Adolescência em debate: contribuições teóricas à luz da perspectiva histórico-cultural / Adolescencia en debate: contribuciones teóricas bajo la perspectiva histórico cultural / Adolescence in debate: theoretical contributions in the light of the historical-cultural perspective

RESUMO. Nos estudos sobre adolescência, percebemos que, cada vez mais, a psicologia tem sido convocada a dar respostas a questões inerentes a esta fase específica do desenvolvimento. A perspectiva histórico-cultural, proposta por Lev Semenovich Vigotski e seus seguidores, tem se apresentado enquanto importante abordagem teórica para a compreensão do humano. Assim, o presente estudo objetiva oferecer contribuições ao debate da adolescência enquanto uma categoria social e uma etapa particular do desenvolvimento cultural dos sujeitos. Desta forma, apresentam-se aqui as principais ideias do pensador russo, aliando-as a uma discussão que ainda é incipiente nos estudos da perspectiva histórico-cultural: o papel do corpo na constituição dos sujeitos. Com este ponto de partida, constroem-se argumentos que reforçam o caráter monolítico da constituição do humano, no qual mente e corpo são partes indissociáveis de uma mesma engrenagem, que se desenvolvem conjuntamente ao longo da história do sujeito, por meio das relações sociais que os indivíduos estabelecem com os elementos do meio. Aponta-se, como considerações finais, que o papel do corpo no processo de desenvolvimento do pensamento em conceitos - característica peculiar da adolescência - não pode ser negligenciado quando se propõe a compreender a constituição do psiquismo em sua totalidade.

RESUMEN. En los estudios acerca de la adolescencia, percibimos que, siempre más, la psicología es convocada a contestar a cuestiones que son inherentes a esta etapa especifica del desarrollo. La perspectiva histórico cultural, propuesta por Lev Semenovich Vygotsky y sus seguidores, se ha presentado mientras un importante abordaje teórico en la comprensión del humano. Así, en el presente estudio se tiene por objetivo ofrecer contribuciones al debate de la adolescencia mientras una categoría social y una etapa particular del desarrollo cultural de las personas. De esta manera, presentamos aquí las principales ideas de este pensador ruso, asociándolas a una discusión que todavía es incipiente en los estudios de la perspectiva histórico cultural: el papel del cuerpo en la constitución de los sujetos. Desde este punto de partida, se formula argumentos que refuerzan el aspecto monolítico de la constitución del humano, donde la mente y el cuerpo son dos partes indisociables de un mismo engranaje, que se desarrollan conjuntamente al largo del desarrollo, vía relaciones sociales que tienen los individuos con los elementos externos. Se apunta, como consideraciones finales, que el papel del cuerpo en el proceso de desarrollo del pensamiento en conceptos - característica particular de la adolescencia - no puede ser descuidado cuando nos proponemos a comprender la constitución del psiquismo humano en su totalidad.

ABSTRACT. In the studies about adolescence, it is noticeable that psychology has more and more been invited to give answers to questions pertaining this specific period of the human development. The historical-cultural perspective proposed by Lev Semenovich Vygotsky and his followers has represented an important theoretical approach to the comprehension of the human being. Thus, this study aims to offer contributions to the debate about adolescence as a social category and a particular stage of the cultural development of subjects. In this way, the main ideas of this Russian theorist are presented here, incorporating them into the discussion that is still incipient in the studies of the historical-cultural perspective: the role of the body in the constitution of subjects. With this starting point, we build arguments that reinforce the monolithic characteristic of the constitution of the human being, where the mind and the body are inseparable parts of the same gear, that develop together along the lifespan, through the social relations of the individuals with the environmental elements. As final considerations, it is pointed out that the role of the body in the process of developing a conceptual thought - a specific characteristic of adolescence - cannot be neglected when we propose the goal to understand the constitution of the totality of the human psyche.

Development of an Adolescent Depression Ontology for Analyzing Social Data.

