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The Outsize Influence of Your Middle-School Friends
The Peer Effect
Teenagers and adolescents are more likely to behave recklessly, do something stupid, or commit crimes when they are together.
Breaking the law or trying out drugs/alcohol is also done more often in the company of friends and schoolmates. This is known as the Peer Effect.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
14
Key Ideas
A Child's Mental Health
Various studies conducted in the U.S. population indicate growing anxiety towards a possibly grim future. Political turmoil, gun violence, global plagues, changing power structure and a widening ri...
Antidepressants And Opioid Epidemic
Pharmaceuticals are playing a major role in the deterioration of mental health among young people. There is a link between teen suicidal thinking and antidepressant use, along with a link being seen in actual suicides among the young and the use of opioids in their families.
Smartphones and Social Media
Across age groups, social media is potentially hazardous, with its tendency to amplify the social divide.
There is a strong relationship between anxiety/depression and the use of smartphones, particularly social media usage among kids, though the data also seem to show the positive effects of staying connected with their peers. Online distractions also make youngsters give up their offline life, leading to isolation and further depression.
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Key Ideas
Purpose Is Essential
Purpose in life leads to greater well-being, hope and provides a sense of meaning in life.
The positive or negative experiences we have as children play an important role in our sense of pur...
Experiencing Adversity
Individuals who experience adversity at an early age have a decreased sense of purpose according to research.
For some, it works in the reverse, with adversity providing them with the 'kick' they need to pursue a particular calling in life.
Experiencing Conflict
Relationship issues with parents lead to a decreased sense of purpose as the young person grows older.
Frequently fighting or arguing with parents drains the child's energy and enthusiasm.
Love sets the stage
When a loving mother holds the newborn baby in her arms for the first time, she intuitively knows to care for the child. A relationship is formed, a bond created. The child will emerge in abilities...
The neurobiology of bonding
The neurobiology of affiliation is the new scientific field that describes the neural, endocrine, and behavioral systems sustaining our capacity to love. There are three factors in the neurobiology of bonding:
- Oxytocin that drives both care and prejudice
- The affiliative brain
- Synchrony.
Oxytocin and attachment
Oxytocin - a large molecule produced by neurons in the hypothalamus - is known for coordinating bonding, sociality, and group living. Oxytocin targets mainly the amygdala, a center for fear and vigilance, the hippocampus, and the striatum, a locus of motivation and reward.
Oxytocin is released through the central part of the neuron as well as its extensions, called dendrites. The dendrites increase oxytocin release whenever attachment memories are used and prime us for a lifetime. Early attachment memories help us move without fear. It imprints the infant's brain with distinct social patterns.