Category: Adolescence

Did you know that archery is the second oldest sport in the world? This fact proves that sport activities have become a part of human life since the start of the progress of the world. Nowadays, we can watch there are many people who have ventured into the sport as their choice to make sure that as the platform to build their career. For example, professional swimmer, professional football player, members of professional weightlifting sports and many other examples that cannot be applied here. Sports activities is good for a person, whether physically or mentally. With sports activities, a teenager can build healthy body, fit and attractive body structure. This is so because through sports, one can increase the calorie level metabolism lose excess body. This in turn can reduce the risk of the teenager whom suffer from diseases like heart blockages, diabetes, obesity, hypertension and stroke when adults.

In addition, the teenagers will experience physiological changes such as the creation of body positive body charming enlargement muscles of hands, legs and abdomen as well as thickening the outer walls of the heart. This happens when the body adapt to the sports activities carried out. For example, a sprinter has muscles strong while a member of the sport of weightlifting have the power in the muscles of the hands and abdomen. With these changes, the teenagers who loves sports will have higher stamina and not easily tired in doing our daily routine. Moreover, sports activities make us more energetic, intelligent and youthful. This is because sports activities focused to reduce stress arising from the problems in our life. We are aware that stress accelerate the aging process. So indirectly, teenagers whom often sports are more vibrant and looks younger due to having stress at a minimum level.

At the same time all of us knows that time is very precious, priceless and should not be allowed to be wasted. Therefore, we as the teenagers should make use of the time available in the evening with preferably through sports activities. In general, sports activities had named as recreational activities. For example, play ping pong, badminton, football, futsal, bowling, swimming or cycling. Furthermore, sports activities are not only good for our health but also suitable hobby and can be done with friends or family at every morning, evening or at weekends. By filling in the spare time with sports activities, we are not only improving health but also avoid wasting time with useless things like hanging out in the mall or cyber cafe, and chat online all the time. Not only that, we will also able to avoid social problems such as smoking, drug abuse, and illegal racing. Finally, sports activities not only can be used as recreational activities and hobbies, but also as one of the ways to support the Government’s efforts to control the problem of decadence of teenagers today.

Sports activities is also essential for developing the potential of youth. In schools, there are curriculum activities which is a must for students. Co-curricular activities undertaken is to equip youth with knowledge and skills that can’t be taught in the classroom. This activity became a platform for the students to know their abilities and potential particularly in sports and games, indirectly uncover new talents. We should not look down on the sports because if the talent was sharpened to a higher level, the name of the teenager and his school will be proud. The teenagers not only highlighted the ability of the underlying, but also become the pride of the school. Next, sports activities are also important to cultivate the spirit of unity and sportsmanship among teenagers of different backgrounds. This is so because all sports require them to interact with each other will able to ensure a good understanding and good relationships.

However, the initiatives to promote the interest among the community of this sports activity should start from the bench school again, in particular from the teenagers. There are several effective ways to ensure the success of the mission, including the Ministry of education should require each student to engage in at least one type of sport in their respectively schools. The school in turn serves to attract pupils to be active in sport activities and games in school. The school shall organize the competition sports events as the annual activities of the school to attract students interested in sports. For example, futsal tournament, badminton championship, table tennis competition between classes and school level volleyball competition. The school should also require meeting athletes preferably once a week so that students continue to be motivated to participate in sports activities. The school is also responsible for providing facilities and a complete infrastructure for the purpose of school sports activities such as football field and hall to ensure sporting equipment is always enough and in perfect condition.

In conclusion, the Government should put the entry requirements of institutions of higher learning (IPTA) at least five percentages for sports only. This directly will open the eyes of teenagers to be active in sports activities so as to further their studies to a higher level. The Government should also encourage schools to share infrastructure sports that are provided. Sport activities are important in order to ensure a healthy lifestyle in all walks of life especially teenagers. While there are less teenagers who are not interested in sports and not involved with extra-curricular activities. The efforts to attract this bunch of teenagers should remain constant, the saying goes, ‘ Never Ever Give Up ‘.

‘A strong body makes the mind strong – Thomas Jefferson’. This is even truer when it comes to young teens, which mean sports keep young bodies strong and they also help growing minds. Moreover, children who played sports proved to be more active and healthier than those who did not participate in sport. Doing sports not only keep them healthy, but it also helps to relieve stress and improve their social skills. Children playing sports regularly is good because it makes them healthy, helps to release the stress, and improves their social skills.

First, playing sport regularly will keep the teens active longer than those who didn’t participate in sport. All sports keep you active and improve your body’s blood flow. It will benefit you and improve your fitness level whether you are playing a sport well or not. It is essential to be active throughout all your whole life for the development of bone, strength, cognitive function and reduction of the risk of heart disease. Moreover, playing or doing sports regularly builds and strengthens muscles that can protect the bones against injury. Strong muscles also provide stability, balance, and coordination in the young bodies. Everyday sports can enhance young teen’ endurance and as well as the strength in their bodies. In addition, sports help to lower the risk of certain diseases and lose weight. It reduces a person’s risk of developing diseases such as obesity high blood pressure. Thus, sports such as basketball, football, tennis or volleyball can make teenagers healthy.

Another reason why teens should play sport regularly is that it helps them to relieve the stress in their life. There are several effects of stress and one of them is that it affects many nerves on the brain which then leads to a point, the rest of the body gets affected. Through research, it has shown that playing any sort of sports is the best way to help relieve stress. In this case, physical activities create endorphins which act as a natural painkiller. Also, improves our sleeping capacity thereby reduces the level of stress. Furthermore, any form of physical activity leads to the release of chemical substances called endorphins which will promote a positive mood and because it makes you feel happier and more relaxed. This explains why teenagers feel so good after playing a football match with their friends. In addition, sports can keep teens in calm and it can improve their concentration. Playing sport regularly helps to sharpen the mental abilities which also includes learning, critical thinking, concentration, and discipline. In short, teenagers can deal with all the stress in life by participating in sports activities.

Finally, playing sports can helps teenagers to improve their social skills. Based on the research of the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries has shown us that more than eight in ten Western Australians feel that it is important to play sports and agree that sports create close friendships. Participation in sports as a team provides opportunities for young teens to learn and develop much skill that they will be needed in real life. For example, when they are playing football as a team it teaches them how to be a leader or follower, at the same time, they will learn how to obey the rules in the game and in real life as well. Furthermore, sports can boost up the level of confidence. Play sports as a team could be one of the best ways to bolster the confidences of teenagers. If they are enjoying the sport and really get into it, setting goals and achieving them this will lead to improving their self-confidence and their performance. To sum up, playing as a team in any sports would allow us to enhance our social skills.

To conclude, sports provides numerous advantages for teenagers. It keeps young teens a strong and healthy body. Moreover, it helps young teens to reduce depression and deal with the stress in their life. Doing sports regularly and playing in any team would allow them to improve their social skills. Regardless of the reason, it is important for teenagers to remember that playing sports is not only fun, but it gives benefits.

References

1. Mary L. Gavin, MD. Why Exercise Is Wise. Weblog. [Online] Available from: https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/exercise-wise.html [Accessed 17th January 2019].
2. Ms.Swati Kapoor. Sports Make You Fit and Improve Your Professional Skills. Weblog. [Online] Available from: https://www.practo.com/healthfeed/sports-make-you-fit-and-improve-your-professional-skills-3970/post [Accessed 17st January 2019].
3. AJs Sports Centre. Playing Sports Will Keep You Active for Longer. Weblog. [Online] Available from: http://ajsportscentre.com.au/playing-sport-active-longer/ [Accessed 17st January 2019].
4. ADAA. Physical Activity Reduces Stress. Weblog. [Online] Available from: https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/related-illnesses/other-related-conditions/stress/physical-activity-reduces-st [Accessed 17st January 2019].
5. Taylor Bennett. 6 Mental Health Benefits of Playing Sports. Weblog. [Online] Available from: https://thriveworks.com/blog/6-mental-health-benefits-of-playing-sports/ [Accessed 17st January 2019].
6. Department of Local Government, Sport, and Cultural Industries. The relationship between organized recreational activity and mental health. Weblog. [Online] Available from: https://www.dsr.wa.gov.au/support-and-advice/research-and-policies/organised-recreational-activity-and-mental-health [Accessed 17st January 2019].
7. Coach Mac. Youth Basketball.21 Life Lessons Kids Learn Through Youth Sports. Weblog. [Online] Available from: https://www.basketballforcoaches.com/life-lessons/ [Accessed 17st January 2019].

PHYSICAL (BIOLOGICAL) PROCESSES

Lito is an eighteen-year-old male. He claims he plays electronic sports for four to five hours a day. Meanwhile, he plays physical sports for two to three hours a day. Lats is an eighteen-year-old male. He claims he plays electronic sports for five hours in a day. Meanwhile, he plays physical sports for thirty minutes in a day.

