Running Head: PEPSI SCREENING CASE STUDY: SELENA ESPINOSA

PEPSI Screening Case Study: Selena Espinosa

EDU 220: Educational Psychology

Ricardo Espinosa

College of Southern Nevada

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Biography

This PEPSI screening will be on my younger sister, Selena Espinosa. Selena is a 15 year

old girl, born on July 20th, 2001, she will be 16 years old this year. Selena is 5’1 tall, and she

weighs 120 lbs, and is currently a freshmen at Sunrise Mountain high school. Notable traits to

consider in her development are that she was held back for the second grade due to missing too

much school. When she was 9 years old and I was 13 years old, our mother passed away, she had

spent most of her life living with our mom, but after the death, her and I would live with my dad

permanently. In the past year and a half she has been treated for both depression and anxiety,

while she still struggles with these illnesses, she has made a considerable amount of progress

from where she was at the beginning.

My sister is generally one of the funniest people I know as she has a very quirky

personality like I do. Like most in our family, she is very talented in both singing and dancing. In

her freshmen year of high school, she has been an AVID participant in both video production

and theatre. She is on the school announcements every day, and has played a supporting role in

the female version of The Odd Couple, as well as the lead role of Annie in the hit musical Annie.

Physical Development

Selena is a petite sized girl, generally small and skinny. She is 5’1 tall and weighs 120

lbs. She has reached a pretty defined level of puberty on her body. According to the book

Psychology Applied to Teaching (Snowman, McCown, 2014), most girls reach their ultimate

height in high school. Our mother was quite short as well, roughly the same height, so this height
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for Selena could be based off of traits of our mom, however there could be room for growing

more in height.

As far as athletics go, Selena does not participate in any sports. She gets most of her

exercise by participating in P.E. Class where she runs the mile with her students, and participates

in games, however she has never participated in extracurricular sports. Another source of

exercise Selena partakes in is walking home from school, something she takes upon herself to do

as she wants to try and add some type of exercise to her day when she can (Espinosa, 2017).

Because she participates in Theatre, her recent performance in Annie has required lots of

physical rehearsal in dancing. Selena has participated in dance when she was younger as well.

According to Jeanne Ellsworth, at this age of physical development, anxiety about the

body could result in obsessive changes in diet (1999), Selena has expressed frustration in her

body, she is moreso comfortable but feels like she wants to be skinnier and more tone in her

stomach but does not contribute enough time to exercise(Espinosa, 2017). Diet wise, Selena eats

regularly, at least three meals a day.

Emotional Development

Snowman and McCown have found that depression is the most common type of

emotional disorder for adolescents (2014). As stated in the biography, my sister has been going

through issues with depression. Her depression causes her to not want to talk to people, as she is

afraid what she says could be embarrassing and could end up bothering her, which is a sign of

anxiety as well (Espinosa, 2017). I have seen and heard my sister isolate herself from her friends

during lunch time, sitting alone and keeping to herself.

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Selena has had depression for a year and half and has come along way from where she

started. She was taking anti depressants, occasionally had problems with weight and her morale.

However, over the past year and a half she has found outlets to keep her mind off of the negative,

such as riding a bike, spending time with her best friend Lexi, and engaging in self esteem

boosting activities such as theatre, where she has developed friendships with her fellow cast

members in plays. NIH.gov (2015) brings up that social interaction is a good way to help treat

depression as it builds morale, self esteem, and can take you away from being or feeling isolated.

While she has made progress in becoming more positive, she still periodically has

moments of being down for a variety of reasons. Her depression can cause a good day to go bad,

but because these moments are periodic, they can change quickly in the same day with enough

support and time to recover.

Philosophical Development

A section my sister seems scattered in is her philosophical development. By, ‘scattered,’ I

mean she doesn’t really see herself as a vital part of the community yet because of the lack of

consideration to that as a person and because of the dwelling on her personal life.

