Prompt: The Theory Essay is designed to assist you with digging deeper into developmental theory and integrating general information from your textbook with current applications of the theory in peer-reviewed research. This assignment may also help prepare you for the Research Paper assignment later in this course. Please read through this document in its entirety before beginning your work on this assignment. Your Theory Essay should be approximately 2 pages double-spaced in length (500 words), using 12-point font and 1-inch margins. You must include an APA Reference page to cite both articles. Dr. Harry Stack Sullivan was a developmental theorist whose ideas built on earlier psychodynamic and attachment theories to assert that individuals’ relationships fulfill different social needs, depending on developmental stage (see p. 376, Santrock). His interpersonal theory of psychiatry (Sullivan, 1953) suggests that relationships with friends are particularly important to adolescent development. Your Theory Essay will explore some of Sullivan’s ideas about friendships and apply them to understanding two peer-reviewed scientific journal articles by modern scientist Dr. Amanda Rose, both of which are focused on adolescents’ social and emotional development. Preparation: Read Chapters 11 and 12 (Santrock) and reflect on key concepts related to physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development in adolescence. Read this peer-reviewed article: Rose et al (2017). Co-rumination exacerbates stress generation among adolescents with depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 45, 985-995. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5350052/ To complete this assignment, you will: Step 1: Explain Sullivan’s ideas regarding the importance of adolescent friendships. How did Sullivan build on psychodynamic and attachment theories in asserting that adolescent friendships were so important to human development? What might the presence of close friendships bring to the developing adolescent? (approximately 1 paragraph) Step 2: Based on your reading of the textbook and the journal article, was Sullivan right about the importance of friendships? Give at least two examples of research findings (from your text or from the article) that support Sullivan’s hypotheses about the importance of adolescent friends. (approximately 1 paragraph) Step 3: Consider Dr. Rose’s construct of co-rumination in adolescent friendships as it relates to Sullivan’s ideas. According to the article, what is co-rumination, and what are the benefits of co-rumination for adolescent development? (approximately 1 paragraph) Step 4: Are there any downsides to co-rumination? Using your text and the article, discuss at least one tradeoff (negative outcome) of co-rumination for adolescents. (approximately 1 paragraph) Step 5: Pretend that Dr. Harry Stack Sullivan was alive today and he and Dr. Rose had a chance to discuss co-rumination and its potentially positive and negative impacts on adolescents’ social and emotional functioning. In your view, how might Sullivan’s theory be updated to account for the fact that co-rumination might be “too much of a good thing?” (approximately 1 paragraph) Theory Essay Example First Name Last Name PSY120 Theory Essay 31 July 2023 Caregiver Relationships Harry Stack Sullivan was a developmental psychologist interested in the ways in which close relationships impact people across their lives. Specifically, Sullivan believed that different kinds of relationships were important at different times in development. During infancy and early childhood, he thought that caregiver relationships were most important, because they fulfilled a child’s physical needs like food, shelter, and safety. In his work, Sullivan was building on earlier psychodynamic and attachment theories that focused on the importance of children’s relationships with their caregivers in terms of shaping personality and emotions In later childhood and into adolescence, Sullivan believed that friends became more important. At adolescence, Sullivan thought that close friendships were central to development, because friends offer support and emotional closeness as kids grow up and start to have relationships outside of the family. I think Sullivan was right about friendships being so important in adolescence. During this time, kids are very concerned about belonging to the group and about what others think of them. Having friends is important so that kids have someone to hang out with and talk to. Talking with friends is one way kids get support for their problems. The research articles talk about how getting social support is important, but that too much of a certain kind of support, co-rumination, might not be so great. Co-rumination is defined as the excessive discussion of problems with a friend, and it involves rehashing, speculating, focusing on negative feelings, and both friends encouraging the problem talk to keep going (Rose, 2021). On the one hand, co-rumination may benefit adolescents, because it is related to more positive and higher quality friendships. This means that friends trust each other and support one another. However, there are downsides, or tradeoffs, to co-rumination. In her 2021 paper, Rose says that co-rumination is linked with internalizing symptoms, which means symptoms of depression and anxiety. Rose and colleagues (2017) also found that girls who co-ruminate a lot with their friends can actually increase the amount of peer stress that occurs in their lives in the future. This means that co-rumination may serve a stress generation function (Rose et al., 2017). If Dr. Sullivan talked with Dr. Rose today, I think maybe he would be surprised that there might be downsides to certain types of social support, like co-rumination. Back when Sullivan was working on his theory, he may not have thought about what happens when people get too much of a certain kind of social support. Focusing too much on your problems with friends might actually not be the best thing for some people. Sullivan might want to update his theory to say that getting social support from your friends for your problems might be a little like eating cake: it’s good to have some (because it’s important for a good life), but you don’t want to only eat cake. Once in a while it’s good to get some vegetables, too. In other words, social support from friends is important, but having a healthy life will involve other coping skills, like being physically active, doing things you’re good at, and maybe even talking to a therapist instead of just dwelling with your friends on how bad your problems make you feel. References Rose (2021). The costs and benefits of co-rumination. Child Development Perspectives, 15, 176-181. Rose, A. J., Glick, G. C., Smith, R. L., Schwartz-Mette, R. A., Borowski, S. K. (2017). Co-rumination exacerbates stress generation among adolescents with depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 45, 985-995.
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