Second midterm

Question 1

Who are the main influencers in teens lives?

Answer 1

Despite flocking to social networking sites in unprecedented numbers, research confirms that adolescents continue to be influenced primarily by their families rather than their peers and other social contexts.

Question 2

is there emotional distance between teens and

parents?

Answer 2

There is little emotional distance between parents and adolescents (unlike stereotypes)
Most Teens
– feel close to parents
– respect parents’ judgment
– feel loved by parents
– respect parents as individuals
Most families with problems started before adolescence

Question 3

What is the generation gap?

Answer 3

In reality, parents and teens have similar beliefs about core values (religion, work, education).

However, differences in opinions for matters of personal taste (style of dress, music preferences, leisure activities)

Question 4

What kinds of things to teens and parents fight about?

Answer 4

Mundane issue (curfews, leisure time activities, clothing, cleanliness of their rooms)
• Disagreements stem from different perspectives on issues and violations of expectations
Adolescents rarely rebel
– accept parents’ rules when they agree issue is moral one • cheating on a test
– less inclined to accept parents’ authority when they view issue as personal • what to wear to a party
Adolescents make distinctions between rules that they think their parents have a right to make
rules that they think are out of bounds

Question 5

What is the relationship of a teen and their mother?

Answer 5

Teens tend to be closer to, spend more time with, feel more comfortable talking to, and fight more often with their mothers

Question 6

What is the relationship of a teen and their father?

Answer 6

Fathers may be sought for objective information (homework help) rarely sought for support or guidance (help with boyfriend problems)

Question 7

What is a parental responsiveness?

Answer 7

Degree to which parent responds to child’s needs in an accepting, supportive manner

Question 8

What is parental demandingness?

Answer 8

Degree to which parent expects/demands mature, responsible behavior from the child

Question 9

What are two critical aspects (dimensions) of parenting:

Answer 9

Parental responsiveness and parental demandingness.

Question 10

What are some characteristics of Authoritative Parenting?

Answer 10

Style: Encouraging, warm, nurturing, constructive
Punishment: explains consequences and reasoning behind them
Communication: give-and- take, positive feedback, praise, open-ended
Results: children often cheerful and outgoing, achievement oriented and strive to meet their goals,
cope well with stress and have good relationships with peers.
-Authoritative parents use equality to explain their demands and the reasons behind them- more willing to go to them for help and comforting
-feel a better sense of trust and belonging
-are cooperative and understand why we need rules and consequences.

Question 11

What are some characteristics of Authoritarian Parenting

Answer 11

Style: Restrictive, controlling, demanding
Punishment: Frequent spanking, shows anger
Communication: Little verbal exchange or sayings such as, “you do it my way or else”. Enforces rules but does not explain them
Result: Children of Authoritarian parents are often anxious, unhappy and fearful
do not initiate in activities with others
weak communication skills

Question 12

What are the characteristics on neglectful parenting?

Answer 12

Style: Uninvolved

Punishment: Few cases of punishment due to un- involvement

Communication:
Little communication which leads to the child’s sense that parents’ other aspects or life are much more important.

Result: Children of Authoritarian parents are often socially incompetent, lack of self-control, low self-esteem, immature, and are not successful with independence

Question 13

Examples of Neglectful Parenting…

Answer 13

A neglectful parent always puts his/her needs and wants as first priority. Usually experiencing financial, emotional and social stress, neglectful parents are unable to encourage, teach or enable their children.
Involvement in addictive behaviors and lack of support or friendship can oftentimes leave children of neglectful parents with loneliness, fear and anxiety.

Question 14

What are some characteristics of Indulgent/Permissive Parenting?