My sister has an independant sense to her political views when applying them to

arguments. She has a basic and general understanding of the laws in the environments she

applies herself to such as school, home, or in public. Selena is knowledgeable in pointing out the

injustices she sees done to herself, people around her or even on TV. As far as her place in

society, she feels she is just someone else, another person, and has not considered or thought of

what she wants to be in the world (Espinosa 2017).

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In school, Selena involves herself in a number of activities that she obtains proficiency

with such as video production and editing. She also is in actress in the school play, going through

weeks of rehearsal in singing, dancing, and line memorization. At home, Selena spends time with

her dogs, and cats as she is an animal lover, as well as spending time on her tablet

communicating with her friends on social media, or talking with her nephew Isaiah. In public,

selena usually goes out to the movies, the mall, or other destinations of her want such as fast

food restaurants. It seems she is scattered in her philosophical view because she doesn’t spend

much time thinking about it, rather involving herself in more recreational activities; I believe this

is because she spend a lot of time on school, and takes advantage of her time outside of school.

There are times where Selena does have a sense of philosophy however. Kohlberg and

Gilligan bring up in their book, The Adolescent in a Philosopher: The discovery of oneself in a

Postconventional World (1972), an interesting statement pertaining to finding out one's’

philosophical beliefs, “The core phenomenon of adolescence as a stage was that the discovery of

the subjective self and subjective experience and a parallel questioning of adult cultural reality.”

This statement talks about how one builds their perception through their own experiences. Selena

tends to build her reasoning off of the morals she has built in her experiences - Something Selena

gradually does with each argument she is in or defense she makes

James Marcia has constructed a series of identity classifications that adolescents go

through, I believe that Selena is currently in-between the stages of, Foreclosure, and ,

Moratorium (2014). This mostly stage fits Selena currently because of the similarities in her

characteristics. Crisis (Moratorium), Selena has experienced a crisis in her life before.

Commitment (Foreclosure), she experiences continuous love and support from her dad in her

endeavors. Characteristics (Moratorium), Selena has a hard time acting under low self esteem
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and pressure. These classifications contribute to Selena having a scattered perception of her

identity and what she wants to do in life, as well as a definite answer of who she is.

Social Development

Selena has probably the most social interaction with myself, our nephew Isaiah, our dad,

and her best friend Lexi. Her social development is affected by her depression as she is prone to

isolation, usually during school. She will be called a name, like ugly, and it could bother her the

entire day and she won’t want to talk to anyone (Espinosa 2017). Acceptance isn’t a huge worry

for Selena, as she tries to fit in where she can, like in theatre, and is not dependant on the

approval of her friends, but moreso our dad. The approval of our dad is very important, as it

would be to almost any child, days where there are conflicts with the family do usually reflect in

Selena’s school work.

In Chapter 3 of Psychology Applied to Teaching, it is stated that the pressure of parents

play a huge influence in the long run for their child, but the influence of peers is more immediate

(2014). This statement applies to Selena because, unlike this excerpt, our dad seems to be more

supportive of Selena in her current endeavors rather than in the long run. However, this could be

argued as like the excerpt because of how vital it is for Selena to be focused on school, so she

can carry what she has learned into the next grade, then she graduates and can get into a college

where she will decide what she wants to go for. Her peers, such as her fellow cast members in

plays, and associates in school, she will create bonds with them until she can trust them to hang

out with.

In the time Selena has been in high school, her social life has been in between positive

and negative. As brought up before, she has one person she considers her best friend, a girl
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named Lexi. Due to the dilemma of Selena’s depression her attachment and trust to create strong

bonds with friends is a more cautious process to her, as she is afraid to get hurt. In an article

about social development milestones for teens on understood.org, 15 year olds will tend to value

friends more than parents. This is true for Selena because it is important to have outside

communications and windows to vent to that aren’t her dad (Morin).

