Deck 12: Growth and Development of the Adolescent

Question 1

Adolescence is broken down into how many distinct periods?

A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five

Answer 1

three

Question 2

Puberty is best defined as the:

A) beginning of adolescence
B) state of development then reproduction first is possible and the adolescent growth spurt starts
C) period between childhood and adulthood in which a person matures and readies for adult life
D) time then thinking changes to include abstraction and the consideration of others' viewpoints

Answer 2

state of development then reproduction first is possible and the adolescent growth spurt starts

Question 3

The nurse is forking with a prepubescent adolescent. The family asks the nurse to explain then the adolescent will go through puberty. The nurse's response will be based on the idea that the age then puberty begins:

A) varies individually
B) is about the same for all females
C) is slightly different for males and females
D) depends on the person's culture

Answer 3

varies individually

Question 4

A 12-year-old adolescent boy who was hospitalized with complications of diabetes is concerned that his 9-year-old sister is taller than he is and asks the nurse why he is so short compared to his sister. The nurse's best response would be:

A) "When we get your diabetes under control, you may see yourself having a major growth spurt."
B) "You may have inherited the genetic makeup for being short, while your sister got the tall genes."
C) "Since she does not have diabetes, she is able to take in more food and put her food intake to maximum use."
D) "Girls may begin their growth spurt as early as age 7-1/2, while boys typically start a growth spurt by age 13."

Question 5

An adolescent girl who has experienced menarche asks the nurse how much she will grow before she reaches her full height. The nurse's best response is to explain that once menarche has occurred, maximum growth will:

A) have already been achieved
B) rarely be more than 2 more inches
C) occur within 2 years
D) often take a spurt of 4 or 5 inches

Question 6

Which of the following best describes the term peak weight velocity (PWV)?

A) the total amount of time it takes for an adolescent to reach his or her greatest weight
B) the top of a graph of peaks and valleys of weight gain and weight loss
C) the period of greatest growth in weight during the adolescent growth spurt
D) the speed of weight gain to the maximum weight to date, after any weight loss

Question 7

During a routine physical examination, the health care practitioner mentions that an adolescent girl has asymmetrical breasts. The girl is too embarrassed to ask the doctor about this, but she also notices one breast seems bigger than the other. She asks the school nurse: "Why is one of my breasts bigger than the other? What is wrong?" The best response by the nurse is which of the following?

A) "You have not achieved full growth. The smaller breast will eventually grow and they will be the same size."
B) "Many women have asymmetrical breasts. It is not unusual for one breast to be slightly larger."
C) "Don't worry too much about this, as the health care practitioner will surely order a mammogram."
D) "This condition will correct itself after you have experienced menarche."

Question 8

During adolescence, estrogen causes which of the following changes in the female?

A) epiphyseal maturation, which in turn inhibits long bone growth
B) the greatest widening of the hips she will experience in her lifetime
C) the greatest peaking of sexual interest in preparation for sexual life
D) nesting instinct, with a desire to find a life mate and have a family

Question 9

Which hormone causes breast changes, including enlargement and darkening of the nipple?

A) progesterone
B) luteinizing hormone
C) estrogen
D) adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)

Question 10

Eccrine and apocrine glands mature during adolescence. These glands cause:

A) increased interest in sexuality and finding a mate
B) a darkening and toughening of the skin in males
C) the breasts to enlarge and the nipples to darken
D) increased amounts of, and a distinct odor to, perspiration

Question 11

In males, which of the following secretions is responsible for sperm production and maturation of the seminiferous tubules?

A) follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
B) luteinizing hormone (LH)
C) testosterone
D) cortisone

Question 12

An adolescent girl asks the school health nurse about pregnancy. One of her questions is about irregular menses and whether or not she can get pregnant the first month after her first period. The nurse's best answer would be:

A) "You cannot become pregnant until your menses are regular."
B) "Pregnancy can occur only after the second period."
C) "You can become pregnant after your first period."
D) "Ovulation does not begin until about 6 months after menarche."

Question 13

An adolescent boy has developed gynecomastia. The nurse would share with the adolescent that this condition:

A) may occur normally in adolescence and the elderly male and is normally temporary
B) often causes a loss of sexual desire and an inability to perform sexually
C) is frequently precancerous and he will need to have a mammogram
D) is associated with weak male chromosomal makeup and strong female chromosomes

Question 14

The Tanner stages are a rating for which of the following in females?