Both Lito and Lats are in their adolescence stage on Santrock’s developmental stages. Three main physical changes come with adolescence: the growth spurt, which is an early sign of maturation; primary sex characteristics, which are the changes in the reproductive organs; and secondary sex characteristics; which are bodily signs of sexual maturity that are not directly involved with reproductive organs. Based on the researcher’s observation, one can conclude that they are both undergoing normative physical development and that there is no observed idiographic development in their physical processes. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/7060-adolescent-development

PSYCHOMOTOR PROCESSES

Lito claims that when he plays electronic sports, he usually stares at the computer screen blankly in order to focus well on the game. Meanwhile. when he plays physical sports, he is eager to beat his opponent as he feels passionate in the game. The electronic sports he plays are MOBA games, which stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena. Meanwhile, the physical sport he plays is basketball. But he claims he usually plays electronic sports over physical sports during his free time.

Lats claims that when he plays electronic sports, he is usually relaxed as he is anticipating the game. Meanwhile. when he plays physical sports, he is using his whole body to play. The electronic sports he plays are MOBA games, which stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, and RPG games, which stands for Roleplaying Games. Meanwhile, the physical sport he plays is basketball and he also used to play taekwondo. But he claims he usually plays electronic sports over physical sports during his free time.

The phenomenon, the mere exposure effect, can be applied to explain their preference. Both Lito and Lats are more exposed to electronic sports compared to the physical sports, which is why their familiarity caused them to develop a preference for electronic sports. From this, the researcher can conclude that their preference for electronic sports over physical sports is normative, and there is no observed idiographic development in their psychomotor processes. (Social Psych Online, 2016)

COGNITIVE PROCESSES

Lito claims electronic sports can help improve one’s strategic skills and critical thinking skills. Meanwhile, he claims physical sports improves his “Basketball IQ”, which is his vision of the game and how strategic and agile his moves are. He claims that playing electronic sports distracts him from doing better in school as he tends to invest more time in playing electronic games rather than studying. Meanwhile, he claims that playing physical sports does not help him do better in school but also does not distract him from school. He also claims that playing electronic sports can be mentally tiring while physical sports are not as mentally tiring.

Lats claims electronic sports can help improve one’s critical thinking and analysis. Meanwhile, he claims physical sports can make one smarter through having a healthier body due to the exercise one can get when playing. He claims that playing electronic sports helps him do better in school because it enhances his critical thinking and analysis. Meanwhile, he claims that playing physical sports distracts him from school because of the physical injuries one can get when playing. He also claims that playing physical sports is more mentally tiring because both your mind and your body is exhausted from playing.

Adolescents use more complex thinking to focus on less self-centered concepts and personal decision-making. They question authority and society’s standards and speak his or her thoughts and views on topics. They also form their code of ethics, their own identity, and create plans and goals. They focus more on making career decisions and their emerging role in adult society. Based on the observation by the researcher and the answers of the respondents, one can conclude that both LITO and LATS are undergoing normative cognitive development and there are no signs of idiographic cognitive development present. (as cited in www.urmc.rochester.edu 2020)

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL PROCESSES

Lito claims that playing electronic sports has helped him in making friends all over the Philippines as it connects him with players from a distance. He also claims that playing physical sports has helped him in making friends whenever he visits a basketball court for the first time, and people will recognize him whenever he comes back. But he believes that playing electronic sports has helped him more in forming friendly relationships because it is less toxic for him and it is easier to interact with others. For him, electronic sports are more entertaining than physical sports. He also claims that electronic sports have helped him cope with his problems because it gives him time to think of why he has problems and how to solve his problems while playing.

Lats claims that playing electronic sports has helped him in gaining a lot of friends. He also claims that playing physical sports has helped make friends depending on their attitudes. But he believes that playing electronic sports has helped him more in forming friendly relationships because you can practice socializing more through this. For him, electronic sports are more entertaining than physical sports. He also claims that electronic sports have helped him cope with his problems because it provides him with people to interact with whenever he feels alone.

According to Yee (2017) and his framework for studying human motivations when it comes to why they want to play sports, one of the main motivation components as to why they participate in sports is the social component. The person’s desire to form connections with others with the same interest as them and the desire to be a part of a formed community built within the specific sport or game. This explains why Lito and Lats can socialize and make friends through sports. Based on this, one can conclude that both Lito and Lats are undergoing normative socio-emotional development and there are no signs of idiographic development present.

MORAL AND SPIRITUAL PROCESSES

Lito claims he has learned values from playing electronic sports such as learning how to be a team player and how to have the patience to understand your teammates’ shortcomings when their performance is not as good as he wants it to be. He has also learned values from playing physical sports such as making friends. He believes that the bad side of playing electronic sports is participating in trash-talking and that it cannot be avoided sometimes. ‘Trash talking’ is a commonly used tactic in internet forums whereby said ‘trash-talker’ openly insults or abuses another person or brings up previous disputes to depose the position of their argument. But Lito claims that if he were to play only one type of sport over the other for the rest of his life, he would choose to play electronic sports as he is more comfortable in it.

Lats claims he has learned values from playing electronic sports such as leadership, respect, and the way you interact with people. Although he claims he does not learn any values from playing physical sports as it usually angers him and causes him to talk badly to his opponents. He believes that the bad side of playing electronic sports is getting addicted and investing too much time on it. He also believes that the bad side of playing physical sports is being peer pressured and gambling over the game. But he claims that if he were to play only one type of sport over the other for the rest of his life, he would choose to play electronic sports as it is more relaxing and enjoyable for him.

According to the Macro Self-determination Theory, the human motivation and personality that concerns people’s inherent growth and innate psychological needs are motivated by a person’s personal choices that do not have external influence and interference. It states that human behavior is driven by the need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. When this theory is applied to one’s motivation to play electronic games, the components mentioned above can be achieved, which causes them to enjoy the activity more. Competence is fulfilled in games through flow, which is a completely focused mental state. Autonomy in electronic sports is met because one has no control in the sport he or she plays and yet he or she voluntarily participates in the game. Relatedness is fulfilled because we are able to interact and compete with others in a way and a virtual world that is different from reality. This theory can also be applied to why adolescents are motivated to play physical sports. Physically active individuals seek to display their competence by learning new skills, experiencing challenges and success. It can also provide them with social benefits and recognitions that comes with being affiliated to a group, league, or a team. Lastly, people are motivated to participate in physical sports because it provides an array of health benefits. It improves the level of cardio-respiratory fitness, muscular strength, anaerobic endurance, body flexibility and heightens energy levels. Based on this, one can conclude that both Lito and Lats are undergoing normative moral and spiritual development and are showing no signs of idiographic development present.

Parents and friends have long been considered to play a pivotal role in various aspects of adolescent development. Some researchers have compared the importance of the two factors, whereas others have contended that family and friends affect different areas of teenage life. This essay takes the stance that both parents and peers serve as value transmitters and sources of emotional socialization, while simultaneously having influences on different domains: parents on vocational choices and friends on social skills.

Firstly, both parents and friends can act as behavioral role models for adolescents. Several studies have indicated that ​teenagers often nominate parents as someone that they admire and aspire to emulate (Bucher, 1998; Hurd et al., 2009; Yancey, Siegel, & McDaniel, 2002, as cited in Johnson et al., 2016). Similarly, Berndt and Murphy (2002) assert that friends normally make the youth’s personality more like theirs, and in general, peers stimulate exemplary behaviors. However, parents and friends can sometimes induce risky behaviors in adolescence. It has been reported that parents’ alcohol consumption can be imitated by adolescents (Kandel, 1980, as cited in U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, 1991). Likewise, research suggests that the more friends with venturesome behaviors an adolescent has, the more likely he is to participate in those activities ​(Glaser, Shelton & Bree, 2010; Sieving, Perry & Williams, 2000, as cited in Tomé, de Matos, Simoes, Camacho & AlvesDiniz, 2012).

Secondly, both parents and friends are interactive factors in adolescent mentality. Miller-Slough and Dunsmore (2016) claim that youth’s displays of feelings are encouraged and corroborated by emotional socialization, including parents and peers. They also state that family and friends induce supportive reactions to teenagers’ emotional conveyance. To be more specific, young adults’ behaviors will be appraised ​whether they are acceptable or not, and rewarded if they are considered to be appropriate. They also ease the daily life distress that adolescents endure and help avert their trauma, as well as psychological wounds. Miller-Slough and Dunsmore also assert that teenagers tend to be pessimistic when they are in trouble, in which case, in all likelihood, they rely on the compassion of their parents and friends to help them realize the positive in difficult situations. Nevertheless, sometimes they give unsupportive or even negative responses to adolescents’ emotional presence. It is believed that families and friends are merely mirrors of teenagers’ behaviors. The engaging in improper conduct of these young people will be enhanced and even given punishment if necessary.