Depression in adolescence is associated with significant suicidality. Therefore, it is important to detect the risk for depression and provide timely care to adolescents. This study aims to develop an ontology for collecting and analyzing social media data about adolescent depression. This ontology was developed using the 'ontology development 101'. The important terms were extracted from several clinical practice guidelines and postings on Social Network Service. We extracted 777 terms, which were categorized into 'risk factors', 'sign and symptoms', 'screening', 'diagnosis', 'treatment', and 'prevention'. An ontology developed in this study can be used as a framework to understand adolescent depression using unstructured data from social media.

Classifying adolescent perfectionists.

A large school-based sample of 9th-grade adolescents (N = 875) completed the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R; Slaney, Mobley, Trippi, Ashby, & Johnson, 1996). Decision rules and cut-scores were developed and replicated that classify adolescents as one of two kinds of perfectionists (adaptive or maladaptive) or as nonperfectionists. A four-cluster solution further differentiating nonperfectionists was also evaluated. Criterion-related validity of the cluster solutions was supported by perfectionist and nonperfectionist group differences on select subscales of the Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS; Huebner, 1994) and the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition: Self-Report-Adolescent (BASC-2: SRP-A; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004). Adaptive and maladaptive perfectionists were supported in both cluster solutions and validity analyses. In addition to the two types of perfectionists, the four-cluster solution differentiated two types of nonperfectionists from one that seemed similar to maladaptive perfectionists in terms of BASC-2: SRP-A scores. Although the four-cluster solution may have potential value, the three-cluster solution was recommended as more parsimonious for studies attempting to differentiate perfectionists. The findings and straightforward decision rules were generally consistent in principle with other studies attempting to classify perfectionists, although the final APS-R cut-scores differed from those of other studies of adults. The results provided additional descriptive inferences for perfectionistic and nonperfectionistic adolescents. Among other issues, the findings raised the question of whether the label of maladaptive for a subgroup of perfectionists was too broad given that the criterion-related validity scores revealed that the group's problems in adjustment were conspicuous only in the areas of anxiety and social stress.

An examination of the smoking identities and taxonomies of smoking behaviour of youth.

OBJECTIVE: To address observations that the smoking identities of youth are valid descriptors of their smoking behaviour, we examined the relationships between self-reported smoking identities, perceived levels of addiction, and established taxonomies of smoking behaviour of youth. METHOD: Cross-sectional data were collected on demographics, perceived extent of addiction to tobacco, smoking history, and self-reported smoking identity from questionnaires administered to 8225 students in British Columbia, Canada. A total of 7246 participants were categorised according to four smoking taxonomies established in the literature. Differences in perceived physical and mental addiction between smoking identity groups were calculated. The strength of the associations between the taxonomies of smoking and the smoking identity groups was also assessed. RESULTS: There were significant differences in perceived levels of physical (Kruskal-Wallis chi(2) = 3985.02, p<0.001) and mental (Kruskal-Wallis chi(2) = 4046.09, p<0.001) addiction to tobacco by the participants' self-reported smoking identity. Youth smoking identities were modestly associated with the established smoking taxonomies (Pearson C contingency coefficient = 0.64-0.72). CONCLUSION: Self-reported smoking identities appear to provide valid characterisation of the smoking behaviour of youths that complement and elaborate existing taxonomies of smoking behaviour. Questions about self-reported smoking identity should be used in conjunction with smoking behaviour taxonomies when investigating youth smoking behaviours.

Agreement among adolescents, parents, and teachers on adolescent personality.

Agreement between adolescents, mothers, fathers, and teachers on adolescents' personality traits was investigated in a longitudinal study. The targets for personality ratings were the adolescents who participated in the European Youth Heart Study in Estonia. There were 593 participants in the first wave and 480 participants in the follow-up study 3 years later. Adolescents' self-reports as well as father, mother, and teacher ratings were collected using questionnaires to measure the five-factor model of personality. In both waves, inter-rater agreement was highest between mothers and fathers, was low to moderate for parent-self ratings, and was lowest for ratings between self and teacher, mother and teacher, and father and teacher. Test-retest correlations were moderate for parent and self-ratings but failed to reach statistical significance for three of the five teacher-rated traits, suggesting lower reliability of teacher ratings. Possible explanations for the low agreement between teachers and other judges are discussed.