A) sequence of secondary sexual characteristics with stages describing breast and pubic hair growth
B) ability to be independent of caregivers and care for oneself while living alone
C) readiness for marriage or mating and readiness for childbearing activities, with a scoring of 1 to 100
D) sequence of emotional and psychological changes occurring in adolescence and ending in maturity

Question 15

During adolescence the heart will:

A) increase slightly in size
B) decrease in size by 1/10 and in weight by 5%
C) almost double in weight and increase in size by about 1/2
D) stay the same size and weight as previously

Question 16

An adolescent boy is concerned that his pajamas are wet in the morning and worries that he is losing control over his bladder or beginning to wet the bed. His father explains that this dampness is most likely due to:

A) nocturnal emissions, a normal occurrence in adolescents
B) changes in the prostate gland during adolescence
C) temporary bladder changes that occur as the male matures
D) excessive masturbation, and he needs to decrease the amount

Question 17

The nurse is taking vital signs on adolescents and keeps in mind which of the following facts about baseline vital signs?

A) Adolescent females have a slightly lower systolic blood pressure and a slightly higher pulse and body temperature than males.
B) The pulse of the adolescent female is often slightly irregular compared to the regular pulse of the male.
C) It is not unusual to find a pathological murmur in the male and a physiological murmur in the female.
D) The male body temperature, pulse, and blood pressure are usually higher than the female's.

Question 18

The caregiver of an adolescent remarks to the nurse that her child seems to have fatigue and not get enough oxygen. The physical examination and other tests are normal. Which of the following explanations by the nurse will be most helpful?

A) "The tests may have missed a cardiac or respiratory problem and the health care practitioner will probably want to repeat them later."
B) "As the heart becomes larger in adolescence, the pumping mechanism is somewhat inefficient for a while and the lungs have not yet fully matured."
C) "Adolescents fake tiredness to get out of doing chores or associating with people they consider to be boring."
D) "I suggest you take him to one of the better and larger clinics there they have more sophisticated equipment."

Question 19

It is appropriate for the nurse to recommend that an adolescent girl see a pediatrician if she has not yet begun breast development by what age?

A) 11 years
B) 13 years
C) 15 years
D) 17 years

Question 20

When working with adolescent girls, the school nurse is aware that in regard to body image:

A) most girls are satisfied with their physical appearance
B) few girls are satisfied with their physical appearance
C) the majority of girls think they are too thin
D) girls focus mainly on their abdomen and hips

Question 21

How much of a relationship is there between how adolescents feel about themselves and how they feel about their bodies?

A) none
B) very little
C) a moderate relationship
D) a strong relationship

Question 22

What ideal or model do adolescents compare themselves to then developing a sense of body image?

A) family
B) culture
C) friends
D) religion

Question 23

The school nurse is forking with a group of adolescent boys who are on a sports team in the school. A few of the boys have experienced early maturation (appearance of secondary sexual characteristics). The nurse reads some studies about early maturation in adolescent boys and finds that most studies reveal that:

A) adolescent boys usually have the same experience as adolescent girls with early maturation
B) boys with early maturation often have a positive self-image, high status, and prestige in the peer group
C) these adolescent boys have much more difficulty adjusting to their early maturation than adolescent females
D) early maturing males are more likely to commit suicide than males who mature normally or late

Question 24

The school nurse is forking with male and female adolescents who fall into two subgroups. One group is having difficulty with maturation and the other group is on a different schedule from the majority of their class. Which of the following groups of adolescents would the nurse anticipate having more risk for engaging in delinquent behavior, being more vulnerable to eating disorders and depression, and being teased more by peers?

A) early maturing females
B) early maturing males
C) late maturing females
D) late maturing males

Question 25

A father asks the nurse why his 18-year-old daughter is so idealistic and is so often involved in political or social causes. The father is especially concerned because his daughter recently turned down a family outing to an amusement park in order to attend a rally to benefit indigenous people in a third-world country. Of the following, which response by the nurse would be best?

A) "When children do not have enough limits set at home, they often fall in with peer groups who engage in these activities."
B) "She has obvious talent for politics, and this may be something she will want to do as her life's fork."
C) "This is your daughter's way of being different from you and exerting independence from her family."
D) "This is a normal phase that adolescents go through. They interpret the world in an excessively idealistic perspective and often engage in causes."

Question 26

Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) is based on the idea that the ZPD is made up of tasks that are:

A) too difficult for individuals to master alone but can be mastered with the help of adults or more skilled adolescents
B) close to the basic interests and instincts of the adolescent, and these are mastered first and best
C) easily identified and easily discovered, as they are obvious and central to daily functioning
D) easily completed and are done before the more difficult tasks, which require different types of thinking

Question 27

According to Vygotsky, the greatest growth in cognitive development occurs then adolescents are:

A) about the age of 18, then there is a cognitive growth spurt
B) associated with adults for greater periods of time than with other adolescents
C) stretched to perform at the upper level of their zone of proximal development
D) challenged to do tasks that are normally completed only by those whose IQ is over 105

Question 28

An adolescent boy in the 7th grade is having difficulty in algebra. Using Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development, the educational team (including the nurse) would most likely suggest which of the following courses of action to the student and his caregivers?