Finally, while parents influence teenagers in career choices, friends have a more pronounced impact on social skills. On the one hand, children and adolescents are likely to concern themselves with parental expectations, especially in career selection (Jungen, 2008). She also believed that usually, parents express their preferences for certain career choices unconsciously. Specifically, children often absorb their parents’ standards which demonstrate parental values and expectations, and then adopt those as their own, which results in similar occupational choices to their parents. On the other hand, it is reported that being part of a clique offers adolescents an opportunity to enhance numerous social skills (Lebedina, Lotar, and Ricijaš, 2011). According to this research, “peer relationships, including peer pressure, provide an opportunity for the development of social competencies such as cooperation, negotiation, conflict resolution, sharing and equal treatment by adults”.

In conclusion, family and friends are very important to adolescents, as both contribute to their development in terms of forming role models as well as being agents of emotional socialization while impacting distinct fields: parents on job selection and friends on social competence. Therefore, it is not advisable to assign a socially negative role to friends alone or a sheer positive impact on parents.

References

1. Berndt, T. J., & Murphy, L. M. (2002). Influences of Friends and Friendships: Myths, Truths, and Research Recommendations. Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 30,​ 275-310. doi:10.1016/S0065-2407(02)80044-1.
2. Johnson, Sara & Buckingham, Mary & Morris, Stacy & Suzuki, Sara & Weiner, Michelle & Hershberg, Rachel & Fremont, Ettya & Batanova, Milena & Aymong, Caitlin & Hunter, Cristina & Bowers, Edmond & Lerner, Jacqueline & Lerner, Richard. (2016). Adolescents’ Character Role Models: Exploring Who Young People Look Up to as Examples of How to Be a Good Person​.​ ​Research in Human Development​. ​13​(2) 126-141. doi:10.1080/15427609.2016.1164552.
3. Jungen, K.A. (2008). ​Parental Influence and Career Choice: How Parents Affect the Career Aspirations of Their Children. (Unpublished Master’s thesis). University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, United States.
4. Lebedina Manzoni, M., Lotar Ricijaš, N. (ur.) (2011). ​Peer Pressure in Adolescence – Boundaries and Possibilities​. Saarbrücken: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.
5. Miller-Slough, R.L. & Dunsmore, J.C. (2016). Parent and Friend Emotion Socialization in Adolescence: Associations with Psychological Adjustment. ​Adolescent Research Review. 1​(4). 287–305. doi:​ 10.1007/s40894-016-0026-z.
6. Tomé G., Matos M. G., Simões C., Camacho I., Diniz J. A. (2012). How Can Peer Group Influence the Behavior of Adolescents: Explanatory Model. ​Global Journal of Health Science​. 4(2):26–35. doi: 10.5539/gjhs.v4n2p26.
7. U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment (1991). Adolescent Health-Volume II: Background and the Effectiveness of Selected Prevention and Treatment Services. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

In Australia, there has been a growing concern about adolescent alcohol consumption. According to Jones and Magee (2014), approximately 54.1% of youth have tried alcohol before 12 years of age and this figure increased to 80.9% by age 15 and 90.9% by age 17 in Australia. There are several reasons why adolescents start drinking, such as poor family management and relationships and interaction with anti-social peers (Hemphill et al., 2014). Eventually, teenagers drink a risk amount of alcohol so they often face multifarious problems and challenges when coping with those factors. The main aim of this assignment is to analyze three issues that teenagers face due to risky drinking of alcohol, and to evaluate strategies that have been implemented to manage these issues. The three main problems that have been identified are alcohol dependence, poor academic achievement, and anti-social behavior. Three solutions, namely restricting trading hours, school-based programs and alcohol advertisements will be discussed. These solutions will also be evaluated.

The Main Issues

Alcohol Dependence

In Australia, alcohol dependence prevalence is the highest among young adults. Bonomo et al. (2004) found that alcohol dependence among teenagers in Australia has high rates of drinking, binge drinking, alcohol-related injuries, high tobacco use and anti-social behaviors. Alcohol dependence is characterized by the symptoms of withdrawal and tolerance (Connor, 2016). In ‘Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV)’, typical withdrawal syndrome more than two following symptoms are listed: “autonomic hyperactivity; excessive handshaking; insomnia; nausea or vomiting; intermittent visual, tactile or auditory hallucinations or illusions; agitation of the psychomotor; anxiety; and seizures of considerable illness” (Caetano and Babbor, 2006). The severity of withdrawal is a physiological dependence symptom. Moreover, tolerance to alcohol influences drinking behavior and drinking consequences in several ways. In addition, the high prevalence of alcohol dependence’s tolerance in adolescence may indicate normal developmental phenomenon rather than pathophysiological process. It is also found that tolerance was the most frequent symptom of alcohol dependence in adolescence.

Academic Achievement

In addition, another problem related to alcohol consumption among adolescents in Australia is poor academic achievement. Binge drinking is associated with a great number of academically related detriments. For instance, Hemphill et al. (2014) found that students can have poor relationships with peers and teachers, decreasing school attendance and rejecting to do their homework. This brings concerns about young people who drink heavily as they may become harder to achieve better school outcomes. Early adolescent alcohol consumption can be caused by poor family management and relationships. In other words, a poor family connection in the early teenage years may lead to school behavior and academic performance poorly. Moreover, Kelly et al. (2015) insists that poorer academic performance can be also affected by peer alcohol use. The poor academic performance caused by alcohol consumption in the early teenage years can include truancy and suspension in the school. In Victoria (Australia), 8th-grade Victorian students had high percentages of truancy as well as poor academic achievement due to binge drinking (Hemphill et al., 2014). Furthermore, poor school performance and engagement caused by binge drinking alcohol can interfere with achieving a student’s future academic goals (Karen et al., 2017).

Anti-Social Behavior

Anti-social behaviors are also a serious problem with adolescents’ drinking, which include violence and stealing leading to police arrests. Teenagers tend to lose control more easily than adults if they drink alcohol without restriction or supervision. According to Scholes-Balog et al. (2013), anti-social behaviors begin in late childhood or very early adolescence as early alcohol use has shown a strong, direct effect on later aggressive behaviors. Most of the violence, particularly beating and attacking others with the intention, has occurred to people close to them (Scholes-Balog et al., 2013). Also, Toubourou et al. (2009) found that 54% of the adolescents arrested by police in a year were drunk. Police arrests include stealing other’s and carrying a weapon. In particular, it is reported that the level of threatening another person using a weapon in Australia is higher than that of the United States, which is gradually increasing every year (Hemphill et al., 2014). This phenomenon is problematic because not only those who are drunk are in danger, but also those who do not drink alcohol have a great possibility to be exposed to danger. In addition, these actions can cause alcohol-related injuries, even lead to hospital admissions, and the data on alcohol-related teenagers’ hospital admissions are increasing rapidly (Livingston, 2008).

The Solutions

Restricting Trading Hours

One of the ways to tackle adolescent’s drinking is the policy of restricting trading hours. It has been found that policies restricting trading hours and youth access to liquor have lowered the frequency of drinking alcohol in adolescents (White et al., 2018). Although it does not directly affect adolescent’s drinking because they do not buy it directly themselves, it affects youth drinking through awareness of the availability of alcohol and social acceptability when policies are tightened. In particular, many components of this policy area attempt to reduce secondary supplies of alcohol that can be purchased without the help of parents and purchasing and drinking in certain places such as hotels. Besides, according to Wilkinson et al. (2016), restriction of trading hours is an effective way to reduce alcohol-related harm, especially violence. For example, a similar series of interventions have been carried out in Sydney’s central business district and Kings Cross, Sydney’s main entertainment district, resulting in a 26-32% decrease in the number of assaults.

The policy of restriction trading hours seems like an effective solution to tackle the problem of adolescent’s drinking. Even though the solution requires confirmation, the policy is likely to have a significant impact on the amount of alcohol consumed by teenagers than on disrupting access (White et al., 2018). Policies aimed at reducing trading hours and reducing exposure to alcohol suggest that youth are less likely to drink. Furthermore, tightening policies that regulate access to youth can help reduce the risk of youth drinking. Moreover, it argues that the evidence of effectiveness is sufficient to consider limiting closing hours of bars and hotels as a key way to deal with late-night violence in Australia by Wilkinson et al. (2016). However, a reduction of trading hours can affect overall alcohol sales, which is opposed by commercial interests related to the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages (Hahn et al., 2010). In particular, the ongoing trading hours policy may cause controversy, as the liquor industry has generally supported a policy to remove restrictions on access to alcohol.

