Developmental TASKS in Middle and Late Adolescence

Robert Havighurst 1900-1991 - Developmental tasks refer to

the specific knowledge, skills, attitudes, and functions that a
person needs to acquire to demonstrate at particular periods
in his or her life.”  Exciting feature of teenage years is the attraction
These delevopmental tasks are as follows: that you feel to another person ♥
 Developmental task: (e) learn how to handle
heterosexual relationships, dating, and sexuality
 Teenage pregnancies are now becoming more
common than before
 This personal realization suggests that you can
work just by yourself, as well as living
harmoniously with others.
Late Adolesence

ADOLESCENTS IN THE 21ST CENTURY

There are a lot of factors that shape today's adolescents.
 Social Development has effects on your
personality. Personality and behavioural factors,
which are prominently noticed about adolescents
of this generation, may have already been present
Early Adolesence
before, but they have been emphasized by modern
social developments, such as the culture of “instant
results,”, value placed on materialism, technology,
and family structure.
 Your parents and grandparents lived in a world
characterized by a culture of hard work. With all
these technological developments, adolescents are
less likely to be as patient and productive as their
Middle Adolesence
parents and grandparents.
• Developmental tasks: (b) to achieve new and more
 They are so accustomed to having what they want
mature relations with age mates of both sexes; (c)
right away that delaying gratification may be a
achieving masculine and feminine social role; and (d)
farfetched idea. Thus, you sometimes feel bad
achieving emotional independence from parents and
when you do not get what has been promised to
other adults.
you.
• You need to be physically self-reliant and
psychologically independent from your parents
CULTURE OF INSTANT RESULTS
• Put away childish ways and start doing things by
yourself
• Being self-reliant and independent do not happen
overnight; you still need the help of other persons

Impatient and Less Productive

 The Challenges of Middle and Late Adolescents

Santrock (2012) - Cited the biopsychosocial approach in

emphazasing that biological, psychological, and social factors
interplay and contribute to create problems that you need to
overcome during adolescence.

1. Biological or physical factors - such as genes, puberty,

hormones, and brain development cause challenges that
adolescents need to face.
Materialism  “Hormonal changes” - that teenagers go through
 Material possessions become STATUS SYMBOLS, or during puberty have been linked to higher rates of
prestige symbols that tell others that the owner is of depression and heighted sex drives.
higher status than other people.  The development of the prefrontal cortex after
 Become the bases of their security, of being accepted, amygdala has been linked to risk-taking behaviors and
and of their personality. sexual experimentation (Casey et al., 2011).
 This results in prioritizing image rather than working  While the prefrontal cortex is still developing, your
one’s inner beauty and holistic value as a person. brain may not be able to process what you feel and
control your actions. This mental inability, in turn, may
cause problems.
 “finding a sense of identity” - one of the most
challenges that you may encounter as a teenager;
 1. Sense of identity (positive) -successful formation of
your identity will lead to healthy academic, social, and
psychological functioning.
 - adjustment to the various changes being experienced
in this stage are facilitated by having a more coherent
individuality, which becomes a buffer to difficult or
painful experiences.
 2. Sense of identity (Negative) - the absence of
concrete self-identity causes heightened emotionality
that usually causes problems.
 - you get irritated and have mood swings easily, when
too erratic and negative, resulting in relationship
problems and depression.
 - your views about your experiences get affected by
your feelings, leading to difficulties in understanding
them.
 - if you have become used to getting what you want,
then self-control may become an issue.
 - if self-control is not mastered, concerns regarding
drug abuse, computer gaming, and other related
Taking charge or assuming responsibility is the ability to
delinquent behavior may emerge.
choose your own responses (Covey,2004) to encountered
 - low conscientiousness has been associated with drug
circumstances. It is taking ownership or accountability of your
abuse and behavior problems.
behaviors, without making excuses or blaming others for your
 - your decisions can be influenced by your emotions,
mistakes.
hence, you become less objective, and your actions
may not be effective