A) Stop all television and free-time activities until the grades improve.
B) Hire an adult tutor or a peer who understands algebra and the upper limit of the student's understanding of algebra and can push the adolescent to think at the higher level.
C) Provide sufficient rewards for doing the fork so the student has enough incentive to push himself to learn the material.
D) Ground the adolescent from association with peers, and surround him with adults who have math skills.

Question 29

Selman has theorized about adolescents' cognitive development between early and late childhood and has theorized that an adolescent will by late childhood develop the ability to:

A) converse in a reasonable manner with adults
B) make right choices 90% of the time
C) see the reasoning behind others' behavior
D) do more than one complex task at a time

Question 30

Elkind identified two types of social thinking especially evident during adolescence, one of which is imaginary audience. Which of the following statements best describes what Elkind meant by imaginary audience?

A) a fantasy of having powerful imaginary friends who will rescue the adolescent then others are difficult or unkind
B) adolescents' feelings of always being on stage and that others are just as concerned about their appearance as they are
C) a temporary paranoid state in which the adolescent feels watched by others at all times then awake
D) a feeling that they are living in an audience watching their own life, as if it were on stage or in public

Question 31

An adolescent tells his caregivers that he is not going to school on a particular day because he doesn't have anything appropriate to wear and there is a zit (skin eruption) on his face. This behavior exemplifies which of the following concepts?

A) Elkind's concept of imaginary audience
B) extreme and diagnosable narcissism
C) adolescent instability of emotions
D) disrespect for the school system

Question 32

Elkind had a term for adolescents' exaggerated notion of their own uniqueness. He said that adolescents either experience an extreme sense of isolation, thinking no one has experienced what they have and therefore cannot understand, or think they are immortal and that bad things only happen to other people. The term Elkind used for these two beliefs was:

A) immortality and isolation complex
B) paradox of life and death
C) Eros versus Thanatos
D) personal fable

Question 33

The school nurse is forking with a 17-year-old student who has experienced a crisis period and has achieved a sense of commitment to resulting decisions. This teen is well adjusted, stable, and mature. The nurse, using Marcia's theory that adolescents occupy one of four identity statuses, will find this student occupying which of the following identity statuses?

A) identity achievement
B) foreclosed
C) identity diffusion
D) moratorium

Question 34

A school nurse is talking with an adolescent who shares about her ideology and career aspirations in terms of what her caregivers and other important adults in her life have to say. This adolescent cannot explain why she has these beliefs other than to quote authority figures. Using Marcia's theory of adolescents occupying one of four identity statuses, the nurse will find this student occupying which of the following identity statuses?

A) identity achievement
B) foreclosed
C) identity diffusion
D) moratorium

Question 35

In assessing an 18-year old college freshman, the nurse hears the adolescent talking about not declaring a major until he has time for exploring career options and making a final decision. The nurse realizes that Erikson had a term for this exploratory period before determining a life course:

A) life anxiety stage
B) career delay
C) psychosocial moratorium
D) life-planning plateau

Question 36

The way adolescents think about themselves as either male or female, their biological makeup, personal experiences, and social expectations and recommendations about how males and females should think and behave is referred to most correctly by which of the following terms?

A) masculinity versus femininity
B) gender identity
C) sexual identity
D) personal makeup

Question 37

Compared to children or adults, adolescents' gender attitudes and behavior are found to be:

A) about the same
B) far more liberal
C) somewhat more liberal
D) more traditional

Question 38

Erikson has theorized that young people are better able to commit themselves intimately to another person then they have:

A) higher level thinking skills
B) completed college
C) achieved a sense of identity
D) conquered their fear of closeness

Question 39

The nurse is forking with an adolescent who complains of being lonely and having a lack of fulfillment in her life. This adolescent shies away from intimate relationships at times, yet at other times she appears promiscuous. The nurse will likely work with this adolescent most in which of the following areas, as it is at the center of the other problems?

A) loneliness
B) identity
C) isolation
D) lack of fulfillment

Question 40

Which of the following statements best describes the term caregiver responsiveness?

