Paauglystė – tai gyvenimo tarpsnis tarp vaikystės ir suaugusiųjų amžiaus. Ji trunka nuo fizinio lytinio brendimo pradžios, iki tol, kol pasiekiamas savarankiško suaugusio žmogaus socialinė padėtis, bei įsisavinamos kultūroje propaguojamos moralinės vertybės. Vienas iš asmenybės moralinio brendimo bei tobulėjimo aspektų yra jos sąmoningumo, savarankiškumo poreikio didėjimas. Taigi paauglystėje žmogus bręsta lytiškai, jo kūnas fiziškai kinta, įgauna suaugusiojo formas, o kognityvinio mąstymo vystymasis leidžia žmogui logiškai mąstyti, įsivaizduoti savo ateitį, ją planuoti. Paaugliai yra linkę eksperimentuoti naujomis idėjomis ir siekia pažinti skirtingus gyvenimo aspektus – tuo jie skiriasi nuo vaikų, kurie dar pasikliauna kitais ir leidžia kitiems vadovauti jų elgesiui. Paauglystėje yra juntamas poreikis atitrūkti nuo šeimos ir pasiduoti bendraamžių įtakai, performuoti savo vertybes. Jei santykiai su tėvais prasti ar jų išvis nėra, dažniau yra linkę paaugliai smurtauti, vartoja alkoholį bei narkotikus, neretai kyla didelė priešlaikinių lytinių santykių, nėštumo bei lytiškai plintančių ligų tikimybė. Tuo labiau, jog ekstremalesnės gyvenimo būdo išraiškos formos tampa moralės etalonu.

Paaugliai neretai neadekvačiai įvertina, o ypač pervertina savo sugebėjimus mąstyti, suvokti visa ko prasmę ir yra linkę manyti, kad niekas taip, kaip jie, gerai ir giliai nesupranta pasaulyje vykstančių reiškinių. Paauglys supranta, kad kiti žmonės gali turėti skirtingą nuomonę, kad gali būti daug galimų atsakymų į vieną klausimą ir daug klausimų kilti iš kiekvieno atsakymo , tačiau dėl dažnai ribotų sprendimų pradeda manyti, jog jis yra visų aplinkybių psichologinio pasaulio centre. Paauglio ir jauno žmogaus sugebėjimas mąstyti apie tai, kaip viskas turėtų būti leidžia jam būti idealistu ir visuomenės reformatoriumi. Todėl paauglio dėmesio centre atsiduria etiniai, politiniai bei socialiniai klausimai.
Psichologiniu požiūriu šis pereinamasis laikotarpis baigiasi tada, kai individas randa savo tapatumą, susikuria savo vertybių sistemą arba numato, kokia ji galėtų būti, sugeba užmegzti ir palaikyti tarpusavio draugystės bei meilės santykius, numato savo ateities planus. Moraliniam sąmoningumui formuotis didelės reikšmės turi auklėjimas, literatūros ir meno poveikis, stebimi kitų žmonių santykiai ir poelgiai.
Šeima suformuoja svarbiausius vaiko interesus, dvasines vertybes, elgesio normas, poreikius, polinkius, kurie yra priimami, vertinami bendraamžių arba atstumiami, ignoruojami. Tėvų elgesys ir požiūris į vaikus lemia, kaip lengvai paauglys išsiugdys įvairius įgūdžius, įgis savarankiškumo, pasitikėjimo jėgomis, suformuos teigiamą savęs vertinimą. Tėvų grubumas, nesupratingumas, pareigų nevykdymas apsunkina paauglių gyvenimą . Paaugliai, su kuriais žiauriai elgiamasi, mažiau pasitiki žmonėmis, sunkiau užmezga ir palaiko su jais stabilesnius emocinius ryšius, o visa tai vyksta dėl neaiškių vertybinių orientacijų.
Paauglys, pereidamas nuo sąjungos su šeima prie stipresnių ryšių su bendraamžiais, įgyja daugiau nepriklausomybės, paauglys nori vis daugiau priimti bendraamžių vertybių. Spartūs socialiniai pokyčiai sukelia atotrūkį tarp kartų ir todėl didėja bendraamžių grupės įtaka įgyjant socialinę patirtį, laisvėjant nuo šeimos, formuojant individualią pažiūrų sistemą. Geri emociniai santykiai , patenkinus bendravimo poreikį, sudaro sąlygas formuotis teigiamoms asmenybės savybėms, vertybių sistemai, padeda sklandžiau įsisąmoninti kintančias pažiūras. Jeigu ši socialinė pamoka sėkmingai išmokstama, tuomet ir visas vėlesnis socialinis gyvenimas bus sėkmingas. Paauglys kuris yra nepriimtas į grupę – izoliuotas ar atstumtas , patiria neigimas emocijas, žemą savęs vertinimą. Tokiam paaugliui sutrinka emocinė savijauta, jis nepasitiki savimi, draugais, mokytojais, jam formuojasi neigiami įgūdžiai, įpročiai, kurie vėliau tampa asmens savybėmis. Nepasisekimas nulemia prieštaringą, netvirtą moralinių vertybių sistemą, kurios pagrindu vėliau bus ieškoma savo nišos visuomeniname gyvenime, šeimoje, darbovietėje.
Svarbu paminėti dar vieną moralinių vertybių paauglystėje formavimosi aspektą: ne visų paauglių vertybių sistema formuojasi kaip unikali asmenybės dalis. Nemaža jų dalis tiesiog mechaniškai kartoja savo tėvų ar artimos aplinkos primetamas pažiūras, vertybes, įsitikinimus. Paprastai jie tampa gynybiški, o ypač tie, kuriems nepavyksta pasiekti asmeninės idealų sistemos paprastai saugo save nuo naujos gyvenimiškos patirties, tolesnio tobulėjimo ,negali pasinaudoti savo patirtimi ir įvertinti savo galimybių. Šie paaugliai iškreipia realybę, kuria stereotipus, ribotus problemų sprendimo būdus. Tokiems paaugliams sunku adekvačiai, objektyviai reaguoti į masinės informacijos priemonių skleidžiamą informaciją, į marginalinių visuomenės grupių, bei subkultūrų daromą įtaką.

MORALINIŲ VERTYBIŲ SAMPRATA

Moralinių vertybių sampratos aiškinimą galėtume pradėti prisimindami filosofo F.Nietzsche reliatyvistinę vertybių teoriją, kurioje jis norėjo laikytis nešališko, mokslinio, gamtinio, grynai aprašomojo požiūrio į žmonių moralę. Jis teigė, jog mūsų vertinimai ir viskas, ką laikome gėriu, vertybe, yra santykiniai, subjektyvūs, biologiškai sąlygoti. Tai pasakytina ir apie moralines vertybes. Nėra objektyvios, visuotinai įpareigojančios moralės; kiekvieno moralė yra tokia, kokia reikalinga jo gyvenimiškiems tikslams ir kokia atitinka jo jausmus, simpatijas. Vieno moralė yra tokia, kuri jo paties akyse pateisina tai, ko jam norisi; kito tokia, kuri jam teikia taip trokštamą ramybę; dar kito tokia, kuri jam leidžia atkeršyti priešams. Žmonės gali to net nežinoti, tačiau, pasak F. Nietzsche, iš tiesų jų moralės šaltiniai yra tik tokie .
Moralė Tarptautinių žodžių žodyne apibudinama kaip (pranc. morale – lot. moralis – dorovinis) dorovė, žmonių elgesį reguliuojančios normos ir principai, viena visuomeninės sąmonės formų .
Moraliniai įsitikinimai sudaro žmogaus dorovinio pasaulio branduolį ir formuoja tokius asmenybės struktūros komponentus, kaip charakteris, sąžinė, pareigos ir atsakomybės jausmai. Suprasdamas, kad su kitais žmonėmis visada dera elgtis tik tam tikru būdu, žmogus kuria bei formuoja ir savo dorovines savybes, išreiškia save patį. Žmogus, patyręs gėdos, kaltės jausmą, jaučiasi smukęs savo paties akyse, tai suprasdamas ir apgailestaudamas, jis ugdo savo moralinę sąmonę, ypač dorovinius jausmus, sugebėjimą analizuoti ir vertinti savo poelgius (Stilwell BM; Galvin MR; Kopta SM; Padgett RJ., 1997).
Vertybes galima apibrėžti kaip „sudėtingas nuostatas, kurių turinį sudaro mintys, vaizdiniai ir emocijos apie daiktų ir reiškinių reikšmingumą asmenybėms ir grupėms. Vertybės formuojasi asmeninės patirties keliu, suprantat savo poreikius ir lyginant juos su aplinkos objektais. Daiktai, reiškiniai ar žmonės, kurie tiesiogiai patenkina, padeda patenkinti arba spėjama, jog ateityje patenkins asmenybės materialinius ar dvasinius poreikius, laikomi vertybėmis“ . Vertybės formuojasi ne tik pačios asmenybės iniciatyva : suaugusieji perduoda vertybinius teiginius ir vaizdinius naujajai kartai ją mokydami, auklėdami ir darydami kitokį poveikį. Taip individai perima tos kultūros visuomenės, kurioje jie auga ir formuojasi, vertybių sistemą. Kiekviena asmenybė susiformuoja savitą sudėtingą vertybių sistemą, o tų vertybių siekdama susikuria savo vertybinę orientaciją . Tokiu būdu susiformuoja ir orientacijos į tam tikras moralines vertybes.

