This document discusses issues pertaining to youth in human services. It defines adolescence and emerging adulthood, and examines the emergence of adolescence as a stage of childhood. It then explores a range of issues youth may face, such as high-risk behaviors, mental health problems, LGBTQ issues, and classifications of problems. Finally, it analyzes specific issues in depth, like delinquent behavior, bullying, substance use, depression, suicide and schizophrenia.

1. Issues in Human Services
(HMNS 10085)
Module 2: Issues Pertaining to Youth

2. What is Youth?
• Adolescence - the years of 10 to 18
• Teenage years - 13-18 years
• Period of time between when puberty begins and
when adulthood is reached
– Menarche
– Semenarche
– Time of rapid growth
• Emerging adulthood 18 to 2 years

3. The Emergence of Adolescence
as a Stage of Childhood
• Adolescence - recent stage of childhood
– Emerged in 1890s
– Time period when attending school
– This has increased over time
• Cultures vary by expectations on
adolescents- may be based on gender

4. Issues for Youth
• High Risk Behaviours - aggression/
“delinquent behaviour”, gang activity
– Bullying
– Substance Use
• Mental Health Issues - depression, anxiety,
eating disorders, self-harm/suicide
• Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/Queer
Youth

5. Classification of Problems
• Externalizing problems:
– Directed towards others
• Internalizing problems:
– Directed inward

6. Externalizing Problems:
“Delinquent” Behaviour & Violence:
• Criminal activity and violence attract a lot
of attention.
• Youth do commit a disproportionate
number of violent crimes
• Youth - 7% of the overall, general
population
• Youth are 4 times more likely to be victims
of crime - female more than male.

7. “Delinquent” Behaviour &
Violence:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Problem-solving cognition
Judgement
Connection to disruptive peers
Early maturation (girls)
Values
Witnessing or experiencing violence

8. Contributors to “Delinquent”
Behaviour & Violence:
• Youth “act out” for a reason
• Conditions within the youth
• Past or present abuse, neglect or chaotic
environments (due to substance abuse)
• Structural risk factors
– Living in poverty > food insecurity,
specifically.

9. How School Experience May
Contribute
• Teacher insensitivity to a youth’s
individuality
• Rigid discipline
• Continuous negative interactions
• Failing to assess the strengths of youth
• Lack of funding for special education
resources that help promote school success.

10. Gang Activity: Types of Gangs
•
•
•
•
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Groups of friends
Spontaneous Criminal Activity Gang
Purposive Gang
Youth Street Gang
Structure Criminal Organization

11. Myths about gangs:
• Cultural or ethnic groups form gangs
composed of individuals from their own
cultural or racial groups
• Newcomers to Canada frequently form
gangs
• Criminal gangs are composed of youth

12. What do gangs provide youth?
•
•
•
•
•
Respect
A sense of making a contribution
Potential for leadership
Relief from boredom
Acknowledgement of the youth as a unique
individual
• A feeling of membership, belonging
• A feeling of empowerment

13. Why gangs tend to form:
•
•
•
•
•
Living in poverty
Unemployment
Racism
Family-oriented difficulties
Not succeeding in school/low attachment to
school
• Chaos in community

14. Interventions for Youth
Involved in Gangs:
• Structural approach:
– Mobilize a community to take action
– Provide educational, recreational and
employment opportunities
– Social intervention (eg. housing)

15. Bullying
• Bullying is defined as,
“…a way of attaining power through
aggression.”
• There is intentionality
• Tends to be repetitive in nature

16. Bullying Behaviour &
Types of Bullying
• Bullying Behaviour:
–
–
–
–
–
Physical
Verbal
Social
Used electronically
Being a bystander
• Types: Racial, religious, sexual & disability

17. How Often Does it Happen?
• 20% of children & youth report being
bullied.
• Increases in early adolescence
• Decreases in later adolescence
• Boys are bullied more using physical
behaviours
• Girls - more use of exclusion, gossip
behaviours.

