This paper was written in my Advanced Child Development course. The assignment was to first, identify a popular media source addressing a current issue facing adolescents in the U.S.. The article I chose can be found here : https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/well/live/teen-vaping.html Then, we were required to write a paper that explains the issue, critiques what the author got right or wrong about it, and apply our knowledge of developmental concepts and theories learned throughout the course to the issue at hand.

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Stevie Hardigree
HDFS 4080
30 November 2020
Adolescence in the Media Paper
In this New York Times article, Jane E. Brody informs her readers about an extremely
pressing issue facing America’s adolescent population today: teenage vaping and the inevitable
fate of long-term nicotine addiction among much of the current adolescent generation. Even
though in most U.S. states it is illegal to purchase e-cigarettes before the age of 18 or 21, the ease
of product access via online sources or from friends and relatives makes this new consumption of
high doses of nicotine a pertinent and extremely prominent issue facing adolescents by as early
as middle school. There are many concerns surrounding some unknown, yet suspected, as well as
known long-term effects of the many chemicals being consumed through various vaping devices.
What is even more alarming, is the perceived lack of action at the legislative level to regulate,
prevent, and eradicate this epidemic.
In terms of how this issue is framed, the author chose to grab the reader’s attention in the
introductory paragraph with an abruptly unfair comparison that does not take the developmental
limitations of adolescent brains into account. Thankfully, as one continues reading, it seems that
the sole aim of this article is more to educate the general public on the severity and frequency of
vaping among the young population, rather than to simply bash the stereotypic, careless
adolescent. Brody does this in a highly factual manner, drawing shocking quotes and statistics
from a multitude of accredited researchers and physicians. The information is correct and truly
compelling; however, Brody failed to realize in many instances how expanding upon the findings
within developmental science could strengthen her argument even further. When considering the
author’s mentioned factors contributing to this epidemic like the roles of advertising and
marketing, addictive pathways in the brain, and lack of consideration for potential long-term

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consequences, several concepts and theories within the field of developmental science can curate
a more holistic explanation of the destructive behaviors in question.
A concept that is immeasurably explanatory for the “Why?” behind adolescent risky
behaviors is maturation imbalance. ​Maturation Imbalance​ refers to the differing speeds of
development in various areas of the brain during different developmental periods. During
adolescence, two parts of the brain develop particularly quickly, the limbic system and the
striatum. The​ Limbic System​ is associated with an internal drive for immediate gratification and
high levels of emotional reactions. Similarly, the ​Striatum​, which releases dopamine into the
body, is a key component of the brain’s reward system, and is far more active and sensitive
during adolescence than those of adults or even children. Although this hyperactivity of the
striatum is thought to play a useful role for learning rapidly from cues in their environment, it is
also associated with more risky behaviors. This brings us to the ​Prefrontal Cortex​, which is the
part of the brain responsible for decision making, planning, making judgements, and weighing
future consequences. This part of the brain develops at a much slower rate than those of the
limbic system and the striatum, resulting in poor ​Impulse Control ​and/or ​Self Regulation​, the
ability to delay or deny some gratification in favor of a more reasonable, acceptable, or safer
alternative. These two systems do not level out until well into one’s twenties, causing the
Maturation Imbalance.
Mid-adolescence, therefore, is a time marked by high ​Sensation-Seeking​, the tendency to
pursue novel, exciting, and rewarding experiences, but still developing self-regulation,
(Steinberg, 2017) which impedes their ability to weigh long-term or even unknown
consequences. This phenomenon is of utmost relevance to the current nicotine epidemic. As
Brody implies throughout her article, companies like Juul and Puff Bar are blatantly marketing