ESMINIAI PAAUGLYSTĖS IR JOS METU VYKSTANČIŲ PROCESŲ BRUOŽAI.

Paauglystė – tai perėjimas iš vaikystės į jaunystę, suaugusiųjų pasaulį, o kartu ir tarpsnis tarp biologinės brandos ir socialinės nepriklausomybės (Walker EF; Sabuwalla Z; Huot R., 2004).
Paauglystė yra labai sąlyginis laikotarpis, sunku tiksliai apibrėžti ir jo pradžią ir pabaigą, mat ji baigiasi tada, kai individas visiškai subręsta lytiškai, psichiškai ir socialiai, sugeba prisiimti atsakomybę. Rajeckas V. paauglystės laikotarpį skirsto į ankstyvąją paauglystę – 11 – 13-14m. ir vėlyvąją – 13-14 – 16m.,o 16-18m., jau laiko ankstyvąją jaunyste . Psichologiniu požiūriu, pasak Almontienės J., šis pereinamasis laikotarpis baigiasi tada, kai individas randa savo tapatumą, susikuria savo vertybių sistemą arba numato, kokia ji galėtų būti, sugeba užmegzti ir palaikyti tarpusavio draugystės bei meilės santykius, numato savo ateities planus .
Remiantis Eriksono teorija, paauglystė – tai tapatumo arba vaidmenų sumaišties periodas. Eriksonas lemiamais raidos proceso veiksniais laikė ne tik paties individo brendimą ir vidinį dinamizmą, bet tokią pat reikšmę skyrė socialinės aplinkos sąlygoms. Pasak psichoseksualinės raidos teorijos, paauglystėje ( 16m ) žmogus pereina į brandos – genitalinę – stadiją. Pagrindinė biologinė šios stadijos funkcija – reprodukcija. Remiantis analitine psichologija, tik paauglystės brendimo metu psiche ( žmogaus siela, vidinis aš) įgyja tam tikrą formą ir turinį. Tai žmogaus psichinis gimimas, kuris sukelia daug problemų ir žmogui reikia prie to prisitaikyti. Vaikystės fantazijos turi baigtis, nes paauglys susiduria su realybės reikalavimais. Savimonės formavimosi pradžia ir jos tolesnis vystymasis paženklina visą paauglio psichinį gyvenimą, jo mokymosi pobūdį, jo požiūrio į aplinką, jo santykių su žmonėmis formavimąsi (Parker JS; Benson MJ., 2004).
Asmens tapatumą iš dalies sudaro moralinė filosofija, arba moralinis požiūris. Paauglio moralinis samprotavimas labai kinta (Suris JC; Michaud PA; Viner R., 2004 ). Kaip teigė Kohlbergas, yra trys moralinio samprotavimo lygmenys (prekonvencinis, konvencinis ir pokovencinis) ir kiekvienas asmuo pasiekia aukščiausią moralės raidos lygmenį. Be to, daugelis tyrimų rodo, jog tam kad pasiektų pokonvencinį (principinį) moralinį samprotavimo lygmenį, paaugliai turi būti pasiekę formalaus operacinio mąstymo stadiją. Kohlbergas nurodė, kad formalus operacinis mąstymas yra būtinas, bet nepakankama sąlyga aukščiausiam moralinio samprotavimo lygiui pasiekti. Kaip formalus operacinis mąstymas nėra būdingas visiems suaugusiems mūsų visuomenės žmonėms, kaip ir aukščiausios raidos moralinio samprotavimo lygmuo ne visada yra pasiekiamas .
Kohlbergo ir Gilligano duomenimis, tik apie 10% maždaug 16 metų paauglių gali samprotauti pokonvenciniu lygmeniu, nors apie 60% jų yra pasiekę formalaus operacinio mąstymo stadijas. Atliekant tyrimą visi paaugliai, samprotavę pokonvenciniu moralės lygmeniu, jau buvo pasiekę formalaus operacinio mąstymo stadiją. C. Keasey taip pat nustatė stiprią koreliaciją tarp kognityvinės raidos ir moralinio samprotavimo. Kognityvinė raida yra svarbus paauglio tapatumo raiškos rodiklis.

