Title: Adolescent Brain Development: What Does it Mean for Families and Working with Families
1Adolescent Brain Development What Does it Mean
for Families and Working with Families?
Dr Alex Hassett Senior Consultant (CAMHS) Manager
CAMHS Practice Improvement Programme
2OVERVIEW
- Defining
- Adolescence
- Mental Health
- Brain Structure and Development
- Adolescent Brain Development
- Implications
3Defining our discussions
- What do we mean by adolescence?
- What do we mean by mental health?
4Conceptualising Adolescence
- Youth are heated by Nature as drunken men by
wine
Aristotle
inclined to contradict parents and tyrannize
their teachers
Socrates
5Conceptualising Adolescence
I would that there were no age between ten and
twenty threefor there is nothing in between but
getting wenches with child, wronging the
ancientry, stealing, fighting
Shakespeare (The Winters Tale Act III)
6Defining adolescence
- Defined in different ways
- Not just puberty
- Adolescence is the transition from childhood to
adulthood. From dependence to independence - No distinct beginning and end but roughly 10-20
years of age - Adolescence is a transitional process not a stage
7Dahl (2006) offers this definition of adolescence
that awkward period between sexual maturation
and the attainment of adult roles and
responsibilities.
Begins
Ends
Physical / biological changes related to puberty
Domain of social roles
8Adolescent Development
Physical
Cognitive
Psycho-Social
Biopsychosocial Approach
9Summary of Tasks of Adolescents
- Cope with physical changes
10Summary of Tasks of Adolescents
- Establish sexual identity/sexual orientation
- Establishing an identity
- Establishing autonomy
- Prepare to live independently
- Separate and develop new relationships with
family of origin - Develop moral code
- Establish peer relationships
- Establish intimate relationships
- Ruth Talbot, YoungMinds
11Different Views on Adolescence
Historical
Cultural
12What do we mean by mental health?
13What do we mean by mental health?
Young People are saying .
Feeling in control
Feeling balance
It doesnt mean being happy all the time but it
does mean being able to cope with things.
14Mental Health Definition
- A state of well-being in which the individual
realises his or her own abilities, can cope with
the normal stresses of life, can work
productively and fruitfully, and is able to make
a contribution to his or her community.
World Health Organization, 2004
15What is mental health
- From NHS Advisory Service (1995) review of Child
and Adolescent Mental Health Services Together
We Stand - Children with good mental health have
- The ability to develop psychologically,
emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. - The ability to initiate, develop and sustain
mutually satisfying personal relationships. - The ability to become aware of others and to
empathise with them. - The ability to use psychological distress as a
developmental process, so that it does not hinder
or impair further development..
16Continuum of Mental Health and Mental Disorders
Mental Distress
Mental Disorders
Emotional Well-being / Mental Health
Mental Health Problems
17Brain Development
18Caution!!!!
- New discoveriesresearch is still in its infancy
- Do NOT over-interpret or interpret too
simplistically - Some research has been conducted on animals we
assume the information transfers to people - Behaviour is the result of complex interactions
among individual, environment, genetics,
situation, cultural expectations, and numerous
other factors
19Structure of the Brain
20Brain Circuitry
- NEURON specialized cell designed to transmit
information to other nerve cells and muscles - Each neuron consists of a cell body, axon, and
dendrite - Axon an electricity conducting fiber that
carries information away from the cell body - Dendrite receives messages from other neurons
- Synapse contact point where one neuron
communicates with another neuron
21Brain Circuitry
- Neurons communicate by transmitting electrical
impulses along their axons - Axons send messages across a synapse to the
receiving dendrite of the target neuron
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23OVERPRODUCTION AND PRUNING
- Brain development occurs in 2 basic stages
growth spurts/overproduction of neurons and
pruning - Critical phases in utero
- 0-3 years
overproduction - 10-13 years
- Overproduction results in significant increase in
the number of neurons and synapses - Exuberant growth during these 3 phases gives the
