Great Myths of Adolescence

Jeremy D. Jewell, Michael I. Axelrod, Mitchell J. Prinstein, Stephen Hupp

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781119248774, 9781119248767
• eBook ISBN: 9781119248798
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Developmental Psychology
• Index: Psychology

A research-based guide to debunking commonly misunderstood myths about adolescence

Great Myths of Adolescence contains the evidence-based science that debunks the myths and commonly held misconceptions concerning adolescence. The book explores myths related to sex, drugs and self-control, as well as many others. The authors define each myth, identify each myth's prevalence and present the latest and most significant research debunking the myth. The text is grounded in the authors' own research on the prevalence of belief in each myth, from the perspective of college students. Additionally, various pop culture icons that have helped propagate the myths are discussed.

Written by noted experts, the book explores a wealth of topics including: The teen brain is fully developed by 18; Greek life has a negative effect on college students academically; significant mood disruptions in adolescence are inevitable; the millennial generation is lazy; and much more. This important resource:

• Shatters commonly held and topical myths relating to gender, education, technology, sex, crime and more
• Based in empirical and up-to-date research including the authors' own
• Links each myth to icons of pop culture who/which have helped propagate them
• Discusses why myths are harmful and best practices related to the various topics
• A volume in the popular Great Myths of Psychology series

Written for undergraduate students studying psychology modules in Adolescence and developmental psychology, students studying childhood studies and education studies, Great Myths of Adolescence offers an important guide that debunks misconceptions about adolescence behavior. This book also pairs well with another book by two of the authors, Great Myths of Child Development.

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE BODY, BRAIN, AND MIND

1. #1 Adolescence ends at 18 years old
2. #2 Girls are universally experiencing puberty sooner in recent years
3. #3 The teen brain is fully developed by age 18
4. #4 Anorexia treatment usually requires teens to be separated from their parents
5. #5 Technology has made teens better at multitasking
6. Mini myths for development of the body, brain, and mind
7. #6 Pubertal “early bloomers” fare better than “late bloomers”
8. #7 Teens can study better while listening to music
9. #8 The “Freshman 15”: College students gain 15 pounds their freshman year
10. #9 Horses are helpful in the treatment of eating disorders, autism spectrum, and more
11. #10 The onset of puberty is very upsetting to most teens
12. #11 Male teens are much less likely than females to be preoccupied with their physical appearance
13. #12 Most teens hardly ever engage in leisure reading these days
14. #13 Greek life has a negative effect on college students academically
15. #14 Paying for prep courses is the best way to make large gains on the SAT

Myth #1 Adolescence ends at 18 years old

Disney built an animated film empire by telling coming of age stories about princesses and female heroines. Take Rapunzel from the movie Tangled (Conli, Greno, & Howard, 2010), who, on the eve of her 18th birthday, leaves her sheltered tower to enter a world that is both dangerous and enchanting. “Venture outside your comfort zone. The rewards are worth it,” she says as she lowers herself out of the tower using her long, blond hair (Conli et al., 2010). What follows is the story of Rapunzel's journey from childhood to adulthood. Jasmine from Aladdin (Clements & Musker, 1992) was 15. Ariel from The Little Mermaid (Musker, Ashman, & Clements, 1989) was 16. Belle from Beauty and the Beast (Hahn, Trousdale, & Wise, 1991) was 17. Aurora from Sleeping Beauty (Disney & Geronimi, 1959) was 16. Merida from Brave (Sarafian, Andrews, & Chapman, 2012) was 16, and Snow White (Disney & Hand, 1937) was 14 when they had their coming‐of‐age experiences or events marking the transition from childhood to adulthood. For these Disney characters, the transition involved becoming mature, independent, and self‐assured.

Disney's depiction of these characters' coming‐of‐age happening at or slightly before 18 coincides with the age at which many cultural and religious traditions honor the adolescent becoming an adult. In Spanish‐speaking Latin America, families and friends celebrate a girl's 15th birthday by throwing a large party, or Quinceanera, marking the transition from childhood to young womanhood. The Jewish coming‐of‐age takes place when boys celebrate their Bar Mitzvahs and girls celebrate their Bat Mitzvahs at age 13 and 12 respectively, a demonstration of their religious commitment, recognition of the responsibilities associated with Jewish law, and acknowledgment of adulthood. On North Baffin Island, the Inuit coming‐of‐age for boys occurs between the ages of 11 and 12 when they're expected to demonstrate their hunting skills and ability to survive the harsh Arctic weather.

