Risks of Becoming Pregnant as an Adolescent z Health risks for both the baby and the mother Infants are more likely to have low birth weight Infants have more neurological problems and childhood illness Adolescent mothers often drop out of school Even if they resume their education they generally never catch up economically 1 3 18 2008 Characteristics of Adolescent Mothers z z z z Adolescent mothers are more likely to come from low SES backgrounds cf Jamie Lynn Spears Many were not good students before they became pregnant Some adolescent mothers do well in school and have positive outcomes All adolescents can benefit from age appropriate family life education Crosby Holtgrave 2006 Malamitsi Puchner Boutsikou 2006 Leadbeater Way 2000 Weyman 2003 3 18 2008 Developmental Psychology 2 1 Contraceptive Use z z z Two kinds of risks accompany sexual activity unintended unwanted pregnancy sexually transmitted infections Both can be reduced significantly with contraception use Many sexually active adolescents still do not use contraceptives or they use them inconsistently younger adolescents are less likely to take contraceptive precautions Anderson Santelli Morrow 2006 Davies others 2006 3 3 18 2008 Sexually Transmitted Infections z Sexually transmitted infections STIs infections contracted primarily through sexual contact including oral genital and anal genital contact z annually more than 3 million American adolescents Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2006 News Flash March 11 2008 Study 1 in 4 teen girls has an STD First study of its kind Nearly 3 million teen girls have at least one STD at any given time HPV which can cause cervical cancer is the most prevalent 3 18 2008 Developmental Psychology 4 2 STD rate in adolescent girls CDC analysis of nationally representative data on 838 girls who participated in a 2003 04 government health survey z Teens were tested for four infections z human papillomavirus HPV 18 chlamydia 4 trichomoniasis 2 5 herpes simplex virus 2 5 3 18 2008 Leading Causes of Death in Adolescence z z z z 3 18 2008 Developmental Psychology The three leading causes of death in adolescence are accidents homicide and suicide More than half of deaths for ages 10 to 19 are due to accidents most involve motor vehicles Homicide is the second leading cause of death The adolescent suicide rate has tripled since the 1950s 6 3 Suicide Suicide behavior escalates in adolescence and then increases further in emerging adulthood Suicide is the third leading cause of death in ages 10 19 Although a suicide threat should always be taken seriously far more adolescents contemplate or attempt it unsuccessfully than actually commit it Park others 2006 National Center for Health Statistics z z z 2005 Mazza 2005 3 18 2008 Three deaths shook Nantucket High School which hadn t had a suicide in 40 years 7 Gender Differences in Suicide z z z z z 3 18 2008 Developmental Psychology Females were more likely to attempt Males were more likely to succeed in committing suicide Males use more lethal means such as guns Females are more likely to cut their wrists or take an overdose of sleeping pills Lesbian and gay male adolescents may be especially vulnerable to suicide 8 4 Adolescent Problems and their Treatment z z Four problems that affect the most adolescents drug abuse juvenile delinquency sexual problems school related problems Those who have more than one of these problems are more at risk for suicide Dryfoos 1990 Dryfoos Barkin 2006 9 3 18 2008 Successful Programs z Programs that have been successful in preventing or reducing adolescent problems found these common component among them intensive individualized attention community wide multi agency collaborative approaches early identification and intervention Dryfoos 1990 Dryfoos Barkin 2006 3 18 2008 Developmental Psychology 10 5 Substance Use and Abuse z z z Proportions of U S students who used any illicit drug declined in the late 1990s and first years of the twenty first century Sizeable declines in alcohol use have occurred in recent years But Binge drinking five or more drinks in a row in last two weeks Johnston others 2007 11 3 18 2008 Cigarette Smoking z z z Cigarette smoking is one of the most serious yet preventable health problems Cigarette smoking peaked in 1996 and 1997 and has gradually declined Risk factors for becoming a regular smoker having a friend who smokes weak academic orientation low parental support Johnston others 2007 Tucker Ellickson Klein 2003 3 18 2008 Developmental Psychology 12 6 Other Drug Abuse z z Painkillers Vicodin and Oxycontin fall into the general class of drugs called narcotics and are highly addictive Adolescents cite the medicine cabinets of their parents or of friends parents as the main source for their prescription painkillers Partnership for a Drug Free America 2005 Johnston others 2007 13 3 18 2008 Delinquency z Juvenile delinquent label applied to an adolescent who breaks the law or engages in behavior that is considered illegal 2002 juvenile court caseloads 3 males 1 female delinquency rates among minority groups and lower socioeconomic status youth are especially high one issue is whether an adolescent who commits a crime should be tried as an adult National Center for Juvenile Justice 2006 Redding 2005 3 18 2008 Developmental Psychology 14 7 Causes of Delinquency Many causes have been proposed including heredity identity problems community influences and family experiences Adolescents with a negative identity may find support for their delinquent image among peers reinforcing the negative identity norms of many lower SES peer groups and gangs are antisocial z z 15 3 18 2008 z z z Parental monitoring is especially important in determining whether an adolescent becomes a delinquent Family discord and inconsistent and inappropriate discipline and sibling influences are also associated with delinquency having delinquent peers greatly increases the risk of becoming delinquent Coley Morris Hernandez 2004 Bor McGee Fagan 2004 Dishion Dodge 2006 3 18 2008 Developmental Psychology 16 8 Adolescent Identity z Identity is a self portrait composed of many pieces including these vocational career identity political identity religious identity relationship identity achievement intellectual identity sexual identity cultural ethnic identity interests personality physical identity 17 3 18 2008 Erikson s Theory z z z z 3 18 2008 Developmental Psychology Erik Erikson first understood the centrality of
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