brain enormous potential
24PRUNING
- These 3 critical phases are quickly followed by a
process in which the brain prunes and organises
its neural pathways - LEARNING is a process of creating and
strengthening frequently used synapses (brain
discards unused synapses) - Brain keeps only the most efficient and strong
synapses - Experience determines which synapses flourish and
which are pruned away
25PRUNING
- USE IT OR LOSE IT Reading, sports, music,
video games, x-box, hanging outwhatever a
child/teen is doingthese are the neural synapses
that will be retained - How children/teens spend their time is CRUCIAL to
brain development since their activities guide
the structure of the brain
26THE ADOLESCENT BRAIN
27New research on brain development during
adolescence
- Adolescent brain is neuroplastic undergoing
specific and significant remodelling - Grey matter white matter
- Process of fine tuning brain developments
- Use it or lose it
- Adolescence and young adulthood is a time of
great potential for change and development
28Brain Maturation
29Adolescent Brain Development
- Brain development now extends into the adolescent
years - Most off this development occurs in the frontal
lobe - Executive functions
- Planning
- Reasoning
- Impulse Control
30Key findings the Role of Experience
- Experience plays an important role in determining
connections made - The types of brain activities engaged in during
adolescence probably have a significant impact on
what cognitive abilities people will have for the
rest of their lives - Over or under stimulation of certain responses
can lead to mis-communication between different
areas of the brain
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35Complexity of the process
36IMPACT OF NEGATIVE LIFE EXPERIENCE ON BRAIN
DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTIONING
37Impact of ongoing stress
38SCARS THAT WONT HEAL
- Growing evidence of altered brain development and
functioning as the result of negative life events
and experiences - Our interactions with the world organise our
brains development and shapes the person we
become - Brain will develop to respond to a positive or a
negative environment
39SCARS THAT WONT HEAL
- Chronic stress, and neglect sensitise certain
neural pathways and over-develop certain regions
of the brain (limbic region) involved in anxiety
and fear. This often results in the
under-development of other regions of the brain
(frontal lobe) - Chronic stress from fear, violence, abuse,
hunger, pain, etc. focuses the brains resources
on survival and other areas of the brain are not
available for learning social and cognitive
skills
40BRAINS RESPONSE TO THREAT
- Brain is uniquely designed to mobilise the body
in response to threatall body responsefight or
flight - Neurochemical systems cause a cascade of changes
in attention, impulse control, sleep patterns,
and fine motor control - Chronic activation of the neural pathways
involved in fear creates memories which shape a
persons perception of and response to the
environmentindelible perception of the world
41Summary
- It appears that aggressive, submissive, and
frustration behaviors may become structurally
encoded. - If relationships are negative, threatening,
and/or fear inducing, the lower brain responses
become dominant and the cognitive regulating
structures do not develop to their full capacity
consequently, an individual may not develop the
cognitive ability to control emotions or behavior.
42THE ADOLESCENT BRAIN
43Adolescent brains are different to adults
44They may look like adults, they may behave like
adults, they may even come to the same
conclusions as adults but what is going on in
their brain is differentTeenage brains are a
work in progress
45Key findings Executive Functioning and
Prefrontal Cortex
- Prefrontal Cortex is still underdeveloped
- Executive functioning, controlling and
coordinating thought and behaviour, directing
attention and thinking about future consequences,
are limited - This impacts on aptitudes such as response
inhibition, emotional regulation, analysing
problems and planning
46DISPARITIES OF ADOLESCENCE
- Adolescence is a TRANSITIONAL period during which
a child is becoming, but is not yet, an adult - Adolescent brains are far less developed than we
previously believed - Normal adolescent development includes conflict,
facing insecurities, creating an identity, mood
swings, self-absorption, etc.
