Transcript Fertilization

Chapter 20
The Adolescent
General Characteristics
• Appearance of secondary sex
characteristics
• Ends with cessation of growth and emotional
maturity
• Divided into early, middle, and late because
of the changes that occur between 13 and
18 years of age
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General Characteristics (cont.)
• Major tasks
– Establishing an
identity
– Separating from
family
– Initiating intimacy
– Developing
career choices
for economic
independence
Major challenges
 Adjusting to rapid
physical and
physiological changes
 Maintaining privacy
 Coping with social
stresses and pressures
 Maintaining open
communications
 Developing positive
health care practices
and lifestyle choices
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Erickson’s Developmental Tasks
• Identity vs Role Diffusion
– Selecting a vocation
– Beginning separation from family
– Integrating personality
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Physical Development
• Adolescence begins in girls 10-13 years of
age
– Marked by rapid changes in structure and
function of various body parts
– Distinguished by puberty
• During childhood, boys and girls produce somewhat
equal amounts of androgens and estrogen
– Hypothalamus signals pituitary gland to
stimulate other endocrine glands to secrete
hormones
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Physical Development (cont.)
• General appearance tends to be awkward
• Long-legged and gangling (asynchrony)
because different body parts mature at
different rates
• Sweat glands very active
• Oily skin and acne common
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Psychosocial Development
• Sense of identity
– Fluctuates during
adolescence
• Sense of intimacy
– Closely entwined with
resolving of a
person’s sense of
identity
– Period of trying and
testing
– Need practice in
making decisions
• Cultural and spiritual
considerations
– Focus on values and
ideals of family
– Decide to either
embrace or separate
from family values and
ideals
• Realistic body image
– Believe everyone is
looking at them
– Take pride in their
abilities
– Every effort is made to
be like peers
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Peer Relationships
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Help adolescents feel like they belong
School assumes important role
Belonging to a group is extremely important
Cliques form
Develops close personal relationship with one
peer of the same sex
– Vitally important in helping adolescents define
themselves
– Social norms and pressures exerted by peers may
cause problems
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Career Plans
• To choose a career that is best-suited for
them, they must first know themselves
• School guidance counselor administers
aptitude tests
• To be happy in career choice, adolescent
must choose it of their own free will
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Responsibility
• Parents must encourage their children to take
on new challenges
– Working
– Driving
• Must be taught value of money
– Teach adolescent how to use and balance a
checkbook
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Daydreams
• Most of this behavior is normal and natural
for this age group
• Usually considered harmless
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Sexual Behavior
• Must meet and become acquainted with
members of opposite sex
• Dating
– Groups
– Couples
– Single-couple
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Sexual Behavior (cont.)
• Sexual experimentation often occurs as a
response to peer pressure
• Can affect growth and development
• Unplanned pregnancy and STIs are two
major area of concern
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Parenting
• Can be difficult for parents to cope with
adolescents
• Adolescents need to talk about their fears
• Need assistance in sorting out confused feelings
• Important to keep lines of communication open
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Health Promotion
• Adolescent warning signs and need for
intervention
– Spends time on the computer in the early
hours of the morning
– Changes the screen on the computer when a
parent enters the room
– Has pornographic material on the computer
– Makes frequent long-distance calls
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Nutrition
• Dietary deficiencies are more common
• Skipped meals, more between-meal snacks,
eats out more
• Elements most likely to be inadequately
supplied are calcium, iron, vitamin B12
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Nutrition (cont.)
• Vegetarian Diet
– High intake of grains, bran, and foods rich in oxalic
acid can impair absorption of iron
• Sports and Nutrition
– Athletes exhaust reserves of muscle glycogen
– Eating a slowly absorbed glucose source will prevent
the development of chronic low muscle energy stores
– Caffeine and alcohol deplete body water and are
should be avoided
– Anabolic steroids are detrimental to bone growth
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Personal Care
• Hygiene
– Bathing is more frequent because of body changes
– Body piercings
• Dental Health
– At risk for dental caries because of inadequate dental
maintenance and snack foods
– Lack of hygiene fosters growth of plaque and
accumulation of food particles
• Sunbathing
– Important to teach and enforce the need for adequate
sun protection to prevent skin cancer
– Also need to protect eyes from prolonged exposure to
sun
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Safety
• Road and off-road motor vehicle accidents
(MVAs) kill and cripple adolescents at an
alarming rate
• Learning how to swim and practice water safety
are important
• Body contact sports can be hazardous
• Encourage the adolescent to wear appropriate
protective gear
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Substance Abuse
• Best weapon against drug addiction is
education
• The need to conform, to be accepted, peer
pressure, and the emotional depression that
often occur are strong influences for drug
experimentation and use
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Depression
• Drug use can precede the development of
depression
• A change in school performance,
appearance, or behavior can be a warning
sign of depression
• A threat of suicide is a call for help that must
be taken care of without delay
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Adolescent Pregnancy
• Occurs while the girl is still struggling to deal
with developmental issues
• Some risk factors are
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Age at which the pregnancy occurs
Nutritional intake
Sexual activity
Limited access to health care
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The Nursing Approach to Adolescents
• Health care teaching should include
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Nutrition
Dental care
Personal care
Body piercing care
Accident prevention
Substance abuse
Self-control
Risk-taking behaviors
Money and time management
Use of open-ended questions
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