adolescence essay

• Skip to main content
• Skip to secondary menu
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

A Plus Topper

Improve your Grades

Adolescence Essay | Essay on Adolescence for Students and Children in English

February 13, 2024 by Prasanna

Adolescence Essay:  Adolescence is the phase of transition between childhood and adulthood. It involves the physical and psychological growth and development of a person during the puberty period and is usually marked by the teenage years. The ages between 10 to 24 are generally said to be adolescence period.

During this period, the changes are associated with new risks and opportunities and are responsible for the positive and negative influences in a person’s behaviour and mindset.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Long and Short Essays on Adolescence for Students and Kids in English

We provide students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic Adolescence for reference.

Long Essay on Adolescence 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Adolescence is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Adolescence is defined as the age of transformation of an individual from childhood to adulthood. The physical and psychological development and cultural expressions can start early or end later during this phase.

Adolescence starts with puberty, and bodily changes are observed during these years. In this phase, for both genders, there is a rapid increase of height and a development of sexual glands and adrenal glands with hormonal changes. The development of facial hair and deepening of voice is seen in boys. In girls, there is a development in breasts and hips at the beginning of the menstrual cycle. In these years, the bodily changes are very distinctive.

Besides, there are changes in the characteristics of the brain. The amygdala processes stress and related emotions and affect instinctual reactions and reflexes. The frontal cortex also develops, which is responsible for rational thinking, morals, judgments, and self-control. These start to develop at the onset of the adolescence period and develop over the years.

Young people experiencing the adolescence phase are exposed to various social, psychological, and behavioural changes. Individuals learn about their orientation, experience an emergence of abstract thinking and introspection. They get an idea about values, skills, coping capabilities, and the importance of a family and its values.

Various psychiatric disorders are associated with adolescence. Young girls are at greater risk for sexual and substance abuse, depression and anxiety, and sleeping and eating disorders. Boys experience a source of pride and embarrassment and various changes in their mentality, both good and bad.

In the adolescent years, there is overall cognitive development. Improvements can be observed in selective and divided attention. Both working and long-term memory are developed. The speed of registering things and self-analysis increases with self-thinking and social insight with a developed knowledge of themselves. However, there are some social constraints associated with adolescence. The social structure and stereotypical mindset often influence the mentality of a young individual. They develop resilience and are also influenced by radical and divergent ideas and changes within society.

Social developments include maintaining and developing an identity, along with cultural and belief developments. There is a sense of self-awareness and awareness towards others living in the same society. The lifestyle of an adolescent is determined by their assigned roles in the family or society in general.

Young people experiencing adolescence are often involved in physical activities like sports, dance, drama, etc., and try to find their field of interest. They find these pleasurable and gratifying. But due to academic and societal pressure, most of them cannot participate in these activities. Although very important, extra-curricular activities have been curtailed these days, restricting the individual to find exposure. The increasingly important teenagers became a driving force in music, tv shows, movies, and styling during the 1950s in many countries. In many countries, World War II’s effect has been an economic boom where teenagers used to spend money freely. In these affluent countries, teenagers have very few meaningful responsibilities, whereas, in underdeveloped countries, the young generation struggles to survive.

Short Essay on Adolescence 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Adolescence is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Adolescence is the transition between childhood to adulthood. It involves a lot of physical, psychological, and behavioural changes. Adolescence years start with puberty. In girls, it starts at the age of 12 or 13, whereas in boys it varies from 13-15 years. Physical changes are very prominent in these years.

Adolescence and puberty have psychological and social consequences. The most important of which is looking for self-identity and improvements in cognitive abilities. Psychological changes include the development of strong viewpoints and a mentality. Social changes include self-awareness and maintaining the identity in the society a person lives in.

Generally, the years 13 -18 in an individual’s life is a period of self-discovery, confusion, and stress. During this period, a person explores his/her ability to think and act independently to survive these adolescent years.

These are the years determining how a person would turn out in the future as derived from their psychological and behavioural characteristics. They are exposed to both positive and negative influences during this period. In a few cases, adolescents chose the negative path, whereas some cannot take the mental pressure or bear with the social phobias.

10 Lines on Adolescence in English

• Adolescence is the period when a child is transformed into an adult.
• Adolescence is associated with various cognitive, physical, and psychological changes.
• It starts mostly at the age of 13, with the beginning of puberty.
• The role of hormones is very important during these years.
• Adolescence is a period in an individual’s life with specific health care and developmental necessities.
• Adolescence years are crucial as a person figures out his/her ways of managing relationships, emotions, societal, and family pressure.
• Adolescence is the period of self-discovery and self-awareness.
• The role of positive and negative influences is very important in the adolescent’s life.
• During this phase, an individual experiences new opportunity and look for exposures and grow their self-interest.
• Adolescence years are associated with improvement in the mentality and way of thinking of a young individual.

FAQ’s on Adolescence Essay

Question 1.   What is the actual age of adolescence?

Answer: On average, the adolescence period starts with puberty at the age of 13-14 and continues till 24.

Question 2.  What are the changes that occur in a person during adolescent years?

Answer:  During adolescence, a person undergoes different physical, behavioural, and psychological changes that shape the individual.

Question 3.  What are the cognitive developments that occur during adolescence?

Answer:  Cognitive developments include improvements in thinking abilities, metacognition, wisdom, reflex and impulses, risk-taking actions, and self-consciousness.

• Picture Dictionary
• English Speech
• English Slogans
• English Letter Writing
• English Essay Writing
• English Textbook Answers
• Types of Certificates
• ICSE Solutions
• Selina ICSE Solutions
• ML Aggarwal Solutions
• HSSLive Plus One
• HSSLive Plus Two
• Kerala SSLC
• Distance Education

• History & Society
• Science & Tech
• Biographies
• Animals & Nature
• Geography & Travel
• Arts & Culture
• Games & Quizzes
• On This Day
• One Good Fact
• New Articles
• Lifestyles & Social Issues
• Philosophy & Religion
• Politics, Law & Government
• World History
• Health & Medicine
• Browse Biographies
• Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
• Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
• Environment
• Fossils & Geologic Time
• Entertainment & Pop Culture
• Sports & Recreation
• Visual Arts
• Demystified
• Image Galleries
• Infographics
• Top Questions
• Britannica Kids
• Saving Earth
• Space Next 50
• Student Center
• Introduction & Top Questions

Physical and psychological transition

Restrictions on physical movement, absence of meaningful responsibility, isolation from adults.

adolescence

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

• World Health Organization - Adolescent health
• HealthyChildren.org - Stages of Adolescence
• Better Health Channel - Parenting children through puberty and adolescence
• MedlinePlus - Adolescent development
• Social Sciences LibreTexts - Adolescence
• National Center for Biotechnology Information - Adolescent Development
• Psychology Today - Adolescence
• Maricopa Open Digital Press - Adolescence
• Cleveland Clinic - Adolescent Development
• adolescence - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• adolescence - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

How is adolescence defined?

Adolescence is the transitional phase of growth and development between childhood and adulthood. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines an adolescent as any person between ages 10 and 19.

Does adolescence exist in all cultures?

Nearly every culture recognizes adolescence as a stage of development. However, the duration and experiences of adolescence vary greatly across the cultural spectrum.

What kinds of changes take place during adolescence?

Many changes take place during adolescence. Prominent among these are physical changes, including puberty , and social and psychological changes, with development of reasoning skills, rational thought, and moral judgment.

Recent News

adolescence , transitional phase of growth and development between childhood and adulthood . The World Health Organization (WHO) defines an adolescent as any person between ages 10 and 19. This age range falls within WHO’s definition of young people , which refers to individuals between ages 10 and 24.

In many societies, however, adolescence is narrowly equated with puberty and the cycle of physical changes culminating in reproductive maturity. In other societies adolescence is understood in broader terms that encompass psychological , social, and moral terrain as well as the strictly physical aspects of maturation. In these societies the term adolescence typically refers to the period between ages 12 and 20 and is roughly equivalent to the word teens .