47ADOLESCENT BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
- Underdevelopment of the frontal lobe/prefrontal
cortex make adolescents more prone to behave
emotionally or with gut reactions - Adolescents tend to use an alternative part of
the brain the AMYGDALA (emotions) rather than
the prefrontal cortex (reasoning) to process
information
48ADOLESCENT BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
- Amygdala and limbic system tend to dominate the
prefrontal cortex functions this results in a
decrease in reasoned thinking and an increase in
impulsiveness - Because of immature brains, adolescents do not
handle social pressure, instinctual urges, and
other stresses the way adults do - A major part of adolescence is learning how to
assess risk and consequences adolescents are
not yet skilled at these tasks
49ADOLESCENT BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
- To appreciate consequences of risky behaviour,
one has to have the ability to think through
potential outcomes and understand the permanence
of consequences, due to an immature prefrontal
cortex, teens are not skilled at doing this - Teens do not take information, organise it, and
understand it in the same way that adults do -
they have to learn how to do this
50ADOLESCENT BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
- Important to understand that teens often fail to
heed common sense or adult warnings because they
simply may not be able to understand and/or
accept reasons that seem logical and reasonable
to adults - NEVER assume that you and a teen are having the
same understanding of a conversation
51ADOLESCENT BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
- With experience, teens are able to temper their
instinctive gut reaction with more rational,
reasoned responsesthey are able to apply the
brakes to emotional responses. During this time
of development, teens need adult mentors and
role-models who demonstrate how to make good
decisions and how to control emotions
52HOT AND COLD COGNITION
- Thoughts and emotions are intertwined teens
need to develop a balance between cognitive and
affective systems of the brain - COLD cognition refers to thinking under
conditions of low emotions and/or arousal - HOT cognition refers to thinking under
conditions of strong feelings or arousal - Decisions made under conditions of strong affect
are difficult to influence by cool rational
thought alone
53HOT AND COLD COGNITION
- Decision making in teens cannot be fully
understood without considering the role of
emotions and the interaction between thinking and
feeling - Teen decisions are unlikely to emerge from a
logical evaluation of the risk/benefits of a
situation rather decisions are the result of a
complex set of competing feelings desire to
look cool, fear of being rejected, anxiety about
being caught, excitement of risk, etc.
54ADOLESCENT BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
- Adolescence involves the maturation of
self-regulation of behavior and emotionsteens
need to learn how to navigate complex social
situations under conditions of strong emotions
such as social anxieties, romantic relationships,
academic pressures, desires for immediate
gratification vs. long term goals, moral
dilemmas, and success/failure
55Key findings Risk Taking and Rewards
- Response to rewards is different respond less
to small rewards, have bigger response to larger
rewards but soon have no impact
56Key findings Risk Taking and Rewards
- Risk taking and exploration of new activities
57Key findings Risk Taking and Rewards
- Reward centre in overdrive coupled with planning
regions that are not fully functional could make
an adolescent an entirely different creature to
an adult when it comes to seeking pleasure
58Key findings Mentalisation
- Mentalisation or perspective taking capacity dips
during puberty. - Ability to empathise teenagers hardly use the
area of the brain that is involved in thinking
about other peoples emotions and thought when
considering a course of action less able to
imagine emotional reactions and to read the
emotions of other which can led to
misunderstandings and over reactions - The ability to hold in mind an intention to carry
out an action at a future time also dips
59Key findings Mentalisation
- Adolescents are not very skilled at
distinguishing the subtlety of facial expression
(excitement, anger, fear, sadness, etc.) -
results in a lot of miscues -leads to lack of
communication and inappropriate behavior - Differences in processing, organisation, and
responding to information/events leads to
misperceptions and misunderstanding verbal and
non-verbal cues
60Key findings Mentalisation
Adolescent Brain
Adult Brain
61Key findings Mentalisation
- The ability to hold in mind an intention to carry
out an action at a future time also dips
62Key findings Sleep
- The Biological Clock
- Sleep Debt
- Sleep, Learning, and Memory
63Key findings Sleep
64- Mismatch between emotional and cognitive
regulatory modes - Results in powerful emotional responses (e.g.
urges for sexual behaviour, independence and the
formation of social bonds) which they cannot
easily regulate, contextualise, create plans
about or inhibit.
65- Too much, too young
- Self-restraint in the face of emotional
experience - Required to make decision and have high degree of
agency
STRUGGLING!
STRESSED OUT!
- Brains are developing!
