Adolescence
AdolescenceAdolescence Adolescence Adolescence (lat adolescere, (to grow) is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. This transition involves biological (i.e. pubertal), social, and psychological changes, though the biological or...
, the transitional stage of development between
childhoodChildhood is a broad term usually applied to the phase of development in humans between infancy and adulthood.-Age definition of a child:...
and
adultThe term adult has at least three distinct meanings. It can indicate a biologically grown or mature person. It may also mean a plant, animal, or person who has reached full growth or alternatively is capable of reproduction, or the classification legal adult, generally determined as a person who...
hood, represents the period of time during which a person experiences a variety of biological changes and encounters a number of emotional issues. The ages which are considered to be part of adolescence vary by culture, and ranges from
preteenPreadolescence is a stage of human development through childhood that occurs in a child's years before adolescence.-Span:The point at which a child becomes an adolescent is usually defined by the onset of puberty...
s to nineteen years. According to the
World Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health...
(WHO), adolescence covers the period of life between 10 and 20 years of age. Adolescence is often divided by psychologists into three distinct phases: early, mid and late adolescence.
Background
Adolescence can be a specifically turbulent as well as a dynamic period of one's life. It has been identified as a period in which young people develop abstract thinking abilities, become more aware of their
sexualityAdolescent sexuality refers to sexual feelings, behavior and development in adolescents and is a stage of human sexuality. Sexuality is often a vital aspect of teenagers' lives...
, develop a clearer sense of psychological identity, and increase their independence from parents.
G. Stanley HallGranville Stanley Hall was a pioneering American psychologist and educator. His interests focused on childhood development and evolutionary theory...
denoted this period as one of "Storm and Stress" and, according to him,
conflictConflict is actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests. A conflict can be internal to individuals. Conflict as a concept can help explain many aspects of social life such as social disagreement, conflicts of interests, and fights between individuals, groups, or organizations...
at this developmental stage is normal and not unusual.
Margaret MeadMargaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s....
, on the other hand, attributed the behavior of adolescents to their culture and upbringing as that the majority of problems associated with adolescence in Western society are not present in other cultures.
Several
developmental stageOne of the major controversies in developmental psychology centres around whether development is continuous or discontinuous. Stage theories of development rest on the assumption that development is a discontinuous process involving distinct stages which are characterised by qualitative differences...
models have placed adolescence in a period of
human developmentDevelopmental psychology, also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes that occur in human beings over the course of the life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence and adult development,...
.
Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud , Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology...
saw it as the "genital phase" of
psychosexual developmentThe concept of psychosexual development, as envisioned by Sigmund Freud at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, is a central element in his sexual drive theory, which posits that, from birth, humans have instinctual sexual appetites which unfold in a series of stages...
, where the child recaptures the sexual awareness of infancy.
Jean PiagetJean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist and philosopher, well known for his pedagogical studies...
focused on
cognitive developmentThe Theory of Cognitive Development, is a developmental stage theory first developed by Jean Piaget.-Sensorimotor period:The Sensorimotor Stage is the first of the four stages of cognitive development...
, seeing adolescence as the "formal operative stage" where the young person develops the ability to think abstractly and draw conclusions from the information available.
Erik EriksonErik Erikson was a Danish-German-American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on social development of human beings. He may be most famous for coining the phrase identity crisis. His son, Kai T...
’s theory of psychosocial development identified the
identity crisisAn identity crisis is when an individual loses a sense of personal sameness and historical continuity. The term was coined by the psychologist Erik Erikson.-Description:...
as central to the notion of adolescence.
Adolescent psychology addresses the issues associated with adolescence, such as whether or not the aforementioned "storm and stress" is a normal part of this period. The
American Psychological AssociationThe American Psychological Association is a professional organization representing psychologists in the U.S., with around 150,000 members and an annual budget of around $70m...
has a separate division dedicated to adolescence, and the psychologists specializing in this topic attempt to answer questions dealing with the age group. One issue in adolescent psychology discusses whether adolescence is in fact a discrete developmental period, a point along a continuum of human development, or a
social constructionA social construction is any phenomenon 'invented' or 'constructed' by participants in a particular culture or society, existing because people agree to behave as if it exists or follow certain conventional rules. One example of a social construct is social status...
.
