During adolescence, teens undergo profound changes in their physical appearance and intellectual capabilities. Adolescents also have profound transformations in areas such as independence, peer group activities, sexuality and future orientation.
If one asks a teen between 12 and 15 years what he or she would like to do when grownup, one will probably get an answer that has no particular relevance to the adolescent’s education and abilities. For example, the answer might be, “I want to be a star quarterback in the NFL”. This thinking often reflects an idealized viewpoint of oneself. In mid adolescence, the high school years, the answer will certainly be less concrete. Not uncommonly, the teen will say, “I do not know”. This answer is in fact a reflection of the adolescent’s thinking from that of idealized me to a realistic me that is found in late adolescence. So during college, in the final stages of adolescence, one will likely obtain a realistic answer to the question, “What do you what to do when you are grownup?”
Future orientation then occurs as a gradual process from the “today” orientation of early adolescence, through the “tomorrow-this week” thinking of mid adolescence to the future thinking of late adolescence. Besides vocational planning, future orientation has important implications for adolescents.
A prime example of future thinking is in the area of contraception planning. It is usually the case that adolescents’ age 12-15 year experiencing intercourse for the first time do not use contraceptives. It is not necessarily that they lack knowledge about contraceptive devices. Rather, they are oriented to today rather than the future. In contrast, a 19 year old adolescent prior to her first sexual experience may insist her partner be tested for sexually transmitted infections, will ask her partner to use a condom and she will have been examined and prescribed oral contraceptive pills. The couple will have discussed the whole matter of first intercourse for weeks prior to the event.
Clinicians who care for adolescents check for future orientation during their patient encounters. The HEADDSSS questions, taken during the adolescent history, yields information that helps the clinician provide anticipatory guidance.
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H: Home including support, space and relationships
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E: Education including future goals, achievement
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A: Abuse including physical, sexual and emotional
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D: Drugs including alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs
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D: Depression screening
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S: Safety including seatbelts, bicycle helmets, driving
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S: Sexuality issues
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S: Suicidality issues
An older adolescent who does not have good future orientation or career goals may be considered at risk.
Adolescents who have good future orientation are felt to have a protective factor against risky behavior. In fact, resiliency research teaches that adolescents are influenced greatly by the balance of their personal risk and protective factors. Research in substance abuse teaches that a good future orientation is protective against the abuse of substances.
However, the long-term consequences of alcohol, tobacco and drug use are not important enough to influence adolescent use of these substances. The chronic use of these substances, however, may be influenced by a positive future orientation.
College students who lack future orientation may be depressed. The student may feel the future is cloudy because he or she is depressed. Or because the student has no goals or vision for the future, he or she may be depressed. These individuals should be referred to a counseling group.
Parents should help adolescents to develop a positive future orientation. Realistic goals of college, vocation or employment should be discussed between teen and parent. Parents should assist the teen in thinking through all of the complexities associated with these life decisions. And parents should be very careful not to confuse their own goals or missed opportunities with a realistic assessment of their teen’s capabilities, interests and opportunities.
Related topics:
Birth control, depression, growth and development, puberty, risk-taking
