Running head: PEPSI SCREENING

PEPSI Screening

Olivia George

College of Southern Nevada

EDU 220: Educational Psychology

Dr. Rochelle Hooks

November 8th, 2020

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Biography

Name: Elizabeth Thompson

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Grade: 12th

Race: White

Socioeconomic Status: Middle class

Elizabeth Thompson is a seventeen year old, caucasian female in her senior year of high

school. She comes from a middle class family and has grown up in Charmichael, California. She

lives with her mother and father and has a small, close friend group and a boyfriend. She

struggles with some emotional disorders but is very intelligent and opinionated, and has a good

social life and a good awareness of herself, others, and the world around her. She is very active

and is involved in activities such as cheerleading and band and is currently seeking part time

employment. Although she’s not sure what she wants to major in yet she plans on attending a

community college for two years after she graduates high school and then transferring to a

graduate program.
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Physical

Elizabeth is a 17 year old girl and is five feet and four inches tall and weighs 121 pounds.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) BMI calculator, this is a healthy weight

based on her age and height (CDC, 2020). She is a very active teen, exercising 5-6 days a week,

and participates in cheerleading and weightlifting as well as walking outside regularly. This

meets the recommendations by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2018) of 60

minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a day for children and adolescents ( pg. 8). These

activities require her to have very good motor dexterity and spatial coordination, which,

according to the J’anne Ellsworth physical developmental V chart (Ellsworth, 1998, section 2),

should be well developed by middle adolescence. Elisabeth also has asthma and needs glasses.

These are factors that could potentially affect the level of physical activity she gets, however

because, at her age, she has an understanding of how to deal with these things she is able to have

them in control and still lead a very active lifestyle.

Elizabeth is middle class, white female with high grades and educational goals and has

educated and attentive parents who show her an appropriate level of trust and respect. These are

all factors placing her among the students who are at a lower risk of becoming sexually active in

high school. This lowers her risk of experiencing teen pregnancy and falling into habits of drug

and alcohol abuse (Snowman and McCown, 2015, pg. 101-102). This is something she should be

wary of as part of her family has a history of substance abuse which makes her more likely to

become at risk of abusing (Melmis, 2020, paragraphs 1-2). The path that she is on currently -

doing well in school, participating in sports and extracurricular activities, having close friends

and a boyfriend with similar ideals and goals, having a plan for her future, and having a good

relationship with her parents - keeps her risk factor much lower.
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Emotional

Elizabeth struggles with anxiety and mild depression, which according to Snowman and

McCown (2015, pg. 104), is the most common type of emotional disorder in teens. In order to

deal with these problems Elizabeth attends therapy and has learned healthy ways to cope with

her emotions. She uses physical outlets, such as sports or going for walks, talking with others,

like friends, parents, her boyfriend, or her therapist, and takes time to be alone to self reflect. She

has a good relationship with her mother but is slightly apprehensive of her father. She goes to her

mother more than her father for all things but also does not view them as figures of authority in

her life anymore. This is typical of middle adolescents, as mentioned by the CDC regarding child

development, they are striving for more independence from their parents (2020, paragraph 2).

For the most part Elizabeth views herself well and has a good amount of self-confidence.

She knows she does well in school and sports and thinks that her social skills are moderate. She

also has a strong sense of self identity, which teens at this age are typically just beginning to

seriously explore. She has a plan for her life and knows what she wants to do and she knows

what she finds important and what kinds of people she wants to associate herself with. This is

evidence that she has reached identity achievement which is the final identity status outlined by

James Marcia (Moreli, n.d., paragraph 7).

She has experimented with drugs and alcohol but has boundaries set for herself and

standards for those she is friends regarding these sorts of topics. Many teens begin to turn to

drugs and alcohol because of the constant life changes and intense emotions they are dealing

with on a daily basis; this can be dangerous for their developing brains and may lead to more

problems with parents, friends, school, and emotional disorders as detailed in an article published

by the US National Library of Medicine (2011, paragraph 8)

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Philosophical

Elizabeth has advanced philosophical ideas for her age. She did not grow up in a

particularly religious household and considers herself agnostic so religion does not influence her

view of morality or authority. She believes that morality is subjective and considers it to be a

social contract that is followed by the members of a society in order to keep order and peace. She

believes that there is a separation between morality and legality. This is a factor of

postconventional morality, level 3, stage 5 of Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning (Snowman

and McCown, 2015, pg. 61). At this point in her life she views only the people who run the

country as the authority; she believes that there needs to be improvement and that there must be

mutual respect in those relationships. She also thinks her responsibility to society is to uphold the

social contract and to better society. All of this points to the new direction adolescents are taking

in terms of their worldviews (Kohlberg and Gilligan, 1971, pg. 4). Elizabeth doesn’t get in

trouble often; when she does she feels frustration for getting in trouble and guilt for doing

something wrong, and will try to talk it through and resolve the issue and then will deal with the

punishment and try not to do it again. She understands what is right and wrong and recognizes

when she does something that would warrant getting in trouble. She looks up to people like her

teachers and her mother and not stars or athletes or business professionals. She appreciates that

they’ve been through life and have an understanding of people and the world.

Elizabeth is at the psychological needs level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as shown

on SimplyPsychology.org (McLeod, 2020, paragraphs 11-19). Her basic needs are met and now

she is working on fulfilling her needs for belongingness and love and esteem. This shows in her

want for close relationships with her friends and boyfriend and in her dedication to school and

attendance of therapy for her emotional disorders.