During adolescence, issues of emotional (if not physical) separation from parents arise. While this sense of separation is a necessary step in the establishment of personal values, the transition to self-sufficiency forces an array of adjustments upon many adolescents. Furthermore, teenagers seldom have clear roles of their own in society but instead occupy an ambiguous period between childhood and adulthood . These issues most often define adolescence in Western cultures , and the response to them partly determines the nature of an individual’s adult years. Also during adolescence, the individual experiences an upsurge of sexual feelings following the latent sexuality of childhood. It is during adolescence that the individual learns to control and direct sexual urges.

Some specialists find that the difficulties of adolescence have been exaggerated and that for many adolescents the process of maturation is largely peaceful and untroubled. Other specialists consider adolescence to be an intense and often stressful developmental period characterized by specific types of behaviour.

Stereotypes that portray adolescents as rebellious, distracted, thoughtless, and daring are not without precedent. Young persons experience numerous physical and social changes, often making it difficult for them to know how to behave. During puberty young bodies grow stronger and are infused with hormones that stimulate desires appropriate to ensuring the perpetuation of the species. Ultimately acting on those desires impels individuals to pursue the tasks of earning a living and having a family.

Historically, many societies instituted formal ways for older individuals to help young people take their place in the community . Initiations, vision quests , the Hindu samskara life-cycle rituals, and other ceremonies or rites of passage helped young men and women make the transition from childhood to adulthood. An outstanding feature of such coming-of-age rites was their emphasis upon instruction in proper dress, deportment, morality , and other behaviours appropriate to adult status.

The Kumauni hill tribes of northern India offer a vivid example of a culture that traditionally celebrates distinct stages in every child’s life. When a girl reaches puberty, her home is decorated with elaborate representations of the coming of age of a certain goddess who, wooed by a young god, is escorted to the temple in a rich wedding procession. Anthropologist Lynn Hart, who lived among the Kumauni, noted that each child grows up at the centre of the family’s attention knowing that his or her life echoes the lives of the gods. Although Kumauni teenagers may act in ways that bewilder their elders, tribal traditions ease the passage through this stage of life, helping young people to feel a connection to their community.

Social constraints

From a biological perspective, adolescence should be the best time of life. Most physical and mental functions, such as speed, strength, reaction time, and memory , are more fully developed during the teenage years. Also in adolescence, new, radical, and divergent ideas can have profound impacts on the imagination.

Perhaps more than anything else, teenagers have a remarkable built-in resiliency, seen in their exceptional ability to overcome crises and find something positive in negative events. Studies have found that teens fully recover from bad moods in about half the time it takes adults to do so. Despite this resilience , however, for some teens these years are more stressful than rewarding—in part because of the conditions and restrictions that often accompany this period in life.

Teenagers spend countless hours doing things they would prefer not to do, whether it be working or spending hours behind school desks processing information and concepts that often come across as abstract or irrelevant. Even excellent students say that most of the time they are in school they would rather be “somewhere else.” Many Western adolescents prefer to spend their time with friends in settings with minimal adult supervision.

The layouts of contemporary American communities—especially suburban ones—cause some teens to spend as many as four hours each day just getting to and from school, activities, work, and friends’ houses, yet getting from place to place is not something they have control over until they obtain a driver’s license (an event that became a major rite of passage for adolescents in much of the developed world). But even with access to a car, many teenagers lack appropriate places to go and rewarding activities in which to participate. Many engage with digital devices or digital media or spend time with peers in their free time.

Adolescents generally find that activities involving physical movement—sports, dance, and drama, for example—are among the most pleasurable and gratifying. Ironically, the opportunities for participation in such activities have dwindled , largely because budget concerns have led schools to cut many nonacademic subjects such as physical education . In some American public schools, extracurricular activities have been greatly curtailed or no longer exist.

In the 1950s the increasingly important teenage market became a driving force in popular music (especially rock music), film, television, and clothing. Indeed, in those countries experiencing the post- World War II economic boom, adolescence was transformed by the emergence of teenagers as consumers with money to spend. In the contemporary developed world, adolescents face a bewildering array of consumer choices that include television programs, movies , magazines , CDs , cosmetics , computers and computer paraphernalia, clothes, athletic shoes, jewelry , and games . But while many teenagers in these relatively affluent countries have no end of material amusements and distractions, they have few meaningful responsibilities, in sharp contrast both to their counterparts in countries struggling merely to survive and to earlier generations.

Alexander the Great (356–323 bce ) was still a teenager when he set out to conquer a large part of the known world at the head of his father’s Macedonian armies. Lorenzo de’ Medici (1449–92) was an adolescent when his father sent him to Paris to work out subtle financial deals with the king of France . On a less exalted level, until a few generations ago, boys as young as age five or six were expected to work in factories or mines for 70 or more hours a week. In almost all parts of the world, girls were expected to marry and take on the responsibilities of running a household as early as possible.

In 1950 German-born American psychoanalyst Erik H. Erikson described adolescence in modern Western societies as a “ moratorium ,” a period of freedom from responsibilities that allows young people to experiment with a number of options before settling on a lifelong career. Such a moratorium may be appropriate in a culture marked by rapid changes in vocational opportunities and lifestyles. If young people are excluded from responsibilities for too long, however, they may never properly learn how to manage their own lives or care for those who depend on them.

Of course some adolescents create astonishing opportunities for themselves. William Hewlett and David Packard were teens when each began experimenting with electronic machines, and they founded the Hewlett-Packard Company when they were only in their mid 20s. As an adolescent , Microsoft Corporation cofounder Bill Gates was already formulating the business strategy that just a few years later would dumbfound the IBM colossus and make him one of the wealthiest men in the world. By and large, however, most teens play a waiting game, expecting to start “really living” only after they leave school. As useful as these years can be in preparing teens for their future roles in society, this isolation from “real” life can be enormously frustrating. In order to feel alive and important, then, many teenagers express themselves in ways that seem senseless to the rest of the population.

In many public schools in the United States , student-teacher ratios of between roughly 12 and 25 (depending on whether the school is private or public) mean that the classroom atmosphere is influenced considerably more by peers than by teachers. At home teenagers spend at least several hours each day without parents or other adults present. Moreover, during the little time when adolescents are at home with their parents, the family typically watches television or the children disappear to study, play games, listen to music, or communicate with friends on computers, phones, or other devices.

Estrangement from parents has clear effects. Teens who do little and spend little time with their parents are likely to be bored, uninterested, and self-centred. Lack of positive interaction with adults is particularly problematic in urban settings that had once enjoyed a lively “street-corner society,” where men traditionally shared their experiences with younger ones in a setting that was casual and relaxed. This vital facet in the socialization of young men has largely disappeared to the detriment of individual lives and communities . In its place, peer influence can be counterproductive by reinforcing a sense of underachievement or sanctioning deviant behaviour.

With little power and little control over their lives, teens often feel that they have marginal status and therefore may be driven to seek the respect that they feel they lack. Without clear roles, adolescents may establish their own pecking order and spend their time pursuing irresponsible or deviant activities. For example, unwed teen motherhood is sometimes the result of a desire for attention, respect, and control, while most gang fights and instances of juvenile homicide occur when teenagers (boys and girls alike) feel that they have been slighted or offended by others. Such deviance can take many forms. Insecurity and rage often lead to vandalism, juvenile delinquency , and illegal use of drugs and alcohol . Violence and crime , of course, are as old as humankind.