MORALINIŲ VERTYBIŲ FORMAVIMĄSI PAAUGLYSTĖJE ĮTAKOJANTYS VEIKSNIAI

Kaip vieną iš svarbiausių veiksnių turėtume paminėti šeimą. R. Grigas yra tos nuomonės, kad šeima efektyviau, raiškiau, negu bet kuri kita visuomenės institucija gali perteikti ir individualizuoti vertybes ir normas . Pikūnas J., Palujanskienė A. teigia, kad stiprūs, sveiki ryšiai su tėvais ir pastoviu globėju turi nepalyginamos reikšmės visai paauglio ateičiai, jo moralinių vertybių vystymosi sklandumui . Negatyvūs tarpasmeniniai santykiai ir ryšiai šeimoje, pirminių ( vaiko – tėvų) socialinių ryšių kaitą bei nutraukimas sustiprina ir taip paauglystėje ryškias nepilnavertiškumo jausmo, polinkio į depresiją tendencijas (Jordaan J; le Roux A, 2004) bei neadekvačią šeimos sampratą. Aktyvus tėvų bendradarbiavimas su paauglio, bei domėjimasis jo ugdymo galimybėmis, labai ryškiai įtakoja pozityviąja linkme(Mann MB; Pearl PT; Behle PD., 2004).
Svarbu akcentuoti tai, jog paauglystės laikotarpiu tarytum yra tikrinamos šeimoje įgytos vertybės, bei pačios šeimos, kaip moralinės vertybės ir būtinybės svarba (Zuckerman B; Winsmore G; Alpert JJ ., 1979) . Moralinių vertybių formavimasis pirmiausia reikalauja laisvės, sąlygų reikštis laisvai valiai, savarankiškiems sprendimams. Būtent paauglystėje su bandymais tapti suaugusiu bei savarankišku, formuojasi įgūdžiai savarankiškai priimti gyvenimiškus sprendimus, vertinti reiškinius, laisva valia priimti moralinius sprendimus (Stilwell BM; Galvin M; Kopta SM; Padgett RJ., 1996 ).
Paauglystėje vykstant fizinei, kognityvinei ir psichosocialinei raidai, ankstesnis gyvenimo būdas tampa „per ankštas“ , atsiranda vis daugiau savirealizacijos galimybių ir paauglys tampa agresyvesnis, pradeda „maištauti“ ( Arsenio W.F. ; Lemerise E.A., 2004 ). Vieniems paaugliams šis periodas reiškiasi intensyviau, kitiems gali būti vos pastebimas – priklausomai nuo savitų šeimos taisyklių ir santykių. Todėl skiriasi ir poreikis išsivaduoti iš moralinės bei psichologinės priklausomybės tėvams ( Arsenio WF; Gold J; Adams E., 2004 ). Tačiau šitoks savarankiškumo siekiamas maištavimo būdu yra neišvengiamas , kaip ir neišvengiamas paauglio suabejojimas iki šiol gyvavusiomis šeimos vertybėmis. Laisvė, kaip būtina maišto sąlyga, kartu yra paauglio sąmonės ginklas (Beh HG; Pietsch JH, 2004 ).
Itin svarbus yra gebėjimas maištaujant prieš senąją sistemą ištikimai ginti naująsias, nors dažniausiai ir butaforines, vertybes bei idealus. Svarbus yra pasiryžimas jų laikytis, bei jomis vadovautis, nes šie pradiniai įgūdžiai vėliau įtakoja daug brandesnių ir gilesnių vertybių puoselėjimą ( Cimbora DM; McIntosh DN., 2003). Taip pat šis pirminis maištas deda pagrindą ir vėlesniųjų, brandžiame amžiuje dominuojančių vertybių išlaikymą kritinėse situacijose ( Stilwell BM; Galvin M; Kopta SM; Norton JA Jr., 1994 ) .
Paauglystės laikotarpiu atsiranda įvairaus artumo santykiai, kuriuos paaugliai ryškiai skiria: gali būti tiesiog draugai, artimi draugai, bičiuliai. Bendravimas su jais visais labiau išeina už šeimos ir mokymosi mokykloje ribų. Apima naujus interesus, užsiėmimus, santykius ir išsiskiria į savarankišką ir paaugliui labai svarbią gyvenimo sferą. Bendravimas su kitais paaugliais įgauna labai didelę vertę, neretai tokią didelę, kad į antrą vietą nustumia mokymąsi, labai sumažina bendravimo su artimaisiais patrauklumą. Kuo nepalankesni paauglio ir suaugusiųjų santykiai, tuo daugiau vietos jo gyvenimo užima bendravimas su draugais ir tuo stipresnė jų įtaka (Werner-Wilson RJ; Fitzharris JL; Morrissey KM., 2004).
Visuomenė taip ryškiai įtakoja paauglio moralinio identiteto formavimąsi pateikdama vertybes, kurios ilgą laiką išlaikė išbandymus ir vis dar atlieka savo funkcijas, taip pat socialines struktūras arba papročius, kurie palengvina pereiti iš paauglystės į suaugusio žmogaus amžių (Morrison TG; Kalin R; Morrison MA., 2004). Ar tie veiksniai padeda, ar priešingai, sunkina perėjimą pirmiausia priklauso nuo, kaip visuomenės nariai sutaria pagrindinių vertybių atžvilgiu ir kokių socialinių pasikeitimų liudininkas yra tas individas (Cantrell MA; Lupinacci P., 2004 ). Ten, kur beveik visi visuomenės nariai laikosi tokių pačių religinių, moralinių, politinių ir seksualinių pažiūrų ir socialiniai pasikeitimai neryškūs, tapatumas pasiekiamas lengvai. Jaunas žmogus tiesiog turi perimti tuos vienintelius vaidmenis, kuriuos jis žino (Matsuba MK; Walker LJ, 2004). Tačiau tokios sąlygos retos, nes šiuolaikinės komunikacijos ir transporto priemonės teikia jaunam žmogui daugybę tarpusavyje konfliktuojančių vertybių ir dėl šiuolaikinės technologijos bei mokslo įtakos kiekvienai kartai tenka susidurti su vis didesniais socialiniais pasikeitimais (McLeod JM., 2000), kurie tampa iššūkiu moraliniam vystymuisi. Kita vertus, šie iššūkiai gali ir stimuliuoti raidą (Goenjian A; Stilwell BM; Steinberg AM; Fairbanks LA; Galvin MR; Karayan I; Pynoos RS. 1999 ).
Svarbiu veiksniu formuojant paauglio moralinę orientaciją yra religija. Neretai literatoje minimos asmenybės vystymosi lūkesčių sąsajos su religinėmis vertybėmis. Religiškai aktyvesni jaunuoliai tuo pačiu yra labiau socialiai tvirtesni, turintys tvirtesnį socialinio gyvenimo sampratos pagrindą. Religingumą atspindinčios moralinės pažiūros ryškiau reiškiasi visuomeniniame gyvenime (Ebstyne King P; Furrow JL., 2004).

MORALINIŲ VERTYBIŲ IŠRAIŠKOS BŪDAI PAAUGLYSTĖJE

Kiekvienas turintis tam tikras vertybes asmuo, būdamas nuoseklus ir ištikimas, visais toms vertybėms neprieštaraujančiais būdais sieks įtvirtinti jas visuomenėje. Paauglystėje šie bandymai įtvirtinti naują gyvenimo patirtį moraliniame kontekste neretai sulaukia prieštaringų vertinimų bei reakcijų (Westen D; Ludolph P; Lerner H; Ruffins S; Wiss FC 1990). Paauglys , bręsdamas kaip dorovinė asmenybė, pirmiausia, plečia savo įsitikinimų diapazoną, susidaro įsitikinimus apie daugelį tokių gyvenimo reiškinių bei situacijų, apie kuriuos anksčiau neturėjo savo aiškios nuomonės, dorovinės nuostatos ( Borders A; Earleywine M; Huey SJ., 2004). Svarbus paauglio asmenybės moralinio tobulėjimo rodiklis yra tai, kiek moraliniai įsitikinimai yra nuoseklūs, suderinti su jo kitais įsitikinimais, pažiūromis, skoniais. Apie įsitikinimų tvirtumą kalba tai, kaip žmogus vertindamas save ir kitus, sugeba pats atitinkamai pasielgti arba, priešingai, susilaikyti nuo poelgio, tuo atsisakydamas naudos, patogumų, malonių įspūdžių ir pan. Apie asmenybės augimą kalba ne vien įsitikinimų apimtis, platumas, bet taip pat jų gilumas ir tvirtumas (Lazar A; Guttmann J., 2004).
Požiūris, jog kiekvienas jausmas ar noras turi būti patenkintas – byloja apie nesusiformavusias ar nebrandžias moralines vertybes (Weisskirch RS; Murphy LC., 2004). Vaikystėje būdingas juslinių impulsų dominavimas, paauglystėje formuojasi į savo elgesio koordinavimą pagal tam tikras logines ir moralines nuostatas. Plėtojantis paauglių mąstymo gebėjimui, tobulėja jų socialinis supratingumas ir moraliniai sprendimai ( Petersen AC; Leffert N., 1995). Gebėdami mąstyti apie savo pačių ir kitų žmonių mąstymą, jie pradeda suprasti, ką kiti žmonės galvoja apie juos. Didėjant pažintiniams gebėjimams, daugelis paauglių pradeda galvoti apie tai, kas yra idealu, ir tampa gana kritiški visuomenės, savo tėvų ir savo trūkumų atžvilgiu, o ypač liečiant intymius klausimus (Miller KS; Kotchick BA; Dorsey S; Forehand R; Ham AY. 1998 ).
Bendravimas su draugais – naujų interesų atradimo šaltinis. Artimų draugų bendravime daug vietos užima pokalbiai. Todėl draugystei pradedami kelti ypatingi reikalavimai – abipusio atvirumo ir supratimo, jautrumo ir paslaugumo, bendrų išgyvenimų ir sugebėjimo laikyti paslaptį. Paauglių bendravimas – ypatinga veikla, kurios objektas – kitas žmogus – draugas, o turinys – savitarpio santykių formavimas ir jų taikymas (Stilwell BM; Galvin MR; Kopta SM; Padgett RJ., 1998). Nemaloniausia paaugliui situacija – nuoširdus kolektyvo, draugų pasmerkimas, o sunkiausia bausmė – atviras arba uždaras boikotas, nenoras su juo bendrauti. Paauglio siekimas patraukti kitų paauglių dėmesį, sudominti juos ir pelnyti simpatiją, gali pasireikšti įvairiai: tai gali būti tiek savo sugebėjimų demonstravimas, tiek ir suaugusiųjų reikalavimų nesilaikymas, labai iššaukiantis ar net asocialus elgesys (Walker-Barnes CJ; Mason CA., 2004 ). G.Butkienė, A.Kepalaitė teigia, kad savimoka ir savaiminis moralinių vertybių formavimasis yra galimi tik tada, kai yra saugi aplinka, kupina tarpusavio supratimo, pagarbos bei pasitikėjimo. Paaugliai dažniausiai pažeidžia visuomeninio elgesio taisykles dėl to, kad yra nepatenkinti savo tarp bendraamžių užimama padėtimi. ,,Bendraamžių atstumti, izoliuoti, klasės draugų ir mokytojų nemėgstami paaugliai negatyvius vertinimus pradeda ignoruoti, elgiasi šiurkščiai, provokuojančiai, nevengia grasinimų, fizinės jėgos ir net smurto. Toks elgesys tik dar labiau juos izoliuoja, sudarydamas sąlygas tolesnei negatyviai raiškai. Šiurkštus, provokuojantis elgesys tampa atstumtojo paauglio elgesio norma, antra vertus – tai tarsi savotiška gynyba, jo vertės įrodymas:,, nenori bendrauti, bet bijo manęs’’. Tik nuolat provokuodamas konfliktus paauglys dar gali pakęsti klasę’’ .Pasak G. Navaičio , į blogiausią padėtį pakliūna grupės atstumtieji, tad savęs realizavimo būdų kartais pradeda ieškoti asocialiose grupėse, kuriose, veikiant asocialių paauglių pastiprinimo, spaudimo ir modeliavimo mechanizmams, formuojasi įvairios atstumtų paauglių asocialaus elgesio formos: alkoholizmas, narkomanija, prostitucija ir kt . Tą faktą, kad daugelis paauglių pervertina savo galimybes ir atsparumą narkotikams, alkoholiui ar palaidam lytiniam gyvenimui, matyt, galima paaiškinti ir tuo, jog brandžiai mąstyti nepradedama staiga (Flory K; Lynam D; Milich R; Leukefeld C; Clayton R., 2004 ). Paaugliai yra itin imlūs nestandartiniams, nuo normos nukrypstantiems poelgiams, pavyzdžiui, seksualinių pažiūrų bei poelgių demonstravimui (Moser C; Kleinplatz PJ; Zuccarini D; Reiner WG, 2004).
Narkotikų rinkos ir vartojimo paauglių tarpe augimas rodo, kad gyvename pasaulyje, kuris stokoja vilties ir neturi stiprių dvasinių pamatų (Redzić A; Licanin I; Hadzihalilović J., 2004 ). Toksinės priklausomybės šaknys glūdi ne narkotikuose, bet pačioje asmenybėje, kuri yra praradusi dvasines ir moralines vertybes. Kai narkotikai vartojami kaip priemonė moralinėms kančioms palengvinti ar išspręsti asmeninius sunkumus, juos dar labiau apsunkina( Chabrol H; Massot E; Mullet E., 2004 ). Narkotikai skatina žmogų išsivaduoti iš savęs paties, ieškoti iliuzinių malonumų, bėgti nuo realybės. Bet tokių narkotikų vartojimas yra nepateisinamas, nes veda į atsisakymą mąstyti, trokšti ir veikti kaip laisvai asmenybei( Battjes RJ; Gordon MS; O’Grady KE; Kinlock TW; Katz EC; Sears EA., 2004 ). Daugelis jaunuolių mano, jog galima elgtis bet kaip, nesugeba skirti gėrio nuo blogio, t. y. nejaučia moralės normų ribų (Westen D; Ludolph P; Lerner H; Ruffins S; Wiss FC, 1990).

