Child and Adolescent Development Club

1
Child and Adolescent Development Club

• First meeting
• Date Wed., September 14
• Time 330pm
• Location CCB118
• Purpose Elect officers and plan events for the
  semester

2
Thursday

• Talk about final paper
• Family contexts for adolescents in the US today

3
Final paper

• 6-7 page paper on some aspect of childhood or
  adolescence that relates to dealing with
  discrimination, stereotypes, or prejudice
• Compare at least 2 cultures, ethnicities, or
  races
• Literature review
• Paper topic due to me on Sept. 29

4
Final paper resources

• Library liaison Teresa Morris
• Teresa.Morris_at_sjsu.edu
• 808-2097
• Free drop-in tutoring sessions
• Learning Assistance Resource Center (LARC) in the
  basement of 10th Street Garage

5
Bronfenbrenners Ecological Systems theory
Attitudes and ideologies of the culture
Macrosystem
Community
Government
Mass media
Mesosystem
Exosystem
Family
School
Microsystem
Church group
Individual
6
Importance of the family in adolescent development

• No other factor influences adolescent adjustment
  more than quality relationships at home
• Adolescents who feel that their parents or
  guardians are there for them are healthier,
  happier, and more competent

7
Family relationships at adolescence

• Adolescence not a time of storm and stress, but
  is a time of family change
• Parents at midlife
• Physical changes
• Time and future
• Power, status, and adult roles

8
Parenting adolescents

• Adjustment to adolescence appears to take greater
  toll on parents than youth
• Parents report this as low point in marital and
  life satisfaction
• Particularly difficult on parents with same sex
  child
• Buffers include involving careers, happy
  marriages, and high self-esteem

9
Time spent with families

• From 5th grade to 12th grade time spent with
  extended family, family group, siblings only,
  mother only, and father only decrease
• About a third of a 5th graders time spent with
  one of these groups, only about 12 of a 12th
  graders time is spent with one of these groups

10
Sex differences in family relationships

• In general differences between sons and daughters
  in terms of family relations are minimal
• Sex of parent may matter more
• Boys and girls relate differently to moms than
  dads

11
Adolescents family in changing society

• Family demographics in US are changing rapidly
• Changes in ethnic backgrounds of US adolescents
• Changes in family composition
• Changes in economic means

12
Temporary economic stress

• Income loss tends to be associated with number of
  problematic outcomes
• Affects boys differently than boys
• Economic strain puts adolescents at risk for wide
  variety of problems

13
Poverty

• Persistent poverty disproportionately affects
  African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans
• Seriously undermines parental effectiveness
• Growing up poor affects adolescents mental
  health

14
Bradley article, part 1

• Young peoples home environments vary based
  largely on their age, their ethnicity, and most
  significantly, on their familys income
• Resources include books, musical instruments,
  trips to the museum, etc.

15
Bradley article, part 2

• What did this study look for?
• Hint why did the authors consider this study
  worthwhile?
• What did this study conclude?
• Hint what were the main findings?

16
Learning stimulation

• Strongest finding
• Learning stimulation associated with early motor
  and social development, language competence, and
  achievement
• For nearly all ages
• For all three ethnic groups
• For poor and non-poor children

17
Maternal teaching

• Similar conclusions, but effects are weaker
• Maternal teaching associated with early motor and
  social development, language competence, and
  achievement
• For nearly all ages
• For all three ethnic groups
• For poor and non-poor children

18
Parental responsiveness

• Showed a relation to early motor and social
  competence
• However, among poor African-Americans, more
  parental responsiveness was associated with fewer
  behavioral problems, but for Hispanic-Americans
  more parental responsiveness associated with more
  behavior problems

19
Spanking

• Conclusions arent entirely clear
• What was clear is that a relation between
  spanking and problem behaviors exists in all
  groups
• Its possible that spanking means something
  different to different ethnicities.

20
For next week

• Read Harrison et al Family Ecologies of Ethnic
  Minority Children