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Counseling the Contemporary Woman. Suzanne Degges-White
Читать онлайн.Название Counseling the Contemporary Woman
Год выпуска 0
isbn 9781538123621
Автор произведения Suzanne Degges-White
Жанр Управление, подбор персонала
Издательство Ingram
Most identity development theories include some elements of exploration and commitment. The same applies to sexual identity development. For gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents, sexual questioning and disclosure have been identified by Savin-Williams and Diamond (2000) as two central identity development processes. These developmental processes resemble exploration and commitment stages of other identity development; however, individuals’ paths through such phases might be extremely diverse, related to gender, minority status, religion, socioeconomic status, and parental acceptance or rejection. Moreover, individual case histories suggest that sexual identity and orientation can evolve and change across the lifespan (Lips, 1997). For example, some women transition to lesbian identity in adulthood; other lesbian women transition to heterosexual identity later in life (Bart, 1993). The time and nature of sexual identity development varies despite the fact that young adolescent girls begin to disclose their sexual orientation shortly after puberty or toward the end of adolescence (Broderick & Blewitt, 2014). Many adolescent girls struggle to come to terms with their own sexual orientation, especially when it is not one that they feel will be accepted by family or peers. Therefore, clinicians need to be knowledgeable about and sensitive to issues related to such complex identity development when working with their clients. They also must be prepared to help clients who are wrestling with exploration and experimentation with sexual partners of any gender.
Given our cultural focus on sexuality, it is not surprising that adolescents are sexually active, but there have been shifts in the prevalence of sexual activity among this age group. According to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (Kann et al., 2018), the percentage of ninth- through twelfth-grade students who reported having sexual intercourse has decreased (47 percent in 2007 compared to 40 percent in 2017). Ten percent of high school students reported having four or more sexual partners, and 30 percent reported having had sexual intercourse during the previous three months. Of these adolescents, 46 percent did not use a condom, 14 percent did not use any form of contraception, and 19 percent had used alcohol or drugs prior to their most recent incidence of sexual intercourse. Although there has been a decline in sexual intercourse, young adolescents are engaging in sexual experimentation in greater numbers and at earlier age than generations before them (Zimmer-Gembeck & Helfand, 2008). Even though sexual intercourse may be less frequent for teens, risks for sexually transmitted diseases are still a concern. Thus, clinicians may need to provide adolescent clients with information on preventing disease as well as preventing unwanted pregnancies. In addition to changing relationships with potential sexual partners, family relationships may also be an area of concern for adolescent girls.
Relationships with Parents
Parents continue to play a crucial role in their children’s lives as they enter adolescence and emerging adulthood. Parents’ involvement in their children’s lives is crucial to healthy development during puberty and the use of an authoritative parenting style (e.g., high in responsiveness and high in demandingness) has been linked to higher academic achievement (Ahuja & Goyal, 2006) and higher levels of self-esteem, self-confidence, self-control, and social adjustment (Broderick & Blewitt, 2014).
Despite the fact that adolescents will strive for independence and autonomy and prefer their peers over their parents, it is clearly beneficial for parents or caretakers to stay involved in appropriate ways. The harder parents try to restrain their adolescent daughters, the harder many might struggle against their parents’ efforts to control them. When young women feel that their autonomy-seeking behaviors are being threatened, they may try to assert their independence. Therefore, they may choose to engage in unmonitored activities with peers in which they may encounter more opportunities for risky behaviors (Tilton Weaver et al., 2010). Other researchers have suggested that a link exists between parental restrictive behaviors and adolescent girls’ relational aggression (Centifanti, Fanti, Thomson, Demetriou, & Anastassiou-Hadjicharalambous, 2015). Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies of young and late adolescent girls reveal a negative correlation between parental promotions of autonomy and their daughters’ depressive symptoms (Soenens, Park, Vansteenkiste, & Mouratidis, 2012). This link has been found repeatedly across cultures. Clinicians working with adolescent girls and their families should communicate to parents that the greater the perception of their promotion of their daughter’s autonomy, the less likely she is to experience depressive symptoms (Manzi, Regalia, Pelucchi, & Fincham, 2012; Sheldon, Abad, & Omoile, 2009). Adolescence is a time when relationships with both parents may shift, and the changes in relationships with mothers are often quite different from those between daughters and their fathers.
Mother–Daughter Relationships
The relationship between a mother and a daughter can shift dramatically with the onset of puberty. What was once observed as a loving, kind, and friendly relationship might become more competitive and stressful during the adolescent years. Through the process of separation from her mother, a daughter seeks to establish her own identity and draws influence and engagement from a wider world (e.g., peers, school) than just her home and immediate family. Generational differences can produce wide disparities in values such as independence and sexuality, which can predictably lead to mother–daughter conflict. Not surprisingly, studies have found that a supportive approach to adolescent girls’ autonomy seeking was associated with fewer conflicts (Missotten, Luyckx, Vanhalst, Nelemans, & Branje, 2017). In some cases, mothers may over-identify with their daughters or feel jealous of a daughter’s youth and attractiveness; unsurprisingly, these feelings often result in a violation of boundaries (Williams, 1987). As daughters strive for increasing levels of autonomy and choose not to confide in their mothers but rather a friend or a relative, mothers may find this separation process rather painful. Once daughters mature, grow into adulthood, and accrue more life experience, the competition or rivalry may diminish and a new intimacy may set in from knowing and understanding each other (Degges-White & Borzumato-Gainey, 2011).
Father–Daughter Relationships
Due to gender differences and possibly time constraints, fathers typically relate to their daughters differently than mothers do. There is a spectrum of the level of fathers’ involvement in their daughters’ lives, and therefore their relationship will vary. Having a positive father-daughter relationship can significantly influence an adolescent’s sense of self and her engagement in risky behaviors. Despite the fact that many fathers might not have a lot of time to spend with their daughters, a father’s influence on an adolescent daughter is significant; in fact, it was found that a father has greater influence on his daughter’s self-esteem than he does on his adolescent son’s development (Keizer, Helmerhorst, & van Gelderen, 2019). Sentino, Thompson, Nugent, and Freeman (2018) found that an adolescent girl’s perceptions about her father’s levels of care and communication were related to the number of sexual partners with whom she engaged. The higher the quality of the perceived relationship, the fewer the number of partners she had. In light of the many ways in which family constellations may vary through blended families, reconstituted families, and other diverse arrangements, it is worth to note that stepfathers can forge strong and supportive relationships with their adolescent stepdaughters that are equal in positive qualities as those between biological fathers and daughters (Campbell & Winn, 2018). Fathers have significant influence on their adolescent daughters, and clinicians should encourage the families with whom they work to foster healthy relationships between both parents and their children. Even as relationships with parents may change, relationships between adolescent girls and their friends grow more intense.
Friendships
Adolescent girls tend to spend increasing amounts of time with their friends, and they shift their dependency onto them as they grow away from their parents (Degges-White & Borzumato-Gainey, 2011). Peers become the most significant source of support for many adolescents, and it is through these relationships that adolescents construct their identity. They rely on social comparison and attribution substitution, such as trying on