2. Social factors - includes family, peers, school, socioeconomic

status, and immediate environment.
 Hanging out with friends who have negative attitudes
has a big influence on your personality development.
  Rejection may cause depression if not handled well . It 2. Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all,
also causes low self-esteem that may engage them to activities most of the day
activities that put their health and dignity at risk. 3. Significant weight loss or weight gain
 Teenagers who drop out from school-are prone to 4. Insomnia or hypersomnia
drug addiction and other delinquent activities. 5. Psychomotor agitation or retardation
 Poverty is linked to many problems that adolescents 6. Fatigue or loss of energy
are vulnerable to. 7. Feeling of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate
 Adolescents who live in an unhealthy environment are guilt.
in higher risk for developing problems. 8. Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or
 Non-intact families- due to non-marriage, separation, indecisiveness
parent/s working abroad, and death usually experience 9. Recurrent thoughts of death
problems.
6. SUICIDE - usually associated with depression.
Pitfalls and Challenges of Adolescents - Closely related with a sense of hopelessness, low self-esteem,
1. USING AND ABUSING DRUGS - The use of drugs is often due and high self-blame.
to peer pressure. Sequentially. It starts with drinking alcoholic
beverages, smoking cigarettes, smoking marijuana, and STRATEGIES TO COPE WITH CHALLENGES
eventually using or abusing other illegal drugs. This means that 1. learn to accept what you feel.
the more you friends use illegal drugs, the more likely you 2. identify your vulnerabilities.
become involved with drugs. 3. develop your talents and interests.
2. BEING ADDICTED TO COMPUTER GAMES - Computer 4. become more involved with others.
gaming is really a popular recreational activity. Adolescents get 5. seek help when needed.
hooked to them not only because they are fun but also these
games provide opportunities for adolescents to express what Coping with Stress in Middle and Late Adolescence
they feel, create their own world, and most importantly, find Stress is part of growing up. You may feel pressured in
their identity in the characters in the game. However, because everything you do, both at home and in school. You experience
adolescents have created their own world in the game, they stress when you respond to stressors that you perceive to
are sometimes unable to distinguish reality from the virtual exceed your capabilities.
one.
3. RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME - Some teenagers run away Stress can motivate you to work harder to get what you want.
from home for different reasons. Their reasons range from It can challenge and motivate you to find creative solutions to
their parents hurting them physically, feeling unhappy at your concerns, and this kind of stress is called eustress. On the
home, to using it as a means to get what they want. other hand, when stress becomes so overwhelming and leads
 According to Kimmel and Weiner (1995), runaways to a sense of helplessness and exhaustion, it is called distress.
who anticipate to finding something pleasant at home
return home soonest and manifest that they are less Symptoms of stress (Your body response to stress)
traumatized than those who run away from something
unpleasant, such a being physically hurt or violated at 1. COGNITIVE SYMPTOMS
home.  Having memory problems
4. EXPERIENCE HEIGHTENED SEXUAL DESIRE - As teenagers  Having poor judgement
normally experienced heightened sexual desire, due to  Seeing only the negative
hormonal changes that occur in their body during this stage,  Being anxious
they try to engage in sexual activities and sexual explorations  Being unable to concentrate
accentuated by the proddings of their peers.  Worrying constantly
 Based on data from the Department of Health (DOH) 2. EMOTIONAL SYMPTOMS
on the transmission of the human immunodeficiency  Moodiness
virus (HIV), 2014 the greatest number of persons who  Irritability or short temper
become infected with HIV are teenagers.  Agitation or restlessness
5. DEPRESSION - Another challenge that you may encounter is  Feeling of being overwhelmed
depression. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual  sense of loneliness and isolation
of Mental Disorders at least five of the nine symptoms  Depression or unhappiness
represent a change in the individuals functioning (observed 3. PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS
during a two-week period):  Body aches and pains
 DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL  Diarrhea or constipation
DISORDERS:  Nausea and dizziness
1. Depressed mood most of the day  Chest pain
  Rapid heartbeat also turn to your teachers and guidance counsellors for
 Frequent colds help.