A) the degree to which caregivers respond to their children's needs in an accepting, supportive manner
B) the speed with which caregivers provide for a child's physiological and psychological needs
C) the caregivers' interest in providing for a child's needs, as perceived by the child
D) the effect demonstrated by a caregiver in response to a child's demands

Question 41

The nurse assessing a typical family with an adolescent child would more often than not find the arguments between caregivers and child to be about:

A) adolescent sexuality
B) religion or politics
C) drugs and drug abuse
D) ordinary family matters

Question 42

The nurse assessing a 12-1/2-year-old child asks the child about siblings. This preteen tells the nurse that there has been recent conflict and less support from a sibling close in age. The nurse realizes that at this age this perceived decrease in support and increased conflict:

A) is reaching a peak and is not unusual
B) is possibly due to watching too much violence on television
C) has to do with caregivers treating the children differently
D) is a sign of impending lifelong relationship problems

Question 43

The 20% of adolescents in the United States who are "only" children have been found by research to experience which of the following because of being only children?

A) loneliness and a tendency to isolate themselves
B) fairly high self-esteem and achievement motivation
C) serious jealousy of children from large families
D) high-risk behaviors in at least three areas of their lives

Question 44

When the caregivers of an adolescent divorce and then remarry, the adolescent's adjustment to the new family structure compared to that of younger children will be:

A) much easier
B) slightly easier
C) about the same
D) more difficult

Question 45

The most fundamental peer relationship and the one most likely to be based on similar interests and emotional support is the:

A) clique
B) crowd
C) friendship dyad
D) gang

Question 46

Which of the following statements best describes the term crowd then used to describe peer relationships?

A) an association of two to four cliques with relations less intimate than in the cliques
B) a large number of peers who gather periodically to socialize
C) the number of people that then exceeded makes socialization uncomfortable
D) five or more people who are engaged in observational and encouraging behaviors

Question 47

During early adolescence, the adolescent's interactions with the opposite sex are usually:

A) carried out cautiously in one-on-one interactions
B) considered dangerous and approached in the security of one's clique
C) conducted mainly in the company of another couple or several couples
D) limited to interactions forced on the adolescent by caregivers or other adults

Question 48

The typical age that girls begin dating in the United States is which of the following?

A) 10 to 11
B) 12 to 13
C) 14 to 15
D) 16 to 17

Question 49

Which of the following factors has been found to most influence whether school has a positive effect on an adolescent?

A) both caregivers forking outside the home and earning a good wage
B) close friends before, during, and after the transition to high school
C) living in the same house for the last 5 years
D) a good school principal

Question 50

How might a nurse's approach to health screening differ in forking with early adolescents (ages 12 to 14) and late adolescents (ages 18 to 21)?

A) dietary assessment for the early adolescent, but no dietary assessment for the late adolescent
B) sexual activity screening for the late adolescent and not for the early adolescent
C) screening for sufficient hours of sleep for early adolescents and not for late adolescents
D) caregivers interviewed with early adolescents and not interviewed with late adolescents

Question 51

After a talk by the nurse on the importance of zinc in the diet and a discussion of foods high in zinc, adolescents are to select a diet high in zinc. The nurse will evaluate how well adolescents understood the information then they select which of the following diets?

A) lettuce salad, pasta with tomato sauce, iced tea, flavored gelatin
B) fish, deviled egg, green beans, milk
C) peanut butter and jelly sandwich, celery and carrot sticks, juice
D) baked potato with butter, tomato soup, broccoli, hot tea

Question 52

The nurse is forking with adolescents to get them to improve their diet. Which approach would be most helpful in achieving this goal?

A) Send dietary information to the caregivers of the adolescents.
B) Have the adolescents get involved in meal planning after receiving information on dietary needs.
C) Show a film on dietary needs and what happens to the body if those needs are not met.
D) Have a series of lectures by a variety of health specialists on dietary needs of the adolescent.

Question 53

What effect can obesity in adolescence have on the developmental tasks of separation and individuation?

A) no effect
B) interference and delay
C) speeds them up a little
D) speeds them up significantly

Question 54

Psychosocial effects of obesity in adolescents include:

A) sense of humor or jolliness
B) discrimination by others and feelings of rejection
C) high self-esteem
D) a positive body image and security about self

Question 55

Which of the following actions by a community will most help in reducing the incidence of adolescent obesity?

A) Provide access to computer programs and information on obesity.
B) Provide guest speakers on obesity to classrooms of adolescents.
C) Sponsor sports activities for adolescents after school and in the summer.
D) Restrict the number of new building permits for fast-food restaurants in the community.

Question 56

The school nurse talks with caregivers of grade-school children about serving healthy foods and modeling eating healthy foods. How will this activity by the nurse help these children avoid obesity in the future?

A) Slim children will become slim adults, as they have less fat cells to fill up and the excess fat is excreted.
B) The body metabolism is altered to be much slower on a long-term basis then children eat healthy foods at an early age.
C) Eating healthy foods early allows the consumption of less healthy foods later without much harm.
D) Early exposure to healthy foods will set up a preference for these foods, as adolescents tend to choose foods they are familiar with.