Cognitive, Social, Biological, and Psychosocial Development During Adolescence and Early Adulthood Development Stages

Introduction

Early adulthood is an exciting time for anyone. We clear college, and for the first time someone can leave home and get a job. However, these events do not come easy, at times it involves a lot of pressure on your part. Without the appropriate coping skills, falling back to teenage pleasure-seeking ways using alcohol and drug use is easy. The drug and substances abuse further compounds coping techniques one experienced from observing adults while growing up. More likely, falling back to drugs and taking on harder drugs later merely is for the reason that, it is the easiest way out. It is against such a backdrop that Michelle experience with drugs has led to her involvement with drugs use and trafficking. The task is to design a treatment program while understanding the circumstances under which she grew into the vice. Michelle has not been through any treatment and has it forced on her by the court. She has tested positive for both marijuana and heroin. This case study paper will address Michelles cognitive, social, biological, and psychosocial development during her adolescence and early adulthood development stages. Moreover, the article will also look into the developmentally appropriate interventions to help Michelle to reduce her cravings, highlighting some developmental issues that may contribute to her addiction problems or prevent the treatment from working altogether. Addiction topic is essential to investigate and more so to major on the adolescence due to an interest in the field as a potential future career. The study will, therefore, reinforce the biological, social, psychological, cognitive and environmental theories that explain individual growth. This study, therefore, will provide development profile of an individual in the adolescence (11 18 years) and early adulthood (18 40 years). Moreover, through analyzing some of the developmental issues will provide new ways of understanding what exacerbates addiction problems or prevents the treatment from working as desired.

Background

The quest to understand how the features shared with others or the unique to oneself that differentiate us is almost a tradition now. The following inspection of whether they contribute to our view of life and that of others is also an age-old quest. Historical and cultural conditions continually govern our well-being throughout life. The timing of critical events affects development irrespective at what stage in life they happen. Systematic development of adult life and the old-age did not start until the 1960s and the 1970s (Berk, 2014). Theories, building, on previous knowledge, have continuously developed. Their goal is usually describing, explaining, and predicting behavior. These approaches provide necessary frameworks for observation and practical action. In this case study, development is view as a process where new ways of understanding and responding to the environment around happens in stages. Nonetheless, owing to the unique combination of personal experiences and backgrounds, the resulting development is equally uncommon. Life development has multiple facets that positively or negatively affect an individuals development. Hence, development is a complex combination of biological, social, and psychological forces (Berk, 2014).

Biological, psychological, and social forces combine uniquely to influence adolescent development for every teenager. Among some cultures, adolescence life has its demands and pressures that vary substantially. In industrialized nations, without proper guidance, some developmental issues highlight this period with by early exposure to alcohol and cigarettes, and later gradually move on to harder drug and substances. In some instances drug taking, however, reflects the sensation-seeking of the teenage years and in other cases it a result of adolescents living in drug-dependent cultural contexts (Berk, 2014). Relying on caffeine to stay alert, or using alcohol and cigarettes to manage to get through with the daily hassles, and other remedies to relieve stress, depression, and discomfort, legitimizes the use of drugs by the adolescents.

In these adolescence years, the brain is still developing, and thus an introduction to drugs can have profound lasting consequences. For instance, drugs host the potential for impairing

neurons and their connective networks. At the same time, teenagers drug and substances used as the solution to daily stresses perpetuates irresponsible decision-making skills and alternative coping techniques (Luna, Padmanabhan & OHearn, 2010).

It expected that during the adolescence years boost self-esteem, as the teenage thinking develops and gets identifiable through things their abilities. Difficulties in adjusting to these adolescence changes can result in low self-esteem and linked to the uptake of the drug. During these formative years, Berk (2014) finds that parents tend to give adolescents more control to their lives so they can think and decide for themselves, backing off from their previous opportunities to regulate their children activities. Parents also allow their teenage children more responsibility. Conversely, parents who took a somewhat coercive or psychologically controlling approach interfered with the development of autonomy (Koepke & Denissen, 2012). Such tactics link to low self-esteem, depression, drugs, and alcohol use (Berk 2014).

Moreover, peer groups around the adolescence years base any engagement on commonalities that may exist. Therefore, cliques are a hit in the early adolescence years, and as they grow, they continually detach from these groupings. Any further engagements take technological trends through social platforms. Additionally, and more traditionally, adolescence engagements only matter if intimacy is involved. These two approaches to peerage present early adolescent with their most significant risk to a life of drug and substance use. These are social media trends and dating relationships. The large pool of peers an adolescent is virtually accessible to through the social platforms may give the false impression that drugs and substance use is trendy, and everyone but them is using them. Additionally, early dating is often shallow and stereotyped, and a leading cause of drug use (Olson & Crosnoe, 2017).

Past adolescence and into early adulthood, an increase in alcohol and drugs use characterizes ages nineteen to twenty-five years. Although this decreases with age their many development problems that exacerbate addictions. Most emerging adults in this phase of life are making a significant decision on their own, like what company of friends best suits their personality, careers to pursue after college, dating and intimacy, and the future marital life. The many challenging endeavors of early adulthood make quitting drugs and substance abuse more challenging. The uptake and persistent drug and substances abuse as a coping mechanism in the adolescence years enhance further the likelihood of sinking deeper into the vice.

For a disadvantaged group, Early adulthood is a particularly stressful time of life. Some emerging adults are already struggling with early parenthood. Also, the challenges faced by their peers, these young adults also have to prepare to raise a family. More unfortunate circumstances see unaccomplished academic dreams characterize early adulthood. As a result, childbearing becomes their yoke making it impossible even to finish high school (Berk, 2014). For others, wild adolescence life leaves them academically unprepared for college, while for other, economic hard times, or other reasons deny them access to vocational training (Meadows, Brown & Elder, 2006). Ill-equipped to face life, persistent drug, and substance abuse to drown their worries is inevitable. Disadvantage at getting formal employment and with bills to pay, perhaps falling back to peddling the same drugs and substances they abuse becomes attractive and a livelihood.

Current state

There exist strategies that may help in ridding the client of dependence on drugs and substances abuse as a coping mechanism. Trying to understand the circumstances that led to the current state of affairs is vital. Therefore, developing the clients development profile stressing on the events that they are trying to compensate for with the extended drug use and peddling becomes part of a significant breakthrough for both prevention and treatment. The development profile assists in the application of social, biological, psychosocial, cognitive, and environmental theories (Berk, 2014). This assistance is vital for the reason that applicable approaches also act as organized frameworks to aid in the observation of people and form action plans. Furthermore, understanding the situation is not enough, personal and family counseling, treatment, and coping training are other strategies that empower the client.

Suggested Interventions

Since the client had not taken any treatment before, it would be beneficial to merge adolescence and early adulthood approaches in the design of an effective treatment program. This method will provide an opportunity to focus on unaddressed underlying issues (Olson & Crosnoe, 2017). The combination will result in empowerment that will equip the client with skills to resist negative pressures in life going forward. For instance, combined personal and family counseling takes care engaged parenting that should...