Answer 14

Style: Highly involved with children but place few demands or controls on them

Punishment: Allow children to do as they please

Communication: Parent’s believe this will foster a creative, confident child. Overindulge verbally and materialistically

Result: These children will rarely learn respect for others and have difficulty controlling their behavior. Might be domineering, egocentric, and non- compliant, Responsive but undemanding
• Oftentimes create children who are demanding and selfish rather than loving and supportive
• Children typically possess good self-esteem and excellent social skills but can be less motivated in school because they are not held accountable for their own behavior
• Children are often impulsive, aggressive and lack independence

Question 15

How to encourage autonomy?

Answer 15

Adolescents permitted to assert opinions within family context that is secure and loving develop:

1. higher self-esteem
2. more mature coping abilities

Adolescents whose autonomy is squelched
– Risk developing depression & low self- esteem
Adolescents who do not feel connected
– more likely to develop behavior problems

Question 16

Behavioural genetics

Answer 16

Behavioral genetics asks to what extent a given trait is genetically vs. environmentally determined
• Interaction between genes and environment
• Two types of environmental influences
– shared environmental influences
– nonshared environmental influences

Question 17

Behavioral Genetics: Why Are Siblings So Different?

Answer 17

Siblings may have very different family experiences treated differently by parents
perceive similar experiences in different ways
Unequal treatment often creates conflict among siblings, but most (75%) treatment is not differential

Question 18

Effects of Divorce

Answer 18

Children differ in their vulnerability to effects of divorce
• In general, immediate problems relatively more common among:
– boys
– younger children
– children with a difficult temperament
– children who do not have supportive relationships with adults outside the immediate family

Question 19

Effects of economic strain and poverty on families

Answer 19

Parents under financial stress are harsher, more inconsistent, less involved
• Adolescents living in these conditions have greater risk of – psychological difficulties
– problem behaviors

Question 20

Effects in foster care

Answer 20

Adolescents who have spent extensive time in foster care are at an increased risk for emotional and behavioral problems
– Could be due to a variety of reasons
• abuse or neglect
• Instability in home environment

Question 21

What are peer groups?

Answer 21

• Groups of people roughly same age
• Over half of adolescents’ waking hours spent with peers
• 15% of waking hours spent with adults
• Adolescents’ moods most positive when with friends

Question 22

What are the origins of adolescent peer groups

Answer 22

Age grading in public school - If high school was a luxury – few went
- Friendships based on high school not prominent till 20th cent

Question 23

Where is the proportion of adolescents the highest? the lowest?

Answer 23

Proportion of population that is adolescent varies around world — highest in developing countries, especially Arab world and lowest in highly industrialized countries, like Japan

Question 24

Some believe age segregation has led to a separate youth culture…Is this a problem?

Answer 24

Negative effects on adolescents - young people maintain attitudes/values different from the rest of society. Others believe that industrialization and modernization has made peer groups more important. Adults alone no longer, adequately prepare youth for the future,
peer groups are vital socializing agents

Question 25

What are some statistics about how teens spend their time

Answer 25

Less time spent with parents Boys spend more time alone than girls Groups begin to function more often without adult supervision increasingly more contact with peers with opposite-sex friends Adolescence - emergence of larger collectives of peers, or crowds

Question 26

What is a clique?

