Externalizing Behavior of an Adolescent - Term Paper Example

?What has a bigger influence on externalizing behavior of an adolescent: parenting styles or genetics? Psychological perspectives How much of the human behavior is due to heredity and how much is due to environment and the interplay between them are issues that could help identify which between parenting styles and genetics has bigger influence on externalizing behavior. The impact of genetics and the environment on externalizing behavior cannot be underestimated. From biological, psychodynamic and cognitive perspectives of psychology, human behavior is viewed to have strong association with heredity, in the same way as how nurture (environment) influences behavior from cognitive, behavioral and humanistic stand points (Feldman, 2003). These perspectives include varying principles that need to be elaborately proven using various researches and sophisticated or highly improved scientific psychological methodologies. This is the reason why there are ongoing researches regarding nurture versus nature issues especially on how each of these sides may have created influence on externalizing behavior of an adolescent. For instance, through “behavior genetic methods”, parenting and the development of offspring’s personalities have been found associated such as overlapping of genetic effects on adolescent personality traits and parenting behavior (South et al., 2008). South and her colleagues added that this is contrasting with some significant theories in sociology pointing out the role of parents in shaping their children’s personalities. Furthermore, parental negativity is said to be associated with offspring problem behavior and this can be explained through genetic and environmental factors. The study regarding this found that maternal criticism was due to “evocative genotype-environment correlation” which has the basic root from their adolescent’s externalizing behavior, but “fathers’ critical remarks create impact on adolescent problem behavior in a direct environmental way” (Narusyte et al., 2011, 365). This also shows that fathers and mothers may significantly contribute differences with externalizing behavior in offspring. Furthermore, this also suggests that parenting styles and genetics have significant contribution on externalizing behavior of an adolescent. This certainly provides a good starting point to consider the issue between nurture (heredity) versus nature (environment) and finding which between them has bigger influence on externalizing behavior of an adolescent. Biological perspective From the biological perspective in psychology, parents or ancestors have significant inheritance or hereditary characteristics that are passed on to their next generation and this is viewed to have remarkable impact on one’s behavior (Feldman, 2003). This in particular talks about the level of influence heredity and evolution have on the human behavior. It cannot be contested that genetics have significant impact on one’s behavior. For instance, genetic influences could create parent-child conflicts that would lead to externalizing behavior (Kim, 2009). Genetic predisposition is said to create negative parenting behaviors that eventually has greater impact on adolescent externalizing behavior (Wolfe & Mash, 2008). Furthermore, aggression, antisocial behavior and delinquency are noted to be influenced by genetic factors which essentially vary during adolescence stage in the person’s life (Damon, Eisenberg, & Lerner, 2006). All of these are remarkable proof that under the biological perspective, the behavior of a person can essentially be influenced by genetic factors. Some behaviors are considered to be inherited because of certain genes that are passed on from one generation to another. Behavioral perspective and parenting styles On the other hand, under the behavioral perspective in psychology, it is believed that certain behaviors of individuals can be created by controlling their environment (Feldman, 2003). Here, they can be taught of something, trained, and corrected. For instance, parents may impose significant rewards and punishments on their children in order to allow them to learn from their experiences. They would want to extend the message that punishments are significant consequences of doing undesirable behaviors. Furthermore, rewards are upshots of behaving well and doing what is desirable. “Clean as you go” is a good command among children who usually would love to play, so some parents extend some of their rewards to those who obey on it. Others parents would love to offer surprises for their children who have done something good or bad. However, some parents do not even care punishing or rewarding their children. In contrast, others may be over protective, authoritative and so on. These only show that parents have remarkably varying parenting styles. Parents have important role to play in teaching, monitoring and managing their children and the success of these activities would determine the likelihood of externalizing behavior disorders on their adolescent children (Sexton, 2010). This particularly implies that it is within the family as a special environment where the behaviors of an individual can be substantially influenced through certain parenting styles. This implies that parenting styles are integral parts of the environment where individuals belong. It is therefore clear that from the behavioral perspective in psychology parenting styles have significant contribution to a person’s behavior. There are various parenting styles and these include authoritarian, authoritative, permissive and uninvolved (Damon & Lerner, 2008). Parenting styles and their impacts vary across cultural contexts, but physical discipline was found associated with externalizing behavior of the youth samples