Adolescence: Contemporary Issues and Resources
QUESTION
Research the range of contemporary issues teenagers face today. In a 500-750-word paper, choose one issue (besides teen pregnancy) and discuss its effect on adolescent behavior and overall well-being. Include the following in your submission:
1. Describe the contemporary issue and explain what external stressors are associated with this issue.
2. Outline assessment strategies to screen for this issue and external stressors during an assessment for an adolescent patient. Describe what additional assessment questions you would need to ask and define the ethical parameters regarding what you can and cannot share with the parent or guardian.
3.Discuss support options for adolescents encountering external stressors. Include specific support options for the contemporary issue you presented.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
Adolescence: Contemporary Issues and Resources
ANSWER
Adolescence Internet Addiction
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Adolescence Internet Addiction
Internet usage has increased and occupied a considerable part of our lives over the years. The influence is linked to its provision of information and ability to connect everyone around the globe. The invention of smart gadgets like phones and easy contact with the internet has brought many advantages, including networking. From an early age, adolescents have spent an incredible amount of time on digital devices. However, most adolescents have embraced social networking to the extent of getting addicted. Addiction is now a diagnosis accepted and a problem requiring professional intervention. The problem is defined as excessive usage of the internet leading to open-mindedness, withdrawal and negative consequences (Chung et al., 2019). Some of the external stressors leading adolescents to internet addiction include pressure from parents for good grades and peer pressure. This essay aims to assess adolescents’ internet addiction problem through outlined strategies and its effects on adolescents’ behaviors. It also discusses the support alternatives for adolescents experiencing external stressors.
Assessment Strategies
Some of the assessment strategies commonly employed when screening for adolescent internet addiction include; study of psychological variables, school and family factors, environmental factors, and the apparent internet characteristics. A psychological variable is a tool approved by the National Information Society Agency for identifying internet dependance and other associated syndromes, which uses scales with eight questions, each estimated on a four-point Likert (Kim et al., 2018). The scores get summed for three high features in terms of impulsivity such as depression, act on the spur, and temper management.
School and family factors are other tools for measuring adolescent internet addiction. The scale used in such cases is the Family Cohesion and Adaptability Evaluation Scale (FACES), through which family relationships are measured. It consists of 10 queries on a five-point Likert scale to degree of family support, emotive ties, leisure time spent at home. High family cohesion produces high scores. School-related factors are measured by the school adaptation scale, which assesses the extent of adaptation to a school atmosphere. Queries on the scale majors around the relationship with the teacher, classmate, school participation and attitude to academic events (Throuvala et al., 2019). The tool has four subscales and a five-point Likert scale with fourteen questions. Positive school life gets a higher score.
Social, environmental factors include exposure to online game advertisements and accessibility to PC cafes. Research shows that environmental factors like too much exposure to PC cafes increase the chances of addiction among adolescents (Kim et al., 2018). Characterized by the equipment of advanced computers, the cafes are optimized for internet gaming which attracts many adolescents. A scale reconstructed by Lee and Nam is used for measuring exposure to PC cafes. It entails three matters: an opportunity to visit a PC café, nearness to PC café and the number of PC cafés in an environment. The scale has a five-point Likert, and its higher score decodes higher accessibility (Kim et al., 2018). Exposure to the internet gaming advertisement is measured through a tool that examines alcohol advertisement exposure.
The perceived internet characteristics are the individual internet properties perception measured through a scale designed to examine internet features. The features include; entertainment, accessibility, interpersonal relationship, immersion, profitability, competition, anonymity and escape. The three factors proven by Kim et al., (2018) to effectively measure adolescent internet addiction include interpersonal matters like chances to mingle with people, animosity or attracting attention without revealing identity and pleasure. Interpersonal relationship means how an individual perceives the internet, where individuals act freely. Animosity is how adolescents perceive the internet and its secrecy, and entertainment entails adolescents’ perception of how the internet provides fun. The factors are examined by a scale of five-point Likert, where the respondent is made to either agree or disagree (Throuvala et al., 2019). The findings of the measurements for all the factors show the internal consistency.
Support Options
Adolescents may escape to the internet as a temporary relief for the external stressors they encounter. Since they are still developing, adolescents may lack coping skills and embrace the internet for soothing. Such behaviors would lead to internet addiction, requiring a lot of recovery support. Researchers believe that the addiction symptoms appear differently among different individuals (Chung et al., 2019). For proper diagnosis, psychiatrists develop a diagnostic standard with a strict criterion. Such criteria include; obsession with the internet, amount of time an adolescent requires to get satisfied, inability to control the addiction, time spent online and emotional changes (Kim et al., 2018 calling for treatment and support.
Treatment criteria vary from counselling, cognitive behaviors therapies (CBT), and medications, especially depression. Support such as observing and monitoring through close time management. The time spent online may get limited by keeping an alarm and setting a goal to help control internet addiction. Here the adolescent willing to recover from addiction will limit the time they spend online along with intension therapy and regular exercising. The CBT is an intervention that focuses on altering the patterns of beliefs and thinking associated with behavior triggers. The therapist believes that beliefs awaken thoughts and feelings into producing behaviors (Chung et al., 2019). Specific programs such as promoting adolescents’ psychosocial strengths, reducing anxiety, and encouraging critical reasoning may help. The interventions are done through Holistic Social Programs.
References
Chung, S., Lee, J., & Lee, H. K. (2019). Personal Factors, Internet Characteristics, and Environmental Factors Contributing to Adolescent Internet Addiction: A Public Health Perspective. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(23), 4635. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16234635
Kim, Y. J., Jang, H. M., Lee, Y., Lee, D., & Kim, D. J. (2018). Effects of Internet and Smartphone Addictions on Depression and Anxiety Based on Propensity Score Matching Analysis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(5), 859. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15050859
Throuvala, M. A., Griffiths, M. D., Rennoldson, M., & Kuss, D. J. (2019). School-based Prevention for Adolescent Internet Addiction: Prevention is the Key. A Systematic Literature Review. Current neuropharmacology, 17(6), 507–525. https://doi.org/10.2174/1570159X16666180813153806