Contemporary juvenile violence is often driven by the boredom young people experience in a barren environment . Even the wealthiest suburbs with the most lavish amenities can be “barren” when viewed from an adolescent’s perspective. Ironically, suburban life is meant to protect children from the dangers of the big city. Parents choose such locations in the hope that their children will grow up happy and secure. But safety and homogeneity can be quite boring. When deprived of meaningful activities and responsible guidance, many teens find that the only opportunities for “feeling alive” are stealing a car, breaking a school window , or ingesting a mind-altering drug . A middle-class adolescent caught with jewelry that he had stolen from a neighbour’s house claimed that the act of stealing had been fun. Like other teenagers, by “fun” he meant something exciting and slightly dangerous that takes nerve as well as skill. In parts of Asia and Africa , similarly, rebel groups have conscripted teens who go on to find excitement and self-respect behind machine guns . Millions of them have died prematurely as a result.

Behavioral scientists have gained valuable insight into the conditions that cause teenage strife. In many cases, adults are in the position to alleviate some of the frictions that make intergenerational relations more strained than they need to be. Research indicates that those adolescents who have the opportunity to develop a relationship with an adult role model (parental or otherwise) are more successful than their peers in coping with the everyday stresses of life.

135 Adolescence Essay Topics & Examples

Completing a psychology course, studying child development, or simply analyzing social influence on teenagers? You might need to write an adolescence essay, and we are ready to help with that.

✨ Top Adolescent Psychology Topics

🏆 best adolescence topic ideas & essay examples, 📑 good research topics about adolescence, 🎓 interesting adolescent research topics, 👍 good essay topics on adolescence, ❓ research questions about adolescence.

Our Ivypanda team has collected a list of great ideas for different assignments related to the subject. So, check our adolescent research topics and essay titles to nail your academic paper.