Answer 26

``` Small groups (2to12 individuals) – defined by common activities or simply by friendship (e.g., having known each other for a long time) ```

Question 27

What is a crowd?

Answer 27

– larger,more vaguely defined groups, based on reputation – Jocks, brains, nerds, druggies, punks, populars – Membership based on reputation or stereotype (not actual friendship) Crowds change over-time, become: - More differentiated - More permeable - Less hierarchal Allow freedom to change crowd to enhance status

Question 28

How are crowds a reference points:

Answer 28

– Crowds contribute to definition of norms and standards for such things as clothing, leisure activities, and tastes in music – Provide basis for adolescent’s own identity Changes of the importance of the crowd = changes in teens suseptability to peer pressure

Question 29

Adolescent behavior is affected by crowds in at least four ways:

Answer 29

1. Youth imitate behavior of high-status peers 2. Crowds establish social norms (values and expectations) 3. Crowds reinforce social norms 4. When adolescents are reinforced for following a crowd’s norm, they feel better about themselves, and further incorporate their crowd membership identity

Question 30

Cliques typically are composed of people of:

Answer 30

– same age – same race/ethnicity – same socioeconomic background – same sex – at least during early and middle adolescence

Question 31

3 factors are important for determining clique membership

Answer 31

– orientation toward school – orientation toward the teen culture – involvement in antisocial activity

Question 32

What are some characteristics of gangs?

Answer 32

Gangs: antisocial peer groups that are identified by name and common symbols – members are at greater risk for many types of problems (ex: antisocial behavior, psychological distress, exposure to violence, victimization) – members tend to be more isolated from their family, to have more emotional and behavioral problems, and to have poorer self-conceptions

Question 33

Characteristics of Deviant peer groups

Answer 33

Antisocial, aggressive adolescents gravitate toward | each other

Question 34

What is the role of family in friendship choice?

Answer 34

– parents socialize certain traits – predispose teens toward certain crowds – crowds reward them for the traits that led them there in the first place – traits are strengthened Antisocial peers reinforce antisocial traits

Question 35

How well did group-based interventions for antisocial teens work?

Answer 35

They had latrogenic effects – undesirable consequences of well-intentioned treatments Examples: • medicine making illness worse instead of better • group-based interventions allowing antisocial teens to get ideas about delinquency from other antisocial teens (teach each other to be more effective delinquents)

Question 36

Similarity between friends: selection or socialization?

Answer 36

``` Antisocial activities (delinquency or drug use)- it appears as if “birds of a feather flock together” (selection). Peer influence stronger for day-to-day preferences than for risky behaviors that worry parents. ``` Selection - somewhat stronger factor as far as delinquency and gang memberships concerned. Selection and socialization about equally influential when it comes to drug use

Question 37

How stable are friendships over time?

Answer 37

– moderate stability – more stable during later years of high school – actual composition of teens’ cliques may shift - defining characteristics of clique do not

Question 38

Two forms of popularity:

Answer 38

1. Sociometric popularity refers to how well-liked someone is 2. Perceived popularity refers to how much status, or prestige, someone has

Question 39

Three types of unpopular adolescents:

Answer 39

1. Those who have problems controlling aggression (“reactive” aggression) • fights with other students, bullies others – 2. withdrawn • exceedingly shy, anxious, and inhibited • victims of bullying 3. aggressive and withdrawn • hostile, but nervous about initiating friendships

Question 40

Some teenagers are popular and aggressive:

Answer 40

– adolescents who use instrumental aggression (as opposed to reactive aggression) are more popular – sometimes identified as “tough” – extremely aggressive, physically competent, and average or below average in friendliness, competence, and shyness

Question 41

What is the difference in boys and girls when it come to aggression?

Answer 41

• Boys are more physically aggressive than girls • Girls also act aggressively toward peers, but often engage in relational aggression – ruin a reputation – disrupt a friendship • Hostile attributional bias – plays central role in aggressive behavior of rejected adolescent

Question 42

What are the Consequences of Rejection?

Answer 42

• Being unpopular has negative consequences for an adolescent’s mental health and psychological development: • depression • behavior problems • academic difficulties Consequences might differ for rejected youth who are aggressive versus those who are withdrawn. Those who are both aggressive and withdrawn are at the greatest risk.

Question 43

What is the impact of Victimization and Harassment?

Answer 43

• Unpopular youth may lack the social skills and social understanding necessary to be popular with peers – easy targets for bullying – creates a cycle of teasing, feeling less socially adept, leading to more bullying – blame themselves for their victimization • Victimization can lead to lower earnings as an adult because of the cyclical nature of bullying Depressed adolescents - frequently harassed and picked on by others - leads them to be rejected by their peers Most pernicious effects of victimization undermines feelings of academic competence, academic performance and school engagement has cascading effects well beyond adolescence (even after taking into account background factors)

Question 44

What are two ways that peer harassment can be experienced?