Procesos familiares relacionados con la conducta antisocial de adolescentes en familias intactas y desestructuradas / Family processes related to adolescent antisocial behaviours in intact and broken homes

En los últimos años el número de separaciones y divorcios en España se ha incrementado considerablemente y, por lo tanto, el de familias monoparentales, en su gran mayoría encabezadas por la madre, que es la que suele hacerse cargo de la custodia de los hijos. En este trabajo pretendemos conocer qué procesos familiares están influyendo en la aparición y el desarrollo de la conducta antisocial en la preadolescencia y adolescencia, en dos muestras de sujetos, una de ellas con estructuras familiares intactas y la otra perteneciente a familias desestructuradas encabezadas por la madre. Los resultados indican que las variables relacionadas con el clima familiar aparecen como predictores de la conducta antisocial en familias intactas, pero no en las desestructuradas. Sin embargo, el uso de la reprimenda verbal aparece como predictor en ambos grupos

In the last years separations and divorces are rising in Spain and, therefore, the number of one-parent families. In most of cases, the mother is the head of the family because she usually is who has the children custody. The aim of this work is to know the family processes linked to pre-adolescence and adolescence antisocial behaviour, in two samples; one is composed by subjects from intact families and another by subjects from broken homes head by mother. The results show that the variables linked to family climate appear as predictors of antisocial behaviour in intact families. However, the verbal reprimand appears as predictor in both groups

Measuring sexual orientation in adolescent health surveys: evaluation of eight school-based surveys.

PURPOSE: To examine the performance of various items measuring sexual orientation within 8 school-based adolescent health surveys in the United States and Canada from 1986 through 1999. METHODS: Analyses examined nonresponse and unsure responses to sexual orientation items compared with other survey items, demographic differences in responses, tests for response set bias, and congruence of responses to multiple orientation items; analytical methods included frequencies, contingency tables with Chi-square, and ANOVA with least significant differences (LSD)post hoc tests; all analyses were conducted separately by gender. RESULTS: In all surveys, nonresponse rates for orientation questions were similar to other sexual questions, but not higher; younger students, immigrants, and students with learning disabilities were more likely to skip items or select "unsure." Sexual behavior items had the lowest nonresponse, but fewer than half of all students reported sexual behavior, limiting its usefulness for indicating orientation. Item placement in the survey, wording, and response set bias all appeared to influence nonresponse and unsure rates. CONCLUSIONS: Specific recommendations include standardizing wording across future surveys, and pilot testing items with diverse ages and ethnic groups of teens before use. All three dimensions of orientation should be assessed where possible; when limited to single items, sexual attraction may be the best choice. Specific wording suggestions are offered for future surveys.

Characteristics of suicidal adolescents and young adults presenting to primary care with non-suicidal (indeed non-psychological) complaints.

BACKGROUND: Some young people presenting to primary care experience suicidal symptoms that they do not report. METHOD: We conducted a survey of suicidal ideation among 15-24-year-old patients presenting to Australian general practitioners. RESULTS: Patients who experienced substantial, but unstated, suicidal symptoms tended to be female and somewhat younger; their depression and distress levels, while not as high as suicidal patients with psychological complaints, were nonetheless elevated. CONCLUSIONS: Young patients who evince any signs of depression or distress, particularly but not only young females, should be evaluated regarding psychological symptoms, including suicidal ideation.

