social-emotional skills in their friendships, and tend to communicate differently with their friends.

Question 55

In what ways do boys and girls rely on different social-emotional skills in their friendships, and communicate differently with their friends?

Answer 55

GIRLS:
Social-emotional skills generally play a stronger role
Build intimacy through self-disclosure
More “supportive”
Spend more time together using electronic communication

BOYS:
Build intimacy through shared activities and healthy competition
Use more humour in their communication
Spend more time together in-person

Overall, while girls’ friendships tend to be more supportive than boys’ friendships, we also need to consider how this might be a factor related to our measurement. Think – if we are only measuring things like emotional support and disclosure in our support scales, how might we be ignoring the factors that lead to healthy friendships for boys?

Question 56

How does the role of parents contribute to friendship formation?

Answer 56

Parents socialize their children in many, many ways. For example, parents instill values, norms, skills, and cultural practices that help children to develop friendships. Parents do this through:

Direct instruction: For example, how to play games, use manners, solve conflicts.

Indirectly modelling attitudes and behaviours: For example, children see conflict resolution and awareness of emotions modelled at home. Think – how does this relate to Bandura’s social learning theory?

Provide and control social opportunities: Parents are involved in setting up play dates and set limits and boundaries for peer relationships.

Role of attachment and internal working model: As a sneak peek of our next module, children who are securely attached to their parents go on to develop healthier friendships because they expect positive relationships.

Question 57

How does the role of teachers contribute to friendship formation?

Answer 57

Teachers and other socializing adults (e.g., coaches) also support the development of children’s peer relationships. Children spend 1/6 of their hours per year in school, making this a very important context for friendship development. Moreover, teachers are often more aware of larger peer group processes (e.g., who bullies whom, who is rejected, etc) than are parents. Specifically, teachers influence peer relationships through:

Seating charts and group learning: Children who sit next to each other are more likely to become friends and learn from one another. Think - what process helps explain this?

Teaching SEL skills: Explicitly teach conflict resolution and other healthy relationships skills through social-emotional learning.

Indirect modelling: Like parents, teachers also model healthy relationship attitudes and behaviours like sensitivity and warmth.

Question 58

Friendships are unique because they typically involve equal status. That is, one person does not have power over the other. This equality provides many developmental opportunities. Name some.

Answer 58

Companionship, figuring out likes and dislikes

Social scaffolding, learning from one another

Positive emotional experiences, emotional support

Self-exploration, trying new ideas without authority

Question 59

Some components of friendships are beneficial, while others are risky. Name some benefits.

Answer 59

High -quality friendships are those that consist of self-disclosure, companionship, validation, mutual support, and conflict resolution. Research consistently demonstrates that high-quality friendships have many benefits for children’s development, including social, emotional, and physical health into adulthood.

Moreover, friendships are children’s training ground for healthy romantic relationships. Youth with high-quality friendships develop better relationship skills in general, and in turn go on to develop healthier romantic relationships.

Lastly, children with high-quality friendships (especially a best friend) are less lonely. Children without a best friend are more lonely than those who do have a best friend, regardless of how much they are accepted within the peer group. In other words, having a high-quality friendship helps buffer the effects of feeling lonely, which is associated with future mental and physical health problems.

Question 60

Some components of friendships are beneficial, while others are risky. Name some risks.

Answer 60

Conflict is more common within friendships, simply because you interact more with your friends than with non-friends. Conflict is a particularly common component of friendships for younger children.

While disclosure and intimacy are a part of high-quality friendship, these processes can be risky if they develop into co-rumination: when friends talk about their problems over and over together and focus on negative feelings. Co-rumination is one way that feelings of depression and anxiety can spread among friends.

Youth can model and reinforce deviant behaviours (e.g., rule breaking, aggression) within their friendships. Deviancy training is a social learning process by which youth learn and reinforce deviant behaviours within their friendships. Children who have difficulties at home and at school tend to be rejected by their peers. Through selection and socialization processes, children who are rejected and have behavioural problems tend to affiliate with each other and escalate their deviant behaviours over time.