• Ethical Issues of Social Media.
• Reaction to Physical Changes.
• Depression Among Adolescents.
• Parental vs. Social Influence.
• Must-See Youth Documentaries.
• Preventing Teenage Pregnancy.
• Dating & First Relationships.
• Reproductive Health Stigma.
• Impact of Peer Pressure on Development.
• Connection Between Mental Health & Social Media.
• Psychology of Adolescence Development The strategy allows the examination of the significance of adolescence as a standard stage of development. However, she admits that she experienced a period of anxiety and distress upon the death of her mother when […]
• Vygotsky’s Approach to the Analysis of Adolescence In Vygotsky’s view, the change in the motives of adolescence come about due to the growth of sexual desires and needs which are as a result of their ability to think logically.
• Adolescence and Emotion Relations He attributes the occurrence of emotional problems to the overwhelming nature of the changes and demands that occur during puberty. The reaction of parents to their child’s emotional outbursts correlates to the cultivation of healthy […]
• Adolescence as a Period of Social Development Adolescents transition from the restricted responsibilities of childhood to the more expansive roles of adulthood through the social development process, expanding their social networks and experiencing peer influence.
• Adolescence as a Stage of the Person Development Adolescents struggle with so many things, start with, because of their physical changes that occur in their bodies and their exploration of sexual identity, most of them are not able to control their bodies and […]
• Adolescence as a Social Construct As a social construct of society, adolescence is viewed as the object of fear and anxiety by the rest of society’s members.
• Adolescence: Biological and Psychosocial Perspectives Adolescence as a social construction is more complex as a concept and entails definitional vagueness regarding the beginning and the ending of adolescence, for example, social-role passages into new reference groups, perceptions of the body, […]
• Socioemotional Development in Adolescence Adolescence is a period that begins with the puberty, approximately at the age of 12, and ends with the early adulthood, in the 18th.
• The Impact of Social Issues on the Development of Adolescence For example, boys have high esteem when they experience changes in their voices, while girls may feel shy due to the growth of their chest region.
• Adolescence and Adulthood Developmental Stages – Psychology The onset of adolescence marks the refinement of most individuals’ thinking abilities because at this stage the majority of individuals would have attained control in their thinking process.
• Depression in Adolescence and Treatment Approaches The age of adolescence, commonly referred to as children aged 10-19, is characterized by a variety of changes to one’s physical and mental health, as the child undergoes several stages of adjustment to the environment […]
• HIV and AIDS in Adolescents The teenagers in America and the world are a group that is constantly at risk of infection with the Human-Immunodeficiency-Virus and developing the Acquired-Immune-Deficiency-Syndrome, the disease condition that eventually results; this is stemming mainly from […]
• Development: Infancy Through Adolescence The evaluation of physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development in different age groups of childhood can be made due to the observation of specific subjects and conversations with them.
• Circumstances Causing Stress in Adolescence Hold one’s breath for many seconds and gently exhale via the mouth to evacuate the lungs, hence easing the body of stress. The more one is stressed, the more difficult and nervous it is to […]
• The Impact of Technology Development on the Adolescence Psychology The stability of the psyche in teenage society is on the minimum bar, and with few exceptions, teenagers are resistant to any criticism.
• Social Development and Adolescence: Human Services Ethics and Interventions The small circle of peer friends and the loss of a close relative provoke the feeling of loneliness and further progression of depression. A wide range of human service agencies can help Susie and her […]
• Different Stages of Adolescence Due to the rapid development, the body experiences difficulties in the work of the heart, lungs, and blood supply to the brain.
• Adolescence: Behavioral Issues and Communication Strategies Despite the fact that these issues occur naturally and are frequent for the majority of the representatives of this age group, the traumas and incapability to cope with the challenges might result in adverse outcomes […]
• Review of “The Legal Construction of Adolescence” Article However, as explained by Scott in The Legal Construction of Adolescence, there are several complications connected to clearly defining the end of childhood and the overall period of adolescence.
• Risk-Taking Behaviors and Situations During Adolescence Risk-taking behavior in adolescents is a significant bother for the US healthcare system, as it negatively affects the health and well-being of the population.
• Adolescence and Young Adulthood in Educational Psychology For Freud, it is inclusion in society, the beginning of social education, communication with peers, removing barriers in interpersonal contacts, and expanding the field of fixation of the object of attraction.
• Childhood and Adolescence Psychology One of the examples given about the effects of cultural differences in the definition of intelligence is between the Taiwanese and the Americans.
• Dating, Sex, and Romance: Adolescence and Digital Media Sexual education is significant for adolescents because, for them, the topic of sexual relations, dating, and romance is one of the most attractive ones.
• Family Issues and Adolescence in Crazy/Beautiful The film Crazy/Beautiful is a vivid example of relationships between teenage children and their parents: The problems and situations shown in the film are typical and timeless.
• Syllabus for Life Among Adolescence This is a matter of pressure to the teenagers and this creates stress in them.”Early adulthood is the settling down period and most reproductive age.
• Adolescence and Risk Taking Analysis Studies show that children and adolescents around the world spend their maximum time watching television than they do in any other activity with an exception in the time of sleeping. The objective of this paper […]
• Depression and Psychotherapy in Adolescence Society needs to acknowledge that depression is a major medical problem among adolescents in the United States and measures need to be taken to address it.
• Middle Childhood and Adolescence Periods Observation The first participant is a boy of 7, and the following series of questions will be offered to him: Do you like watching the outside world and nature changes?
• Middle Childhood and Adolescence Development Children and adolescents need to be accepted by the peers, and the positive relations in groups contribute to increasing the children’s self-esteem and self-confidence.
• Childhood, Adolescence, Young Adulthood Psychology Any intervention that can be used in the prevention of child abuse should focus on the causes of the same and the needs of children who are more prone to abuse.
• Psychology: Adolescence as a Developmental Stage Erik Erickson is referred to as the father of an identity crisis in that he originated with the idea of child upbringing practices and their influence on the personality of the child in later life.
• Human Development Theories: Adolescence and Adulthood In the growth and development stage of a human being, the adolescent period has been considered to be a natural stage found between childhood and adulthood.
• Addiction Occurrence and Reduction in Adolescence This implies that the earlier the start of the use of drugs, the higher the chances of the risk of becoming addicted.
• Loneliness in Adolescence as a Psychological Issue In the course of this, it will outline the background, state the hypothesis, speculate on the methods, and reflect on the conclusion which the author has arrived at.
• Adolescence: Risk, Identity and Transition There is a downside to this perspective is that it ignores the diversity in culture and differences among peers. The main problem however is that most of these youth have no experience with the real […]
• The Peculiarities of Adolescence and Puberty It is necessary to pay attention to the needs of students at risk, to the peculiarities of their interactions with other people and to the features of their awareness of themselves as personalities.
• Sexuality and Masculinity in Adolescents This is the misunderstanding which makes many teenagers behave in the way they are not to behave, to act in the way they are not to act and to act as in the result the […]
• Alcohol Consumption in Adolescence The hypotheses developed in this paper are of immense importance in guiding a study aimed at identifying credible evidence on how alcohol consumption during adolescence is associated with mental health challenges and increased STI risk […]
• Relationship Between Sleep and Depression in Adolescence Using SPSS for data analysis, the results indicate the presence of a correlation between elements of depression and sleep duration and quality.
• Attachment Dimensions and Adolescence Drug Addiction in Relation to School Counseling A meta-analysis of numerous studies relating to attachment and parental rearing behaviors have revealed that the quality of rapport between children and their caregivers is of intrinsic importance to the children’s development, and some studies, […]
• Influence of Heavy Metal Music on Adolescence (Behavior, Identity, Mood, Regulation, Psychology) Accepting the potent impact of music on adolescents’ behavior, identity, and psychology leads to a deeper analysis of the influences of heavy metal music on teenagers’ development.
• Development of Ethnic Identity During Adolescence From a study of adolescents of different racial groups in the United States, it was found out that self esteem of the groups was observed to rise among the groups of early and mid adolescents.
• Inter-Psychic Theories Adlerian Theory (In Adolescence) In his theory, social interest is identified as the need for individuals to adapt to their social environment as it is expressed subjectively in an individual’s consciousness, hence, the need to be part of society […]
• The Three D’s of Adolescence Depression There are three major types depression in teenagers: bipolar depression, major depression, and chronic depression. Parents can help their depressed adolescents by identifying the type of depression and seeking proper treatment.
• The Problem of Adolescence Pressures in Society Early adolescence start at the age of 10 to 14 while the late adolescence is from 15 to 21years in boys but girls are said to attain early maturity at the age of 19 years.
• Human Development: Adolescence as the Most Important Age Range The stage is therefore very important in understanding the behavior of an individual. This is a stage when the life of an individual is either made or destroyed.
• Critical Issues in Adolescence: The Problem of Psychological Disorders It is the purpose of this paper to critically analyze how psychological disorders affect the physical, cognitive and emotional development of adolescents in contemporary times.
• A Critical Evaluation of the Behavioural Outcomes of Failure of Mylination of the Prefrontal Lobe During Adolescence It is, therefore, the purpose of this paper to evaluate the behavioural outcome of failure or impairment of mylination of the prefrontal lobe during adolescence.
• Why Do So Many Guys Seem Stuck Between Adolescence And Adulthood?
• Mental Health around Pregnancy and Child Development from Early Childhood to Adolescence
• Adolescence: Developmental Psychology and Social Work Practice
• Adolescence Sexuality Defining Sexual Self The Other Issue
• The Main Problems That Comes with Adolescence
• Working and Studying in Rural Latin America: Critical Decisions of Adolescence
• The Sense of Self in Adolescence: Teenager Movies
• The Ups and Downs of Adolescence in The Perks of Being a Wallflower Directed by Stephen Chbosky
• Understanding the Adolescence and Behaviorism in Psychology
• The Influence of Parent and Peer Attachments on Life Satisfaction in Middle Childhood and Early Adolescence
• What Are Some Of The Most Common Mental Disorders In Adolescence
• The Rite of Passage from Adolescence to Adulthood in Teen Films
• Gender Roles And Socialization In Adolescence
• The Middle Adolescence Stage Of Development
• Adolescence Is A Critical Time For A Human
• Adolescence In The Bell Jar And Catcher In The Rye
• The Reduction in Criminal Offences After Adolescence
• Weight and Blood Pressure Management in Adolescence Population
• The Relationship Between Divorce And Adolescence
• Relationship Between Adolescence and Horror Films
• Narratives of Adolescence Explored Through the Harry Potter
• Prenatal Adolescence And Early Adulthood Period
• The Pros and Cons of Internet as the Primary Source of Globalization of Adolescence
• Adolescence Is The Most Difficult Stage Of Our Lives
• The Theme of Adolescence in Melanie Rae Thon’s Iona Moon
• The Importance of Adolescence in Creating Successful Adults
• The Physiological Changes of Boys and Girls During Adolescence
• Sports Participation and Social Capital Formation During Adolescence
• The Physical and Psychological Changes that Occur During Adolescence
• Value Driven Attentional Capture Of Adolescence
• Treating Non-Malignant Pain in Adolescence with Medical Marijuana
• The Psychological And Physical Aspects Of Drug Abuse In Today’s Adolescence
• The Woman’s Natural Journey From Adolescence To Menopause
• Sexism and Aggression in Adolescence—How Do They Relate to Perceived Academic Achievement
• Understanding Sexuality During the Adolescence Stage of Our Lives
• Theories Of Child Development As They Pertain To Middle Childhood And Adolescence
• Peer Affiliation, Social Behavior, And Callous Unemotional Traits In Adolescence
• The Major Hormonal Changes That Occur During Adolescence
• Personality and Optimal Experience in Adolescence: Implications for Well-Being and Development
• An Analysis of the Concept of Adolescence and the Juvenile Delinquency
• Adolescence Is A Period Of Storm And Stress
• Child Sexual Development: Infancy, Early Childhood, Adolescence
• Mass Media and Adolescence: How Mass Media Influence Teens in Their Sexual Behavior
• The Role Of Nature And Nurture : Adolescence Eating Disorders
• Does Fruit and Vegetable Consumption During Adolescence Predict Adult Depression?
• How Does Frayn Show Stephen’s Mental Progression From Childhood to Adolescence?
• Does Periodontal Inflammation Affect Type 1 Diabetes in Childhood and Adolescence?
• What Leads Subjective Well-Being to Change Throughout Adolescence?
• Is Abortion Beneficial or Harmful to a Teenager?
• How to Recognize the Signs of Depression in Young People?
• Which Role Models Do Teenagers Follow Today?
• Who Is Responsible for Sexual Education: School or Family?
• What Changes Happen During Adolescence?
• How Do Teenagers Leave Their Homes and Why They Never Come Back? Which Social Groups Have Higher Rates of Such Cases?
• Appearance as a Tool of Self-Expression. Which Elements of Style Are Used by Teenagers Today?
• How Did Communication With Parents Change Over the Past Ten Years?
• Do Technological Advances Facilitate Better Studying Among Young People or Distract From It?
• Have the Youth Become More Involved Socially, or Are They Becoming More Individualist?
• What Influences the Youth of Today?
• How Does an Adolescent Develop Intellectually?
• Are Teenagers More Religious as Compared to the Recent Past?
• What Are the Major Challenges That Adolescence Facing?
• How Does Society Affect Adolescent Development?
• What Is the Most Important Thing We Need to Know During Adolescence?
• Why Adolescent Stage Is the Most Crucial Stage?
• What Are Emotional Changes in Adolescence?
• Can Adolescent Development Change According to Culture and Upbringing?
• What Social Changes Happen in Adolescence?
• Why Is Knowledge About Changes During Adolescence Important?
• How Do Physical Changes Affect Adolescents?
• Why Is Adolescent Development Especially Challenging?
• What Are the Problems With Defining the Start and End of Adolescence? Why Do These Problems Exist?
• How Does Family Affect Adolescent Development?
• Why Is Healthy Behavior During Adolescence Important?
• Psychology Questions
• Emotional Development Questions
• Personal Identity Paper Topics
• Self Esteem Research Ideas
• Family Relationships Research Ideas
• Peer Pressure Research Topics
• Role Model Research Topics
• Personality Development Ideas
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 29). 135 Adolescence Essay Topics & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/adolescence-essay-topics/

"135 Adolescence Essay Topics & Examples." IvyPanda , 29 Feb. 2024, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/adolescence-essay-topics/.

