What Are the Stages of Cognitive Development in Adolescence?

Puberty refers to the period between the ages of 13 to 23 years of age. Children in this period are at the stage of physical and mental development. Its main feature is the rapid and uneven development of body and mind, a period of complex development and full of contradictions.

Puberty

Right!

Puberty refers to the period between the ages of 13 to 23 years, during which children are physically and mentally

The rapid physiological changes during puberty are caused by the rapid increase in hormone secretion. Physical changes during this period can be divided into two aspects: accelerated growth of the entire body and sexual maturity. The two are interconnected and regulated by changes in hormone secretion.

The adolescent's mental and physical development and the developmental contradictions they face will cause their emotions and moods to appear unbalanced or even temporarily disordered, such as negative emotional experiences such as distress, loneliness and depression.

The development of emotions and mood shows a dynamic development trend

A study examining the daily changes in the emotional state of adolescent children (Larson) found that in early adolescence, there are fewer positive aspects of emotional states and more negative emotions; the emotional stability is poor and the fluctuations are more frequent. By late adolescence, emotional stability increases, and mood changes gradually slow down.

Worry increased

(I) Worry about personal appearance before the public. The change of appearance and image is an urgent need for children to change their image in the eyes of others. How to change, and what kind of posture appears in order to be recognized and loved by others, this is their psychological needs. In this regard, they are exploring secretly, often worrying that they cannot find a satisfactory answer.

(2) Worry about personal dignity and social status in the peer group. Social status, respect and love in the collective are children's strong psychological needs. Those with high social status hope to be consolidated or promoted during adolescence; children who have not had good social status among their peers in the past, with the development of self-consciousness and the need for self-esteem, they are eager to be accepted, affirmed and favorite. This desire bothers them and sometimes makes them feel helpless, painful, and even humiliated.

(3) Worry about cracks and emotional alienation in parental relationships. When children's wishes and demands are blocked or interfered by their parents, they feel that their parents cannot understand him or why they are so. Contradictions often occur, and even emotional alienation. The problems of adolescent children make them need the understanding and support of their parents, and they need a close parent-child relationship. Understanding and incomprehension, alienation and intimacy, harmonious and unharmonious parent-child relationships, deeply touch and trouble the children's hearts and emotions.

Increased loneliness and depression

Children need close relationships and friends with their peers. If they lack friendship and peer relationships, they will feel lonely; if they do not establish corresponding social relationships, they will fall into the loneliness and depression of their peers, making it difficult to extricate themselves.

The contradiction between adolescents' psychological sense of adulthood and the semi-mature status quo makes them often face setbacks in the face of reality; due to the need to maintain spiritual self-esteem, it is not easy to ask adults for advice, and they are often isolated Help status.

Depression is a psychological experience that occurs when needs and desires are not met as they should be. Adolescence is a sensitive period of development. In terms of physical and mental development, there are many requirements in terms of material, spiritual, cultural, and social interactions. These requirements are either ignored, prevented, or impractical and cause failure. Driven by their self-esteem, frustration and lack of gratification, they experience hardship, helplessness, and deep depression.

The "self-centered" phenomenon was first discovered and proposed by Piaget, and is Piaget's term for describing a unique way of thinking. Children's self-centeredness is the phenomenon of understanding the feelings and cognitions of others based on their feelings and cognition. Piaget is an egocentric phenomenon found in the child's cognitive domain, not in the social and moral fields, nor in the child's consciousness of himself. Children's self-centered performance is different from Piaget's original intention. It focuses on interpersonal and social concerns, and regards itself as the center of interpersonal and social concerns. It considers that its concern is the concern of others. Children's egocentricity can be characterized by the concepts of "unique ego" and "imaginary audience".

Resistance psychology is a common psychological characteristic of adolescent children. It is manifested in the consciousness and behavioral tendency to exclude all externally imposed forces and parental control.

Adolescent game addiction

Internet addiction is an impulse to control the Internet behavior without the effects of addictive substances. It is manifested in the individual's obvious social and psychological function damage due to excessive use of the Internet. Internet addiction is also known as dependence or cyberpsychiatric disorder.

main performance

Internet addiction can cause psychological, physical, and social adaptation problems and injuries to adolescents.

First, involuntary compulsive internet use. Teenagers are eager to play video games for a long time, the impulsiveness of the game is out of control, and it is even difficult to reduce the game time, and even online games occupy almost all the time and energy.

Second, get a strong sense of satisfaction and accomplishment in online games.