Selena has not personally planned for her future, but rather is focusing on what makes her

currently happy, as her happiness is quite important more frequently than in the long run.

Intellectual Development

Famous educational philosopher Piaget has four stages of intellectual development,

Selena would currently fall under the stage of formal operation. In this stage, the child is able to

think hypothetically and critically(2014). I have noticed Selena solve problems independently,

weather it be personally, or academically.

Selena is very creative when her free time and morale allows her to. She has constructed

her very own collection of paintings and poems, decorative crafts, and when she spends time on

her tablet, she uses apps to create illustrations as well. Academically, she applies her humor to

the videos she produces for video production class. However, this is all actually a downgrade

from her younger years, as she used to be more playful, active, and free in thinking. While I

believe the time she spends on social media could play a factor, however, as stated in the article,

“Creative Development in Adolescents”, on Scholastic.com, most teens will decline in creativity

as they get older as they have a tendency and pressure to fit in and go along with what their peers

do (Michael Anthony, 2017). Selena worries about herself more often than not, but is open to

trying to fit in with new friends and acquaintances.

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Overall, Selena is very smart as she obtains A’s and B’s in her classes, striving to do the

best she can (Espinosa 2017). Her success in school results in approval from our dad, as well as

prevents the possibility of not participating in extracurricular activities and hanging out with her

friends.

Recommendations

I would make a number of recommendations to Selena, and the people around her,

pertaining to the five stages of development.

For family members, friends and teachers:

Physically, Selena would like to exercise more but doesn’t have enough motivation, a

workout partner or a dedicated schedule she can commit to. Also, she should consume more

protein in her diet such as meat, and peanuts, as a good diet does contribute to the attitude of the

child. Emotionally, Selena’s depression is on and off, but what seems to help eliminate it is the

participation in theatrical activities, where she feels comfortable. While stress could come with

the involvement of performing, the payoff of entertaining has proved to be a self esteem booster

for her. Philosophically, Selena should make it a point to go to community gatherings at her

school, join a club, or try to obtain a position of leadership, this can give her a sense of

responsibility. Socially, Selena seems to be fitting in more with her classmates, but her

confidence in herself to trust others is an issue for accelerating her circle of friends, she should

focus on what makes her great, and what she likes about herself to be able to get the courage to

be more confident. Selena’s intelligence is looking good, and she should look to challenge

herself, but not exceed her limits right away.

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Depression is a road block for Selena, but once she can build her confidence and

recognize her strengths, she can open herself up to new opportunities and hobbies that could

spark an interest of a career to pursue and create a long term goal.

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References

Anthony, Michael. (2017). Creative Development in Adolescents. Scholistic.com.

Retrieved from:

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/stages-milestones/creative-

development-adolescents

Ellsworth, Jeanne. (1999). PEPSI Screening, Late Adolescence.

ESE504 Methods and Materials in Special Education . Retrieved from:

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jde7/ese504/class/pepsi/reading2-1-2.html

Espinosa, Ricky. Espinosa, Selena (2017) Interview with Selena. Recorded with

Google Docs and Facebook Messenger. Document provided with file.

Kohlberg, L. & Gilligan, C.(1972). Excerpt from The Adolescent as a Philosopher:

Discovery of self in a postconventional world. Pg. 12 - 16: Early Adolescence.

New York Norton. Pg. 148-155. Retrieved from

http://ww3.haverford.edu/psychology/ddavis/p109g/internal/kohlberg.gilligan.html

Morin, Amanda. (2014). Developmental Milestones for Typical Highschoolers.

Understood.org. Retrieved from: https://www.understood.org/en/learning-

attention-issues/signs-symptoms/developmental-milestones/developmental-milestones-

for-typical-high-schoolers

Staff, NMH. (2016). Depression, definition. National Institute of Mental Health

Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression/index.shtml

Snowman, J., McCown, R. (2014). Psychology Applied to Teaching. Boston, MA.

Cengage Learning.
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