4. BEHAVIORAL SYMPTOMS Tips to improve your time management

 Eating more or less 1. Monitor your time
 Sleeping too much or too little 2. Plan your activities using a schedule and protect it as
 Isolating yourself from others much as you protect your goals
 Procrastinating 3. Increase your efficiency so that you finish your task in
 Neglecting responsibilities less time
 Drinking alcoholic beverages, smoking cigarettes, 4. Tackle one task at a time so that you do not get
taking illegal drugs, or playing computer for several overwhelmed
hours 5. Group similar tasks together so that the fluidity of
 Having nervous habits such as nail biting and pacing doing so facilitates efficiency
restlessly 6. Make use of your down time

WAYS OF COPING STRESS 2. EMOTION-FOCUSED COPING - It refers to responding in an

COPING involves managing difficult situations, exerting efforts emotional way. Focusing on pain triggers emotional reactions,
to solve your problems, striving to master or reduce the which in turn influence our actions. This way of coping actively
stressful effects of these situations. In order to cope makes use of defense mechanisms such as rationalization,
successfully, ATTITUDE plays a key role. projection, displacement, and aggression.
 Rationalization- doing something wrong and
1. PROBLEM-FOCUSED COPING - It refers to facing the convincing yourself that it is right because everybody is
situation squarely and exerting efforts to solve the problem. It doing it.
has been linked to effective adjustment, and this includes  Projection- the externalization of blame, guilt, or
enhancing some of your skills responsibility as a defense against anxiety. Not
showing what you really feel, you are sad but you
SKILLS TO IMPROVE (Problem-focused Coping) prefer to project being happy.
a. STUDY SKILLS  Displacement- the substitution of another form of
 It is enhance by boosting your motivation to study. behaviour for what is usual or expected especially
 To get motivated means clarifying your goals when the usual response is nonadaptive
 Being self-efficient will help you sustain your  Aggression- angry or violent behaviour or feelings
motivation
 Academic success is attained by improving your 3. AVOIDANT COPING - This involves ignoring a problem and
concentration or your ability to focus on what you are hoping that it will disappear on its own. It includes avoiding the
doing. problem by drinking alcoholic beverages, playing computer
b. TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS games for several hours and using illegal drugs.
 If you manage your time well, you may be able to
make your life less stressful. PERSONAL WAYS OF COPING STRESS “INSTANT RELAXERS”
 Set priorities and learn to say “no” to avoid wasted 1. Eating comfort foods
time 2. Deep breathing
 Delegate responsibilities 3. Relaxing your muscles
 Throw away useless object so you wont waste time 4. Engaging in physical activities
looking for what you need. 5. Using aromatherapy
 Don’t be a perfectionist that causes unfinished task on 6. Having a good cry
time. Procrastination jeopardizes the quality of your 7. Talking about what you feel and what you think about
work as well as your capability to beat the deadlines. your situation
c. PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS
 When you master this, you will remain objective n Catharsis- releasing your pent-up emotions, which is achieved
facing your concerns and in making wise decisions. through talking and crying
 It involves assessing the situation by describing it and
determining when the problem started INDICATORS THAT YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY HANDLED
d. SUPPORT GROUP STRESS
 This will help you cope with stress. It may simply be 1. Emotional stability. Remaining calm and not being
your friends who accompany you in this journey. Your carried away by your emotions signals a healthy way
parents are important persons in your life whom you of coping.
can ask for support during your difficult times. You can
2. Being tactful. Being able to express your thoughts and
feelings in a nonaggressive manner indicates your
capacity to handle stress.
3. Doing well in school. Your ability to meet all your
academic requirements and get high scores show your
capacity to cope with the various demands of the
school.
4. Learning to say no. By being firm on what you believe
is right and saying “no” to peer pressure is a positive
sign of being able to cope well with stress.