Third, once you stop online games, there will be obvious or serious adverse reactions in psychological and physical aspects. Adverse reactions include higher depression and anxiety, behavioral disorders and social problems, and even abandonment of important social roles, abandonment of study and work, causing parent-child relationships, husband and wife relationship crisis, etc.

Fourth, the virtual feelings obtained in online games will in turn strengthen the desire for unlimited Internet access, creating a vicious circle and unable to extricate themselves.

development process

In the early stage, patients will experience mental dependence: eager to go online, if they fail to do so, they will have extreme discomfort, symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, and irritability;

In the middle period, physical dependence: dizziness, fatigue and trembling, loss of appetite;

Later, serious psychosocial problems occurred: normal activities were paralyzed, and studies, work, and life were severely affected, and even self-care disorders, cognitive decline, loss of interest in real life, and even severe consequences such as violent tendencies and acts of violence appeared. .

Causes of addiction

1. The characteristics of online games

Online games have the characteristics of entertainment, interaction, and virtual reality. They can be anonymous and have the freedom of being not restricted by the way of communication in real life, so they are very attractive to young people. Internet and video games are double-edged swords. While gaining puzzle and promotion abilities in games, teenagers often unknowingly fall into Internet addiction and cannot extricate themselves.

2. Characteristics of adolescents and individual personality

Teenagers have relatively poor self-control, have weak self-protection and psychological resistance, and tend to indulge in games. Those with high anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression tendencies in personality traits are more likely to be addicted to the internet.

3 Poor family environment and school stress

Tensions between parents and children in families and inharmonious parental relationships make teenagers suffer from chronic and long-term psychological distress; studying at school is too stressful, especially for young people who are maladaptive to school life, they suffer more frustrations in real life and generate emotions , Cognitive and interpersonal disorders, they will use the Internet to relieve stress, find comfort, and avoid difficulties encountered in reality.

Pubertal schizophrenia

Adolescent schizophrenia symptoms :

1. Loss of spirit, self-reported headache, dizziness, and insomnia upset. When talking, there are often no prefaces, no heads, no fragmentation, no end to words, no questions, or the use of new words and words created by yourself, which are puzzling.

2. Active and adolescents gradually become lonely and separated, and have a lazy life. They are not interested in external things, distracted, inattentive to listen to lessons, decline in academic performance, or often feel dazed or sleepy with their heads covered. Dirty, or laughing at the mirror, talking to himself.

3. Screaming all day long, speaking alone in the air, or even being unable to make a sentence, emotions and speech content are often out of harmony. For example, someone wants to hurt him, but his facial expression is very happy; or he is furious for a little things .

4. High emotions, joy, talk, activity, nosy, dancing, excitement.

5. Low mood, pessimistic and pessimistic, not interested in anything, often self-deprecating, self-condemnation, inferiority, doubt, sadness, anxiety, lack of speech and slow response.

6. Want to get into the wrong, reverie all day long. The delusional content is more bizarre and ridiculous. For example, if you think that someone has put poison in the food, or that someone coughs, spits, or buns, they are some kind of "special signal" to take action against him. Others fall in love with each other, and often feel entangled with each other; some feel that their mind, behavior, body is controlled by radio waves, instruments and so on.

Signs of Adolescent Schizophrenia :

Before the actual illness, they often show signs of social behavior withdrawal, difficulty in communication, sensitivity, stubbornness, and lack of humor.

Causes of Adolescent Schizophrenia :

The first is due to genetic factors. Studies have shown that the effects of genetic factors are not genetic schizophrenia itself, but genetic susceptibility.

The second is the various kinds of maladjustment, imbalance, confusion and crisis brought about by the rapid development of physical and mental development during adolescence. The long-term accumulation of these negative emotions is an important cause of schizophrenia.

Third, the rapid development and maturation of sexual function during puberty, and the temptation of first love and loss of love lead to patients often having sexual delusions. It is also an important cause of adolescent schizophrenia.

Adolescent suicidal tendency

The psychosocial problem of suicide has attracted worldwide attention. China's survey data show that China is already one of the countries with a high suicide rate in the world, with an average of 287,000 suicide deaths each year, and 2 million suicide attempts. Suicide is the fifth cause of death in the entire population in China. What is more noteworthy is that suicide is the first cause of death for people aged 15 to 34 (Wang Shengtao).

Age trends and gender differences in suicidal tendencies

According to foreign surveys, 29% of students aged 13-14 have suicidal ideas, and surveys in China show that about 18% of students aged 15-26 have suicidal ideas (Fan Cunxin). The rate of suicide success between the ages of 16 and 24 is much higher than that of those under 15.

