ADOLESCENT P.E.P.S.I.

SCREENING 1

Adolescent P.E.P.S.I. Screening

Arleesia Herrera

College of Southern Nevada

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Adolescent P.E.P.S.I. Screening

A P.E.P.S.I. Screening is a tool to help both educators and parents see their child as a

whole person and pin point the needs and strengths of the child. It analyzes through observation

or by talking to the child their physical, emotional, philosophical, social and intellectual well-

being. Educators and parents can take the information gathered from a P.E.P.S.I. Screening to

develop strategies to help the child in areas they are struggling, maintain their current level of

development, or encourage further growth.

Biography

Kael M. is a 15-year-old Hispanic male. He is currently attending Western High School

as a Sophomore student. He lives in a home with his Mother, Step-Father, and younger half-

brother. In total he has three half-siblings. His oldest brother Kawika, who is 23-years-old, he is

closest to. His relationship with Kawika is a very loving one. He sees Kawika as the person he

can go to in times of need, someone he can openly communicate with, and someone to get into

trouble with. He has an older sister Kiara, who is 21-years-old, whom he is not very close with.

This can be attributed to the fact that they did not grow up together. His younger brother Zane,

who is 10-years-old, he seems to have a typical big brother/little brother relationship. There are

times when they get along great and other times when they are rough with each other.

Kael really cherishes his relationship with his mother. He clearly trusts his mother and

they both foster an open and honest relationship. He finds it easy to communicate with her. His

relationship with is Step-Father is similar in that he respects him a lot and sees him as the father

figure he needs in his life. Kael’s relationship with his biological father is best described as

strained. This is due to the fact his biological father lives in another city and they do not

communicate with each other often, nor is that communication meaningful. As far as extended
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family goes, he doesn’t have any that he speaks with regularly, but he does have grandparents on

his step-fathers side. He appreciates that he can have some grandparental involvement in his life,

but would like to know his biological grandparents as well.

His family’s socioeconomic status is middle-class. His family owns their home and both

parents work full-time jobs. Kael’s involvement level in house decisions in moderate, he is

consulted on issues as it relates to the family, but ultimately decisions rest with his mother and

step-father. His home life is very structured and disciplined. A typical day for Kael consists of

attending school, completing homework, playing video games and eating dinner with his family.

Kael has a very stable home life and a supportive family.

Physical

Kael’s height is five feet ten inches and his weight is one hundred and ten pounds.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this puts Kael at the fiftieth

percentile for height and twenty-fifth percentile for weight compared to other males his age

(CDC, 2009). His is fairly active as he walks home from school two miles every day, totaling ten

miles a week. Kael is also a member of the R.O.T.C. and has physical training once a week for

eighty-five minutes.

He does spend a significant amount of time playing video-games. He self-reports to

spend an hour playing video games during the school week and twenty hours during the

weekend, for a total of twenty-five hours a week. As reported by the Journal of Adolescents, the

average teenager, ages twelve to seventeen, spends twenty-one hours a week in front of a

“recreational screen” (Suchert, Hanewinkle, & Isensee, 2016). Kael uses screen time four hours

more than the average teenager. They also found a correlation between excess screen time and

“body mass index percentile, waist circumference, body fat, waist-to-height-ratio, and a negative
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association with self-concept of physical attractiveness” (Suchert, Hanewinkle, & Isensee, 2016).

However, Kael is below the average percentile for weight of other males his age, so this does not

put him in immediate danger for being overweight. However, this doesn’t necessarily negate his

risk for other issues with being sedentary for long stretches of time. The journal Appetite states,

while engaging in TV watching, playing video games or using a computer, adolescents intake

more food than they would otherwise doing other activities (Marsh, Mhurchu, Jiang, &

Maddison, 2014). The International Journal of Cariology cites a risk between a sedentary

lifestyle and high blood pressure in children (Moraes, et al., 2015).

Kael does not have any immediate health concerns or issues. At age fifteen he has fully

attained puberty. Kael is in good overall health.