IŠVADOS

• Žmogus, kuriam yra neaiškios jo paties vertybės, o ypač moralinės vertybės, neturi tvirto pagrindo savo veiksmams ir poelgiams. Todėl jis elgiasi neryžtingai, nenuosekliai, linkęs priimti impulsyvius, neapgalvotus sprendimus. Gerai nežinant savo vertybių hierarchijos yra kur kas sunkiau spręsti įvairius konfliktus ( kai susiduria dvi ar kelios, atrodytų priešingos vertybės) ir išvengti skaudžių išgyvenimų. Toks vertybių nestabilumas yra būdingas paaugliams.
• Kartais paaugliai priima pernelyg ankstyvus sprendimus ir pereina į suaugusiųjų pasaulį tam dar gerai nepasirengę. Toks ankstyvas tapatumas reiškiasi tuo, kad paauglys visiškai priima ankstesnius savo vaidmenis ar tėvų vertybes, neišmėgindamas kitų alternatyvų ir taip nesuranda savo unikalaus asmeninio tapatumo.
• Sėkmingą paauglio moralinių vertybių plėtotę atspindi:
a) sprendimų priėmimas pagal aiškiau suvoktas vertybes;
b) moralinės vertybės įgauna konkretesnę kryptį;
c) moralinių vertybių ir veiksmų suderinamumas
• Narkotikų rinkos ir vartojimo paauglių tarpe augimas rodo, kad gyvename pasaulyje, kuris stokoja vilties ir neturi stiprių dvasinių pamatų. Toksinės priklausomybės šaknys glūdi ne narkotikuose, bet pačioje asmenybėje, kuri yra praradusi dvasines ir moralines vertybes. Narkotikai skatina žmogų išsivaduoti iš savęs paties, ieškoti iliuzinių malonumų, bėgti nuo realybės. Bet tokių narkotikų vartojimas yra nepateisinamas, nes veda į atsisakymą mąstyti, trokšti ir veikti kaip laisvai asmenybei.

REKOMENDACIJOS

Moralinės vertybės gali būti gyvybingos, jeigu yra suvoktos iš vidaus, o ne primestos jėgos struktūrų ir jeigu moraliniai kriterijai yra taikomi visų pirma sau patiems. Todėl tėvai ar auklėtojai , norintys paaugliui išugdyti norimas moralines vertybes, pirmiausiai turėtų atsižvelgti į savo pačių moralinių vertybių suvokimą bei tiesioginę išraišką auklėjant.
Verta prisiminti, jog gilesnis moralinių vertybių suvokimas reikalauja laisvės eksperimentuoti bei sąlygų laisvai rinktis tarp „moralumo“ ir „amoralumo“. Kol žmogus automatiškai vykdo savo mechaninį darbą, jis yra „kasdieninės rutinos vergas“, besiremiantis ne savo paties, o paklūstantis svetimoms, tebūnie ir teisingoms, tačiau sąmoningai nesuvokiamoms vertybėms. Todėl į paauglio maištą, demonstratyvų tradicinių vertybių neigimą vertėtų žvelgti kaip į jo dvasinės brandos ir savarankiško mąstymo pradžią, kurio eigoje bus atrandamos tos pačios tradicinės vertybės. Neretai auklėtojai ar tėvai yra linkę riboti paauglio veiksmus dėl būtent nesusiformavusių moralinių vertybių, tačiau tuo pačiu metu šį procesą stabdo.
Pagrindinis narkotikų , itin populiarių tarp paauglių, vartojimo motyvas – moralinių vertybių ir asmens vidinės harmonijos praradimas. Tą sąlygoja blogas auklėjimas, kai visuomenei ir šeimai nepavyksta perteikti vertybių, padėti formuotis jaunuolio moralinei savivokai. Nors neretai praktikuojami visuomenės reakcijos į šį reiškinį būdai yra trys : prevencija, kova ir reabilitacija, tačiau pirmasis būdas yra bene svarbiausias ir efektyviausias. Bet ši prevencija bus sėkminga tik tada, kada bus derinama su tinkamu auklėjimu, atveriančiu tikrąją gyvenimo prasmę, iškeliančiu į pirmąją vietą vertybes, nes tikroji kova – tai vertybių puoselėjimas.

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SANTRAUKOS

Antraštė: Adolescents’ emotion expectancies regarding aggressive and nonaggressive events: connections with behavior problems.
Autoriai: Arsenio WF; Gold J; Adams E

Šaltinis: Journal of experimental child psychology. [J Exp Child Psychol] 2004 Dec; Vol. 89 (4), pp. 338-55.
Santrauka: A total of 50 behaviorally disruptive (conduct-disordered or oppositional defiant-disordered) adolescents and 50 comparison adolescents assessed how they expected to feel following both aggressive and nonaggressive situations. Compared with their peers, behaviorally disruptive adolescents expected fewer normative emotions and exhibited somewhat more of an anger emphasis in their nonaggressive emotion attributions, and they expected to feel happier following acts of instrumental/proactive aggression. These patterns of emotion expectancies were linked more closely with teacher ratings of adolescents’ proactive aggression than with ratings of reactive aggression. Regression analyses indicated that both nonaggression emotion expectancies and proactive aggression happiness made independent contributions to predicting adolescents’ externalizing tendencies. Discussion focused on the contributions of different types of self-attributed emotion expectancies to adolescents’ social understanding and behavior.
Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE
Antraštė: Aggression and moral development: integrating social information processing and moral domain models.
Autoriai: Arsenio WF; Lemerise EA

Šaltinis: Child development. [Child Dev] 2004 Jul-Aug; Vol. 75 (4), pp. 987-1002.