Social behavior patterns
The social behavior of mammals changes as they enter adolescence. In humans, adolescents typically increase the amount of time spent with their
peerA peer group is a social group consisting of people who are equal in such respects as age, education or social class. Members of a particular peer group often have similar interests and backgrounds...
s. Nearly eight hours are usually spent communicating with others, but only eight percent of this time is spent talking to adults. Adolescents report that they are far happier spending time with similarly aged peers as compared to adults. Consequently, conflict between adolescents and their parents increase at this time as adolescents strive to create a natural separation and sense of independence. These interactions are not always positive;
peer pressurePeer pressure refers to the influence exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change his or her attitudes, values, or behavior in order to conform to group norms. Social groups affected include membership groups, when the individual is "formally" a member , or a social clique...
is very prevalent during adolescence, leading to increases in
cheatingCheating is an act of lying, deception, fraud, trickery, imposture, or imposition. Cheating characteristically is employed to create an unfair advantage, usually in one's own interest, and often at the expense of others, Cheating implies the breaking of rules...
and
misdemeanorA misdemeanor, or misdemeanour in many common law legal systems, is a "lesser" criminal act. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions...
crime. Young adolescents are particularly susceptible to conforming to the behavior of their peers.
Early adolescence is a stage at which the
peer groupA peer group is a social group consisting of people who are equal in such respects as age, education or social class. Members of a particular peer group often have similar interests and backgrounds...
becomes increasingly important, with conformity to peers peaking at 11–13 years (Costanzo and Shaw 1966). 90% of adolescents identify themselves with a peer group (Palmonari, 1989). According to
Judith Rich HarrisJudith Rich Harris is a psychologist and the author of The Nurture Assumption, a book criticizing the belief that parents are the most important factor in child development, and presenting evidence which contradicts that belief....
’s theory of group socialization, children and adolescents are shaped more by their peers than their parents (Harris 1997). Peers can encourage both pro-social behavior, which peaks at 11–12 years, or anti-social behavior, which peaks at 14–15 years (Bendt, 1979). Adolescents are less likely to feel depressed or anxious if the peer group provides emotional support (Buhrmester, 1992). Arguments between parents and children increase considerably during adolescence (Feeney, 1999)
Non-human mammals also exhibit changes in social attitude during adolescence. Adolescent rodents have also been observed spending more of their time with rodents of similar age. Conflicts between adolescents and parents have been noted in other primates, and overall increases in aggressiveness have been observed during this time period. Despite this, social bonding between adolescents and adults tends to improve due to reconciliatory behavior. Allomaternal behavior increases among females in several species, including humans, nonhuman primates, and rodents. However, males tend to exhibit less interest in infants during adolescence.
Psychological issues
Adolescents are widely considered by the psychological establishment to be prone to
recklessnessRecklessness is disregard for or indifference to the dangers of a situation or for the consequences of one's actions....
and
riskRisk is a concept that denotes the precise probability of specific eventualities. Technically, the notion of risk is independent from the notion of value and, as such, eventualities may have both beneficial and adverse consequences...
-taking behaviors, which can lead to
substance abuseAlthough the term substance can refer to any physical matter, substance abuse has come to refer to the overindulgence in and dependence of a drug or other chemical leading to effects that are detrimental to the individual's physical and mental health, or the welfare of others.]The disorder is...
, car accidents, unsafe sex and youth crime. There is some evidence that this risk-taking is biologically driven, caused by the social and emotional part of the brain (
amygdalaThe ' are almond-shaped groups of nuclei located deep within the medial temporal lobes of the brain in complex vertebrates, including humans...
) developing faster than the cognitive-control part of the brain (frontal cortex).
Although most adolescents are psychologically healthy, they can (like adults) exhibit signs of
mental illnessA mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or disability that is not expected as part of normal development or culture. The recognition and understanding of mental disorders has changed over time and...
. Late adolescence and early adulthood are peak years for the onset of
schizophreniaSchizophrenia , from the Greek roots skhizein and phrēn, phren- is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality...
.
Mood disorderA mood disorder is the term given for a group of diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders classification system where a disturbance in the person's mood is hypothesized to be the main underlying feature...
s such as
clinical depressionMajor depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
,
bipolar disorderBipolar disorder, also known as manic depressive disorder, manic depression or bipolar affective disorder, is a serious mental disorder that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated mood clinically referred to as mania or, if...
and
anxiety disorderAnxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal and pathological fears and anxieties which only came under the aegis of psychiatry at the very end of the 19th century. Current psychiatric diagnostic criteria recognize a wide variety of anxiety disorders...
s can initially show in adolescence. Girls aged between 15 and 19 make up 40% of
anorexia nervosaAnorexia nervosa is a psychiatric illness that describes an eating disorder characterized by extremely low body weight and body image distortion with an obsessive fear of gaining weight...
cases.
Self-help
Treatment for depression is widely available, including
psychotherapyPsychotherapy or personal counseling with a psychotherapist, is an intentional interpersonal relationship used by trained psychotherapists to aid a client or patient in problems of living.It aims to increase the individual's sense of their own well-being...
(cognitive behavioural therapy), interpersonal therapy, counselling and
antidepressantAn antidepressant is a psychiatric medication used to alleviate mood disorders, such as major depression and dysthymia. Drugs including the monoamine oxidase inhibitors , tricyclic antidepressants , tetracyclic antidepressants , selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors , and serotonin-norepinephrine...
s.
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