School-Based Programs

One of the ways of preventing alcohol consumption among teenagers is the availability of support programs such as Resilient Families and Climate Schools. These programs provided by school-based on enhancing and supporting their health and wellbeing, aiming to change the alcohol behavior of adolescents (Shaykhi et al., 2013, and Lee et al., 2016). School-based programs can be participated by not only students but also by family members. For example, Resilient Families educates parenting skills for parents to improve parent-child relations and family management practices within the school community (Shortt et al., 2013). Students can also learn how to strengthen individuals such as problem-solving and environmental such as caring relationships at school. Those programs were specifically aimed to reduce adolescent alcohol misuse by modifying social-environmental risk and protective factors and allowing parents to be involved in the intervention (Shortt et al., 2013, and Lee et al., 2016).

Family control and family management play a key role in adolescent-onset antisocial behavior. Even though Family Resilient program encourages family relationship and this can be beneficial in long term periods in reducing adolescent antisocial behavior, this program had little or no evidence of effect in overall. This is because there is a limitation in this study. According to the current study, there were only 13% of families participated in parent education events. Therefore, the Resilient Families program should be more encouraged among family members (Shortt et al., 2013). On the other hand, Climate Schools had enough evidence of good outcomes to be widely recommended for general use. This program was more effective than usual classes in increasing alcohol-related knowledge, decreasing positive social expectations. For girls, the program reduced consumption, frequency, and drinking to excess; however, the behavioral effect was not significant for boys (Lee et al., 2016).

Regulate Advertising

Lastly, Australia has applied the industry self-regulation codes to alcohol advertisements in order to reduce the alcohol-related harm among adolescents. According to the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC), a mature, balanced and responsible approach of drinking alcohol must be presented in advertising and they must not appeal strongly to adolescents as well as children. Therefore, people in the ads must be over 25-years-old and they must not show offensive behavior or misuse of alcohol. Moreover, alcohol products advertising must avoid promoting that mood and environment can be significantly changed by consuming alcohol, otherwise underage people might think drinking alcohol is cool, sexy and fun. Also, any direct association between alcohol use and potentially dangerous activities, namely driving motorcycle, car or swimming, must not be depicted.

However, the Australia Drug Foundation insists that advertisers continuously break the regulations since there are no penalties. Jones et al. (2008) also argue that nearly 70% of alcohol advertising perceived to be breach the codes, which means the decision of the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) are not consistent with the judgment of independent experts. For instance, in magazines and newspapers, some of the alcohol ads regularly implied the message of social success, sexual relationship success and self-confidence. Also, despite the ban on advertisement in television, there are no restriction to advertise alcohol products in subscription TV but young people often spend more time to watch subscription TV than free-to-air (King et al., 2005). Therefore, current industry self-regulation seems to be, not yet, ineffective and weak to protect young people from consuming alcohol.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the main problems that adolescents who use risky drinking are facing are alcohol dependence, poor academic achievement, and anti-social behavior. To solve the problem of alcohol use in adolescence, the current solutions are the restriction of trading hours, school programs, and regulation of advertising. The restriction of trading hours is effective in reducing the drinking use of adolescents, although alcohol-related companies are opposed to this law due to commercial interests. The availability of support programs such as Resilient Families and Climate Schools, designed to help develop the relationship between students and parents, seems to be an effective solution, because it significantly reduced alcohol consumption among teenagers. Australia has applied industry self-regulation codes to alcohol advertisements to reduce alcohol-related harm among teenager; however, this is inefficient because young people often spend more time watching subscription TV than free-to-air. Were the above effective solutions to be implemented more widely, these problems related to the risky use of alcohol by Australian teenagers would be further diminished.

Introduction

Body image dissatisfaction continues to be a major concern in America’s youth, especially in girls. Statistics show that 40-70% of girls are unsatisfied with at least two parts of their body by the time that they enter middle school1. More than 50% of teenage girls and 30% of teenage boys practice unhealthy dieting behaviors to control their weight1. Satisfaction with appearance also appears to decrease with age1,2. Previous research shows that girls are more likely than boys to be dissatisfied with their body image and are more concerned about controlling their weight in an attempt to become more attractive3,4. It has also been found that body image satisfaction is strongly correlated to dietary behaviors, particularly in girls5-8. Ideal body image has also been associated with dietary intake9. Although a program designed to help improve body image satisfaction called the Girls on the Go! program has shown reductions in dietary behaviors, these results were not significant long-term10. Even if programs like this were proven to work long-term, it would be expensive and impractical to perform these programs nationwide. Therefore, a simpler and more widespread solution is needed, such as the ability to improve body image satisfaction through the diet.

Although a correlation between body image perception and dietary intake has been found in children and adolescents, the research results are sparse and conflicting. This may be due to the fact that a lot of the research on this topic focuses more so on how an already negative body image affects dietary intake, while others seek to answer how dietary intake independently affects body image. One research study actually found conflicting results between ethnic groups in which Caucasian individuals who consumed an adequate amount of fruits and vegetables had higher levels of body image satisfaction; however, minority ethnic groups who consumed an adequate amount of fruits and vegetables had lower levels of body image satisfaction11. Additionally, fruit and vegetable intake has been shown to be positively correlated with body image dissatisfaction in overweight and obese Brazilian students; however, no correlation was found between the two variables in normal or underweight students12.

Aside from the conflicting results, the research so far has been highly variable in that many are performed in different countries and with different populations. For example, some include exclusively or primarily females, overweight/obese individuals, individuals belonging to a specific socioeconomic class, or mono-ethnic participants. Additionally, the age ranges vary from study to study. This makes the already limited research very difficult to analyze and generalize. Therefore, this secondary data analysis was performed to add to the current research on the topic of body image satisfaction and dietary behavior. The primary purpose of this research was to determine if there is a difference in body image satisfaction between children/adolescents in the United States who eat fruits and vegetables at least daily and those who do not. The secondary objective was to determine if there is a difference in the correlation of fruit and vegetable intake and body image satisfaction between girls and boys. The hypothesis was as follows: There is a difference in body image satisfaction between children/adolescents in the United States who consume more fruits and vegetables and those who consume less fruits and vegetables.

References

1. Gallivan, H. (2014). Teens, social media and body image [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://www.macmh.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/18_Gallivan_Teens-social-media-body-image-presentation-H-Gallivan-Spring-2014.pdf
2. Gaylis, J. B., Levy, S. S., & Hong, M. Y. (2019). Relationships between body weight perception, body mass index, physical activity, and food choices in Southern California male and female adolescents. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25(1), 264–275. doi: 10.1080/02673843.2019.1614465
3. Barker, E. T., & Bornstein, M. H. (2010). Global self-esteem, appearance satisfaction, and self-reported dieting in early adolescence. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 30(2), 205–224. doi: 10.1177/0272431609332936
4. Fredrickson, J., Kremer, P., Swinburn, B., Silva, A. D., & Mccabe, M. (2015). Weight perception in overweight adolescents: Associations with body change intentions, diet and physical activity. Journal of Health Psychology, 20(6), 774–784. doi: 10.1177/1359105315580223
5. Mikkila, V., Lahti-Koski, M., Pietinen, P., Virtanen, S. M., Rimpela, M. (2003). Associates of obesity and weight dissatisfaction among Finnish adolescents. Public Health Nutr, 6(1), 49-56. doi: 10.1079/PHN2002352
6. Strauss, R. S. (1999). Self-reported weight status and dieting in a cross- sectional sample of young adolescents: national health and nutrition examination survey III. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 153(7), 741-7. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.153.7.741
7. Wang, Y., Liang, H., Chen, X. (2009). Measured body mass index, body weight perception, dissatisfaction and control practices in urban, low-income African American adolescents. BMC Public Health, 9(183). doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-9-183
8. Vliet, J. S. V., Gustafsson, P. A., & Nelson, N. (2016). Feeling ‘too fat’ rather than being ‘too fat’ increases unhealthy eating habits among adolescents – even in boys. Food & Nutrition Research, 60(1), 29530. doi: 10.3402/fnr.v60.29530
9. Chen, X., & Wang, Y. (2011). Is ideal body image related to obesity and lifestyle behaviors in African American adolescents? Child: Care, Health and Development, 38(2), 219–228. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2011.01227.x
10. Tirlea, L., Truby, H., & Haines, T. P. (2016). Pragmatic, randomized controlled trials of the Girls on the Go! Program to improve self-esteem in girls. American Journal of Health Promotion, 30(4), 231–241. doi: 10.1177/0890117116639572
11. Franko, D. L., Cousineau, T. M., Rodgers, R. F., Roehrig, J. P., & Hoffman, J. A. (2013). Social-cognitive correlates of fruit and vegetable consumption in minority and non-minority youth. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 45(2), 96–101. doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2011.11.006
12. Ribeiro-Silva, R. D. C., Fiaccone, R. L., Conceição-Machado, M. E. P. D., Ruiz, A. S., Barreto, M. L., & Santana, M. L. P. (2018). Body image dissatisfaction and dietary patterns according to nutritional status in adolescents. Jornal De Pediatria, 94(2), 155–161. doi: 10.1016/j.jped.2017.05.005

Every day, through various ways and with the use of media, young adults and children are endlessly induced to healthy, harmless and positive images of alcohol and its benefits. They are lured with the demonstrations through marketing of brands and products which are effectively injurious and predominantly causing harm to young adults. Absence of strict rules and regulations protects young adults from such mind controlling and brainwashing temptations of their drinking habits. Although, marketing can definitely groom our young adults by endorsing principles or methods and guidelines with which they can go on and achieve success in their lives.

