Contemporary Issues Teenagers Face Today
Assessment Description
Research the range of contemporary issues teenagers face today. In a 500-750-word paper, choose one issue (besides teen pregnancy) and discuss its effect on adolescent behavior and overall well-being. Include the following in your submission:
Describe the contemporary issue and explain what external stressors are associated with this issue.
Outline assessment strategies to screen for this issue and external stressors during an assessment for an adolescent patient. Describe what additional assessment questions you would need to ask and define the ethical parameters regarding what you can and cannot share with the parent or guardian.
Discuss support options for adolescents encountering external stressors. Include specific support options for the contemporary issue you presented.
You are required to cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed sources to complete this assignment. Sources must be published within the last 5 years, appropriate for the assignment criteria, and relevant to nursing practice.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
Sample Paper
Adolescence: Contemporary Issues and Resources
Teen depression is one of the contemporary issues that teenagers face today. It is a severe issue that causes a feeling of sadness and loss of interest in activities. Depression affects how they feel, behave, and think, leading to physical, emotional, and functional problems. Some of the factors that result in teen depression include academic expectations, peer pressure, changes in their bodies. Other psychological and socioeconomic factors can be expected to cause depression among teenagers. Besides, external stressors include significant trauma caused by the death of a loved one, neglect, and abuse (Niyonsenga & Mutabaruka 2021). Also, having been a victim of violence such as sexual abuse is another external stressor contributing to teen depression today. It is worth mentioning that teen depression has severe consequences and requires long-term treatment.
Assessment Strategies to Screen for Teen Depression
The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is a commonly known strategy to measure the severity of depression and behavioural manifestation (Upton, 2020). It works best in teens above thirteen years. The inventory has 21- self-report items that individuals fill multiple-choice response formats and takes about ten minutes to complete. BDI is widely utilized in assessing teenagers’ psychological wellbeing. Besides, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) is another tool that helps screen depression among children and teenagers. It is also used in the general population. (CES-D) has twenty self-report items that measure major dimensions of depression experienced a week earlier. EQ-5D is another instrument that describes and evaluates the health-related quality of life. It measures the quality of life in different sizes, including self-care, pain/discomfort, mobility, anxiety/depression, and usual activities. Individuals are expected to fill out a questionnaire within five minutes. EQ-5D is available in different languages and has various versions ranging from age sixteen and holder to children between eight and fifteen years. These instruments can help screen depression among teenagers and provide reliable information.
Additional Assessment Questions
Focusing on self-esteem is one of the questions that I could ask how the patients feel about themselves. Also, asking whether a teenager has been a victim of bullying is another question that an assessor can ask. Besides, teenagers like accessing the internet and the additional question should focus on peer pressure, cyberbullying, and failed relationships (Bernaras, Jaureguizar, & Garaigordobil, 2019). The assessor should maintain the confidentiality of information provided to a teen patient, and the parents should not receive the information without the teen consent. On the other hand, the parent should understand the significance of confidentiality to prevent harm from disclosing information. However, the teenagers should understand the impact of disclosure of information as it might break the teen-parent relationship.
Support Options for Adolescents Encountering External Stressors
Teen depression requires the attention of every stakeholder around them, ranging from teachers, parents, and friends. These individuals can shape the life of a teenager differently. However, developing interventions that bring the adolescents together could help mitigate teen depression. Similarly, conducting seminars and workshops for parents and teenagers could help handle some of the effects of external stressors such as the death of a loved one or divorce—the workshop acts as a support option for both the parents and teenagers in handling teen depression. Also, building skills and education is a crucial support option for teenagers. The programs will help them understand how to tackle bullying and other stressors.
References
Bernaras, E., Jaureguizar, J., & Garaigordobil, M. (2019). Child and adolescent depression: a review of theories, evaluation instruments, prevention programs, and treatments. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 543. Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00543/
Niyonsenga, J., & Mutabaruka, J. (2021). Factors of postpartum depression among teen mothers in Rwanda: a cross-sectional study. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology, 42(4), 356-360. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0167482X.2020.1735340
Upton, J. (2020). Beck depression inventory (BDI). Encyclopedia of behavioural medicine, 202-203. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-030-39903-0_441.pdf
