Adolescence Is a Time of Storm and Stress - Coursework Example

Adolescence a Time of Storm and Stress Introduction Adolescence is defined here as a period of transition characterized by accelerated processes of change in cognitive, social, and psychological functioning, accompanied by marked physical restructuring. As research on adolescent development shows, successful adaptation in adolescence rather than crisis should be given more prominence in research. This is supported by the fact that continuous focusing on and solving of developmental problems seems to be the rule, whereas failure in the coping process is comparatively rare. Adolescence can profitably be seen as a period of successful coping, and of productive adaptation. The adolescent is confronted with many different changes and is able to adapt to these changes in a constructive fashion, and in a way that results in developmental advance. Considering the large variety of tasks and problems encountered, adolescence is characterized by impressively effective coping in the majority of young people, a fact that has been widely neglected. Coping is the effort to manage (i.e., master, reduce, minimize) environmental and internal demands and conflicts which tax or exceed a person's resources and this shows that coping is a hypothetical construct that is sufficiently complex to take into account both person-specific and situation-specific aspects. Stressors and social resources are also two important concepts. The significance of coping behavior is evident in resiliency research showing that it is coping that makes the difference in both the adaptational outcome and in research on symptomatology, illustrating that the most reliable predictor for mental health is not so much a lack of symptoms, but the competence with which age-specific developmental tasks are handled (Compas & Hammen 1993) Stress and Adolescents More than any other developmental period, adolescence has been characterized in the psychological and sociological literatures as fraught with struggles that are both intrapersonal and interpersonal in nature. In the intrapersonal domain, adolescence has been described as a period in which identity formation is a central developmental task. Achieving a sense of personal autonomy and an identity that is separate from the family is of utmost importance. Significant interpersonal tasks during adolescence are thought to include increased involvement with the peer group balanced against continued attachment to the family. Adolescence is a period in which relationships outside of the family multiply, take on new meanings, and deepen in intensity. These new bonds broaden and enrich the world of the adolescent, but also carry with them the increased possibility for loss, rejection, and conflict. Adolescents tend to become acutely aware of their status in the peer society, and pressures to conform to the norms of the peer group peak in mid-adolescence. The emotional intensity of friendships increases over earlier years; adolescents may entrust their friends with their deepest secrets, expecting that the trust will be upheld. Because of the increased intensity of friendships, adolescents may suffer more than younger children when there is a break in a relationship, for example, when a friend moves away or they move away from a friend. Further, adolescents gradually begin to explore intimate, sexual relationships, and with these may come new found fears as well as a heightened risk of emotional rejection (Offer & Offer, 1975). At the same time that adolescents are opening up new possibilities in the world of friendships and intimate relationships, family relationships generally retain their importance as sources of both support and stress. Although adolescence has been conceptualized as a stormy period for family relationships, research has now documented that in fact family relationships during this period tend not to be conflict-ridden overall In the course of developing increased autonomy and breaking old dependencies on parents, adolescents increasingly assert their own opinions and desires, and in most families there is movement toward increased mutuality in relationships with parents. The change within families toward a new balance of power can bring with it increased conflict, particularly between the mother and the adolescent. In many cases, this is undoubtedly experienced by the family members as stressful, even though mild conflict might in fact be a healthy sign of increased adolescent individuation. Although it has long been acknowledged that interpersonal relationships during adolescence are potentially quite stressful, and might exact a toll on adolescents' psychological well-being, surprisingly little research has focused on specific types of interpersonal relationships as sources of stress and whether they are linked to psychological distress. Thus it remains unclear whether family, peer, or intimate relationships might constitute greater sources of stress for some adolescents compared with others. Based on the few existing studies in this area, which have used relatively brief checklists of major life events, it does appear that there may be sex differences both in reports of numbers of stressful events experienced and in the association of stressful interpersonal events with psychological symptoms. Adolescent females appear to report more major interpersonal stress than males, and the relationship of major life stress with psychological symptoms may be stronger for adolescent females than males. This pattern of greater vulnerability to stress in adolescent females than males is in contrast to other findings that indicate that boys may be more vulnerable to psychopathology than are girls. This suggests that there may be differences in vulnerability to stress during preadolescence and adolescence (Merikangas & Angst, 1992). In a recent study, it was reasoned that many of the interpersonal stresses that might have an impact on adolescents are common, everyday occurrences rather than major events. That is, adolescents may experience as much stress in facing such everyday occurrences as disagreements with parents, friends, or boyfriends or girlfriends as they would if faced with major, infrequent events such as being turned down for membership in an organization, starting a new intimate