Ideas sobre la adolescencia entre padres, profesores, adolescentes y personas mayores

Abstract

The study of beliefs about child development is one of the most prolifi c research areas in developmental psychology, but only a few works focused on ideas about adolescence. The main aim of this study was to research beliefs about adolescence in a sample composed by 80 parents of adolescents, 80 teachers of secondary schools, 85 elders with more than 60 years and 102 adolescents from 13 to 17 years. All of them completed a questionnaire including 55 items referring to behaviors and characteristics that can be attributed to adolescents. Results give a picture of the dominant ideas in society about adolescence, including both positive and negative elements, but with a higher incidence of the second. The most remarkable fi nding coming from the comparison among the four groups included in the sample was that teachers had more negative beliefs about adolescence, specially when compared to parents and adolescents.