Emotional

Kael is a generally happy teenager. Apart from the usual ups and downs of life, he finds

his life enjoyable. In dealing with stress he uses drawing or writing as coping mechanisms. Kael

does not seem to be at risk for depression or any other psychiatric disorders, as he does not have

a history of mental illness in his family nor does he exhibit any outwardly signs of mental illness

(Snowman & McCown, 2015). Kael has a very strong familial support system, and this

contributes to his positive emotional health (Balistreri & Alvira-Hammond, 2016).

Kael has one emotional barrier and that would be the absence of his biological father. He

expressed his relationship with him was limited and not as “easy” as it is with his mother. While

he has adopted his step-father as the father-figure in his life, his biological father drives some of

Kael’s goals. When asked to define success Kael has an abstract idea of what success means to

him but had overwhelming undertones of not becoming like his biological father. Several studies

have found that “the simple presence of a father is not necessarily beneficial to children's
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…development”, it depends more on the relationship fostered (Mercer, 2013). This is an

emotional barrier that Kael is very capable of overcoming as he matures, and he will be able to

define what success means to him in more concrete terms that are separate of the influence of his

biological father.

Philosophical

Kael is a part of a Christian Church and stated that this has helped shape his morals and

beliefs. Another influence on his beliefs comes from observing other people and how they react

to life situations. Honesty is a moral value he believes in heavily and he sees his mother as the

best positive example of honesty. According to White, adolescents who had high perceptions of

their parents, had high perceptions of family cohesion and had greater communication with their

parents, not only viewed their parents as a moral authority, but had higher moral values

themselves (White, 2000).

In looking at Piagets’ theories of moral development, Kael holds ideas in both the

Morality of Constraint and Morality of Cooperation, although he leans more toward cooperation

like most of his peers (Snowman & McCown, 2015). While he believes guilt is determined based

on the intentions of a person rather than the damage done, he holds that rules are unchangeable in

some situations and flexible in others. He also holds the contradicting views that although there

may be varying viewpoints to rules, they can still be unchangeable. Kael is still developing in

moral reasoning, according to Piagets’ theory. If looking at James Marcia’s Identity Status, Kael

is right on track with his peers in development of a set of personal values such as honesty,

justice, and fairness. He falls in the category of Identity Foreclosure, with characteristics such as

strong, confident, accepted values of his parents, holds authoritarian views and low in anxiety

(Snowman & McCown, 2015).

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Social

Kael keeps his social circle small valuing close intimate, relationships over having

several shallower ones. This attitude is a deviation of the behaviors of most adolescents who find

that “social success among peers is attributed to toughness and dominance rather than intimacy

and affiliation” (Ojanen, Sijtsema, & Rambaran, 2013). In this aspect, Kael shows greater

maturity than his peers. However, he did describe himself as “lazy” and does not socialize as he

much prefers to stay in. He seems to be “socially disinterested”, meaning while he does not

actively seek out socializing activities, he will not turn them away if approached unless what he

was doing in solitude interests him more (Smith & Hart, 2002). Kael is very comfortable in his

social group and enjoys spending time with them when he does.

Like most children his age, he does look to his peer group for influence on “dress,

hairstyles, speech patterns, friendships and leisure activities” (Snowman & McCown, 2015). He

looks to his parents and oldest brother for advice on long term goals or issues navigating life. He

has very little conflict with his parents, which he attributes to their open and honest

communication. Kael is also very polite and well-mannered, which makes him very comfortable

when speaking with adults. He is not how some would describe as “socially awkward” and

appears to have a grasp on accepted social behaviors.

Intellectual

Intellectually Kael is ahead of his peers. He takes several honors classes and currently has

a 3.8 grade point average. He plans on furthering his education by attending college and working

toward a degree in engineering, architecture or graphic design. He has an impressive grasp of

language. He does fall within the description of being in the formal operational stage as he has

no problems considering things in the abstract (Snowman & McCown, 2015).

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Kael has also begun to form his own political viewpoints in policy, not party, but they do

reflect his rigid moral thinking in right and wrong. Adelson’s research concluded that children

ages twelve to sixteen could understand abstract ideas such as freedom of speech, beging to

decline in their authoritarian views, understand consequences, and gain more political knowledge

(Snowman & McCown, 2015). Kael exhibits all these same characteristics except declining in

authoritarian views.