IvyPanda . (2024) '135 Adolescence Essay Topics & Examples'. 29 February.

IvyPanda . 2024. "135 Adolescence Essay Topics & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/adolescence-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "135 Adolescence Essay Topics & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/adolescence-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "135 Adolescence Essay Topics & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/adolescence-essay-topics/.

Presentations made painless

• Get Premium

115 Adolescence Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Adolescence is a critical stage in a person's life that is marked by significant changes, both physical and psychological. It is during this period that individuals go through a transformation from childhood to adulthood, facing various challenges and experiences along the way. One way to explore and understand these complexities is through essay writing. If you're struggling to find a topic for your adolescence essay, worry not! Here are 115 topic ideas and examples to inspire you:

• The impact of social media on adolescent self-esteem.
• How does peer pressure influence decision-making during adolescence?
• The role of parents in shaping adolescent behavior.
• Exploring the relationship between body image and eating disorders in teenagers.
• The effects of cyberbullying on adolescent mental health.
• The influence of music on adolescent emotions and identity formation.
• The impact of technology on adolescent social interaction and development.
• How does early puberty affect an adolescent's self-perception?
• The role of media in shaping adolescent perceptions of beauty.
• The challenges of adolescent friendships and their impact on mental health.
• Exploring the link between adolescent substance abuse and mental health disorders.
• The effects of divorce on adolescent behavior and emotional well-being.
• The role of schools in promoting positive adolescent development.
• How does family structure impact adolescent identity formation?
• The impact of societal expectations on adolescent career choices.
• The relationship between adolescent sleep patterns and academic performance.
• The influence of video games on adolescent aggression and behavior.
• Exploring the role of sports in adolescent development and self-esteem.
• The effects of adolescent dating violence on long-term relationships.
• The impact of adolescent pregnancy on educational attainment.
• How does adolescent technology use affect academic achievement?
• The role of sex education in preventing teenage pregnancy.
• The effects of gender stereotypes on adolescent career aspirations.
• The influence of popular culture on adolescent values and beliefs.
• Exploring the relationship between adolescent depression and suicide.
• The impact of parental involvement on adolescent academic success.
• How does adolescent substance abuse affect brain development?
• The role of community programs in supporting at-risk adolescents.
• The effects of adolescent body dissatisfaction on mental health.
• The influence of cultural norms on adolescent sexual behavior.
• The impact of adolescent substance abuse on family dynamics.
• Exploring the relationship between adolescent sleep deprivation and mental health.
• The effects of adolescent bullying on academic performance.
• The role of mindfulness in promoting adolescent well-being.
• How does adolescent social media use affect real-life relationships?
• The influence of parenting styles on adolescent behavior and self-esteem.
• The impact of peer rejection on adolescent mental health.
• Exploring the link between adolescent trauma and substance abuse.
• The effects of adolescent anxiety on academic achievement.
• The role of school-based mental health programs in supporting adolescents.
• How does adolescent technology use affect face-to-face communication skills?
• The influence of family dynamics on adolescent drug use.
• The impact of music therapy on adolescent mental health.
• Exploring the relationship between adolescent self-harm and suicide.
• The effects of adolescent social isolation on mental health.
• The role of arts education in promoting adolescent creativity and self-expression.
• How does adolescent substance abuse affect future employment prospects?
• The influence of cultural identity on adolescent well-being.
• The impact of adolescent body image dissatisfaction on romantic relationships.
• Exploring the link between adolescent technology use and sleep disorders.
• The effects of adolescent peer pressure on academic achievement.
• The role of school bullying prevention programs in supporting adolescents.
• How does adolescent substance abuse impact family relationships?
• The influence of parental divorce on adolescent romantic relationships.
• The impact of adolescent social media use on body image dissatisfaction.
• Exploring the relationship between adolescent trauma and self-esteem.
• The effects of adolescent depression on academic performance.
• The role of mindfulness in reducing adolescent anxiety.
• How does adolescent technology use affect attention span and concentration?
• The influence of family communication patterns on adolescent mental health.
• The impact of peer support programs on adolescent well-being.
• Exploring the link between adolescent substance abuse and risky sexual behavior.
• The effects of adolescent body image dissatisfaction on academic achievement.
• The role of school-based counseling in supporting at-risk adolescents.
• How does adolescent social media use impact sleep quality and quantity?
• The influence of sibling relationships on adolescent identity formation.
• The impact of adolescent bullying on self-esteem.
• Exploring the relationship between adolescent trauma and addiction.
• The effects of adolescent anxiety on social relationships.
• The role of physical activity in promoting adolescent mental health.
• How does adolescent substance abuse affect academic motivation?
• The influence of cultural assimilation on adolescent well-being.
• The impact of adolescent body image dissatisfaction on mental health treatment seeking.
• Exploring the link between adolescent technology use and body dissatisfaction.
• The effects of adolescent peer pressure on mental health.
• The role of school-based mindfulness programs in supporting adolescent well-being.
• How does adolescent substance abuse impact community safety?
• The influence of parental involvement on adolescent romantic relationships.
• The impact of adolescent social media use on self-esteem.
• Exploring the relationship between adolescent trauma and eating disorders.
• The effects of adolescent depression on social relationships.
• The role of peer mentoring programs in promoting adolescent resilience.
• How does adolescent technology use affect academic performance?
• The influence of family conflict on adolescent mental health.
• The impact of adolescent bullying on academic motivation.
• Exploring the link between adolescent substance abuse and delinquency.
• The effects of adolescent anxiety on academic motivation.
• The role of school-based mental health screenings in identifying at-risk adolescents.
• How does adolescent social media use impact body image ideals?
• The influence of sibling rivalry on adolescent well-being.
• The impact of peer pressure on adolescent decision-making skills.
• Exploring the relationship between adolescent trauma and self-harm.
• The effects of adolescent depression on academic motivation.
• The role of peer support groups in promoting adolescent mental health.
• How does adolescent substance abuse affect future educational attainment?
• The influence of cultural stereotypes on adolescent self-perception.
• The impact of adolescent body image dissatisfaction on academic motivation.
• Exploring the link between adolescent technology use and social anxiety.
• The effects of adolescent peer pressure on substance abuse.
• The role of school-based mindfulness programs in reducing adolescent stress.
• How does adolescent substance abuse impact future employment prospects?
• The influence of parental expectations on adolescent career choices.
• The impact of adolescent social media use on body image ideals.
• Exploring the relationship between adolescent trauma and post-traumatic growth.
• The role of school-based counseling in promoting adolescent resilience.
• How does adolescent technology use affect mental health treatment seeking?
• The influence of family support on adolescent mental health.
• The impact of adolescent bullying on academic achievement motivation.
• Exploring the link between adolescent substance abuse and risky behaviors.
• The effects of adolescent anxiety on academic performance.
• The role of peer mentoring programs in supporting adolescent well-being.
• How does adolescent social media use impact self-identity formation?
• The influence of sibling relationships on adolescent mental health.
• The impact of peer support programs on adolescent self-esteem.

These essay topics cover a wide range of aspects related to adolescence, allowing you to delve into various issues that affect young individuals. Remember to choose a topic that interests you and aligns with your personal experiences or research interests. Good luck with your essay writing journey!

Want to research companies faster?

Instantly access industry insights

Let PitchGrade do this for me

Leverage powerful AI research capabilities

We will create your text and designs for you. Sit back and relax while we do the work.