- Expectations may prove
- to be too much for them
66Developmental period in which there is increased
vulnerability to negative environmental
experiences and enhanced receptivity to positive
life experience both which have long term
consequences on adult life
67What is critical
- Brain of young people particularly in infancy and
in adolescence is very malleable - Experience both positive and negative plays a
crucial role - Neural systems that are chronically activated by
threat can change in permanent ways
68- Experience impacts on brain development
- This impacts on the emotional development of the
young person - This change in brain structure has long term
impacts on the young person
NURTURE Becomes NATURE
69Normal adolescent behaviour consists of changes
in
- Sleeping and eating habits
- An increase in conflict with family members
- A desire to be with ones friends
- Resistance to messages form authority
- Irritability
- Risk taking
- Proclamations of sheer boredom
70Increased risk-taking in adolescence is
normative, biologically driven and inevitable
71Adaptive role of adolescence
- A biological wedge is naturally driven between
parents and adolescents to aid their transition
from dependence to independence. - These changes compel adolescents to explore the
deeper end of the gene pool and acquire the
skills competence and confidence necessary to
survive on their own - You need to engage in high-risk behaviour to
leave your village and find a mate - At the same time as risk taking soars hormones
kick in for adolescents to find sexual partners
72Risk and Exploration
Peer Relationship
Conflict with authority
Resistance to authority
Sexual Maturation
INDEPENDENCE
73They may encounter problems along the way.
74Many Adolescents Do Struggle
- Many (perhaps most) adolescents navigate this
period with minimal difficulties - However, empirical evidence for
- increased conflicts with parents (intensity)
- mood volatility (and increased negative mood)
- increased risk behaviour, recklessness, and
sensation-seeking
Arnett (1999) Review Of Storm And Stress
75Many Adolescents Do Struggle
- Overall morbidity and mortality rates increase
200-300 between middle childhood and late
adolescence/early adulthood - Onset of problems such as nicotine dependence,
alcohol and drug use, poor health habits, etc.
that will show up as mortality in adulthood - Many adult onset problems such as depression can
be traced to early episodes in adolescence
76- Mental Health Problems and Disorders in Young
People
77Issues with diagnosis in adolescence
- Normal variations of mood and temporary deviant
behaviours are seen as mental health problems - OR
- Problems are dismissed as just being part of
being an adolescent
78Continuum of Mental Health and Mental Disorders
Mental Distress
Mental Disorders
Emotional Well-being / Mental Health
Mental Health Problems
79Adolescents
80YoungMinds argues that 16-25 year olds require
particular consideration in terms of access to
and acceptability of mental health services
because of the stresses and strains they face in
making the transition from adolescence to
adulthood, which can compound problems already
being faced by young people who are vulnerable to
mental ill health.
81Implications for work with young people
- If were making decisions about how to treat
teenagers legally, socially and educationally we
need to take the new brain research into account. - Implications for
- Youth justice
- Drug and alcohol services
- Mental health services
- Teenage Pregnancy etc
82?
What does this mean for families and
practitioners?
83Implications for you
- Learn about youth development and keep up to date
with current research - May need to revaluate how we view young people
during this development period as well as how we
most effectively serve and support them and their
families - Educate adolescents about what is going on in
their heads and how it affects them. - Engage parents and teachers and others who work
with young people in learning new ways to
describe to youth the invisible aspects of
development that parallel the more visible
changes associated with puberty about which they
already learn.
84Implications for you
- Ensure that schools recognises young peoples
developmental immaturity as well as ways to
strengthen and build their developmental assets - Forge meaningful and guiding bonds between youth
and adults by allowing youth to do what is
developmentally expected of them while ensuring
and creating environments and opportunities that
give youth healthy and safe ways to explore
decision-making, judgement and testing their own
limits, personal power and or influence.
85Implications for you
- The challenge for those working with young people
is to allow them to do what is developmentally
expected of them while ensuring and creating
environments and opportunities that give youth
healthy and safe ways to explore decision-making,
judgement and testing their own limits, personal
power and or influence. - Need to remember
- Rebelliousness and risky behaviours need to be
checked and steered but they cannot be suppressed - Many of the erratic and seemingly defiant choices
made during adolescence share a common origin a
brain under construction
86What is most important?
87Understanding adolescents
- Not about controlling them
- Understanding meteorology controlling tornados
- However understanding is better than not
understanding it - Need to shift our focus from controlling to
mentoring adolescent
88CHEFS AND COOKS
89www.camhs.org