P.E.P.S.I. Chart

Physical Emotional Philosophical Social Intellectual

Kael Normal Age

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Recommendations

Kael has the opportunity to improve in some areas, maintain others and excel. The main

area of concern is his physical health and sedentary lifestyle. While Kael is not an overweight

child, the concern is if he continues the sedentary activities at the same current rate and his

metabolism slows as he ages, that he may become an overweight adult. While weight is one

concern of a sedentary life style, so are heart problems, bone and joint problems and problems

associated with weight such as diabetes (Moraes, et al., 2015). It would be beneficial to reduce

his screen to by at least four hours to be within the average amount of screen time for an

adolescent.

Kael is very healthy emotionally. If any recommendation is to be given it would be to

allow himself to fully go through a “grieving process” to deal with and understand the absence of

his father (Holman, 1998). Although his biological father has been physically absent for ten years

and he still maintain contact with him, the absence still colors the way Kael thinks about himself.

Kael is a very capable young man and capable of much success, as long as he learns not to

compare himself to his father and understand himself as an individual.

Another opportunity for improvement lies within moral development. While Kohlberg’s

theory of moral reasoning put him at average, Piaget’s puts him just below average (Snowman &

McCown, 2015). He thinks in authoritarian terms with less flexibility than most adolescents.

Kael would benefit from challenging his perceptions on the rigidity of right and wrong. This can
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be worked on by not coming to judgements quickly and analyzing intentions of people before

coming to his own conclusions about people’s actions.

There is no recommendation for improvement with Kael’s social well-being. He values

having a small, close group of friends. He has a best friend with whom he can talk to about

issues he may have. He should maintain the type of friendships he has fostered by making sure

he has time to devote to those friendships.

Kael is a very intelligent young man and ahead of his peers by leaps and bounds. Finding

activities for him to continue to foster his intelligence and love of learning would benefit him.

Kael could join academic after school clubs such as a Debate Team, Peer Tutoring, or STEM

Club. He should also explore AP classes or dual-credit classes offered at CSN High School to

get a head start on his college aspirations.

Through the P.E.P.S.I. screening it was observed the Kael is in overall good physical

health. He is well-adjusted both emotionally and socially considering the small hurdles he faces

in both areas. However, he has the tools necessary to overcome those hurdles. He has a strong

sense of morals that deviate slightly from his peers, but he demonstrates strong convictions by

not being influenced by his peers to change his views. He is intelligent and should continue to

foster his love of learning. Kael will make incredible contributions to society.
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References

Balistreri, K., & Alvira-Hammond, M. (2016). Adverse childhood experiences, family functioning

and adolescent health and emotional well-being. Public Health, 132, 72-78.

doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2015.10.034

Holman, W. D. (1998). The Fatherbook: A Document for Therapeutic Work with Father-Absent

Early Adolescent Boys. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 15(2), 101-115. Retrieved

September 22, 2018.

Marsh, S., Mhurchu, C. N., Jiang, Y., & Maddison, R. (2014). Comparative effects of TV watching,

recreational computer use, and sedentary video game play on spontaneous energy intake in male

children. A randomised crossover trial☆. Appetite,77, 13-18. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2014.02.008

Mercer, J. (2013). Child development: Myths and misunderstandings. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE.

Moraes, A. C., Carvalho, H. B., Siani, A., Barba, G., Veidebaum, T., Tornaritis, M., . . . Moreno, L.

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sedentary behaviors: The IDEFICS study. International Journal of Cardiology,180, 165-170.

doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2014.11.175

National Center for Health Statistics. (2010, September 09). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from

https://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/index.htm

Ojanen, T., Sijtsema, J. J., & Rambaran, A. J. (2013). Social Goals and Adolescent Friendships:

Social Selection, Deselection, and Influence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23(3), 550-

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Snowman, J., & McCown, R. R. (2015). Psychology applied to teaching. Australia: Cengage

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