relationship, etc. One of the important questions in with regard interpersonal stresses was whether or not adolescents are affected by stressful events occurring in the lives of others in their social networks. Kessler and McLeod ( 1984) coined the term "network event" to describe events that might be experienced as stressful by the respondent but that have occurred to others, not to the respondent. Kessler and McLeod found that adult women both report more stress occurring in the lives of others than males, and show a greater relation than males between these network events and psychological symptoms. Kessler and McLeod speculated that adult women may be more emotionally involved and concerned with the needs of a wider range of people than men, and may provide more social support than men. Ultimately this involvement and support overload can be draining, leading to the development of psychological symptoms. Stressful network events have not been previously investigated among adolescents, although there is some reason to speculate that adolescent females, like adult females, might be more subject to network events and their deleterious effects. The adolescent period, girls' emphasis on their relationships and connections with others tends to evolve into an ethnic of responsibility for seeing to the needs of others; this might in fact place them at higher risk for experiencing distress associated with the stress of others. Further, Thorbecke and Grotevant ( 1982) reported a positive correlation between competitiveness and commitment to friendships among adolescent males, and a negative correlation between competitiveness and commitment to friendships among adolescent females. They interpreted these findings as indicating that separateness and autonomy are inherent to adolescent males' self-definition with regard to interpersonal relationships, while mutual concern may be central to relationships for adolescent females. Further, competitiveness may be potentially disruptive for girls' friendships. Again, this could help to explain why females may be more likely than males to respond with concern to the stress of others (Mary Ellen Colten, Susan Gore; Aldine De Gruyter, 1991) Stress, Coping, and Adolescent Depression Depressive phenomena increase sharply in adolescence and show a marked gender pattern. In contrast to the relatively low rates of clinical depression in children, rates of depression are high and approximate the adult rates. Several studies indicate about a fourfold increase in the incidence of adolescent depression compared to childhood depression with an exceptionally sharp increase for girls emerging by mid- adolescence. Diagnostic problems in assessing adolescent depression have been reported frequently and lead to a differentiation between several types with varying severity. Empirical studies have established that depressive mood, depressive syndromes, and depressive disorders are related but distinct manifestations of depression. Depressive mood refers to the presence of sadness, unhappiness, or blue feelings for an unspecific period of time. As Offer and Offer ( 1975) showed, depressive mood is reported by 30% to 70% of nonclinical subjects during some time in adolescence. Depressive syndrome, however, refers to a set of emotions and behavior that statistically have been found to occur together in an identifiable pattern. They are identified empirically through reports of adolescents and for example their parents or teachers. The characterization of depressive disorder is based on a disorder model of psychopathology and currently reflected in the diagnostic system of DSM-III-R or 1CD 10. According to Merikangas and Angst ( 1992), the prevalence rates of depressive disorders are rather low, about 3%, whereas depressive syndromes are diagnosed more frequently (10%). Compas and Hammen ( 1993) demonstrated a high degree of comorbidity of depressive phenomena with other symptoms and disorders. For example, the overlap with anxiety disorders was highest (30%-70%), but the overlap with conduct disorders and eating disorders was also substantial (10%-21%). It is thus safe to say that with regard to all three manifestations of depressive phenomena, comorbidity is the rule rather than the exception during adolescence. Due to these characteristics, the analysis of factors that contribute to depression as well as the analysis of protective factors may be highly relevant because they may reflect a more general association between stress, coping, relationships, and psychopathology. Depression And Stressful Events Psychosocial stress plays a prominent role in most models of depression throughout the life span. As a rule, the interaction of psychosocial stress with individual vulnerability or predisposition has been considered, for example, with the diathesis- stress model of depressive disorders. In examining research on stress and depression it is important to address the question of specifity in the stress -depression relation. A related question is concerned with the specific contribution of different types of stressors. Concerning the general issue of whether stressful events are related to depression, more than 40 recent studies have established that there is a cross-sectional association between stressors and depressed mood, depressive syndromes and depressive disorders. Compared to other forms of psychopathology, however, this association is not unique to depression. Compas, Howell, Phares, Williams, and Giunta ( 1989) found that the association was higher for internalizing problems (variance explained 11%) than with externalizing problems (5%). This may suggest that stressful events are more strongly related to depression than to other disorders, but the difference in variance explained is not that high and speaks more for a general association between stress and symptomatology. Studies trying to determine whether certain types of stress are related to depression have revealed quite uniform results with correlations for major events being typically lower than those for minor events or hassles. Several studies found modest to moderate correlations between negative life events and depression. More specifically, an investigation by Newcomb, Huba, and Bentler ( 1981) analyzed the occurrence of 39 major events during the past few years of life of 1,000 adolescents. A