Answer 44

Peer harassment can be experienced 1. directly (as a victim) 2. indirectly (witnessing someone else be victimized) • These two different experiences of victimization can have similar and dissimilar effects

Question 45

Who is more likely to be bullied?

Answer 45

Rates of bullying vary considerably from country to country. Bullying is more prevalent in countries with greater income inequality. Adolescents who come from less affluent families are more likely to be bullied.

Question 46

How common is cyberbullying?

Answer 46

• Cyberbullying (occurs over Internet) – less common than in-person harassment – approximately 11% of adolescents report being victim of online harassment • Types of bullying are correlated – victims of traditional bullying are also bullied online – perpetrators of traditional bullying also engage in cyberbullying

Question 47

Four categories of how victims react to bullying:

Answer 47

``` – passive – support-seeking – aggressive – those who do little of everything • Those who do nothing (passive) report best outcomes ```

Question 48

Teens with poor peer relationships are more likely to (4 things):

Answer 48

1. be low achievers in school 2. drop out of high school 3. show higher rates of delinquent behavior 4. suffer from emotional and mental health problems as adults

Question 49

In promoting normal development, peers do 6 different things:

Answer 49

1. Provide models and feedback in regard to identity 2. Influence self-image 3. Assist development of autonomy 4. Provide context for decision-making skills 5. Interact in intimate and sexual relationships 6. Influence one another regarding achievement

Question 50

What are some typical characteristics of a teens leisure time?

Answer 50

• more time in leisure activities than in “productive” activities • more time alone than with family members; prefers to be with friends • more hours per week at part-time jobs than on homework • Spends < 5 hours per week on homework – students in Asian countries spend 4 to 5 hours per day on homework Been decline in amount of time adolescents spend in paid jobs and an increase in amount of time they devote to leisure activities

Question 51

What are two reasons that there is an abundance of free time?

Answer 51

1. compulsory schooling | 2. post–World War II affluence

Question 52

Why do fewer teens have jobs now than any time in history?

Answer 52

Bad economy, more demands from schools, expanding universe of leisure activities

Question 53

What are the drawbacks of most teen jobs?

Answer 53

* Few permit independent behavior or decision making * Little instruction is received from supervisors * Skills learned in school rarely used at work * Jobs often are repetitive or boring, sometimes stressful, leading to injury and accidents

Question 54

What is premature affluence?

Answer 54

Few save most spend money they make...they don't learn to manage money.

Question 55

How many hours per week negatively impact teens?

Answer 55

Working 20+ hours/week may negatively affect school performance and engagement

Question 56

Working long hours is related to:

Answer 56

– being absent from school – spending less time on homework – earning slightly lower grades Intensive employment may even increase likelihood of dropping out of school

Question 57

What are the Differential Impact of Work?

Answer 57

* middle class: working associated with problem behaviors | * poor youth: working may not lead to problem behavior

Question 58

What is the Leisure Experience Sampling Method (ESM)

Answer 58

Adolescents carry pagers and booklets; teens respond to questions each time their pager beeps. • Results indicated that: – moods are generally most positive when they are with their friends; least positive when they are alone – moods when they are with their family fall somewhere in between – between grades 5 and 9, adolescents’ moods while with friends become more positive – moods while with their family become more negative between grades 5 and 7 and then rise between grades 8 and 9 • Difficult to study adolescents moods because individuals’ emotions change throughout day

Question 59

What are some Positive Impacts of Extracurricular Participation?

Answer 59

Studies indicate participation in extracurricular activities • improves students’ performance in school • reduces likelihood of dropping out • deters delinquency • reduces drug use • decreases other types of risk taking – participation may also enhance students’ psychological well- being and social status

Question 60

What is the Routine Activity Theory?

Answer 60

Routine Activity Theory is the combination of lack of structure, socializing with peers, and absence of adult supervision can lead to delinquency and problem behaviors. Delinquency is more common on weekday afternoons than at any other time