Adolescent health psychology.

Abstract

In this article, a biopsychosocial model of adolescent development is used as an organizing framework for a review of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention research with adolescent populations. During adolescence many critical health behaviors emerge, affecting future disease outcomes in adulthood. In addition, most of the predominant causes of morbidity and mortality in adolescence are unique to this period of development, indicating that health-focused interventions must be tailored specifically to adolescents. Moreover, it is during adolescence that lifelong patterns of self-management of and adjustment to chronic health conditions are established. Thus, an increased focus on adolescence in health psychology research is important both to improve the health of adolescents per se and to optimize health trajectories into adulthood.Adolescence has historically been a developmental period of relative neglect with respect to research on both mental and physical health intervention and outcome. Perhaps such neglect has occurred because, from a health perspective, morbidity and mortality rates are quite low during adolescence compared with other developmental periods (Holden & Nitz, 1995). However, as we argue in this article, adolescence is a pivotal period of development with respect to health and illness. First, it is during adolescence that many positive health behaviors (e.g., diet and exercise) are consolidated and important health risk behaviors (e.g., smoking, alcohol and drug use, and unsafe sexual practices) are first evident; thus, adolescence is a logical time period for primary prevention intervention. Second, the predominant causes of morbidity and mortality in adolescence are quite different from adults, indicating that early identification and treatment of adolescent health problems must be directed toward a unique set of targets in this age group. Moreover, because of the particular developmental issues that characterize adolescence, intervention efforts designed for adults are often inappropriate or ineffective in an adolescent population. Finally, even when chronic illnesses are congenital or begin in childhood (e.g., spina bifida, Type 1 diabetes), the manner in which the transition from childhood to adolescence to young adulthood is negotiated has important implications for disease outcomes throughout the remainder of the life span.Given the unique developmental challenges of adolescence, we argue that an effective and theoretically sound approach to adolescent health psychology research and treatment must be firmly grounded in a developmental framework. We present a biopsychosocial model of adolescent development as one such framework that can inform primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention research and interventions targeting adolescents. This article is organized around the three levels of health-related prevention as they apply to adolescence. Within these levels, we include discussion of the adolescent-focused aspects of what Smith and Ruiz (1999) characterize as the predominant res...

A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk-taking

“…It is widely agreed among experts in the study of adolescent health and development that the greatest threats to the well-being of young people in industrialized societies come from preventable and often self-inflicted causes, including automobile and other accidents (which together account for nearly half of all fatalities among American youth), violence, drug and alcohol use, and sexual risk-taking (Blum & Nelson-Mmari, 2004;Williams et al, 2002). Thus, while considerable progress has been made in the prevention and treatment of disease and chronic illness among this age group, similar gains have not been made with respect to reducing the morbidity and mortality that result from risky and reckless behavior (Hein, 1988).…”

Valuing the Child Health Utility 9D: Using profile case best worst scaling methods to develop a new adolescent specific scoring algorithm

“…Adolescence is a key transitional stage of physical and mental human development that is associated with more biological, psychological and social role changes than any other stage of life except infancy (Williams et al., 2002). Adolescence generally occurs between the ages of 11 and 17 years, commencing at the onset of puberty and terminating at legal adulthood.…”

Communication and Information About “Safer Sex”: Intervention Issues Within Communities of African Migrants Living in Poorer Neighborhoods in Portugal

“…Programs should also focus on the specific sexual health concerns of condom nonuse, short duration of relationships, and multiple partners. Previous studies reported communication problems between parents and children, particularly about sexuality, including sexual behavior and Sexual Transmitted Infection (STI) and HIV prevention, particularly among adolescents with an African background (Muuss & Porton, 1999;Williams et al, 2002).To gain a better understanding of migrant African adolescent attitudes and regarding safer sex issues a special sample of schools from the Lisbon suburbs with high concentrations of African migrants was drawn. The purpose of this study was to examine the sex risk attitudes and behaviour of migrant African adolescents.…”