general correlation of r = .20 between negative events and depression was found; events from the parent/family cluster were most closely associated with distress and depression ( r = .30). Research on adults has already shown that daily hassles and minor events play a critical role in understanding stress and symptoms within individuals. That daily stress and everyday problems may play an equally important role in adolescents' symptomatology has been also established. Compas and colleagues favored an integrative model of stress that includes major and minor events. As in other studies, correlations have been found between major negative events (ranging between r = .23 and .32), but the correlation between daily stressors and symptomatology is even more substantial (ranging between r = .54 and .68; Wagner et al., 1988). Both types of stressors were analyzed according to their associations with depression. These results are rather unexpected, because for a long time, a special type of major event involving loss had been regarded as highly significant in explaining depression. Since the early theories of S. Freud and Abraham, loss of a loved one was considered to be a major etiological factor. Although there is evidence of a link between events involving loss and depressive reactions, it is important to recognize that individuals exposed to such events are also likely to exhibit other forms of psychopathology. Moreover, other types of stress, including minor events and everyday problems and hassles seemed to contribute strongly to depressive feelings. In those studies in which major and minor stressors have been compared, minor stressors have been found to be more strongly related to depressive phenomena than major events. Further correlations between both types of stressors have been found illustrating that major events may lead to an increase in daily or minor stressors that in turn leads to depressive outcomes. This point to a reciprocal influence between stress and depression. It has also raised the question of confusing stress and depression with similar items appearing on measures of both constructs. Yet, longitudinal studies have indicated that the association between stress and depression is not simply an artefact of self-report of these two variables. The relations are weaker than in cross-sectional studies, which suggest an influence of other factors. Even prospective longitudinal studies do, however, not provide definite proof of the causal relationships between the two variables. While the aforementioned studies have found that initial stress predicts subsequent depression, other studies have reported that initial levels of depressive mood and syndromes are predictive of increased stress at a later point of time. Conclusion In every day life and during times of adversity, people's supportive needs are met through the intimacy afforded by close relationships, the affirmation and stability derived from the feedback and social comparisons offered by the larger social world, and the sense of identity and belonging gained from the personal community they inhabit. Adolescence is a developmental period when the capacity increases to form both casual and intimate ties and to weave them into a network that can ease the passage through this time of life. Whether this capacity is fully developed is determined by both the personal resources that youth bring to their commerce with others, and the resources extended by the primary agents and institutions of socialization. They are in critical positions to offer guidance by precept and example, and to make provisions to abet the full expression of adolescents' ability to give aid and comfort to others and, reciprocally, to gain support from others. Numerous challenges attend efforts to marshal support on behalf of adolescents. In order to embed them in supportive relationships we will need to develop a contextual understanding of support as it is experienced by adolescents. In fact, each program will have to gain a special understanding of the meaning of support to its intended beneficiaries and of the unique developmental and ecological factors that shape both opportunities for and perceptions of supportive relationships. Equally important, each program will have to discern the kinds of support that are required by adolescents facing different stressful circumstances and then determine, from a relationship perspective, who is best suited to render these provisions. Moreover, the work of planning supportive environments for youth involves creating opportunities for all youth, not just the privileged and successful, to render service and support to others. Reference: Merikangas K., & Angst J. ( 1992, November). The challenge of depressive disorders in adolescence. Paper presented at the conference "Youth in the Year 2000", Marbach Castle, Germany. Compas B. E., & Hammen C. L. ( 1993). Depression in childhood and adolescence: Covariation and comorbidity in development. In R. J. Haggerty, N. Garmezy, M. Rutter, & L. Sherrod (Eds.), Risk and resilience in children: Developmental approaches. New York: Cambridge University Press. Compas B. E., Howell D. C., Phares V., Williams R. A., & Giunta C. T. ( 1989). Risk factors for emotional/behavioral problems in young adolescents: A prospective analysis of adolescent and parental stress and symptoms. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 732-740. Newcomb N. D., Huba G. J., & Bentler P. M. ( 1981). A multidimensional assessment of stressful life events among adolescents. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 22, 400-415. Mary Ellen Colten, Susan Gore; Aldine De Gruyter, 1991 Adolescent Stress: Causes and Consequences. Offer D., & Offer J. ( 1975). From teenage to young manhood. A psychological study. New York: Basic Books. Wagner B. M., Compas B. E., & Howell D. C. ( 1988). Daily and major life events: A test of an integrative model of psychosocial stress. American Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 189-205. Kessler R. C., & McLeod J. D. ( 1984). Sex differences in vulnerability to undesirable life events. American Sociological Review, 49, 620-631. Thorbecke W., & Grotevant H. D. ( 1982). Gender differences in adolescent interpersonal identity formation. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 11, 479-492. Read More