Escala de Dificultad Interpersonal para Adolescentes (EDIA): estructura factorial y fiabilidad / The Interpersonal Difficulty Scale for Adolescents (EDIA): Factorial structure and reliability

El objetivo principal de esta investigación fue analizar la estructura factorial y fiabilidad de la Escala de Dificultad Interpersonal para Adolescentes (EDIA), un nuevo autoinforme desarrollado para evaluar dificultad interpersonal en la adolescencia. La escala fue aplicada a una muestra aleatoria de 841 estudiantes de Bachillerato entre 16 y 18 años. La escala se compuso de 83 ítems y una escala de respuesta de 5 puntos, de 0 = ninguna dificultad a 4 = máxima dificultad. El análisis factorial exploratorio aisló 5 factores: Situaciones de Calle, Relaciones Familiares, Cortesía, Relaciones con Iguales y Asertividad, lo cuales explicaron el 41.30 por ciento de la varianza. La consistencia interna (.96) y la fiabilidad test-retest (.83), en un intervalo de dos semanas, fueron altas. Las chicas presentaron mayor dificultad interpersonal que los chicos en situaciones de calle. No se encontraron diferencias significativas debidas al sexo, a la edad y a la interacción sexo x edad. Nosotros concluimos que las puntuaciones de la EDIA fueron fiables y validas para evaluar la dificultad interpersonal en la adolescencia (AU)

Contraceptive knowledge and behavior of conventionalists, careerists, idealists, bouncers, desperadoes, and outsiders.

The aim of the survey was to determine the contraceptive behavior and knowledge on contraceptive methods of adolescents. We defined six clusters according to personality, leisure activities, and sociodemographic characteristics: conventionalists, careerists, idealists, bouncers, desperadoes, and outsiders. 1010 Austrian adolescents aged 14-24 years participated in the survey. 96%-100% indicated that they were familiar with the condom and the contraceptive pill. The two most popular contraceptive methods cited were the condom (39%) and OC (34%). Whereas 40% of conventionalists reported that OC were their preferred method of contraception, 53% of idealists indicated that they preferred the condom. 66% of the desperadoes indicated that they considered the pill expensive. 85% of conventionalists and careerists believe that OC offer the best protection against pregnancy. Clusters with higher self-esteem and those with a higher educational level were more likely to believe that this method is unreliable. The results obtained indicate that outsiders, desperatoes, and bouncers show deficits in sex education; only careerists and idealists appeared to be better informed. Research on adolescent contraceptive behavior should drop the traditional stratifying criteria and appreciate the diversity of adolescent populations in order to be better able to classify adolescents according to their contraceptive attitudes.

Sexualidad en la adolescencia / Sexuality in the adolescense

La adolescencia es el período de desarrollo hacia la madurez, y uno de los cambios centrales que ocurren se refiere a la sexualidad, la cual, a lo largo de esa etapa, adquiere una nueva dimensión, y es parte fundamental del universo del adolescente; implica, no sólo la capacidad de reproducirse y funcionar sexualmente sino toda una serie de actitudes, deseos, sentimientos y fantasías que esto conlleva. La forma en que este proceso se va desarrollando en el adolescente, ha permitido observar tres momentos o fases: 1.- Adolescencia temprana: el fenómeno principal que marca el inicio de la adolescencia se refiere a los cambios anatómicos y fisiológicos que se caracterizan por la maduración de los órganos sexuales y la aparición de los caracteres sexuales secundarios en ambos sexos. 2.- Adolescencia media: en esta segunda fase, el proceso de independencia natural continúa su desarrollo y hace más evidente la separación padres-adolescentes. Una de las manifestaciones más generalizadas de este proceso se refiere al rechazo hacia las normas y valores paternos, es decir hacia la autoridad familiar, rechazo que se hace extensivo a cualquier elemento o fenómeno que la represente. Y la fase 3.- Adolescencia tardia: la seguridad en sí mismo se va incrementando, y como parte fundamental del logro de su identidad el adolescente se reconoce y funciona como individuo independiente, con un derecho de ser, y cuya existencia no es condicionada por el ser percibido por las personas que lo rodean; es poseedor de una sexualidad propia que puede ser expresada y que en gran medida, responde a los patrones socialmente establecidos para cada sexo. Por lo expuesto, se puede decir que el desarrollo del adolescente se encuentra condicionado por las características sociales, culturales y económicas bajo las cuales se ha venido desarrollando, y que esta etapa no implica únicamente cambios fisiológicos y psicológicos, sino que también puede considerarse como un fenómeno social