DEVEiDPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE Psychological, Social and Biological Aspects DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE Psychological, Social and Biological Aspects W.EVERAERD Institute oj Clinical Psychology University oj Utrecht C. B. HINDLEY Institute oj Education University oj London A. BOT & J. J. van der WERFF ten BOSCH Institute oj Physiology Erasmus University oj Rotterdam 1983 MARTINUS NIJHOFF PUBLISHERS a member of the KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS GROUP BOSTON / THE HAGUE / DORDRECHT / LANCASTER Distributors for the United States and Canada: Kluwer Boston, Inc., 190 Old Derby Street, Hingham, MA 02043, USA for all other countries: Kluwer Academic Publishers Group, Distribution Center, P.O.Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, The Netherlands Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Ma.1D. entq UDder t1tl.e: Development in adolescence. Based CD a postgraduate course tor medical practi tioners, held in Leiden, Nov. 1981, which 'WaS entitled, Adolescence: ps;rchological., social., 8D.4 biological. aspects. 1. Adolescent PSfChologr--Addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Adolescence--Phys1ol..ogical &spects Addresses, essays, lectures. 3. Adolescence--Social aspects--AddresBes, essqs 11 lectures. ~. Mol2..a scent =r.?~-i~!::~~~:~~~:;!::B. IMcu.~~ cent psycholos:;y--CODgresses. 3. BUIIl8ZI. 4evelopment COO1gresS.S. we 460 D489 1981J BF'124.D45 1983 155.5 83-8051 ISllII 0-89838-5eJ.-4 ISBN-13: 978-94-009-6731-1 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-6729-8 DO I: 10. 10 07/978-94-009-6729-8 Copyright © 1983 by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Boston. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 190 Old Derby Street, Hingham, MA 02043, USA. v PREFACE Depending on the definition of this concept that is adopted, adolescence is the narrow threshold or a vast no-man's land that separates adulthood from childhood. In one -physica1ist- view, adolescence begins when secondary sex characters become noticeable and ends when they are fully developed. In another -socio1ogica1- view, adolescence ends when social independence has been gained. It may easily take many years more to span the interval between those two events. In this collection of papers by specialists from various disciplines, physical, psychological and social aspects of adolescence are considered. The book originates from a postgraduate course for medical practitioners, who deal with adolescents, but the range of the papers is such that we hope it may be of value to a much wider readership, including educators and all who are concerned with adolescents. The course was entitled: 'Adolescence: psychological, social and biological aspects', and was held in Leiden in November 1981. It was the fourth in a series of Boerhaave Courses instigated by the Dutch Growth Foundation of which a published record has now become available. Previous titles are 'Somatic growth of the child' (1966), 'De samenstel1ing van het mense1ijk 1ichaam' (1968) (=Human body composition), and 'Normal and abnormal development of brain and behaviour' (1971). VI The detailed programme of the course was planned by Dr. F.J. Bekker, Prof. Dr. J.L. van den Brande, Prof. Dr. W. Everaerd, Prof. A.Th. Schweizer and Prof. Dr. J.J. van der Werff ten Bosch. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the skilful technical support given during the preparation of this text by Mr. H. van Beek of the Department of Automatic Signal Processing, Erasmus University of Rotterdam. THE EDITORS VII CONTENTS A historical and transcultural Lea Dasberg view of adolescence Concepts of adolescence; D.J. de Levita 16 their applicability to normal and clinical samples Psychological changes in C.B. Hindley 28 adolescence related to physical changes The psychobiology of P.H. Wolff 49 developmental behavior disorders Influence of early exposure June Machover Reinisch 63 to steroid hormones on behavioral development The effects of a chronic G. Sinnema 114 illness on somatic growth and psychological development Adolescents and family J.W. van Seters 131 disruption through marital separation VIII Erotic overtures and sexual C.J. Straver 149 contacts; competence, rules, attitudes and problems Sex roles and coping with W. Everaerd 167 emotions Outpatient social skills N.W. Slot 176 training for youth in trouble; & A.A.J. Bartels theoretical background, practice and outcome The implementation and N.W. Slot 192 evaluation of a residential social skills training program for youth in trouble Suicidal behaviour among R. F. W. Diekstra 206 adolescents How are we to deal with J. de Wit 226 adolescents and their problems? Epidemiology and the role of F. Wafelbakker 237 public health organizations SUBJECT INDEX 253 IX CONTRIBUTORS A.A.J. Bartels Paedologisch Instituut 1075 AZ Amsterdam The Netherlands Lea Dasberg Pedagogisch Didactisch Instituut University of Amsterdam 1015 DT Amsterdam The Netherlands R.F.W. Diekstra Institute of Clinical Psychology University of Leiden 2312 KM I,eiden The Netherlands W. Everaerd Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy University of Utrecht 3512 JK Utrecht The Netherlands C.B. Hindley Department of Child Development and Educational Psychology University of London Institute of Education London WClH OAA U.K. D.J. de Levita Department of Child Psychiatry University of Amsterdam 1105 BC Amsterdam The Netherlands June Machover Reinisch A.C. Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana 47401 U.S.A. x J.W. van Seters Institute of Social Education University of Utrecht 3508 CC Utrecht The Netherlands G. Sinnema University Children's Hospital University of Utrecht 3512 LK Utrecht The Netherlands N.W. Slot Paedologisch Instituut 1075 AZ Amsterdam The Netherlands C.J. Straver Netherlands' Institute for Social and Sexuological Research 3704 EB Zeist The Netherlands F. Wafelbakker Chief Medical Office of Health 2265 BA Leidschendam The Netherlands J.J. van der Werff ten Bosch Institute of Physiology Erasmus University of Rotterdam 3000 DR Rotterdam The Netherlands J. de Wit Paedologisch Instituut 1071 AK Amsterdam The Netherlands P. H. Wolff The Children's Hospital Medical Center Boston, Mass. 02115 U.S.A. 1. A HISTORICAL AND TRANSCULTURAL VIEW OF ADOLESCENCE LEA DASBERG If history can be of any use to the field of education it is so by destroying some illusions, First of all the illusion that human life can once and for all be divided into neatly limited periods, like infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age. Secondly that all these periods can be exactly defined and determined within unchangeable time-limits: being the same for the Egyptians of the Old Empire as for the Dutch people of the postindustrial era; for today's inhabitants of a city like New York as for the members of an isolated African tribe; or the same for the working class as for the bourgeoisie. Such unchangeable lines of demarcation do not exist. The time-limits of infancy or of adolescence change from one historical period to another, from one culture to another and from one social class to another. In the third place the word 'transcultural' should not arouse expectations that I will refer to Eskimoes and Maoris. I am a historian, not an anthropologist. Culture for me means lifestyle, and transcultural means differences of lifestyles, not so much between ethnic groups as between historical eras and social classes within the western world. At one moment in time adolescents can consist of: boys and girls in school or boys and girls working in a factory; boys and girls writing poems in a diary, or fighting for a guerilla group; boys and girls experiencing the initial rites of their tribe into manhood and womanhood, as well as boys and girls undergoing a lonely and guilt-ridden experience of masturbation. At the same time, even within the same culture and in the same social class, there are adolescents still wondering what cohabitation is like, while others have already experienced abortion.