Guidepost 1: How do adolescents form an identity?

• A central concern during adolescence is the search for identity, which has occupational, sexual, and values components. Erik Erikson described the psychosocial conflict of adolescence as identity versus identity confusion. The "virtue" that should arise from this conflict is fidelity.
• James Marcia, in research based on Erikson's theory, described four identity statuses: identity achievement, foreclosure, moratorium, and identity diffusion.
• Researchers differ on whether girls and boys take different paths to identity formation. Although some research suggests that girls' self-esteem tends to fall at adolescence, later research does not support that finding.
• Ethnicity is an important part of identity. Minority adolescents seem to go through stages of ethnic identity development much like Marcia's identity statuses.

Guidepost 2: What determines sexual orientation?

• Sexual orientation appears to be influenced by an interaction of biological and environmental factors and may be at least partly genetic.

Guidepost 3: What sexual practices are common among adolescents, and what leads some to engage in risky sexual behavior?

• Sexual behaviors are more liberal than in the past. Teenage sexual activity involves risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. Adolescents at greatest risk are those who begin sexual activity early, have multiple partners, do not use contraceptives, and are ill-informed about sex.
• Regular condom use is the best safeguard for sexually active teens.
• Comprehensive sex education programs delay sexual initiation and encourage contraceptive use. Abstinence-only programs have not been effective.
• Many teenagers get misleading information about sexuality from the media.

Guidepost 4: How common are sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy, and what are their usual outcomes?

• Rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States are highest in the world; one in three cases occurs among adolescents. STDs can be transmitted by oral sex as well as intercourse. They are more likely to develop undetected in girls than in boys and can lead to serious health problems.
• Teenage pregnancy and birthrates in the United States have declined but are still highest in the industrialized world. Most of the pregnancies are unintended, and of the births are to unmarried mothers.
• Teenage pregnancy and childbearing often have negative outcomes. Teenage mothers and their families tend to suffer ill health and financial hardship, and the children often suffer from ineffective parenting.

Guidepost 5: How typical is "adolescent rebellion"?

• Although relationships between adolescents and their parents are not always smooth, full-scale adolescent rebellion is unusual.

Guidepost 6: How do adolescents relate to parents, siblings, and peers?

• Adolescents in the United States, who have a large amount of discretionary time, spend an increasing amount of it with peers, but relationships with parents continue to be close and influential, especially among some ethnic minorities.
• Family interactions change during the teenage years. There is more intimacy, but also more conflict over issues of autonomy. Conflict with parents tends to be most frequent during early adolescence and most intense during middle adolescence. Authoritative parenting is associated with the most positive outcomes.
• Effects of divorce and single parenting on adolescents' development depend on the way they affect family atmosphere. Genetic factors may affect the way young adolescents adapt to divorce.
• Effects of maternal employment depend on such factors as the presence or absence of the other parent, how closely parents monitor adolescents' activity, and the mother's workload. A mother's working may help shape attitudes toward gender roles.
• Economic stress affects relationships in both single-parent and two-parent families.
• Relationships with siblings tend to become more equal and more distant during adolescence.
• The peer group can have both positive and negative influences. Adolescents who are rejected by peers tend to have the greatest adjustment problems.
• Friendships, especially among girls, become more intimate and supportive in adolescence.

Guidepost 7: What are the root causes of antisocial behavior and juvenile delinquency, and what can be done to reduce these and other risks of adolescence?

• Chronic delinquency is associated with multiple interacting risk factors, including ineffective parenting, school failure, peer influence, neighborhood influences, and low socioeconomic status. Programs that attack such risk factors from an early age have had success.