Learning Goals

A. Exploring Adolescent Problems

1.1 What are the three factors that might be the basis for adolescent problem behavior?

1.2 What are two sociocultural factors that influence the development of adolescent problems?

B. The Biopsychosocial Approach

1.3 What roles do the three factors play in the development of problem behavior?

C. The Developmental Approach

1.4 What is the focus of developmental psychopathology?

1.5 Compare and contrast internalizing and externalizing problems.

1.6 According to Sroufe, anxiety problems in adolescence are linked with what?

D. Characteristics of Adolescent Problems

1.7 What correlation did Achenbach find between SES and behavior problems?

E. Resilience

1.8 Why might the study of resilience be important in understanding problem behavior?

A. Drugs and Alcohol

2.1 Why do people use drugs?

2.2 What is tolerance?

2.3 What is physical dependence?

2.4 What is the nature of addiction?

2.5 What are the characteristics of psychological dependence?

B. Trends in Overall Drug Use

2.6 What was the nature of drug use in the 1960s and 1970s?

2.7 What has been the trend of drug use in the 1980s and 1990s?

2.8 How does adolescent drug use in the United States compare to that in other industrialized countries?

C. Alcohol

2.9 What type of drug is alcohol?

2.10 How much is alcohol used by American adolescents?

2.11 What are some potential negative outcomes of alcohol abuse?

2.12 What are the risk factors for adolescent alcohol use?

2.13 Is there a genetic predisposition to alcoholism?

2.14 Is there a personality profile for someone who is likely to develop an alcohol problem?

2.15 What are some possible preventative strategies for alcoholism?

D. Hallucinogens

2.16 What drugs other than alcohol are harmful to adolescents?

2.17 What are the nature and characteristics of hallucinogens, LSD, and marijuana?

E. Stimulants

2.18 What are the most widely used stimulants?

2.19 How does cigarette smoking play a role in the drug problems of youth?

2.20 Have school health programs had success in deterring youth from smoking?

2.21 What is the history of cocaine use?

2.22 How many adolescents use cocaine?

2.23 How prevalent is the use of amphetamines among adolescents?

2.24 What is Ecstasy, and what are some special concerns associated with it?

F. Depressants

2.25 What are depressants?

2.26 How has the use of depressants changed over the past 25 years?

G. Anabolic Steroids

2.27 What are the risks of using anabolic steroids?

H. Factors in Adolescent Drug Use

2.28 What role does early drug use play in adolescent development?

2.29 How can parents and peers help prevent adolescent drug abuse?

2.30 What school-based intervention programs can help reduce adolescent drug use?

A. Juvenile Delinquency

3.1 What is the nature of juvenile delinquency?

3.2 What is the difference between index offenses and status offenses?

3.3 Is it appropriate to try juveniles as adults in court?

3.4 What is conduct disorder?

3.5 What percentage of adolescents engage in delinquent behaviors?

3.6 In the Pittsburgh Youth Study, what were noted as the three developmental pathways to delinquency?

B. Antecedents of Juvenile Delinquency

3.7 What are the predictors of delinquency?

3.8 What is Erikson's beliefs regarding youth and delinquency?

3.9 Can siblings influence delinquency?

C. Violence and Youth

3.10 Why is the high rate of youth violence an increasing concern?

3.11 What percent of public schools experience one or more serious violent incidents each year?

3.12 What factors are often present in at-risk youths and seem to propel them towards violence?

3.13 What strategies have been proposed for reducing youth violence?

3.14 What is the cadre approach to reducing violence?

3.15 What is meant by the total student body approach to reducing school-related violence?

3.16 What are the steps students learn in mediation?

A. Depression and Suicide

4.1 What is the rate of depression in females as opposed to males?

4.2 How serious a problem is depression in adolescence?

4.3 What is a major depressive disorder?

4.4 Will a depressed adolescent be more likely to suffer from depression as an adult?

4.5 What are the treatments for depression?

4.6 What is the rate of adolescent suicide and how has it changed since the 1950s?

4.7 Why do adolescents attempt suicide?

4.8 What proximal and distal factors are involved in suicide?

4.9 What is the psychological profile of the suicidal adolescents like?

A. Obesity

5.1 What percent of adolescents are obese?

5.2 What hereditary and environmental factors are involved in obesity?

B. Anorexia Nervosa

5.3 What are the characteristics of anorexia nervosa?

5.4 Are certain adolescents more prone to anorexia than others?

5.5 What societal, psychological, and physiological causes of anorexia nervosa have been proposed?

C. Bulimia Nervosa

5.6 What is the nature of bulimia nervosa?

6.1 Are adolescent problem behaviors interrelated?

6.2 What are the common components of successful prevention/intervention programs for adolescent problem behaviors?