18. Who is particularly at risk:
• Large body type
• Not fitting in with peer group
• Students who have disabilities &/or use
special education services
• Students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, or queer (LGBTQ)

19. Impact of being bullied:
•
•
•
•
Anxious and lonely
School avoidance
Illness - depression and suicidal thoughts
Poor academic performance

20. Who tends to bully?
• Anyone
• Do not possess effective social problemsolving skills
• Considered attractive, popular & leaders in
their school communities

21. Measures to combat bullying:
•
•
•
•
•
School-based awareness campaigns
Directed to the whole school body
“Norm”
Research evidence - mixed
Raising awareness of the bystander role

22. Substance Use
• It becomes problematic when:
– habitual
– involves street or illegal drugs
– Interferes with daily life & functioning

23. How many youth use substances?
• >65% of students had used alcohol (25.3% had
been binge-drinking)
• 29.8% had used cannabis
• >23% smoked tobacco
• 6% used ecstasy
• No substance use > 27.4%
• At least 4 different drugs - 14% of all students
• 5.6% of students - could not stop using

24. Trends in Youth Substance Use:
• Alcohol & using drugs increasing since the 90s.
–
–
–
–
Some increase in use of most substances
Highest increase - marijuana
Increase in alcohol
Increase in designer drugs or rave drugs (Ecstasy)
• Use of tobacco decreased since 90s.
– Except it has increased in young women
– Highest smoking rate in country

25. Associated Problems in
Substance Use:
• Use of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine &
amphetamines linked to violent behaviour
• More likely to gamble
• Substance use (alcohol use especially) is
linked to depression
• ADHD diagnoses

26. Factors Thought to Contribute to
Substance Use:
•
•
•
•
Influenced by peers
Have mothers
Move frequently/school adjustment
Have lower parent supervision & support in single
parent families
• Have parents who are more authoritative &
directing
• Come from households where parents are religious

27. Individual Characteristics/Resources that
decrease likelihood of substance use in
youth:
•
•
•
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Good self-concept
Religious beliefs/values
Authoritative parenting
Social support

28. Mental Health Issues in Youth:
• Externalizing Disorders:
– Conduct Disorder
– Oppositional Defiance Disorder
• Internalizing Disorders:
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–
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Depression
Self-injury
Suicide
Anxiety
Eating disorders
• ~20% of youth have a mental health disorder

29. Depression:
• Symptoms:
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–
–
–
–
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Low mood
Feelings of sadness
Crying easily
Loss of interest in activities previously enjoyed
Sleep disturbances
Appetite disturbances
Low energy
Stomach aches or headaches
Diminished memory & ability to concentrate
Youth > irritability
• Interferes with functioning in daily life

30. Depression: How many youth
does it affect?
• 3.5% of children and youth experience
depression
• Tends to increase in adolescence
• Girls more affected than boys
• Can be difficult to detect

31. Anxiety
• Anxiety - level is such that it interferes with functioning in
daily life
• Often occurs with depression.
• Impacts ~6% of children & youth
• Types of anxiety disorders:
– Generalized Anxiety-many worries & fears
– Specific Phobia - anxiety response specific to 1 thing > highly
avoidant
– Social Phobia - excessive worry about social situations
– Panic Disorder - physical panic response > “attack”
– Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - uncontrollable & unreasonable
thoughts (obsessions) & routines/rituals (compulsions)

32. Factors Contributing to
Depression & Anxiety:
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•
•
•
•
•
•
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Genetic - runs in family
Early life stress - trauma
Attachment issues
Psychological controlling by parents
Economic problems in household
Low marital happiness in parents
Parental hostility towards you
Reaction to a stressful life event

33. Self-injurious Behaviour
• “…any deliberate, repetitive attempt to
harm one’s own bodily tissue without a
conscious desire to commit suicide.” (Nock
& Prinstein, 2005, in Martin, 2011).
• Most frequent - cutting legs and arms with
razor blade, burning one’s self.

34. Prevalence of Self-injurious
Behaviour
• Adolescents are at higher risk for selfinjuring than adults
• 39% of adolescents have self-inflicted
injury at some point in their lifetime
• Female youth self-injure at a much higher
rate.

35. Causes of Self-injuring
Behaviour
• Causes are unclear
• Associated with:
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–
–
–
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Eating Disorders
Depression
Anxiety
Physical, sexual or severe emotional abuse
Being a perfectionist

36. Reasons for Self-injury
• It allows youth to feel something when they
otherwise feel emotionally numb
• Allows youth to numb psychic pain
• Internal expression of rage or intense anger
• Self-punishment
• Means of getting attention

37. Eating Disorders
• A group of disorders characterized by a distorted body
image in which eating behaviours are severely restricted or
unhealthy, to alter body weight & shape
– See themselves as fat when dangerously thin
• Primary onset- tends to be adolescence
• Risk for medical problems such as:
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Infertility
Tooth damage
Heart & kidney problems
Bone loss
Anemia
Premature death
Growth may be halted

38. Types of Eating Disorders
• Anorexia Nervosa - refusal to maintain expected body
weight (< 85% of normal body weight) through starvation, excessive
exercise, use of diuretics, laxatives. Use of excessive calorie counting,
lack of satisfaction with weight loss, intense fear of gaining weight.
Part of diagnosis - absence of menstrual cycle for 3 months.
• Bulimia Nervosa - binge eating followed by purging
(vomiting, using laxatives). Youth feels no control over the eating
behavior.
• Binge-eating Disorder - Eats excessively to point of
being uncomfortable. Feels highly guilty which can lead to other
binges.

