Adolescent health

• Why is health a developmental issue?
• Health concerns are linked to developmental stage:
• mortality & morbidity
• causes and cures

• Mortality rises during adolescence
• causes change from early to late adolescence
• sickness to violence and accidents
• Morbidity is less common but more acute



• During adolescence, both mortality and morbidity are dominated by controllable behavior
• creates a challenge for traditional medical model



• Problem for intervention/prevention:
• access to care for both prevention and treatment
• barriers:
• point of entry
• access
• cost
• confidentiality
• consent
• attitudinal



• Greek, germ theory, and holistic models of health
• Emotions influence body functioning and vulnerability to risk
• Cognitive system interprets meaning of somatic signals
• Social system provides context for action and interpetation
• this may be particularly critical during adolescence