Question 61

Cynthia and Cindy are 13 years old and are best friends. They both wear their hair the same way, dress similarly, and have the same taste in music. On the weekends, they both take tap dance classes at the same studio. Which of the following statements would be MOST true about their friendship?

a) Cynthia and Cindy selected each other as friends due to their many similarities.

b) Cynthia and Cindy became more similar to each other over time because of their friendship.

c) It is likely that both selection and socialization processes contributed to Cynthia and Cindy’s development.

d) The similarities between Cynthia and Cindy can be explained by coincidence only.

Answer 61

c) It is likely that both selection and socialization processes contributed to Cynthia and Cindy’s development.

Question 62

This foundational theorist, ___________, believed peer relationships were important for development because ___________.

a) Piaget, children learn through disagreements

b) Piaget, children learn best through collaboration

c) Vygotsky, children learn through disagreements

d) Vygotsky, children see each other as sources of emotional support

Answer 62

a) Piaget, children learn through disagreements

Question 63

(Go back and do card sorting activity at the end of Mod 8.2)

Question 64

True or False?

Adolescents and emerging adults (18-25 years old) are more likely than adults to binge drink, smoke cigarettes, have casual sex partners, engage in violent and other criminal behaviours, and have fatal or serious automobile accidents.

Answer 64

True.

Question 65

Second only to ____________, adolescence is a particularly rapid period of synaptogenesis.

Longitudinal MRI research indicates that a robust period of neuronal growth occurs just before puberty. During adolescence, many of these connections will be pruned away, with the connections that remain undergoing ________ to increase the efficiency of neural transmission.

Answer 65

infancy

myelination

Question 66

The dual-systems model provides a framework for understanding how brains tend to develop during adolescence. What are the 2 systems?

Answer 66

1) socioemotional system

2) cognitive control system

Question 67

Describe the socioemotional system in the dual-systems model.

Answer 67

During puberty, the brain’s dopaminergic system undergoes significant reorganization. The dopaminergic system plays an important role in regulating mood, motivation, and sensation seeking (the “feel good” system). During adolescence, there are increased dopaminergic projections from the striatum to the prefrontal cortex. The striatum is associated with reward sensitivity.

These normative changes in brain development help us to understand why we see an increase in risk-taking and reward sensitivity in adolescence. The adolescent brain is primed to seek out risks because such risks feel especially rewarding during this phase of development. For example, jumping off of the tallest rock into a lake might feel a lot more rewarding for a teenager than for an adult.

Interestingly, it is thought that peers activate the neural circuitry involved in reward-processing during adolescence. Thus, not only do adolescents have an increased sensitivity towards risk-taking, but they have an increased sensitivity to risk in the context of their peers.

Question 68

Describe the cognitive control system in the dual-systems model.

Answer 68

The brain’s cognitive control system does not fully develop until much later! This system includes executive functioning skills like self-regulation, inhibition, and planning - capacities which are associated with the prefrontal cortex. Remember that the prefrontal context is the last area of the brain to fully mature, as it continues to develop into our 20s.

The developmental trajectory of the dual-systems model shows “Early maturation of subcortical regions such as the amygdala and ventral striatum (top line), combined with late maturation of prefrontal cortical regions (bottom line), predicts a nonlinear enhancement in affectively-driven behaviour during adolescence”. In other words, because the two brain systems develop at different times, adolescence is the period in which the socioemotional system has peaked but the cognitive control system has not.

The developmental gap between the socioemotional system and the cognitive control system helps to explain why we see increases in risk-taking during adolescence (especially with peers) that then declines into adulthood. Risk-taking follows an inverted u-shaped pattern of development that peaks during adolescence.

Question 69

How does the teen brain impact behaviour with friends?

Answer 69

Let’s learn about an experimental paradigm that psychologists can use to study driving behaviour in the lab. The researchers found that risk-taking behaviour increased in the context of peers for adolescents only.

Overall, this research study adds support to the dual-systems model of adolescent brain development.

Adolescent risk-taking is related to brain development and the increased saliency of peers during this developmental stage. In other words, adolescence marks a period of neural vulnerability to risks in the peer context.

Question 70

Define risk-taking behaviours.

Answer 70

Those that have the potential for both rewards and consequences and have uncertainty in their outcome.