Undoubtedly, the youth and children are far more susceptible and prone to suffer in comparison to the alcohol drinking by adults. There are numerous ways by which young people suffer more such as sudden mood changes which could be behavioral and psychological like feeling happiness or pleasure, stress or tension, being anxious or perturbed and even depression at times which may possibly lean into sudden accidents or act of violence and offences in person and to public in some cases.

Alcohol marketing including advertising, sponsorship and other forms of promotion, increases the likelihood that adolescents will start to use alcohol, and to drink more if they are already using alcohol (Scientific Opinion of the Science Group of the European Alcohol and Health Forum, 2009).

Alcohol marketing exposes young adults through newspapers, television, radio, magazines and through the internet including social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc. It also takes place in the form of sponsorships wherein not only the drinking which is associated with the sporting personalities but also those ill intended messages it shares with the brands which bewitch or captivates young minds. They use celebrities, they use innovation, they use sports, and they also use all kinds of things that appeal children.

Innovations in digital media are way ahead of where public health is able to measure and assess its impact, and they are way ahead of where government can take steps to protect kids. Changes are happening so quickly that resources don’t exist to monitor this from a public health perspective. Self-regulatory codes in the alcohol industry in this country aren’t working, and the government regulators aren’t doing much about it (Dr. Jernigan, 2017).

A survey of 155 young children aged 9 to 15 years in Western Australia resulted in 75% identifying Bundy Bear and correctly relating him with an alcoholic product. Whereas 76% of 164 children in entire Australia aged between 5-12 years were able to precisely match minimum one sport with its apt sponsor. Alcohol advertisements made 22% of the entire outdoor advertising surrounding schools wherein for every square kilometer there were 25 school advertisements as per a study in Sydney and Wollongong. Also, during the entire race at Bathurst 1000 in 2008 about 117,000 children and teenagers aged between 5-17 years were displayed with and exposed to 35 minutes of alcohol advertisements which included between breaks advertisements and sponsorships.

It was likely that in human teenagers, analogous neural mechanisms might explain alcohol ‘blackouts’ — a lack of memory for events that occur during a night of heavy drinking without a loss of consciousness. Blackouts were once thought to be a symptom of advanced adult alcoholism, but researchers have recently discovered just how frequent they are among teenagers as well (Dr. Scott Swartzwelder, 2006). Neuro-scientific study has found that continuous use of alcohol from early stage of life can affect brain chemistry drastically. It can manifest compulsive patterns and have severe impact on memory and control on your actions consequently effecting development, health and well-being.

Alcohol nowadays has become the regular use for every function, events, celebrations like family get together, clubbing and parties. Since alcohol comes in various nature and forms, people generally drink it to enjoy and have fun. But young adults start drinking alcohol, being totally unaware of the fact how it can harm their body and mind. Certainly, alcohol is the most widely misused drink among young children and their alcoholism grows unrestrained while growing up. The majority of teenagers have had at least one drink, but for some it doesn’t stop at just one. Alcohol takes their lives more than any other drug, kills them literally. Their drinking habits generally start at the age around 13 and millions of them below 18 live in alcoholic homes. It’s a fact that so many of them eventually become alcoholic and unfortunately for some of them it starts at much younger age. In one of the surveys where one-third of grade 4th and half of the grade 6th questioned replied that they were peer pressured to drink at least one time and almost all of them drank to please or impress their friends.

Alcohol advertisers spent $2 billion on alcohol advertisements in measured media (television, radio, print, outdoor, major newspapers and Sunday supplements) in 2005. USA Today survey found out that teens say ads have a greater influence on their desire to drink in general than on their desire to buy a particular brand of alcohol. Between 2001 and 2004, youth exposure to alcohol advertising on television in the US increased by 41%. Much of this increase resulted from the rise in distilled spirits advertisements on television from 1973 ads in 2001 to 46854 ads in 2005. From an alcohol marketing perspective, Irish 16 and 17-year-olds are significant contributors to alcohol profits in Ireland spending an estimated €145m on alcohol each year.

Health industries in Australia were unconvinced and doubtful about the efficacy of the Placement Rules introduced as Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC) Scheme. It was proposed and initiated to provide additional safeguards for minors, but unfortunately it restrained young children keeping them away from alcohol marketing. These rules were no different and so should be implemented to:

• Make sure that advertisements are not displayed within the events intended for children.
• Implement age restrictions wherever possible.
• Market their brand of products wisely where the gathering is minimum 75% adults.
• The placement of alcohol advertisements must fulfill the standards set by the other industries which include the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice.

The number of advertisements and commercials reach to youth is increasing and growing aggressively as they do have the access to easy use of technology. With billions of dollars being invested each year on alcohol advertisements, it is quite commonly believed that alcohol advertisements will be seen irrespective of the consumer’s personal choice of publication. Mobile phones are the primary weapons for alcohol advertisements. Over 1.3 billion dollars was spent in 2010 alone and with the huge percentage of young children under the age of 21 keeping mobile phones to go online or playing games, such advertisements will be displayed and be watched creating an influence over them. 1 in every 5 young children aged between 16-24 stated to have visited an alcohol brand page over Facebook which includes 10 percentages of those falling under the age of 18. Millions of people have been recruited by alcohol brands on their Facebook pages. Brands like Budweiser Australia and Smirnoff Australia are having millions and millions of likes on their official pages on the same platform.

Alcohol brands and clubs engage with young adults through sales promotions activities, and content co-creation between young adults, brands and clubs takes place through Facebook walls as well as via information sections, events sections, and discussion sections on Facebook (Jenkins, 2006). Not just Facebook, other social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter are equally misused by young generation, as young as 13 years are able to access and interact with the content posted by the alcohol brands on it. Even fake accounts were created just for the purpose of exploring if young ones could interact with the content posted by these brands. Music videos on YouTube convey worst of impressions on young minds with young girls aged within 13-15 ruining the most considering to all age groups. It clearly indicates that alcohol advertising and marketing also have a significant effect by influencing youth and adult expectations and attitudes, and helping to create an environment that promotes underage drinking.

However, more recent studies have pointed to the importance of alcohol advertising in shaping youth attitudes, perceptions and, particularly, expectancies about alcohol use, which then influence youth decisions to drink. Thus, in addition to measuring exposure and drinking behavior, researchers have increasingly included measures of attitudes and expectancies about alcohol use, integrating these variables into media effects models (Jernigan, 2010). Advertisements are under fire for their sexuality and power to sell alcohol to underage kids, but at the same time, kids’ choices to drink alcohol are not entirely based on what they see in magazines and on television, it is simply an aspect that contributes to the larger picture of their home life and other outside influences.

What our data is suggesting is that you can’t control all of your kids’ decisions, but you can help them to make good choices in situations where alcohol is available. You want kids to think about and reflect upon the pros and cons of drinking based on your previous discussions (Craig Colder, 2015). Considering this, clearly it requires its review to be more transparent more detailed and more independent about how the alcohol advertisements must be controlled. I personally think and statistics have shown and proved my concerns that alcohol has certainly taken out the young and unsuspecting or naive of our community namely our youth just out having a ‘good time’ and most of the time we read about another broken-hearted family trying to answer the 50-million-dollar question that how are we going to find someone to stand up and make a difference. It is very apparent and has become quite prevailing that alcohol advertisements influence on younger generation is much stronger and deeper. It goes without saying that children get affected by their surroundings or environment they grow in and what they are exposed to makes a huge difference in building their overall personalities. This primarily starts at their own homes with parents being around them, developing similar attitudes or the nature. To mitigate the inappropriate advertisements and media from the ever-expanding underage population we can hopefully conceive for a mutual agreement between parents and certain publications limiting the damage it habitually induces.