Santrauka: Social information processing and moral domain theories have developed in relative isolation from each other despite their common focus on intentional harm and victimization, and mutual emphasis on social cognitive processes in explaining aggressive, morally relevant behaviors. This article presents a selective summary of these literatures with the goal of showing how they can be integrated into a single, coherent model. An essential aspect of this integration is Crick and Dodge’s (1994) distinction between latent mental structures and online processing. It is argued that moral domain theory is relevant for describing underlying mental structures regarding the nature and boundaries of what is moral, whereas the social information processing model describes the online information processing that affects application of moral structures during peer interactions. (Copyright 2004 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.)
Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE

Antraštė: Evaluation of a group-based substance abuse treatment program for adolescents.
Autoriai: Battjes RJ; Gordon MS; O’Grady KE; Kinlock TW; Katz EC; Sears EA

Šaltinis: Journal of substance abuse treatment. [J Subst Abuse Treat] 2004 Sep; Vol. 27 (2), pp. 123-34.
Santrauka: The effectiveness of adolescent substance abuse treatment has been repeatedly demonstrated, but specific treatment approaches have rarely been sufficiently documented to permit replication. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a manual-guided, outpatient, group-based treatment program for adolescents (N = 194) who were mild-to-moderate substance abusers. In addition to evaluating the group-based treatment model, the study was designed to compare the effectiveness of two approaches to preparing youth to engage in treatment, whereby adolescents received one of two types of treatment induction, either motivational interviewing or counseling overview. Self-reported pretreatment substance use and criminal behaviors were compared with these behaviors 6 and 12 months following treatment entry using a General Linear Mixed Model analytic approach that controlled for the effects of potential confounding variables and examined individual and program factors that might explain treatment response. Participants significantly reduced marijuana use at 6 months, and these reductions were largely sustained at 12 months. No changes in alcohol use or criminal involvement were obtained. Further examination of marijuana use indicated differential treatment response based on participants’ emotional abuse history, family satisfaction, school adjustment, and pretreatment substance use frequency. This treatment approach appears promising for marijuana-abusing youth.
Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE

Antraštė: Legal implications surrounding adolescent health care decision-making in matters of sex, reproduction, and gender.
Autoriai: Beh HG; Pietsch JH

Šaltinis: Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America. [Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am] 2004 Jul; Vol. 13 (3), pp. 675-94, ix-x.
Santrauka: This article focuses on the thorny and evolving legal issues and implications of health care decision-making for children and adolescents in matters of gender, sexual identity, sexual conduct, and reproduction. In treating minors, health care professionals increasingly experience competing duties and responsibilities to their patient, the parents or guardians, and to the state. This article gives health care professionals a foundation for understanding the legal concepts of adolescent health care decision-making and provides an approach for balancing the potential competing interests of these stakeholders while complying with professional standards,the law, and their own ethical and moral convictions.
Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE

Antraštė: Predicting problem behaviors with multiple expectancies: expanding expectancy-value theory.
Autoriai: Borders A; Earleywine M; Huey SJ

Šaltinis: Adolescence. [Adolescence] 2004 Fall; Vol. 39 (155), pp. 539-50.

Santrauka: Expectancy-value theory emphasizes the importance of outcome expectancies for behavioral decisions, but most tests of the theory focus on a single behavior and a single expectancy. However, the matching law suggests that individuals consider expected outcomes for both the target behavior and alternative behaviors when making decisions. In this study, we expanded expectancy-value theory to evaluate the contributions of two competing expectancies to adolescent behavior problems. One hundred twenty-one high school students completed measures of behavior problems, expectancies for both acting out and academic effort, and perceived academic competence. Students’ self-reported behavior problems covaried mostly with perceived competence and academic expectancies and only nominally with problem behavior expectancies. We suggest that behavior problems may result from students perceiving a lack of valued or feasible alternative behaviors, such as studying. We discuss implications for interventions and suggest that future research continue to investigate the contribution of alternative expectancies to behavioral decisions.
Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE

Antraštė: A predictive model of hopefulness for adolescents.
Autoriai: Cantrell MA; Lupinacci P

Šaltinis: The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine. [J Adolesc Health] 2004 Dec; Vol. 35 (6), pp. 478-85.