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Social

Elizabeth struggles in social situations and with making friends. She can be outgoing in

some cases and especially with the people she is already comfortable with but for the most part is

shy and reserved around people she doesn’t know. She will not seek out social interactions with

new people if she doesn’t have to and has only a small group of close friends that she is

comfortable around. She prefers to socialize in person in small groups and likes to be around the

people she is close to often rather than being alone. Most of her socialization comes from

spending time with her close friends, although she does interact with acquaintances in some

other situations such as school and sports. She has begun to have interest in romantic

relationships and in creating closer, more intimate relationships with people which is typical of

teens her age (Morelli, n.d., paragraphs 2-3).

She is spending more time with her friends and boyfriend and less time with her parents

and is looking for more independence. She is getting her drivers license and seeking part time

employment in order to become less dependent on her parents. These are all behaviors that are

distinctive of middle adolescence when teens are attempting to discover themselves and where

they fit into their social circles and the society around them (Dr. Allen and Dr. Waterman, 2019,

section 3).

Elizabeth is more of an independent decision maker and isn’t influenced by others very

much. She has formed her own opinions and style and tends to make her mind up herself.

Despite this, she understands how to take into consideration other peoples’ viewpoints and

knowledge, and new information. Teens in this stage of adolescence tend to be influenced by

friends, peers, and family members in many different facets of life from what they wear to the

plans they make for their future as discussed by Snowman and McCown (2015, pg. 103).
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Intellectual

Elizabeth does very well in school and it is something she genuinely enjoys. She receives

A’s and B’s in all of her classes. She used to struggle with basing a lot of her self worth on her

grades but has now realized that that is not what defines her. She feels she does best in english

and science classes and feels as though she does much better with in person instruction rather

than online. Elizabeth has high self efficacy which is vital for students to develop in order to be

motivated and able to succeed in the tasks they undertake (Pajares, 2005, pg. 339). She does best

with a combination of lecturing while taking notes and hands on learning and out of Gardner’s

Multiple Intelligences she falls mostly into naturalist, interpersonal, and linguistic. She has a

legislative learning style meaning that she prefers to come up with her own new ideas and likes

to set a plan for herself (Snowman and McCown, 2015, pg. 134). She Prefers to think and plan

out things before she does them and it makes her nervous to go into things without a plan. This is

a part of the formal operational stage of thinking as described by Piaget in his Stages of

Cognitive Development (McCloud, 2018, section 3). This stage of thinking is normally reached

by children ages 11 and up.

Elizabeth takes interest in politics and social issues and has very strong opinions on these

topics. She also takes it upon herself to learn about and research things that interest her outside of

school which is a sign of being a lifelong learner (Balsely, 2017, paragraph 8). She also has

developed appropriate problem solving skills for her age. She can differentiate what type of

problem she is facing, whether it be practical or interpersonal or abstract, and then decide how

best to solve the problem. She uses skills like planning, talking with others, thinking it through,

etc. to solve any problems she comes up against in her personal life or in school. These are

important skills to begin to master at her age as they are used constantly in everyday life.
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Graph
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Recommendations

1. Elizabeth is physically on target for where she should be at her age. I recommend she

continue her current level of physical activity to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

2. Elizabeth struggles with some emotional disorders but this can be normal for her age. I

recommend she continue attending therapy to help her with these problems.

3. Elizabeth has advanced philosophical views and understanding for her age. I would

recommend that she get involved with volunteering in her community or for social or

political issues to keep her mind active on these topics.

4. Elizabeth has a difficult time making friends and socializing with new people but is very

happy with her current friend group. I would recommend that she focus on maintaining

the close relationships that she currently has with her friends, boyfriend, and family, but

also try to step outside of her comfort zone sometimes and talk to new people if she has

the chance.

5. Elizabeth does very well in school and she enjoys it. I recommend that she sees a

guidance counselor at her school to talk about getting started on preparing her plans for

after she graduates high school this next year.

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References

Allen, B., & Waterman, H. (2019). Stages of Adolescence. HealthyChildren.org.

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/teen/Pages/Stages-of-

Adolescence.aspx.

Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs. (n.d.). Adolescent Development.

Adolescent Development.

http://www.amchp.org/programsandtopics/AdolescentHealth/projects/Pages/Adoles

centDevelopment.aspx.

Balsley, J. (2018, January 19). What it Means to Be a Lifelong Learner. The Art of

Education University. https://theartofeducation.edu/2018/01/25/means-lifelong-

learner/.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, June 25). BMI Calculator Child and

Teen. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/bmi/calculator.html.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, March 6). Adolescence (15-17 years

old). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/adolescence2.htm

l.

Ellsworth, J. A. (1998). PEPSI - The Whole Child. Pepsi.

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/essentials/reading1-1-1.html.
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Health.gov. (2018). Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Health.gov.

https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-

09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf.

Kohlberg, L., & Guilligan, C. (1971). The Adolescent as a Philosopher: The Discovery of

the Self in a Postconventional World, 4.

Mcleod, S. (2020, March 20). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Simply Psychology.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html.

Melemis, S. (2020). The Genetics of Addiction - Is Addiction a Disease? I Want to Change

My Life. https://www.addictionsandrecovery.org/is-addiction-a-disease.htm.

Moreli, A. (n.d.). Adolescent Social Development. Adolescent Social Development - Child

Development Theory: Adolescence (12-24).

https://www.gracepointwellness.org/1310-child-development-theory-adolescence-

12-24/article/41167-adolescent-social-development.

Moreli, A. (n.d.). Rhode Island Student Assistance Services.

https://www.risas.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc.

Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015). Psychology applied to teaching (14th ed.).

Cengage Learning.

Winters, K. C., & Arria, A. (2011). Adolescent Brain Development and Drugs. The

prevention researcher. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3399589/.