39. Prevalence
• Anorexia - half to 1% of youth
• Bulimia - 1 to 3% of youth
• Females much more likely to have an eating
disorder

40. Causes
• Interplay of cultural, genetic & psychological
causes
• Cultural -related to unrealistic body image ideals
• Genetic - predisposition to mental disorders
• Psychological - may have anxiety disorder earlier
in childhood. Low self-esteem, trying to be
“perfect”; family interaction patterns
– Control

42. Suicide
• The most extreme internalizing disorder
• Adolescents - high risk, females higher
suicidal ideation
• Rate is higher for adolescents than adults
• Rate is growing

43. Types of Suicidal Behaviour
• Gestures - cry for help vs. attempt with
intent to kill oneself
• Attempts/Completed
• Females - 85% of those who attempt but are
unsuccessful
• Males - 80% of those who complete suicide

44. Risk Factors for Suicide:
• Youth feeling hopeless, with little social support,
having feelings of hostility & negative self-esteem
> greatest risk
• Strongly linked to family disruption & divorce
• Having a friend commit suicide.
• Having a gun (for males)
• High level of school involvement > associated
with a decreased risk for suicide

45. Schizophrenia
• Most often diagnosed in late adolescence or
emerging adulthood
• Thought Disorder
• Symptoms:
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Unclear or illogical thinking
Delusions
Hallucinations
Cognitive impairment
Inability to express emotions

46. Early Signs
• 30 times more likely to commit suicide
• Increased social isolation - especially from
peers
• Declining cognitive functioning - confusing
thoughts
• Indications of hallucinations

47. Treatment of Mental Health
Disorders:
• Prevention
• Medical treatment
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - for
depression, anxiety & eating disorders
• Family therapy

48. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender/Transexual, Queer
(LGBTQ) Youth
• Often the victims of bullying - 75% of gay youth in one
study reported being verbally abused at school & 14%
reported physical abuse
• 85% of LGBTQ youth reported being victimized by
bullying - 60% report having been assaulted
• Male youth were abused more than female youth
• School climate in which there is heterosexist, homophobic
language used > increased anxiety & depression amongst
LGBTQ youth
– 39.4% heard such remarks from adults in their schools
• High rate of suicide - 30% reported attempting

49. How to make communities safe
& inclusive for LGBTQ Youth
• Address the harassment - provide education to
school personnel to begin with
• Policies that do not condone harassment based on
LGBTQ status > “Zero Tolerance” policies
• Focus on sexuality as part of youth’s personhood
- not the sole defining factor of a human being
• Teach students to respect the dignity of all persons

50. Readings:
•
Centre For Addiction & Mental Health (2002). Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among Ontario Students. Youth
Scoop, Vol 2. Toronto: Centre For Addiction & Mental Health.
•
Retrieved from: http://www.camh.net/education/Resources_teachers_alcdruguse.pdf.
•
Centre For Addiction & Mental Health (2002). Youth violence: what’s the story? . Youth Scoop, Vol 3. Toronto:
Centre For Addiction & Mental Health.
•
Retrieved from: http://www.camh
.net/education/Resources_teachers_schools/Youth%20Scoop/youth_scoop_violence_youth.pdf
•
Centre For Addiction & Mental Health (2009). Hear me, understand me, support me: what young women want you
to know about depression. Toronto: Centre For Mental Health & Addiction.
•
Retrieved from: http://www.camh.net/Publications/Resources_for_Professionals/Validity/validity_sizism.html
•
Hamilton Wentworth District School Board (____). Bullying: Information for parents and students. In Safe and
Caring Schools #3.
•
Retrieved from: http://www.hwdsb.on.ca/programs/safeschools/bullying/pdfs/bullying_booklet_english.pdf.

51. Readings continued…
•
Offord Centre For Child Studies (2007). Eating problems in children and adolescence. Hamilton, ON: Centre of
Knowledge on Healthy Child Development.
•
Retrieved from: http://knowledge.offordcentre.com/images/stories/offord/pamphlets/EatingDisorder_en.pdf.
•
Offord Centre For Child Studies (2007). Mood problems in children and adolescents. Hamilton, ON:Centre of
Knowledge on Healthy Child Development.
•
Retrieved from: http://knowledge.offordcentre.com/images/stories/offord/pamphlets/Mood%20B&W.pdf.