Early Childhood

From my first day as a kindergartner I hated school. My first experience as a student is a vivid memory that is marked by the negative emotions of that day. My dad promised to stay with me, however, he left as soon as I was distracted for a few moments. I cried the whole first day, and although I am sure this is a common occurrence for children on their first day of school, I see this as the first truly impactful and negative experience in my development as a student and perhaps a sign of my insecure attachment with my parents (Belsky, 2016). While contemplating how this may have influenced my attitude thereafter, I realized that even once I became accustomed to going to school, I always enjoyed the days off, I only had to attend kindergarten three times per week. Another vivid memory I have is feeling a sense of glee and relief when my older brother had to go to school, and I was able to stay home. I always enjoyed staying home from school and could not comprehend my schoolmates who said they hated staying home sick, this was truly perplexing to me.

As a child, your world makes sense to you. I did not know any other world, so our socioeconomic situation was out of context for me, I did not realize that we were poor and malnourished. For instance, my typical breakfast had bologna as the main source of nutrition. I came home to an empty house and ate junk food rather than a home-cooked meal. This is not bad parenting, this is simply what we could afford. This was an obstacle for me and my brother as children because we were both often tired or hungry at school. It is safe to say that a child with bologna in his system will be at a disadvantage when trying to concentrate and focus on schoolwork relative to his fellow classmates.

Adolescence

Home instability is another aspect of my childhood that was not fully processed at the time but is now in retrospect something that I believe had a major impact on my growth and development. At the age of 13, our house burned down which completely turned our world upside down. For over a year while our house was being repaired, we had inconsistent locations we called home. We stayed in hotels, with family, and in our family car when necessary. This is an issue that was only temporary for me, but it was difficult and extremely impactful on my ability to concentrate on homework or anything school related.

The good that came from my negative experiences in adolescence was that the rare great teachers that came my way were so evident when I was fortunate enough to have them. This handful of great teachers implemented classroom management styles that were different and extremely effective, they personalized their approach to fit my and their other student’s unique strengths. In fourth grade, my teacher tapped into my artistic interests by teaching us a piano, through scaffolding and modeling, I excelled at it. My eighth-grade teacher was like a saint, at this point, I can see now in retrospect that I was having clear issues with emotion regulation. I had externalizing tendencies, acting out by impulse, and being very disruptive in class (Belsky, 2016). Luckily my teacher was very effective and persisted with me, constantly telling me how smart and capable I was and pushing me to my limits. I can see in hindsight that these two teachers used Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development, always pushing and challenging me to acquire new skills (Belsky, 2016). My eighth-grade teacher connected with me on a personal level, she took the time to get to know her students. I see these two outlier teachers as major contributors to my progress and development. I gained confidence in my creativity and ability to write and articulate ideas because of them, and although this confidence laid dormant inside me for many years after, the seeds were planted and I owe them for what I went on to accomplish later in life.

One milestone in my life came during my eighth-grade year, despite the now evident risk factors in my life. I grew up in the very gang-infested and dangerous community of east Salinas. My schools were the ones where all these gangs were present and prominent. The risks for me were obvious, I was surrounded by students who fell into that lifestyle, however, I failed to see that. I was young, and these were simply my friends, not dangerous gangsters in my mind. The potential for me to fall in with that crowd was high, however, I was very fortunate to have great protective assets at this stage in my life. My older brother and older cousins were very influential in my life. I became infatuated with playing sports and making that my focus, in large part because of their influence. They were also the ones steering me away from the risk factors in my life, for which I am extremely grateful. I feel fortunate because looking back, I know I would have followed in their footsteps no matter what they did. Had they gotten involved with gangs, I would have followed suit. Luckily my protective assets were strong and deterred me away from that path.

Emerging Adulthood

Later in life came another milestone, I found myself trapped in a job I hated, that lacked respect for its hardworking employees and customers. This job was at a bank, I constantly met people from all walks of life and talked to them for extended periods of time about their education and financial status. Many of them were college educated and had great careers as a result. After a cumulation of these conversations, I realized how much better their careers and lives were compared to mine. I also realized through speaking with them, that often they were no more articulate than me or particularly impressive intellectually, this removed the misconception I had about myself as somehow less than, or incapable of competent work at the college level. This very big obstacle was overcome once I realized that going to college and being ambitious was not a mystical intangible thing that I could never do. I quit my job and realized there was more I can do with my life, have more autonomy, and do something that would contribute to society rather than deplete it as my bank job did.

I always suspected a different treatment and attitude from certain teachers and counselors along the way. Unfortunately, the history of career counseling does not reflect a strong commitment to being sensitive to diversity in clients (Niles, 2014). I was treated as a lost cause due to my inability to concentrate on subjects that did not interest me. I was not a bad kid who misbehaved, I mostly stayed quiet and drew pictures rather than do my assigned work. However negative stereotyping took place, especially as a high school student and junior college student. My high school counselor did not take an interest in me or provided me with help when I was falling behind. Instead, I was sent to an alternative school. During my first time in community college, a college professor told me I should drop out. A college counselor met with me and displayed a very indifferent attitude and pressured me to tell him what I wanted to major in, which made me feel embarrassed for not knowing exactly what I wanted to do. I was so embarrassed and confused by this meeting that I just left the meeting and decided school was not for me.

Adulthood

When I went back many years later and signed up for community college I was determined, but also completely insecure. Due to this insecurity, I vowed to overwork on every assignment to make sure that if I did fail, it would not be out of a lack of effort. I gave myself a week, if I performed well then I would stay, if I did terribly then I would be completely at peace with the knowledge that I was indeed incapable of performing at the college level and drop out. I worked harder than I ever had that first week because I wanted an official diagnosis of my academic capability. The fortunate thing for me is that through this hard work I found a genuine interest in academia for the first time in my life. I loved every subject I was learning about, sociology in particular. I received great feedback that first week and from that point forward, my confidence was beyond what it had ever been and my commitment to changing my life through academia was set in stone.

I was fortunate to have great counselors and professors who helped me discover my inventories of interests, needs, values, and how my personality type would fit with certain academic majors (Niles, 2014). Majoring in sociology and going to a great university like UC Davis were two of my milestones. Once there I fell in love with the environment and was inspired by the professors and counselors who would go out of their way to assist and guide me. They inspired me, and I decided I would want to be around this kind of atmosphere for the rest of my life. Thus, choosing a career in counseling was the obvious path for me, one that would contrast sharply with previous jobs that did not inspire me or treat me with much respect.

Conclusion

One key thing I learned about my development in this class is that my development was interrupted more than I realized prior to entering this class and being forced to contemplate it. As I mentioned previously, all along the way things were just normal to me. Coming home to an empty house as an elementary-aged student and making myself junk food with almost no nutritional value was normal to me. Also being friends with gang-involved kids, and having my parents warn me about going to their homes, these things did not fully register for me at the time, they were just good kids and friends to me. The normalcy of my interruptions is what stands out. Poverty, not looking at strangers in the eye because I was taught to fear for my life, these things were just normal. The disruption of this “normalcy” did not fully hit home until emerging adulthood when I realized that others close to me were getting great jobs and going to college. Once I saw this, I was able to normalize the process and tangibility of going to college and getting a better job for myself.

References

1. Amundson, N. E., Harris-Bowlsbey, J., & Niles, S. G. (2014). Essential elements of career counseling: Processes and techniques. Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
2. Belsky, J. (2016). Experiencing the lifespan (4rd ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. ISBN-13: 978-1464175947
3. DiPrete, Thomas and Jennifer Jennings. 2012.” Social and Behavioral Skills and the Gender Gap in Early Educational Achievement” Social Science Research.

Time and time again, research has shown adolescence to be a time of great and dynamic change (Cripps and Zyromski, 2009; Blakemore and Mills, 2014), driven in part by changes in adolescent social relationships. Social interaction has been likened to food or water as a basic human need (Baumeister and Leary, 1995; Tomova, Tye, and, Saxe, 2019), but the growing influence of the peer group and a particularly strong vulnerability to social exclusion (Sebastian et al., 2010) suggests that learning to navigate social relationships is of critical importance during adolescence. Determining the components of social interaction that are crucial for adolescents to form and maintain meaningful relationships is vital in understanding how to support adolescents during this period of ‘storm and stress’ (Hall, 1904). Further, we must consider the way in which technological advances have changed the amount and types of social interaction necessary to fulfil our social needs. Such research is of particular interest in a time where many governments worldwide are issuing national lockdowns and restricting more typical methods of social interaction. One of the aims of the research presented here was to review current findings on the role of self-disclosure in fulfilling adolescent social needs, comparing online and offline interaction. A further aim was to identify specific brain areas related to self-referential processing, another important component of social cognition.

What do we mean by adolescence?