Scholars have traditionally viewed high school graduation as marking the end of the coming of age for most contemporary teenagers in industrialized societies (see Delaney, 1995). The culmination of 4 years of supervised education by adults concluding in the graduation ceremony resembles many religious and tribal coming‐of‐age rituals. What follows for the majority of American high school graduates is higher education (i.e., 2‐ or 4‐year college) or a place in the workforce (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016), both traditionally considered a time when an individual is expected to behave in an adult‐like manner. The public generally views 18 to be the start of adulthood. For example, The Escapist, an online magazine, conducted an online poll and found 18 years to be the most often selected age to the question “when does adolescence end?” (The Escapist, 2015).

It shouldn't be surprising that people believe 18 to be the end of adolescence. Many of the freedoms and responsibilities of adulthood are legally permitted by the age of 18. For example, in most countries, boys and girls can marry, enlist in the military, purchase alcohol and tobacco products, drive a tractor trailer, get a tattoo, and skydive on their 18th birthday. In the US, the Fair Standards Labor Act sets 14 years as the minimum age for employment. Fourteen is also the minimum age in most states when juveniles may be tried in criminal (i.e., adult) court (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2003). So it seems that the myth that adolescence ends at 18 years is promoted by both distorted popular culture references, like the Disney princesses and heroines, as well as state and federal governmental statutes.

Another source for this myth is the desire for easy answers. Human beings want to believe that answers to important questions are straightforward and void of gray areas. For human and nonhuman primates, the purpose of adolescence is clear. It's a time of physical and sexual maturity, acquisition of skills necessary for adulthood, establishing independence from parents, and modifying social relationships with same and opposite gender peers. What is much less clear is when the developmental period of adolescence ends and adulthood begins. Such uncertainty can be problematic, as behavioral research has found human beings avoid ambiguity or individuals' subjective experiences with uncertainty (Frisch & Baron, 1988). Perhaps it's more comforting to believe that adulthood begins at or shortly after 18 years of age rather than consider the complexity of the question or admit that there is no straightforward answer.

So, when does adolescence end? At one time, the boundaries of adolescence were the teenage years, beginning at 13 and ending at 19 (Steinberg, 2011). During the 20th century, the span of adolescence increased substantially following research suggesting physical maturity (e.g., puberty) begins earlier (Settersten, Furstenberg, & Rumbaut, 2005), as science has learned, for example, that the average age of menarche has dropped since data were first collected almost 200 years ago (Steinberg, 2011). However, many contemporary adolescent development scholars now recommend understanding the end of adolescence by examining specific biological and societal markers that represent the transition from adolescence to adulthood rather than simply considering age (e.g., Arnett, 2000).

Biologically, three hormonal events mark the start of puberty (see Blakemore, Burnett, & Dahl, 2010). Gonadarche begins with the activation of the hypothalamus‐pituitary‐gland gonadal gland system, triggering the production of estrogen and testosterone, and marking the beginning of puberty. Adrenache, which often occurs before gonadarche, begins with the secretion of increased levels of androgens leading to the development of secondary sex characteristics. The third hormonal event involves a growth spurt that results in body size and composition changes. Only gonadarche has a clear end, developing the ability to reproduce, which can vary considerably among individuals making it difficult to assign a specific age to the official end of puberty and adolescence.

A different biological marker might provide a more exact answer to the question of when adolescence ends. Researchers have found that the chronotypes, or the behavioral expression of circadian rhythms (i.e., biological sleeping patterns), of humans increase until 19.5 years for females and 20.9 years for males, and then begin decreasing across the remainder of the lifespan (Roenneberg, Wirz‐Justice, & Merrow, 2003). Put slightly differently, humans start becoming night owls at about the age of 10 until about the age of 20, when they gradually shift, over time, to becoming early risers. The amount of time asleep might not change much, but the general tendency for someone to fall sleep later (and wake later) or fall asleep earlier (and wake earlier) seems to vary between different developmental periods. Interestingly, and perhaps not surprisingly, given both are related to biology, changes in chronotype correspond to pubertal changes. There is a general propensity for girls to develop before boys, which is also observed in chronotype. While research hasn't yet ruled out other factors related to chronotype (e.g., behavioral, environmental), convincing data suggest the changes in sleep patterns might signify a biological endpoint to adolescence at about 20 years of age (Roenneberg et al., 2004).

Societal markers that represent the transition from adolescence to adulthood are much more subjective than biological markers but equally important in the developmen...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• FOREWORD
• PREFACE
• INTRODUCTION
• 1 DEVELOPMENT OF THE BODY, BRAIN, AND MIND
• 2 DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF
• 3 THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
• 4 PROBLEMS IN MODERN SOCIETY
• INDEX
• End User License Agreement