Santrauka: PURPOSE: To develop a predictive model of hopefulness using the variables of age, gender, and self-esteem among a sample of adolescents with cancer and a sample of healthy adolescents. METHODS: Forty-five healthy adolescents were individually matched with 45 adolescents with cancer on the basis of gender and age. Of the 90 subjects included in this study, 48 were male and 42 were female; half of the males (n = 24) and half of the females (n = 21) had cancer. Perceived level of self-esteem was measured using the Coppersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI), and their degree of hopefulness was measured with the Hopefulness Scale for Adolescents (HSA). Data were analyzed using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) Version 8. RESULTS: Adolescents’ perceived level of self-esteem and hopefulness did not differ by gender or disease status. Patients with cancer had a significantly higher mean hopefulness score than healthy subjects (p = .031), and those adolescents with cancer did not have a lower perceived sense of self-esteem than healthy adolescents. The correlation coefficients between SEI and HSA were statistically significant for females with cancer, r = 0.723 (p < .001) and for healthy females, r = 0.676 (p < .001). In contrast, the correlations between SEI and HSA for males were not statistically significant. A model was constructed to predict a subject's hopefulness score that included the variables of self-esteem (p < .001), gender (p = .001), disease status (p = .005), and the interaction between self-esteem and gender (p = .002). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study demonstrate that hopefulness is a coping strategy used by female adolescents, both healthy and ill, that is closely related to their perceived sense of self-esteem. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Factor structure of cannabis related beliefs in adolescents. Autoriai: Chabrol H; Massot E; Mullet E Šaltinis: Addictive behaviors. [Addict Behav] 2004 Jul; Vol. 29 (5), pp. 929-33. Santrauka: This study evaluated 285 high school students (163 males, 122 females, with a mean age of 17.5+/-1.1 years) using a questionnaire for the diagnosis of cannabis use and dependence: 159 of them (55.7%) were cannabis users and, among users, 52 subjects (33%) met criteria for cannabis dependence. All subjects were assessed with a self-report questionnaire derived from the questionnaire of anticipatory, relief-oriented, and permissive beliefs for drug addiction elaborated by Tison and Hautekeete [J. Ther. Comport. Cogn. 2 (1998) 43] from the cognitive model of drug addiction formulated by Beck et al. [Cognitive Therapy of Substance Abuse. New York: Guilford Press, 1993]. A confirmatory factor analysis found that the three-category model for drug-related beliefs proposed by Beck et al. provided an adequate fit to the data. Regression analyses showed that permissive beliefs were the dominant predictor for cannabis use and that relief-oriented beliefs were the only predictor of cannabis dependence. These results represent an empirical validation of Beck's model. (Copyright 2004 Elsevier Ltd.) Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Emotional responses to antisocial acts in adolescent males with conduct disorder: a link to affective morality. Autoriai: Cimbora DM; McIntosh DN Šaltinis: Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53. [J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol] 2003 Jun; Vol. 32 (2), pp. 296-301. Santrauka: Examined the role of emotion-based moral processes in the committing of delinquent acts by adolescent males with conduct disorder (CD). An Affective Morality Index (AMI) was developed to assess emotional responses to vignettes of delinquent acts. CD groups, as compared to a non-CD group, reported lower levels of guilt and fear and higher levels of excitement and happiness following described transgressions. Number of CD symptoms and a recidivism-risk item were correlated negatively with reported guilt and fear and positively with happiness and excitement. Trends suggested that youth with childhood-onset CD (CO) show lower levels of affective morality than those with adolescent-onset CD (AO). There were no effects for anger. This research, and in particular the AMI, expands our understanding of affective-based morality, especially in discriminating between CD and non-CD youth. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Religion as a resource for positive youth development: religion, social capital, and moral outcomes. Autoriai: Ebstyne King P; Furrow JL Šaltinis: Developmental psychology. [Dev Psychol] 2004 Sep; Vol. 40 (5), pp. 703-13. Santrauka: Although existing literature demonstrates that developmental benefits are associated with religion for adolescents, little is understood about the dynamics of this relationship. Drawing on social capital theory, this study tested a conceptual model exploring socially embedded religious influences on moral outcomes. A three-dimensional model of social capital demonstrated how social interaction, trust, and shared vision enable social ties associated with religiousness to influence moral behavior. Structural equation modeling was used with data gathered from 735 urban youths to test a proposed model of the effects of religiousness on moral outcomes. Results suggested that religiously active youths report higher levels of social capital resources and that the influence of adolescent religiousness on moral outcomes was mediated through social capital resources. Suggestions for further research and implications for faith-based youth development organizations are considered. (Copyright 2004 American Psychological Association) Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Early adolescent through young adult alcohol and marijuana use trajectories: early predictors, young adult outcomes, and predictive utility. Autoriai: Flory K; Lynam D; Milich R; Leukefeld C; Clayton R Šaltinis: Development and psychopathology. [Dev Psychopathol] 2004 Winter; Vol. 16 (1), pp. 193-213. Santrauka: The present study takes a developmental approach to subgrouping and examines the trajectories of substance use from early adolescence through young adulthood among a community sample of 481 individuals. The patterns of use were examined, subgroups were identified separately for men and women and for alcohol and marijuana, and psychosocial predictors and psychopathology outcomes that differentiated the groups were identified. The results revealed three substantially overlapping subgroups for both alcohol and marijuana: early onset, late onset, and nonuser. Although the general patterns of which dependent variables were related to group were similar for alcohol and marijuana, a closer examination revealed important subgroup differences. For alcohol use, the early-onset group was more dysfunctional in terms of predictors and outcomes whereas the late-onset and nonuser groups were better adjusted. In contrast, for marijuana, the early- and late-onset groups were both more dysfunctional than the nonuser group. In a final analysis, we examined the predictive utility of our developmental approach to subgrouping compared to a traditional, static approach. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Moral development and psychopathological interference in conscience functioning among adolescents after trauma. Autoriai: Goenjian A; Stilwell BM; Steinberg AM; Fairbanks LA; Galvin MR; Karayan I; Pynoos RS Šaltinis: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. [J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry] 1999 Apr; Vol. 38 (4), pp. 376-84. Santrauka: OBJECTIVES: To compare moral development and psychopathological interference with conscience functioning (PI) among adolescents exposed to different degrees of earthquake-related trauma and to investigate the relationship of moral development and PI to exposure to trauma, severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, postearthquake adversities, and extent of loss of nuclear family members. METHOD: Adolescents (N = 193) from 2 cities at different distances from the epicenter were evaluated. The Stilwell Structured Conscience Interview was used to assess moral development and PI. Structured self-report instruments were used to obtain ratings of severity of earthquake-related trauma, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and postearthquake adversities. RESULTS: Adolescents in the city near the epicenter manifested advanced moral development as compared with their counterparts in the less affected city. Concomitantly, they endorsed responses indicating PI. Levels of PI were significantly correlated with severity of PTSD symptoms. CONCLUSION: In the aftermath of a catastrophic natural disaster, children assume greater responsibilities and confront a multitude of morally challenging interpersonal situations which may result in an advancement of their moral development. Yet, at the same time, PTSD symptoms and negative schematizations of self and others may give rise to disturbances in conscience functioning. The findings suggest that therapeutic consideration should be given to assisting children in integrating the horror of their traumatic experiences and the harshness of posttrauma adversities into an adaptive schema of good and evil in themselves and the world. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Morality as a predictor of loneliness: a cross-cultural study. Autoriai: Jordaan J; le Roux A Šaltinis: Curationis. [Curationis] 2004 Nov; Vol. 27 (4), pp. 81-93. Santrauka: Loneliness is currently regarded as one of the most common and prevalent problems experienced by adolescents, and it is also observed as a painful, unpleasant and negative experience. South African adolescents also have to face and cope with this predicament daily. The main objective of this study was to establish the perception of adolescents of different cultures regarding loneliness and morality and to investigate the relationship between them. It was also determined which of the independent variables, namely morality, gender, age, mother tongue and ethnicity, contributed significantly to the prediction of loneliness. A total of 714 adolescents from three different secondary schools in the greater Bloemfontein area between the ages of 13 and 17 were selected. Adolescents were used because they are increasingly being confronted with moral issues and because loneliness occurs more commonly during adolescence. The focus was on three ethnic groups, namely Coloured, black and white. Three different questionnaires, namely the Le Roux Loneliness Scale, the Morally Debatable Behaviours Scale and a biographical questionnaire were completed to obtain the necessary data. A significant inverse correlation between loneliness and morality was determined, while morality was identified as the best predictor of loneliness. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Adolescents' perception of the ideal mate: its relationship to parental characteristics in intact and nonintact families. Autoriai: Lazar A; Guttmann J Šaltinis: Adolescence. [Adolescence] 2004 Summer; Vol. 39 (154), pp. 389-96. Santrauka: The relation of adolescents' experiencing parental divorce, their perception of parents' characteristics, and their perception of the ideal mate's characteristics was investigated. One hundred adolescents from intact families and 79 from nonintact families were asked to rank both the degree to which each of 40 personality traits characterized their parents and the degree to which each characterized an ideal partner. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between adolescents from intact and nonintact families in the independence of their characterizations of their ideal mate and of their parents. However, differences were found on some of the personality dimensions that were investigated. These and other findings are discussed within the framework of psychoanalytic theory. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Effects of parent education on knowledge and attitudes. Autoriai: Mann MB; Pearl PT; Behle PD Šaltinis: Adolescence. [Adolescence] 2004 Summer; Vol. 39 (154), pp. 355-60. Santrauka: This study evaluated 42 pregnant and parenting adolescents (aged 13 to 20 years) and adults (who began parenting as adolescents) enrolled in parenting classes. The Parent as a Teacher Inventory and the Adult-Adolescent Parenting Inventory were used to measure change in knowledge and attitudes following participation in the classes. The findings indicated significant improvement as a result of parent education. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Extraordinary moral commitment: young adults involved in social organizations. Autoriai: Matsuba MK; Walker LJ, Šaltinis: Journal of personality. [J Pers] 2004Apr; Vol. 72 (2), pp. 413-36. Santrauka: The personality of exemplary young adults was studied in an effort to paint a portrait of moral excellence that expanded upon the traditional emphasis on moral reasoning maturity. These young adults were nominated based on their extraordinary moral commitment towards various social organizations. The sample included 40 moral exemplars and 40 matched comparison individuals who responded to a battery of questionnaires and participated in a semistructured interview. It was found that moral exemplars, in contrast to comparison individuals, were more agreeable, more advanced in their faith and moral reasoning development, further along in forming an adult identity, and more willing to enter into close relationships. These findings are discussed in the context of describing moral excellence from a multifaceted, personality perspective. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Media and civic socialization of youth. Autoriai: McLeod JM Šaltinis: The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine. [J Adolesc Health] 2000 Aug; Vol. 27 (2 Suppl), pp. 45-51. Santrauka: Research on the development of citizenship has been reinvigorated by considering adolescents as participants actively engaged in, and interacting with, family, peers, teachers, and the media. This contrasts with earlier top-down transmission models that saw adolescents as passive recipients of information from parents and teachers. Active citizenship is now seen as a largely indirect result of contextualized knowledge and cognitive skills learned from news media use, interpersonal communication, and active participation in school and community volunteer activities. The processes of active citizenship learning are an important part of the moral development of adolescents and young adults. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Family communication about sex: what are parents saying and are their adolescents listening? Autoriai: Miller KS; Kotchick BA; Dorsey S; Forehand R; Ham AY Šaltinis: Family planning perspectives. [Fam Plann Perspect] 1998 Sep-Oct; Vol. 30 (5), pp. 218-22, 235. Santrauka: CONTEXT: Communication between parents and adolescents about sex, particularly in minority families, has been understudied; more information is needed both on which sex-related topics are discussed and on how their content is transmitted. METHODS: Parent-adolescent communication about 10 sex-related topics was examined in a sample of 907 Hispanic and black 14-16-year-olds. Chi-square analyses were performed to test for significant differences across the 10 topics in discussions reported by the adolescents (with either parent) and by the mothers. The openness of communication, parent-adolescent agreement about communication of topics and differences by gender and ethnicity were also examined. RESULTS: Significantly higher proportions of mothers and adolescents reported discussions of HIV or AIDS (92% by mothers and 71% by adolescents, respectively) and STDs (85% and 70%, respectively) than of issues surrounding sexual behavior, contraceptive use and physical development (27-74% for these other eight topics as reported by mothers vs. 15-66% as reported by adolescents). The gender of the adolescent and of the parent holding the discussion, but not the family's ethnicity, significantly influenced findings, with adolescents of both sexes more likely to report discussions with mothers than with fathers, and with parents more likely to discuss any of the 10 topics with an adolescent of the same gender than of the opposite gender. The likelihood of a topic being discussed and of mother-adolescent agreement that a topic was discussed both increased with an increasing degree of openness in the communication process. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with research among white samples, mothers of black and Hispanic adolescents are the primary parental communicators about sexual topics. To facilitate communication, educational programs for parents should cover not only what is discussed, but how the information is conveyed. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Body-image evaluation and body-image investment among adolescents: a test of sociocultural and social comparison theories. Autoriai: Morrison TG; Kalin R; Morrison MA Šaltinis: Adolescence. [Adolescence] 2004 Fall; Vol. 39 (155), pp. 571-92. Santrauka: Sociocultural theory and social comparison theory were used to account for variations in body-image evaluation and body-image investment among male and female adolescents (N = 1,543). Exposure to magazines and television programs containing idealistic body imagery as well as frequency of self-comparison to universalistic targets (e.g., fashion models) were measured. Results provided minimal support for sociocultural theory, but fairly strong support for social comparison theory. Specifically, the extent to which males engaged in universalistic social comparison predicted appearance self-esteem, number of diets to gain weight, use of pathogenic weight control practices, and use of steroids to increase muscle mass. For females, universalistic social comparison predicted appearance self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, number of diets to lose weight, and use of pathogenic weight control practices. The possibility that the null effects for sociocultural theory were an artifact of dummy coding for missing data or theoretical interdependence were explored, but did not appear to be valid. Limitations of the present study and directions for future research are outlined. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Situating unusual child and adolescent sexual behavior in context. Autoriai: Moser C; Kleinplatz PJ; Zuccarini D; Reiner WG Šaltinis: Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America. [Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am] 2004 Jul; Vol. 13 (3), pp. 569-89, vii. Santrauka: There is a lack of scientific knowledge concerning what constitutes normal versus unusual sexual behaviors among minors. Clinical judgements in these cases often are clouded by unfounded sociocultural assumptions, personal biases, legal issues, and moral considerations. Current diagnostic nomenclature that is used commonly for adult sexual activities is inappropriately applied to minors. Considerations about unusual sexual interests (ie, frequency of sexual behaviors, difficulties controlling sexual expression,consent, nonheterosexual interests, much older or younger partners, atypical sexual stimuli, number of partners, and sexual abuse) are explored to provide perspective for evaluation. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Parent-adolescent relations and adolescent functioning: self-esteem, substance abuse, and delinquency. Autoriai: Parker JS; Benson MJ Šaltinis: Adolescence. [Adolescence] 2004 Fall; Vol. 39 (155), pp. 519-30. Santrauka: The present study examined parental support and monitoring as they relate to adolescent outcomes. It was hypothesized that support and monitoring would be associated with higher self-esteem and less risky behavior during adolescence. The diverse sample included 16,749 adolescents assessed as part of the National Educational Longitudinal Study. Both high parental support and parental monitoring were related to greater self-esteem and lower risk behaviors. The findings partially confirm, as well as extend, propositions in attachment theory. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Developmental issues influencing guidelines for adolescent health research: a review. Autoriai: Petersen AC; Leffert N Šaltinis: The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine. [J Adolesc Health] 1995 Nov; Vol. 17 (5), pp. 298-305. Santrauka: Adolescent development brings many opportunities to adolescents as research participants. They may be enthusiastic participants, especially if the focus of the research is of interest to the adolescents. Their increasing sense of self and development of autonomy may yield open, thoughtful responses less likely with older research participants. At the same time, the researcher must be aware of particular vulnerabilities of adolescents. Cognitive and reasoning capacity emerges gradually over the adolescent decade, making younger adolescents less capable than older adolescents of effective reasoning. The researcher can adjust materials to be understandable to the younger adolescent but should also recognize that inexperience could increase anxiety or emotionality about an issue not problematic to an older adolescent or adult. Making clear the right of the adolescent to refuse to discuss particular issues usually permits more honest responses, and increases the likelihood of consent to research or parts of research. Especially stressful circumstances may cause degradation of reasoning capacity suggesting that the researcher needs to assess whether the adolescent is able to make a wise decision about participation, as well as about particular responses. The researcher can usually identify ways to alleviate stress in the study situation and should take all steps necessary to obtain both informed consent and valid responses. Existing research provides clear evidence that most adolescents, at least past age 14 or 15 years, are able to function as well as adults research participants under most circumstances. With younger adolescents and under stressful situations, the researcher can find ways to minimize risk from research and increase the likelihood of valid responses. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Some aspects of the psychoactive substances abuse in adolescents. Autoriai: Redzić A; Licanin I; Hadzihalilović J Šaltinis: Bosnian journal of basic medical sciences. [Bosn J Basic Med Sci] 2004 May; Vol. 4 (2), pp. 51-5. Santrauka: Cannabis is a plant whose consumption causes hallucinations soon after it has been inhaled. This study was conducted with 600 adolescents of age 12 to 17 with even gender distribution from two residence locations (rural and urban). Epidemiological-analytic study was prospectively conducted, whose results were analysed with standard statistical methods. The results showed that the use of cannabis is greater by the adolescents in high school (15-17 years old), than the adolescents in the elementary school (12-14 years old). The x2 test showed great significance. Among the tested adolescents the consumption of cannabis is more present in urban than in rural type of residency. However, gender structure did not show significant differences. It is obvious that the prevention of the use of psychoactive substances should be at its maximum. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Moralization of attachment: a fourth domain of conscience functioning. Autoriai: Stilwell BM; Galvin M; Kopta SM; Padgett RJ; Holt JW Šaltinis: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. [J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry] 1997 Aug; Vol. 36 (8), pp. 1140-7. Santrauka: OBJECTIVES: To define discrete developmental levels of understanding regarding the ways in which normal children and adolescents link remembered and current attachment experiences to their moral belief system and to study the correlation between this progression and previously identified stages of conscience conceptualization. METHOD: Using the moralization of attachment section from the semistructured Stilwell Conscience Interview, 132 normal volunteers between the ages of 5 and 17 years were individually interviewed. Analysis of the interviews resulted in five levels of understanding. RESULTS: By analyses of variance and covariance, the five attachment levels showed significant correlation with the five conceptualization stages. Conceptualization stage showed a stronger correlation than age. CONCLUSIONS: In normal development, moralization of attachment is a domain of conscience functioning which follows a five-level hierarchical developmental progression; first, the child's sense of security and empathic responsiveness become paired with a sense of moral obligation; caretaker rules are then incorporated; an understanding of how empathy modifies strict rule-following develops; idols and ideals are chosen that reflect earlier learning in attachment relationships; finally, a visualization of the self as moral standard-bearer or teacher unfolds. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Moral valuation: a third domain of conscience functioning. Autoriai: Stilwell BM; Galvin M; Kopta SM; Padgett RJ Šaltinis: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. [J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry] 1996 Feb; Vol. 35 (2), pp. 230-9. Santrauka: OBJECTIVE: To assess development of moral valuation in normal children and adolescents, that is, how moral rules for living are derived and justified, and to examine the relationship of this progression with previously identified stages of conceptualization of conscience. METHOD: Using three semistructured questions from the Stilwell Conscience Interview, 132 normal volunteers between the ages of 5 and 17 years were assessed. All moral valuation responses were examined within three aspects of social reference: authority-derived, self-derived, and peer-derived. Each aspect was scaled for complexity into six anchored levels. RESULTS: The levels of all three aspects correlated positively with conceptualization stages as well as with each other. When the covariate, age, was taken into consideration, peer-derived valuation was significantly correlated with both age and stage. CONCLUSIONS: Moral valuation is a domain of conscience functioning in which moral rules and their justifications are socially referenced in relationship to authority, self, and peers. Anchored levels of these three aspects of moral valuation provide developmental guidelines for mental status examinations in patients between 5 and 17 years of age as well as providing criteria for future comparative studies in various diagnostic categories of psychopathology. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Moral-emotional responsiveness: a two-factor domain of conscience functioning. Autoriai: Stilwell BM; Galvin M; Kopta SM; Norton JA Jr Šaltinis: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. [J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry] 1994 Jan; Vol. 33 (1), pp. 130-9. Santrauka: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the progression in development of moral-emotional responsiveness in children and adolescents and to examine the relationship of this progression with previously identified stages of conceptualization of conscience. METHOD: Using three semistructured questions from the Stilwell Conscience Interview, 132 normal volunteers between the ages of 5 and 17 years were assessed regarding comprehension of their emotional responses to moral stimuli. RESULTS: Rational analysis of the responses identified six items; each item was scaled for complexity into five stages. Factor analysis of the six items revealed two factors: moral-emotional responsiveness 1 contained items relating to external anxiety, internal anxiety, and mood; more-emotional responsiveness 2 contained items relating to the restoration of psychophysiological equilibrium through the processes of reparation and healing. Differences between conceptualization stages, with the moral-emotional responsiveness factors serving as dependent variables, were accounted for by stage differences in age and the positive correlations between the moral-emotional responsiveness factors and age. CONCLUSIONS: Moral-emotional responsiveness is a two-factor domain of the conscience. The findings provide additional developmental guidelines for assessing conscience development and functioning both in clinical practice and in research. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: The adolescent with a chronic condition. Part I: developmental issues. Autoriai: Suris JC; Michaud PA; Viner R Šaltinis: Archives of disease in childhood. [Arch Dis Child] 2004 Oct; Vol. 89 (10), pp. 938-42. Santrauka: The prevalence of chronic conditions among adolescents is difficult to assess due to the lack of quality data focusing specifically on this age group, as well as the diversity in methodology and definitions used. However, surveys carried out by self administered questionnaires among in-school adolescent populations indicate that around 10% of adolescents suffer from such a condition. The aim of this paper is to analyse the reciprocal effects of chronic conditions and adolescent development by reviewing the effect of chronic disease on growth and puberty and on psychosocial development, and the effect of developmental issues on the course and management of chronic disease. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Moral volition: the fifth and final domain leading to an integrated theory of conscience understanding. Autoriai: Stilwell BM; Galvin MR; Kopta SM; Padgett RJ Šaltinis: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. [J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry] 1998 Feb; Vol. 37 (2), pp. 202-10. Santrauka: OBJECTIVES: To define discrete developmental levels of understanding of the ways in which normal children and adolescents link autonomy and will to moral obligation and to study the correlation between this progression and previously identified stages of conscience conceptualization. METHOD: One hundred thirty-two normal volunteers between the ages of 5 and 17 years were individually interviewed using the moral volition section of the semistructured Stilwell Conscience Interview. Analysis of the interviews resulted in five levels of understanding of moral self-evaluation and volitionally chosen behavior. RESULTS: Analyses of variance and covariance showed that the five levels of moral volition had significant correlation with five conceptualization stages, with stage criteria showing a stronger correlation than age. Self-identified tasks of oughtness were hierarchically defined beginning with those defining a morality of restraint followed by moralities of mastery/sufficiency, virtuous striving, idealization, and individual responsibility. Perception of increased independence of self in interaction with conscience was noteworthy at stages 4 and 5. CONCLUSIONS: Moral volition is the domain of conscience functioning that defines understanding of moral self-evaluation and volitionally chosen actions; five levels of understanding can be demonstrated in normal children between the ages of 5 and 17 years. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Pubertal neuromaturation, stress sensitivity, and psychopathology. Autoriai: Walker EF; Sabuwalla Z; Huot R Šaltinis: Development and psychopathology. [Dev Psychopathol] 2004 Fall; Vol. 16 (4), pp. 807-24. Santrauka: Normal adolescent development is often accompanied by transient emotional and behavioral problems. For most individuals with postpubertal-onset adjustment problems, there is a resolution by early adulthood and relative stability through the adult life span. But for a minority, adjustment problems escalate during adolescence and portend the development of serious mental illness in adulthood. In this article, we explore adolescent behavioral changes and neurodevelopmental processes that might contribute to stress sensitivity and vulnerability for the emergence of the mental disorders. Of particular interest is the role that hormonal changes might play in the expression of genetic vulnerabilities for psychopathology. Drawing on recent findings from clinical research and behavioral neuroscience, we describe the ways in which postpubertal hormones might alter brain function and, thereby, behavior. It is concluded that there are both activational and organization effects of hormones on the adolescent brain, and these contribute to developmental discontinuities in behavioral adjustment. Implications for adult psychopathology and preventive intervention are discussed. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Delinquency and substance use among gang-involved youth: the moderating role of parenting practices. Autoriai: Walker-Barnes CJ; Mason CA Šaltinis: American journal of community psychology. [Am J Community Psychol] 2004 Dec; Vol. 34 (3-4), pp. 235-50. Santrauka: This study uses longitudinal data from an ethnically diverse sample of 300 ninth grade students to examine the moderating effect of parenting practices upon the relationship between gang involvement and adolescent problem behavior. Results of hierarchical linear modeling indicate that gang involvement is a highly significant positive predictor of each of three categories of problem behavior (minor delinquency, major delinquency, and substance use). Three of the four parenting variables (behavioral control, psychological control, parent-adolescent conflict, and warmth) are found to moderate the relationship between gang involvement and problem behavior, with the most consistent effects found for behavioral control and warmth. These findings indicate that intervention efforts aimed at reducing the impact of gang involvement on adolescent development should consider factors that may decrease the deleterious behavioral outcomes associated with youth gangs. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Friends, porn, and punk: sensation seeking in personal relationships, internet activities, and music preference among college students. Autoriai: Weisskirch RS; Murphy LC Šaltinis: Adolescence. [Adolescence] 2004 Summer; Vol. 39 (154), pp. 189-201. Santrauka: One hundred thirty-eight college students completed a questionnaire assessing level of sensation seeking, number of close and casual friends, Internet usage, liking certain styles of music, and genre of music listened to most often. It was found that the number of casual and close friends was positively associated with sensation seeking. Individuals who reported using the Internet to get sex-oriented material, download or play music, play games, and chat/instant message with friends in the previous 24 hours had higher levels of sensation seeking. Liking punk, heavy metal, and reggae music were related to higher levels of sensation seeking. Higher sensation seeking was also associated with spending more time listening to punk music. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Adolescent and parent perceptions of media influence on adolescent sexuality. Autoriai: Werner-Wilson RJ; Fitzharris JL; Morrissey KM Šaltinis: Adolescence. [Adolescence] 2004 Summer; Vol. 39 (154), pp. 303-13. Santrauka: Empirical evidence suggests that television and other media influence adolescents' attitudes and behaviors. Much of the research in this area is based on surveys in which adolescents are asked to rank the relative importance of a fixed set of factors such as parents, peers, and media. We reviewed data from focus groups conducted with adolescents and their parents to examine the extent to which adolescents identify--without prompting--media as a source of influence on sexual behavior. Adolescents seemed indifferent to media influence (e.g., media influence was mentioned in only one adolescent focus group), but their parents expressed significant concern about media influence. Future research should investigate the extent to which influences exist outside of adolescents' consciousness. For now, parents and sexuality educators may need to convince adolescents that concerns about the media are valid before trying to change media-influenced behavior. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: Object relations in borderline adolescents. Autoriai: Westen D; Ludolph P; Lerner H; Ruffins S; Wiss FC Šaltinis: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. [J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry] 1990 May; Vol. 29 (3), pp. 338-48. Santrauka: Although pathological object relations is a core aspect of borderline psychopathology, few studies have examined borderline object relations empirically, and none has focused on borderline adolescents. The present study examined four dimensions of object relations, as measured by the Thematic Apperception Test, in a sample of adolescent borderlines, psychiatric comparison subjects, and normals. These dimensions are complexity of object representations, affect-tone of relationship paradigms, capacity for emotional investment in relationships and moral standards, and understanding of social causality. Borderlines differed significantly from both comparison groups in several distinct ways, supporting some aspects of psychoanalytic theories of borderline object relations, while challenging others. Borderline adolescents have a malevolent object world, a relative incapacity to invest in others in a non-need-gratifying way, and a tendency to attribute motivation to others in simple, illogical, and idiosyncratic ways. Their object representations, however, can be quite complex, suggesting something other than a preoedipal arrest. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE Antraštė: A study of attitudes and support systems of inner city adolescent mothers. Autoriai: Zuckerman B; Winsmore G; Alpert JJ Šaltinis: The Journal of pediatrics. [J Pediatr] 1979 Jul; Vol. 95 (1), pp. 122-5. Santrauka: Because the simultaneous demands of adolescence and motherhood could result in special infant rearing attitudes and concerns, a prospective pilot study of inner city adolescent mothers was undertaken. A sample of primiparous adolescent mothers was compared with primiparous and multiparous nonadolescent mothers. Data were collected by home interviews at two weeks and three months postpartum. The major hypothesis, that the simultaneous occurrence of adolescence and motherhood would result in special infant rearing attitudes, concerns, and support systems which interfered with mothering, was not fully supported by our findings. Few of the adolescent mothers were married (8%) but of those not married, most (95%) lived in an extended family. Adolescent mothers, when compared with older mothers, were more likely to seek medical advice from their mothers as opposed to health professionals and were more insecure in their maternal self-image if caretaking was shared. Attitudinal differences around feeding were seen, but attitudes about spoiling, perception of the baby's behavior, discipline, caretaking, and enjoyment were the same among groups. Adolescent mothers and their infants provide physicians and other child health professional with a special pediatric family. The differences in available support systems and maternal self-image suggest areas for further investigation. Duomenų bazė: MEDLINE