and its degree depends on how they viewed it as normative (Russell, 2010). Harsh parenting style was found to result to conduct disorder while permissive style of parenting in preschooler years has a significant association with drug use among adolescent girls (Bjorklund & Blasi, 2011). These are some of the significant information gathered from some important studies regarding on the impact of parenting styles on externalizing behavior of an adolescent. Adolescents’ experiences with their parents are important because they need maternal and paternal support from them (Kerr, Stattin, & Engels, 2008). These types of support remarkably builds up good relationship among them, would increase the chance of adolescents’ coping, socialization and even decrease the level of externalizing behavior. Parenting styles versus genetics Externalizing behavior problems are in upward spiral during adolescence and they primarily include temper tantrums, irritability and arguing (Sadock & Sadock, 2008). As stated earlier, some of these behavioral problems of adolescents are genetically related but others are obtained due to parenting styles. Parents on the other hand who have behavioral problems due to genetic factors tend to pass these on to their offspring through their parenting styles. Parenting styles on the other hand are shown to influence adolescent behaviors. These show that in either perspective in psychology, human behavior has corresponding explanation. It is therefore implied that the solid understanding on externalizing behavior of an adolescent depends on which perspective it is looked at, biological (genetics) or behavioral (parenting styles). In either way, there seems to be an equal and reasonable points made. However, it is not at all times genetics can reasonably explain the human behavior because there are some important experiences in life which led to the formulation of learned behavior. As stated earlier, these learned behaviors are influenced or triggered by the external environment. Based on what has been stated earlier, parenting style may be affected by genetic influence because parents may acquire certain behaviors from their parents from the stand point of biological perspective. This cannot be contested at some point. However, it is also noted that it is not 100 percent that a parent’s genetic characteristics and traits may be passed on to the offspring and these may also vary from generation to generation (Kleiman, Thompson & Baer, 2010; Haupt & Haupt, 2004). This implies that some bad traits or characteristics may not be passed on from parents to their offspring. This also implies that certain behaviors of parents may not actually be passed on to their offspring at all. With this, it is reasonable to expect that an individual has many things to learn from his or her immediate environment rather than be influenced by certain inherent traits or characteristics. There are various types of learning and among of them is through observation. This is also known as vicarious or social learning. As social being, individuals most of the time learned from their experiences and actual social interaction. Common sense suggests that learning should remarkably start at home. For example, vicarious learning and the development of fear may start at home (Askew & Field, 2007). This can be acquired through excessive punishment, unreasonable discipline from parents and in many other ways. In short, it may be influenced by certain parenting style. Although parenting style may be inherent from the biological perspective, its impact on the child’s learning is significant from the stand point of behavioral perspective in psychology. Adolescents learned a lot of things from the way how their parents implement certain parenting style. For instance, it is common to hear that a too strict parent is a situation that is noted to result to adolescents rebelling against them. In other words, it is not much about genetic influence in the real world, but about learning experience in which an individual’s behaviors are substantially formed. Parenting style which is also a form of social interaction is experienced daily. This alone proves that a person has many things to learn from it. Not only that, it is also a remarkable proof showing that behaviors are expected to be formed much by the environment through the human experience. References Askew, C., & Field, A. P. (2007). Various learning and the development of fears in childhood. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 45, 2616-2627. Damon, W., Eisenberg, N., & Lerner, R. M. (2006). Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed.). New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Damon, W., Lerner, R. M. (2008). Child and Adolescent Development: An Advanced Course. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Bjorklund, D. F., & Blasi, C. H. (2011). Child & Adolescent Development: An Integrated Approach. California: Cengage Learning. Feldman, R. S. (2003). Essentials of Understanding Psychology (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Haupt, R. L. & Haupt, S. E. (2004). Practical genetic algorithms (2nd ed.). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Kerr, M., Stattin, H., & Engels, R. C. M. 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Functional Family Therapy in Clinical Practice: An Evidence-Based Treatment Model for Working With Troubled Adolescents. New York: Taylor & Francis. South, S. C., Krueger, R. F., Johnson, W., & Iacono, W. G. (2008). Adolescent Personality Moderates Genetic and Environmental Influences on Relationships With Parents. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 94, 899-912. Wolfe, D. A., & Mash, E. J. (2008). Behavioral and Emotional Disorders in Adolescents: Nature, Assessment, and Treatment. New York: Guilford Press. Read More