Explore More Content

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service

© 2024 Pitchgrade

Essay on Adolescence

Introduction to Adolescence

Adolescence is a pivotal stage in human development, marking the transition from childhood to adulthood. Defined by profound physical, cognitive, and emotional changes, this period presents many challenges and opportunities. As individuals navigate the turbulent waters of adolescence, they grapple with issues of identity, peer influence, academic pressures, and the ever-expanding digital landscape. This critical juncture shapes future trajectories and lays the foundation for adult life. Understanding the unique dynamics of adolescence is essential for fostering resilience and providing the necessary support structures. In this essay, we explore the multifaceted aspects of adolescence, delving into its complexities and offering insights for a holistic understanding.

Significance of the Adolescent Stage

• Identity Formation: Adolescence is crucial for developing a sense of self and identity. Individuals explore their values, interests, and beliefs, shaping the foundation for their adult personalities.
• Transition to Adulthood: This stage represents the bridge between childhood and adulthood, involving acquiring skills, responsibilities, and societal expectations necessary for independent living.
• Biological Changes: Puberty and hormonal fluctuations during adolescence lead to physical transformations, influencing body image, self-esteem, and overall well-being.
• Cognitive Development: The adolescent brain undergoes significant changes, affecting decision-making, problem-solving, and the ability to understand abstract concepts.
• Social Integration: Adolescents establish meaningful relationships outside the family, experiencing peer interactions that contribute to social skills, cooperation, and conflict resolution.
• Educational Significance: The transition to higher education or vocational training occurs during adolescence, shaping future career paths and academic pursuits.
• Emotional Rollercoaster: Intense emotions and mood swings characterize this stage, challenging individuals to manage and understand their feelings and contributing to emotional intelligence.
• Formation of Morals and Values: Adolescents begin to question and refine their ethical beliefs, developing a moral compass that guides their behavior and decision-making.
• Independence and Autonomy: The adolescent stage fosters independence as individuals learn to set goals, make decisions, and take responsibility for their actions.
• Preparation for Adulthood: Through facing challenges, making choices, and learning from experiences, adolescents build resilience, adaptability, and the skills necessary for navigating the complexities of adulthood.

Physical Changes

• Puberty: Adolescence is marked by the onset of puberty, a biological process involving hormonal changes that lead to physical maturation. This consists of the development of secondary sexual characteristics, like the growth of facial hair in males and the development of breasts in females.
• Growth Spurts: Rapid physical growth, characterized by significant increases in height and weight, is a common feature during adolescence. This period of growth is influenced by genetics, nutrition, and overall health.
• Reproductive System Development: Sexual organs mature during adolescence, leading to the ability to reproduce. This development is accompanied by changes in the menstrual cycle for females and the onset of sperm production for males.
• Body Composition Changes: Adolescents experience body fat distribution and muscle development changes. These alterations contribute to variations in body shape and overall physique.
• Bone Development: Bones continue to grow and strengthen during adolescence, with the peak of bone mass acquisition occurring in late adolescence. Adequate nutrition, particularly calcium and vitamin D, is crucial for optimal bone health.
• Skin Changes: Hormonal fluctuations can influence the skin, leading to the development of acne. Skin becomes oilier due to increased sebum production, contributing to the need for proper skincare routines.
• Voice Changes: In males, the larynx undergoes growth during adolescence, resulting in a deeper voice. This change is a result of increased testosterone production.
• Dental Changes: Adolescents may undergo orthodontic treatments as the development of permanent teeth completes. This phase is crucial for maintaining proper oral hygiene.
• Physical Fitness and Endurance: With increased muscle mass and skeletal development, adolescents often experience improvements in physical strength, coordination, and endurance. Maintaining regular physical activity is crucial for overall health during this period.
• Metabolic Changes: Adolescence is associated with changes in metabolism, influencing energy expenditure and nutritional requirements. Healthy lifestyle habits established during this period contribute to long-term well-being.

Cognitive Development

• Brain Development: The prefrontal cortex, responsible for decision-making, impulse control, and reasoning, undergoes significant structural and functional changes during adolescence. This process continues into early adulthood.
• Increased Cognitive Abilities: Adolescents demonstrate enhanced cognitive abilities, including improved memory, attention, and information processing. These developments contribute to more complex thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Abstract Thinking: Cognitive development during adolescence enables individuals to think abstractly and contemplate hypothetical scenarios. This shift from concrete to abstract thinking expands their understanding of complex concepts.
• Formation of Identity: Adolescents engage in introspection and self-exploration, contributing to forming a distinct identity. This involves understanding one’s values, beliefs, and personal goals.
• Social Cognition: Adolescents develop a deeper understanding of social dynamics, including empathy, perspective-taking, and the ability to interpret others’ emotions and intentions. This contributes to the development of meaningful relationships.
• Moral Reasoning: The ability to contemplate moral and ethical dilemmas and make principled decisions becomes more sophisticated during adolescence. Individuals begin to develop a personal moral code.
• Future Orientation: Adolescents start to think about their future, setting long-term goals and making plans. This forward-thinking mentality is crucial for academic and career-related decision-making.
• Identity Crisis: Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development suggests that adolescence is a stage marked by identity crisis, where individuals grapple with defining their roles and sense of self. This internal conflict is integral to the formation of a stable identity.
• Decision-Making Skills: Developing cognitive control and executive functions during adolescence improves decision-making skills. However, this period is also associated with risk-taking behaviors as individuals learn to navigate consequences.
• Cognitive Flexibility: Adolescents become more adaptable in their thinking, demonstrating cognitive flexibility. This allows them to consider various perspectives and adjust their thinking in response to new information and experiences.

Social Dynamics

• Peer Influence: Adolescence is marked by a heightened reliance on peer relationships. Peer influence shapes behavior, attitudes, and choices during adolescence as young people seek affirmation and approval from their peers.
• Social Networks: Adolescents expand their social circles beyond the family, forming diverse networks of friends and acquaintances. These relationships are crucial in providing emotional support and shaping social identity.
• Identity Formation through Social Interactions: Interactions with peers contribute to developing a unique identity. Adolescents often experiment with different roles and personas as they navigate social dynamics to find a sense of belonging.
• Social Comparison: Adolescents frequently engage in social comparison, evaluating their abilities, appearance, and achievements in relation to their peers. This process can impact self-esteem and contribute to competition or cooperation.
• Social Pressure and Conformity: Adolescents may experience pressure to conform to social norms and expectations within their peer groups. This influence can affect clothing choices, behavior, and adherence to group values.
• Conflict Resolution Skills: Social dynamics in adolescence provide learning conflict resolution skills opportunities. Managing disagreements and understanding differing perspectives contribute to emotional intelligence and social competence.
• Romantic Relationships: Adolescents start exploring romantic relationships, experiencing the complexities of intimacy, communication, and emotional connection. These relationships play a crucial role in further shaping social dynamics.
• Family Relationships: While peer relationships gain prominence, family dynamics continue to influence adolescents. Balancing the demands of family expectations with the desire for independence becomes a central aspect of social development.
• Bullying and Peer Pressure: Adolescents may face bullying and peer pressure, both in person and online, through digital platforms. It is essential to comprehend how to deal with these difficulties as they are critical for maintaining social well-being.
• Social Media Impact: Social media’s rise has significantly impacted adolescent social dynamics. Online platforms provide new avenues for social interaction, self-expression, and the potential for positive and negative mental health effects.

Emotional Rollercoaster

Watch our Demo Courses and Videos

Valuation, Hadoop, Excel, Mobile Apps, Web Development & many more.