Gender differences in suicidal tendencies: In China, both suicidal intentions and suicidal behaviors are markedly higher among women than men (Liang Jun); there are significantly more male adolescents than women who have committed suicide, and the male to female ratio is 3: 1; in In terms of suicide methods, men mostly adopt "rigid" methods, such as jumping from the building, hang themselves, etc., and women more often use "flexible" methods, such as taking large doses of sleeping pills, taking drugs, etc. From the perspective of rescue effects, men's suicide actions often cause death. Consequences, and women's suicide methods are easier to be rescued.

What causes teen suicide

1. Mental disorder

According to research, 90% of adolescent suicides have mental disorders, with depression being the most common.

2. family environment

Parental disagreement, divorced parents, poor parental education methods, do not understand and do not understand the growing upset of adolescents, adopt a negative and rejective attitude towards them, cannot provide children with emotional and spiritual support, and domestic violence leads to serious parent-child conflicts And so on, these family pressures make vulnerable young people unable to support the masculinity and confidence to continue to bear the pressure, thereby losing hope of a good life and future.

3 Strong pressure in schools

The pressure of study, academic failure, high pressure and punishment from teachers, and serious damage to the self-esteem of teenagers, etc., make it difficult for vulnerable individual youths to "adapt" to "adapt" in the collective and seek relief.

4 Can't face personal problems

Such as first love and love, emotional conflicts and conflicts with friends of the opposite sex, fear of breaking the law and post-crime, as well as being rejected by peers and excluded by society, making them feel pain, isolation and helplessness will strengthen their suicidal tendencies. .

Aura of suicidal tendencies

Adolescents often show signs before committing suicide. They can show a variety of severe symptoms of depression, such as extreme depression, not talking to family, avoiding friends, and extreme loss. In terms of behavior, they began to sort out the troubled interpersonal relationships that had occurred in the past, organizing and giving away their belongings and others. In terms of speech, they are sometimes expressed in suggestive ways, such as saying goodbyes to relatives and friends, or saying "I'm not interesting to live", "I want to die", "I want to know what it means to die", "I don't I will worry about this for too long "and so on.

If the surrounding people, especially parents, are alert to these suicidal signals, timely "psychological assistance" will largely prevent suicide.

Adolescent crime

Adolescents violate social norms and social behavior codes or engage in various actions that violate the law. They are anti-social behaviors and crimes. The proportion of adolescents' illegal behavior is higher than that of people of other ages, and it is universal.

Development Trends and Characteristics of Juvenile Delinquency

According to statistics, juvenile delinquency is becoming more serious. The main characteristics are as follows:

First, the crime rate has increased. In the last 10 years of the 20th century, the average proportion of juvenile delinquency in the entire criminal offense in China was 46%, and the proportion has increased in recent years, with an annual increase rate exceeding 5%.

Second, the age of crime is declining. During the five years around 2000, the average age of committing crimes among youths in China dropped by 2 years, the crime situation of 14-16 years of age increased, and the number of children of 13-14 years increased significantly. The age of the first misstep children is declining.

Third, there is a tendency for women to increase in gender in crime.

Fourth, the characteristics of crimes committed by minors are increasingly violent and gang-type. The types of crimes are concentrated in robbery, rape and theft. These crimes account for more than 80% of all types of crimes. The illegal phenomenon of idle youth and other groups in the society is prominent and constitutes the main body of juvenile delinquency.

Factors and prevention of juvenile delinquency

1. Some families are breeding grounds for child antisocial behavior and crime

There has been an increase in the number of families in China who have lost harmony, education, morality and talent, and these problem families are often prone to "produce" problem children. In addition, the problem of dropouts and dropouts also has a serious impact on juvenile delinquency. According to data from the Minority Administration and Prison, nearly 27% of juvenile offenders come from broken families, and nearly 50% of juvenile offenders have not completed nine years of compulsory education. The latest statistics show that the crime rate of children from divorced parents is 4.2 times that of healthy families.

2. Peer factor and group pressure

In adolescence, the need for social relations between adolescents and peers has increased, and the influence of peers has gradually replaced the influence of parents. Adolescents are afraid of being rejected by their peers and being rejected collectively, so many crimes occur under group pressure.

3 Adolescents in the process of development

The basic contradiction in adolescence, especially adolescence, is the contradiction between adulthood and semi-mature status. Based on this, they strongly demand to show their ability to realize their self-worth, but often suffer setbacks in the course of their actions. This makes them emotionally volatile, rebellious, easily impulsive, and even leads to intensification of contradictions. Therefore, under the strong temptation and pressure, coupled with the fragility of psychological resistance, and the lack of self-control, they will easily go astray.