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toward this known vulnerability within the adolescent population through a slew of enticing
flavors being advertised right at their very fingertips on the internet and social media. Something
else to consider when trying to make sense of the “explosive uptake of vaping by young people”
(Brody, 2020) just since 2017, is that when adolescents are in the presence of peers, their
likelihood of engaging in risky decision-making increases drastically. Peer presence is also
associated with adolescents becoming more sensitive to rewards, and especially attentive to
immediate rewards. On top of all of this, they are also more vulnerable to coercive or “peer”
pressure in general. (Steinberg, 2017) Like Erika R. Cheng, public health epidemiologist, said,
“Juul made it cool, and young people who had never smoked cigarettes are ​becoming addicted to
nicotine​.” Once vaping became a socially accepted and expected behavior among adolescents
and their peers, an “explosion” of consumption was virtually unavoidable.
As mentioned previously, the use of developmental theory in this article would have also
presented an intriguing perspective. Specifically, the ​Environmental Sensitivity Theory​ is
especially apropos in the context of the nicotine epidemic and its effects on certain adolescent
brains. This theory suggests that certain combinations of genetic factors, temperaments, and
early environmental experiences cause some people to have more noticeable responses to
influences in the environment throughout life. Whereas, others tend to follow a more stable trend
of developmental outcomes, regardless of their environments. (Pluess, 2015) People with high
levels of environmental sensitivity can be inclined to respond dramatically in both positive and
negative contexts. If one such individual seems to benefit exponentially from positive
experiences, but not necessarily from negative or neutral environments, this is called vantage
sensitivity. Contrarily, when individuals have a specific vulnerability to environmental risk, but
are not highly affected by positive and neutral influences, they are representative of the

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diathesis-stress model of environmental sensitivity. Thirdly, a concept called differential
susceptibility accounts for people who show drastic responses to both positive and negative
environmental factors. (Pluess, 2015) These models can be a useful tool for predicting the
developmental pathways that will likely be occupied in the future by adolescents affected by the
nicotine epidemic based on their respective levels and types of environmental sensitivity. In
theory, individuals who exemplify the diathesis-stress model are, first of all, most likely to be
consuming nicotine in the first place, but will also be most prone to life-long addiction. One of
Brody’s sources spoke of the concerns about e-cigarette use often being “a gateway to vaping of
marijuana, which can affect the brain centers responsible for attention, memory, learning,
cognition, self-control and decision-making”. Sadly, this chain-reaction is just one example of a
downward spiral that these types of adolescents are unproportionately at risk of. On the other
hand, a sector of addicted or dabling adolescents that need special attention are those with high
levels of differential susceptibility. While these people present a similar affinity for risky
behaviors, they are also highly responsive to positive influences like psychological intervention
and positive parenting. (Pluess, 2015)
With this information from the developmental science perspective comes an imperative
call to action. As Brody mentioned in her article, regulatory agencies have been slow and
negligent to respond to this fast-growing health threat, and many older adults view the vaping as
a simple act of teenage ignorance and delinquency. By providing a more in-depth understanding
of why adolescents are at such a high risk for, in this context, nicotine use and addiction, the
general public can then understand their role in the epidemic, and push for political and social
change within their families and respective spheres of influence in society. Parents of
adolescents, for example, should be doing what they can to provide opportunities for healthy

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risks, as their child’s brain is highly oriented toward rewards and gratification during this
developmental period. At the legislative level, there is a great need for careful regulation of these
harmful products that are harbouring lifetimes of addiction and health issues for our most
susceptible population. In terms of intervention, stigmas surrounding mental health and addiction
must be socially eradicated. We must commit to this, so that plans for normalized, affordable
counseling and therapeutic resources can be installed, as developmental science suggests that the
presence of such influence is often a trajectory-shifting effect in the lives of struggling
adolescents, children, and adults. The need for a general awareness of developmental science is
urgent, so that we can continue to generate real, age-appropriate solutions for not only the
adolescent nicotine epidemic, but also the myriad of pending dilemmas we inevitably face as
vulnerable humans living in an imperfect society.

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References
Steinberg, L. (2017). Adolescent Brain Science and Juvenile Justice Policymaking. Retrieved
December 03, 2020, from ​https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-15237-001
Brody, J. (2020, November 23). The Risks of Another Epidemic: Teenage Vaping. Retrieved
December 03, 2020, from
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/well/live/teen-vaping.html
Pluess, M. (2015). Individual Differences in Environmental Sensitivity. Retrieved December 3,
2020, from
http://philosonic.com/michaelpluess_construction/Files/Pluess_2015_Individual%20Diff
erences%20in%20Environmental%20Sensitivity.pdf