• Intense Emotions: Adolescence is characterized by heightened and sometimes unpredictable emotions. Feelings of joy, excitement, sadness, anger, and anxiety may fluctuate rapidly, creating an emotional rollercoaster for individuals.
• Hormonal Influences: Hormonal changes during puberty significantly affect emotional fluctuations. Increasing hormone levels, such as estrogen and testosterone, are linked to emotional intensity and mood fluctuations.
• Identity Exploration: Adolescents often grapple with questions of self-identity, leading to internal conflicts and emotional distress as they seek to understand who they are and where they fit in society.
• Peer Relationships: The desire for peer acceptance and fear of rejection can trigger emotional highs and lows. Social dynamics, friendships, and romantic relationships contribute to the emotional rollercoaster experienced during adolescence.
• Parental Relationships: Adolescents may experience conflicts with parents as they strive for independence. Negotiating autonomy while maintaining a connection with family can evoke a range of emotions.
• Stress and Academic Pressure: The academic requirements and the pressure to excel in school may result in stress and anxiety. Balancing academic responsibilities with social life adds another layer to the emotional challenges faced during adolescence.
• Body Image Concerns: Physical changes, comparison with peers, and societal beauty standards contribute to concerns about body image. These concerns can impact self-esteem and trigger emotional responses.
• Risk-Taking Behaviors: The desire for novelty and sensation-seeking tendencies during adolescence may lead to risky behaviors. These behaviors elicit excitement and anxiety, contributing to the emotional rollercoaster.
• First Love and Heartbreak: Adolescents often experience their first romantic relationships, which can bring intense emotions of love and happiness. Conversely, the end of such relationships can result in heartbreak and emotional distress.
• Mental Health Awareness: It’s critical to acknowledge the significance of adolescent mental health. Emotional struggles may indicate underlying mental health issues, emphasizing the need for support and intervention during this tumultuous phase.

Educational Implications

• Academic Pressures: Adolescents face increased academic expectations, including standardized testing, higher-level coursework, and preparation for future educational pursuits. Educators should be mindful of balancing academic rigor with students’ well-being.
• Career Exploration: Adolescence is a critical time for career exploration. Schools should provide resources, counseling, and experiential learning opportunities to help students identify their interests, strengths, and potential career paths.
• Transition to Higher Education: Preparing adolescents for the transition to higher education involves guidance on college applications, financial planning, and developing the necessary skills for academic success in a university setting.
• Extracurricular Activities: Encouraging participation in extracurricular activities enhances the overall educational experience. Clubs, sports, and arts programs contribute to skill development, teamwork, and personal growth.
• Balancing Academic and Social Activities: Adolescents must balance academic responsibilities and social activities. Schools can promote time-management skills and emphasize the importance of a well-rounded education.
• Mental Health Support: Recognizing the impact of academic stress on mental health, educational institutions should prioritize mental health resources. Counseling services and educational programs that address stress management are crucial for student well-being.
• Skill Development: Adolescents must develop essential life skills besides academic knowledge. Curriculum enhancements that focus on critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and collaboration contribute to holistic development.
• Flexible Learning Environments: Recognizing diverse learning styles, educational institutions should embrace flexible teaching methods. Incorporating technology, project-based learning, and alternative assessment approaches can engage adolescents more effectively.
• Individualized Learning Plans: Tailoring education to individual needs is essential. Recognizing that adolescents have unique strengths and challenges, educators should develop and implement individualized learning plans to address specific academic needs.
• Real-World Relevance: Making education relevant to real-world scenarios enhances adolescents’ engagement. Connecting classroom learning to practical applications helps students see the value and purpose of their education, fostering a sense of motivation and curiosity.

Risk-Taking Behaviors

Adolescence is characterized by a propensity for risk-taking behaviors as individuals seek independence, self-discovery, and peer acceptance. These behaviors can have significant implications for physical and mental well-being.

• Exploration of Identity: Adolescents often engage in risky behaviors as a form of self-exploration and identity formation, experimenting with various activities to establish their sense of self.
• Peer Influence: The desire for peer acceptance and the fear of social exclusion can lead adolescents to participate in risky behaviors to align with group norms and expectations.
• Sensation-Seeking: The adolescent brain undergoes neurological changes that enhance sensation-seeking tendencies. This can drive experimentation with novel and sometimes dangerous activities to fulfill the need for excitement.
• Impulsivity: The developing prefrontal cortex, responsible for decision-making and impulse control, may not fully mature. Adolescents may not thoroughly contemplate the repercussions of their actions, which can result in impulsive behaviors.
• Substance Abuse: Adolescents often engage in experimentation with drugs and alcohol, driven by curiosity, peer pressure, or a desire to cope with stress or emotional challenges.
• Reckless Driving: Pursuing independence and the thrill of newfound freedom can lead to risky behaviors such as speeding, not wearing seat belts, and engaging in distracted driving.
• Unsafe Sexual Practices: Adolescents may engage in risky sexual behaviors due to curiosity, peer pressure, or a lack of comprehensive sex education, leading to potential health risks and unintended consequences.
• Digital Risks: The surge in technology has led adolescents to partake in risky online behaviors, including sharing personal information, engaging in cyberbullying, or accessing inappropriate content.
• Extreme Sports and Thrill-Seeking: Seeking adrenaline rushes, adolescents may participate in extreme sports or other high-risk activities without fully recognizing the potential dangers involved.
• Lack of Future Orientation: The developmental stage of adolescence may focus on immediate rewards rather than long-term consequences, contributing to engagement in risky behaviors without considering potential future impacts.

Technology and Social Media

Adolescence is closely linked to the digital age, as technology and social media substantially influence young individuals’ experiences and behaviors.

• Social Connectivity: Technology facilitates constant connectivity, allowing adolescents to maintain relationships, share experiences, and communicate with peers, family, and friends globally.
• Online Identity Formation: Social media platforms serve as spaces for adolescents to construct and express their identities, influencing self-perception and providing opportunities for self-discovery.
• Peer Influence and Pressure: Social media can amplify peer influence, as adolescents are exposed to the lifestyles, opinions, and behaviors of their peers. This influence can contribute to both positive and negative behaviors.
• Cyberbullying: The digital realm exposes adolescents to the risk of cyberbullying, where harmful behaviors such as harassment, exclusion, and intimidation occur online. This can have severe emotional and mental health consequences.
• Digital Literacy: Adolescents must develop critical digital literacy skills to responsibly navigate the vast online landscape, distinguishing between credible information and misinformation.
• Impact on Mental Health: Excessive social media use has been related to mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. Adolescents may face pressure to conform to unrealistic online standards.
• Privacy Concerns: Adolescents often underestimate the importance of online privacy. Understanding the potential repercussions of exposing personal information and practicing safe online conduct are critical.
• Addiction and Screen Time: Excessive screen time, including social media use, can contribute to technology addiction. Establishing healthy screen time habits is crucial for overall well-being.
• Educational Opportunities: Technology offers valuable educational resources and tools, enhancing learning experiences. However, it is essential to balance educational use and potential distractions.
• Parental Involvement: Parents are crucial in guiding adolescents’ technology use. Open communication, setting boundaries, and fostering a healthy relationship with technology contribute to responsible digital citizenship during this formative stage.

Parental and Adult Support

Parental and adult support is integral to navigating the challenges and fostering positive adolescent development. This support extends beyond mere supervision, encompassing emotional, educational, and communicative aspects.