(While adolescent risk-taking is most often studied in the context of adverse behaviours (e.g., substance use, risky driving), it is important to note that risk-taking is not inherently “bad”.)

Question 71

If we know that adolescents are developmentally primed to take risks, but not all risk behaviours are undesirable, in what ways could you encourage youth to take more desirable risks?

Answer 71

For example, trying out for a sports team, enrolling in a challenging academic course, or initiating a new friendship could all be considered socially acceptable and constructive risk behaviours. Developmental psychology can be used to help adolescents harness their propensity for risk-taking in more positive ways.

Question 72

According to the dual-systems model of adolescent brain development:

a) The teenage brain undergoes a period of rapid synaptogenesis.

b) Both the socioemotional system and the cognitive control system are rapidly developing during adolescence.

c) The socioemotional system develops before the cognitive control system, which results in an increased propensity for risk-taking in the content of peers.

d) The socioemotional system develops before the cognitive control system, which results in an inability to engage in rational decision-making.

Answer 72

c) The socioemotional system develops before the cognitive control system, which results in an increased propensity for risk-taking in the content of peers.

Question 73

Shyanne is 15 years old. She’s at the mall with a group of friends and they’re daring her to shoplift a new pair of jeans. According to theories on adolescent development:

a) Shyanne is more likely to engage in the shoplifting because she is with a group of friends

b) Shyanne’s prefrontal cortex has not fully matured, so it is more difficult for her to consider the consequences of shoplifting than it would be for an adult.

c) The presence of Shyanne’s friends stimulate the neural circuitry associated with reward processing.

d) All of the above are true.

Answer 73

d) All of the above are true.

Question 74

Flip to see a summary of Module 8.

Answer 74

Parents differ in how they respond to and interact with their children. Authoritative parenting is associated with beneficial outcomes for children; however, it is important to consider the role of culture and environment.

Canadian families have changed considerably over recent history, with families being more diverse than ever before. Relationship quality is more important than structure when it comes to children’s well-being.

Peer relationships play a unique role in children’s development because these relationships are more equal than parent-child relationships.

Peer relationships are especially important during adolescence. Due to maturational changes in the brain, peers are salient rewards for adolescents.

Question 75

Social media use and the proliferation of technology represent a significant change in childhood development. In Canada, ______% of youth have regular internet access. By grade 4, 25% of Canadian children have their own cell phone. By grade 11, this increases to 85%

Answer 75

99%

Question 76

We also know that the teenage brain is particularly sensitive to risks and rewards in the context of peers. Let’s think about what this means in the context of social media – when a teenager posts a photo that receives many likes and comments, these rewards are activating those reward pathways in the brain (yes, the same ones that are activated by drugs or winning the lottery). Social media is specifically designed to be rewarding, and this is especially true for adolescents. What does this mean for friendships?

Answer 76

GOOD THINGS:
Youth who use more digital communication tend to report higher friendship quality, intimacy, and support. In this way, technology might just be another avenue for communication.

Technology is a way for youth to practice self-disclosure. Because there is more anonymity online, it can be easier to engage in self-disclosure which can create more intimate friendships

Like other healthy relationships, parents and teachers play an important role by modelling and reinforcing healthy online relationships.

BAD THINGS:
Online relationships are often extensions of what happens in the real-world. Children who are targeted by offline bullying are also likely to be targeted online.

Relying on technology means that youth have fewer opportunities to practice in-person social skills. This tends to be most problematic for youth who already have social anxiety or difficulties engaging with others in-person.

Question 77

What does social media mean for mental health?

Answer 77

Overall, the research to date has been very mixed, with most of the research being cross-sectional in nature. (cross-sectional is limited design)

A new 8-year longitudinal study indicates that screen time has little to no effect on adolescent mental health (Coyne et al., 2020). Specifically, this research found that while the amount of screen time increased with development, this increase was not related to increases in anxiety or depression.

Studying the impacts of technology on children’s mental health has many nuances that make it difficult to make generalizations. For example, how do we measure “technology use”? Are certain platforms better or worse for mental health than others? Like offline relationships, it is likely that what youth are doing online matters more for their well-being than simply the amount of time they are online.