For all the research showing adolescence as a unique period of development (Kipke, 1999; Backes and Bonnie, 2019), the term itself is strangely poorly defined. The World Health Organisation (WHO, n.d.) defines it simply as the second decade of life (an idea seconded by the Oxford Dictionary of Psychology; Colman, 2015). Yet, the definition most often used in research is far less clear cut, adolescence is defined as starting at puberty and ending when an ‘individual attains a stable, independent role in society’ (Steinberg, 2010; also seen in Blakemore, 2018). This definition provides a vague end, rooted in highly non-specific social changes. Combined with the fact that the age of those reaching the typical markers of social stability and independence, such as marriage or parenthood, has been rising in recent years (Office for National Statistics, 2019), it is now generally accepted that a definition of adolescence ought to extend beyond the teenage years. For this reason, the following research chose Sawyer, Azzopardi, Wickremarathne, and Patton’s (2018) definition of adolescence: ages 10 – 24.

Arguably, it is precisely the vague definition of adolescence that make this age group so interesting. The inability to pin adolescence down is partly due to the fact that adolescence is a time of great psychological and social change (Blakemore and Mills, 2014; Orben, Tomova, and Blakemore, 2020). Throughout adolescence, the opinions of the peer group take on more value as the individual develops their sense of self. The fact that adolescents spend twice as much time with their peers as compared to other adults shows this (Larson, Csikzentmihalyi, and Freeman, 1984). It is important we learn more about successful adolescent social development as there is a large body of research showing adolescence to bring a heightened vulnerability for mental health problems; peer rejection and social isolation may cause these (Jones et al., 2013; Kessler et al., 2005; Platt, Cohen-Kadosh, and Lau, 2013). The link between adolescent social fulfilment and their psychological well-being is also why it is so important to investigate how new technology and online communication impacts our social needs. 83% of adolescents in the UK aged 12 – 15 own a smartphone and, between 2015-2019, approximately 70% had a social media profile (OFCOM, 2020). It is vital we understand if technology is helping adolescents meet their social needs, and how.

Self-disclosure

‘Self-disclosure’ describes a process in which one individual reveals personal information to another (Pearce and Sharp, 1973; Ignatius and Kokkonen, 2007); it has previously been described as an important building block for intimate relationships (Chaikin and Derlega, 1976).

Some researchers view self-disclosure as a measurable trait, like personality. In a pioneering paper on the subject, Jourard (1971) described self-disclosure as a sign of a healthy personality. In response, several others (e.g. Cozby, 1973; Archer, 1979) attempted to relate self-disclosure to a separate aspect of personality, though they reported few consistent relationships. Conflicting findings were especially true of research into the relationship between neuroticism and self-disclosure (Stanley and Bownes, 1966; Ignatius and Kokkonen, 2007; Cunningham and Strassberg, 1981), despite the assumed association based on Jourard’s (1971) original presumption that self-disclosure and mental health stability are related.

The role of gender in self-disclosure has been researched more thoroughly (Dindia, 2002). Current research suggests that women self-disclose more than men (Chelune, 1976; Dindia, 2002), although this too has been contested (Kobocow, McGuire, and Blau, 1983; Shapiro and Swensen, 1977). Despite the abundance of research in this area, it is still unclear as to why there might be gender differences in self-disclosure behaviour.

Self-disclosure is thought to help form and maintain social relationships as it builds a bond of trust between individuals (Altman and Taylor, 1973). A meta-analysis from Collins and Miller (1994) expanded on this, suggesting both that people who partake in self-disclosure tend to be more liked, and that people like those that self-disclose to them. The reciprocity of self-disclosure builds a relationship between individuals, though Cozby’s (1972) research suggested that the relationship between self-disclosure and liking is curvilinear. The question here refers to whether this same relationship holds for online communication.

Modern advances in technology have changed how people communicate and these changes need to be factored into discussions of self-disclosure. Some studies suggest the added anonymity (Bermack, 1989; Lester, 1977) alongside the ability to engage in selective self-presentation (Walther, Slovacek, and Tidwell., 2001) increase self-disclosure. Others propose the lack of non-verbal cues in computer-mediated communication (CMC) may lead to decreased self-disclosure (Joinson, 2001; Cooper and Bowles, 1973). Similarly, while there is a consensus that self-disclosure online can still help to build trust within a relationship (Walther, 1996; Reingold, 1993), there are concerns that self-disclosure conducted via CMC is less fulfilling (Culnan and Markus, 1987).

The many approaches to research expose the complexities of self-disclosure, potentially explaining why the factors that affect self-disclosure and its full impact on social relationships are still largely unknown (Berg and Derlega, 1987).

Self-Referential Processing

Related to the idea of self-disclosure, is the concept of self-referential processing (SRP). This is the process by which we use knowledge of ourselves to interpret new information (Rogers, Kuiper and Kirker., 1977). Examples of SRP include identifying personal memories or attributing certain characteristics to oneself (Benoit, Gilbert, Volle, and Burgess, 2010). SRP has been emphasised as critical in social cognition also (Dinulescu, Alvi, Rosenfield, et al., 2021; Preston and de Waal, 2002), as the idea of the self is a social construction, and knowledge of the self aids in creating mental representations of others (Forgas and Williams, 2002).

Several neural structures have been identified for their association with SRP. A 2006 meta-analysis by Northoff, Heinzel, de Greck et al., provided evidence for the role of cortical midline structures, particularly the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) (also supported by Finlayson-Short, Davey and Harrison, 2020; D’Argembeau, Ruby, Collette, et al., 2007). Research into major depressive disorder, thought to be associated with increased SRP, also supports the idea that the cortical midline structures are responsible for SRP (Nejad, Fossati, and Lemogne, 2013). Other neural structures implicated for SRP include lateral posterior areas, such as the inferior parietal lobule and temporoparietal junction (TPJ) (Northoff et al., 2006).

Most research has used adult participants. Glisky and Marquine’s (2009) research suggests that SRP may be impervious to age, but adolescence is a time of great biological developmental change. There is a clear interest in determining potential brain regions responsible for SRP in this younger age group.

Current research presents mixed findings on the role of self-disclosure and self-referential processing in the fulfilment of adolescent social needs. This has created a need for a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis of neural data in this area.

Purposes and Aims of Current Study

The current study was conducted in two parts: a systematic review of current research into the role of self-disclosure in adolescent social relationships, and a meta-analysis to identify the brain regions associated with SRP in adolescents.

Our systematic review sought to answer two research questions: Q1: How is self-disclosure important for relationship-building in adolescence?; Q2: Is this affected differently by online communication as compared to offline communication?. The primary aim of this research was to learn the ways in which self-disclosure is important for building social relationships in adolescence and thus fulfilling adolescents’ social needs. This involved identifying the appropriate recent literature and identifying key themes relating to factors that affect self-disclosure, and the impact it has on social relationships. From there, we aimed to compare the efficacy of online communication to offline interaction in the fulfilment of these social needs. We hypothesised that self-disclosure in social interactions in adolescence (aged 10-24 years) is affected differently by online communication as compared to offline communication.

For the second part of our research, we conducted a meta-analysis to answer the question: Q3: What brain regions are activated during self-referential processing tasks in adolescence?. Our hypothesis is that there will be specific brain areas for SRP in adolescence (again, ages 10-24), likely those highlighted by the previous research into SRP in adults. This includes the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), as well as lateral posterior areas, such as the inferior parietal lobule and temporoparietal junction (TPJ). The aim of the meta-analysis was to identify brain regions associated with SRP, to create a quantitative picture of social need fulfilment in adolescence as well.

In Patch five, I will be using evidenced-based literature investigating 5 different research papers, critically analysing how they fall in line with my innovation. Additionally, I will be implementing the critical appraisal tool CASP to pick out three common themes within the evidenced-based literature that supports my change in practice which is providing training to nurses on gender dysphoria within children and adolescents.

When finding evidenced-based literature to support my innovation I wanted to follow the PICO table (Eriksen and Frandsen 2018) study highlights how the PICO table is a support to help refine a study question, promoting a more accurate clinical search. The PICO table is a widely used method, which breaks down a question as shown to get more accurate results, PICO stands for population, intervention, control, and outcomes. (Raich and Skelly 2013) However, there was a lack of academic journals on CINHAL in child and adolescence gender dysphoria, I only received 1 article. This shows even within the clinical journals there is a lack of research and clinical investigations in child and adolescent gender dysphoria. However, to discover further academic journals I searched the key words shown in the PICO table in google Scholar, this received many hits. I found 101 articles, when reducing the limitations to 2015-2021. In the end I got 5 articles which were appropriate therefore, I am going to focus on these as they link into my innovation.

The 5 academic articles I have selected that link into my innovation are:

1. Psychosocial and Psychological Vulnerability in Adolescents with Gender Dysphoria: A ‘Proof of Principle’ Study’ By (Bechard et al 2017)
2. Taking the lid off the box’: The value of extended clinical assessment for adolescents presenting with gender identity difficulties’ By (Churcher Clarke and Spiliadis 2019)
3. Autistic Symptoms in Children and Adolescents with Gender Dysphoria’ By (Van der Miesen 2018)
4. Trans People’s Experiences of Mental Health and Gender Identity Services: A UK Study’ By (Ellis, Bailey and McNeil 2015)
5. Gender Dysphoria in looked after and adopted young people in a gender identity development service.’ By (Matthews et al 2019)

As indicated my innovation is very challenging when finding effective academic evidenced-based research, Gender dysphoria is still not a widespread condition which is shown to have a lot of evidence and research as many health care professionals such as doctors and nurses do not get the adequate training in this condition, therefore there is lack of clinical investigations. To deal with the analysis of each 5 academic article I will follow the CASPS tool. (Long, French and Brooks 2020) presents how the CASP tool is key in the development of evidence-based practice, helping individuals to develop skills in understanding research evidence, and how to apply this into practice. Again, (Aveyard, 2019) indicates how the CASP tool contains 10 questions to appraise qualitative research, allowing it to be easier to understand the sample, data collection, data analysis and results from a study to be able to pick out the negatives and positives in a study comparing and contrasting throughout.

From all the articles gathered from the PICO search method (Bechard et al 2017) quantitative study considered the psychosocial and psychological vulnerability in adolescents with gender dysphoria, this study did take place in United States however it explored the mental health disorders adolescences face going through gender dysphoria. The quantitative methodology in this study was a case series conducted over a telephone interview with 15 different risk factor variables scored through a youth self-report form and child behaviour checklist. The results supported the literature in the psychosocial and psychological vulnerability in adolescences with gender dysphoria as over half of adolescences had suicidal intentions alongside with one quarter having at least one suicide attempt. (Bechard et al 2017) study had many strengths which linked into my innovation these were it provided an understanding into the importance of providing children and adolescences struggling with gender dysphoria with high quality care as adolescents who were referred to gender dysphoria services had an occurring history of psychological conditions. Additionally, the quantitative method was easy to analyse and link into current nursing practices however there was a limitation. As the study did not have a clinical controlled group of adolescents, results may not have been as accurate as shown nevertheless this study investigates the importance of support for children and adolescences going through gender dysphoria as they are more vulnerable to develop mental health conditions.

(Churcher Clarke and Spiliadis 2019) present a Qualitative study used over an 18-month period to identify young people who present to GIDs during their adolescence, who wish to purse medical interventions. When investigating the study using the CASPs tool, it is shown throughout the importance of psychosocial assessments before any medical interventions proceed. This qualitative study follows an appropriate case review methodology of 12 participants emerging with having gender dysphoria in their adolescence. Results concluded 7 out of 12 participants no longer felt the need of medical intervention, two case studies shown in the study expressed how two young individuals no longer felt the need to change their identity after psychosocial assessments and family support group sessions. The strength of (Churcher Clarke and Spiliadis 2019) qualitative research is it highlighted the importance of assessments in young people who struggle with their identity, providing a positive framework through results being consistent and pracised with literature. However, there were limitations with the study as providing a qualitative case study review through psychosocial assessment some young participants did not stay engaged due to distress in medical intervention. Linking this into my innovation for nurses to be able to be aware of the signs of gender dysphoria will help children and adolescents get the correct referrals and treatments, preventing them from any long-lasting consequences such as mental health disorders or irreversible changes to their gender.

On the other hand, another study which is important when associated to my innovation is (Lehmann et al 2020) qualitative study of examining the autistic traits which are shown within adults and adolescents accessing gender-affirming treatments in Northern Ireland. Appropriate methodology was used with 123 participants 38 adolescents and 69 adults who attend specialist gender services. The strengths within this study are it recognises the purpose of the literature and the problems within health services in not providing the correct pathways for gender dysphoria individuals who show significant social and communication difficulties. (Lehmann et al 2020) Highlighted the likelihood of individuals seeking gender-affirming interventions in the future present with autism traits. Weaknesses within the study is it did not have a comparison group so researchers cannot be certain whether higher rates of autism traits are only apparent in those seeking gender interventions. This study helps back up the importance in my innovation in providing nurses training in child and adolescent gender dysphoria as nurses can consider autistic traits and symptoms when assessing and treating a child or adolescent with gender dysphoria.

(Ellis, Bailey and McNeil 2015) shown a UK mixed method survey examining the mental health of trans people alongside with their experiences of being trans in two health care setting which are: mental health services and gender identity clinics. The mixed method research shown is a methodology survey for conducting research that involves fixed and open qualitive responses around trans-gender experiences in health settings, transphobia, current past mental health, and social support. Through much critical reflection there are weaknesses in mixed-method studies shown by (Noyes et al 2019) these are it is more time-consuming and relays on more researchers to be involved. Nonetheless, Strength within (Ellis, Bailey and McNeil 2015) survey is it matched the purpose of the study as results shown all together participants felt health professionals lacked knowledge around trans issues and experiences failing to provide support when needed, this backs up my innovation expressing the importance of providing training to nurses on gender dysphoria as they will be able to effectively communicate with children and adolescence struggling with their identify alongside with understanding the issues they face within society. Overall, the study expressed how much trans individuals mental health can be deuterated through ineffective support, unreasonable waiting time for referrals and stereotypical beliefs.

(Matthews et al 2019) quantitative study investigates the frequency of looked-after and adopted young people within referrals to GIDS to recognise if there is a higher-than-expected referral compared to the general population. The methodology is a quantitative descriptive research taken over two years following different variables, results shown out of 185 young people referred to GIDS for intervention, 4.9% were looked-after young people and 3.8% were adopted making up 8.6% of referrals. The strengths within this study are it provides a framework with outcomes that supports the presented literature, investigating how abuse and neglect has shown to be a common background in looked-after and adopted young people, so childhood trauma can be associated with difficulties in young people identifying their gender. (Matthews et al 2019) One key limitation that is shown is data results could lack information as they were taken from referral letters and clinical notes. Implementing this study into my innovation, paediatric nurses will have a better understanding of the links between gender identity issues and looked-after children, could also give nurses an insight to safeguard children and adolescences who are adopted or looked after as they are greater risk of emotional distress and negative outcomes.

Mental health

In the majority of the 5 studies, it was apparent that there was a common theme of children and adolescences having a risk of developing mental health disorders in gender dysphoria. (Ellis, Bailey and McNeil 2015) highlighted how in the trans community individuals fear to speak out about mental health as it will be perceived as a symptom of being trans. Critical appraisal from (Bechard et al 2017) and (Churcher Clarke and Spiliadis 2019) studies express fears that children and adolescences have high exposure to transphobic trauma which can leader to a future of mental disorders. Additionally, gender dysphoria is a concept still overlooked within society even now when social media playing a role in educating individuals, this still can be overshadowed by discrimination and stereotypical beliefs. Again (Matthews et al 2019) qualitative study shows a theme of neglect causing mental health problems by health practitioners as they do not have an adequate understanding in gender dysphoria and the daily struggles, they face promoting poor communication and ineffective referral treatments. Therefore, my innovation is vital as it will give paediatric nurses the competence in providing effective care for children and adolescences going through gender dysphoria.

Autism

An alternative key theme throughout the different studies was the relationship between autism traits and gender dysphoria in children and adolescences. (Lehmann et al 2020) presents how adults and adolescences show social and communication difficulties, which can be linked to autism traits. (Bechard et al 2017) study results also links to autism traits as one young participant who was newly diagnosed in gender dysphoria had a long-standing history of social difficulties particularly with girls in her school, this could be a motivation in wanting to change gender as she could not communicate with her own gender progressing into questioning her own gender identity. (Lehmann et al 2020) and (Matthews et al 2019) studies likewise signifies if health practitioners had a better understanding in gender dysphoria and the relationship with autism, more effective care would be promoted, with the combination of screening tools to identify autism quick providing positive pathways in gender medical interventions.

Childhood Trauma

When exploring the 5 studies, it is clear to see how childhood trauma plays a role in the confusion of child and adolescence gender dysphoria. (Matthews et al 2019) explores how early experiences of trauma impacts on gender identify development as looked-after and adopted young people may express their hard experiences through the difficulty of comprehending their gender identity. Consequently, young people with early experiences of trauma in their childhood may struggle having discussions about what their future holds and what gender they would prefer to be as they do not understand who they will become. (Matthews et al 2019) Critical analysis from (Churcher Clarke and Spiliadis 2019) and (Bechard et al 2017) studies indicate childhood trauma can also be developed from bullying in school when one adolescence openly speaks out about their sexual identity and gender but are knocked back by holistic approaches in peers, triggering detachment from social interaction proceeding in questioning their gender identity. The importance in my innovation will allow nurses to understand If a child or adolescence has experienced trauma which has triggered them to question their gender identity, be able to act on this getting them referred to GID for psychosocial assessments as (Churcher Clarke and Spiliadis) Study has shown some adolescences do not want to change their identify but open about past experiences.