• Emotional Guidance: Adolescents undergo significant emotional turmoil, and parental support provides a safe space for expressing feelings. Encouraging open communication helps build trust and resilience.
• Setting Boundaries: Clear and reasonable boundaries set by parents guide adolescents in making responsible decisions. Consistent enforcement of rules fosters a sense of security and structure.
• Positive Role Modeling: Adults serve as role models, influencing adolescents through their behaviors and values. Demonstrating positive communication, problem-solving, and coping mechanisms sets a foundation for healthy relationships.
• Encouraging Independence: Adults should encourage adolescents to make independent decisions while providing support, fostering a sense of responsibility and self-efficacy.
• Academic Guidance: Involvement in adolescents’ educational journey is crucial. Adults can provide assistance with homework, offer guidance on career paths, and advocate for their educational needs.
• Mental Health Awareness: Parents must know the warning signals of emotional discomfort or mental health problems in adolescents. Seeking professional help when necessary is vital for addressing mental health challenges.
• Effective Communication: When we establish open and honest communication channels, it enables us to exchange ideas and concerns with ease. Adults should actively listen, validate feelings, and engage in constructive dialogue.
• Crisis Management: Being available during crises or challenging situations is essential. Adults can offer support, help in problem-solving, and, when necessary, seek professional assistance.
• Respect for Individuality: Recognizing and respecting adolescents as individuals with unique identities and opinions fosters a positive parent-child relationship. This respect encourages autonomy and self-expression.
• Cultural and Moral Guidance: Providing a foundation of cultural values and moral principles helps shape adolescents’ ethical compass. This guidance aids in decision-making and navigating societal expectations.
• Encouraging Healthy Habits: Promoting physical well-being, including proper nutrition, exercise, and sleep, contributes to adolescents’ overall health and resilience.
• Digital Literacy and Safety: Adults guide adolescents’ online behavior. Teaching digital literacy, monitoring online activities, and fostering responsible technology use are essential for parental support.

Future Perspectives

As adolescents navigate the challenges and opportunities of this critical developmental stage, it’s essential to consider future perspectives that shape their trajectory into adulthood.

• Educational and Career Paths: Adolescents are at a juncture where they make crucial decisions about their educational and career paths. Guidance, exploration, and exposure to various opportunities contribute to informed choices for a fulfilling future.
• Life Skills Development: Adolescents who possess crucial life skills, including critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and resilience, are more adeptly equipped to navigate the complexities of adulthood. These abilities are the cornerstone for success in many facets of life.
• Global Citizenship: Fostering a sense of global awareness and responsibility prepares adolescents to engage in a diverse and interconnected world. Emphasizing cultural competence and understanding global issues encourages a broader perspective.
• Emotional Intelligence: Developing emotional intelligence during adolescence contributes to healthier relationships, effective communication, and adaptive coping mechanisms. These abilities are very helpful in negotiating the challenges of both personal and professional life.
• Technology and Innovation: Adolescents should be encouraged to embrace innovation responsibly as technology evolves. Digital literacy, adaptability, and a mindset for continuous learning will be crucial for success in future technological landscapes.
• Community Engagement: Instilling a sense of social responsibility and community engagement encourages adolescents to contribute positively to society. Involvement in community service and awareness of social issues cultivate a commitment to making a meaningful impact.
• Mental Health Advocacy: Recognizing and addressing mental health challenges is vital. Future perspectives should prioritize reducing stigma, enhancing access to mental health resources, and cultivating a supportive environment for emotional well-being.
• Environmental Stewardship: Adolescents should be encouraged to understand and address environmental challenges. Promoting sustainable practices, ecological awareness, and a sense of responsibility towards the planet contribute to a more sustainable future.
• Continuous Learning: Cultivating a love for learning and adaptability ensures adolescents approach life with a growth mindset. Embracing lifelong learning is essential in a world where knowledge and skills evolve rapidly.
• Balance and Well-being: Future perspectives should emphasize balancing work, personal life, and well-being. Prioritizing mental and physical health contributes to sustained success and fulfillment.
• Civic Engagement: Encouraging adolescents to participate in civic activities, understand governance structures, and exercise their rights contributes to developing informed and engaged citizens.
• Resilience and Coping Strategies: Future success often depends on resilience in facing challenges. Equipping adolescents with effective coping strategies and a positive mindset fosters adaptability and perseverance.

Adolescence represents a transformative journey marked by physical, cognitive, and emotional upheavals. Navigating this period requires a delicate balance of support, understanding, and guidance from parents, educators, and society. As adolescents grapple with identity formation, peer influence, and technology’s impact, fostering resilience, emotional intelligence, and a sense of purpose becomes paramount. Embracing the challenges and opportunities of adolescence lays the groundwork for individuals to emerge as well-rounded, empowered adults. By investing in their education, mental well-being, and future perspectives, we collectively contribute to a generation prepared to face the complexities of the ever-evolving world.

*Please provide your correct email id. Login details for this Free course will be emailed to you

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy .

Valuation, Hadoop, Excel, Web Development & many more.

Forgot Password?

This website or its third-party tools use cookies, which are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the cookie policy. By closing this banner, scrolling this page, clicking a link or continuing to browse otherwise, you agree to our Privacy Policy

Explore 1000+ varieties of Mock tests View more

Submit Next Question

Early-Bird Offer: ENROLL NOW

Psychology Discussion

Essay on adolescence: top 5 essays | psychology.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Adolescence’ for class 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Adolescence’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Adolescence

Essay Contents:

• Essay on the Meaning of Adolescence
• Essay on the Historical Perspectives of Adolescence
• Essay on the Developmental Model in Adolescence
• Essay on the Factors Influencing Development During Adolescence
• Essay on Developmental Psychopathology during the Period of Adolescence

Essay # 1. Meaning of Adolescence :

Adolescence is a time of rapid physiological and psychological change of intensive readjustment to the family, school, work and social life and of preparation for adult roles.

It starts with puberty and ends with the achievement of an adult work role. It usually begins between 11 and 16 years in boys and between 9 and 16 years in girls. Websters’ dictionary (1977) defines adolescence the ‘process of growing up’ or the ‘period of life from puberty to maturity’. Adolescence has been associated with an age span, varying from 10-13 as the starting age and 19-21 as the concluding age, depending on whose definition is being applied.

Essay # 2. Historical Perspectives of Adolescence :

The concept of adolescence was formally inducted in psychology from 1880. The definitive description of adolescence was given in the two volume work of Stanley Hall in 1904. Hall described adolescence as a period both of upheaval, suffering, passion and rebellion against adult authority and of physical, intellectual and social change.

Anna Freud, Mohr and Despres and Bios have independently affirmed adolescent regression, psychological upheaval, and turbulence as intrinsic to normal adolescence development. Margaret Mead believed adolescence as a ‘cultural invention’.

Albert Bandura said that children and adolescents imitate the behaviour of others especially influential adults ‘entertainment’ heroes and peers. Erikson elaborated the classic psychoanalytic views shifting the emphasis from biological imperatives of the entry into adolescence to focus on psychological challenges in making the transition from adolescence to adulthood (developmental model discussed below).

Piaget proposed a theory of cognitive development describing four major stages in intellectual development. Puberty is a universal process involving dramatic changes in size, shape and appearance. Tanner has described bodily changes of puberty into five stages. The enumeration of Tanner stages is given in Table 28.1.

The relationships between pubertal maturation and psychological development can be considered in two broad models,

(a) The ‘Direct Effect Model’ in which certain psychological effects are directly result of physiological sources,

(b) ‘Mediated Effects Model’ which proposes that the psychological effects of puberty are mediated by complex relations of intervening variables (such as the level of ego development) or are moderated by contexual factors (such as the socio-cultural and socialization practices). In recent days, this model is more favoured.

Essay # 3. Developmental Model in Adolescence :

Developmental theories of adolescence are:

(a) Cognitive development:

Jean Piaget described four distinct stages in the cognitive development from birth to adolescence.

(i) Sensory-motor stage:

Sensory-motor stage (from birth to 18 months) wherein the child acquires numerous basic skills with limited intellectual capacity and is primitive.

(ii) Preoperational or intuitive stage:

Preoperational or intuitive stage roughly starting at about 18 months and ending at 7 years, wherein the child learns to communicate and uses reason in an efficient way. However, he is still inclined to intuition rather than thinking out systematically.

(iii) Concrete-operations stage:

Concrete-operations stage (from 7 to 12 years) where the child becomes capable of appreciating the constancies and develops the concept of volume but thinking is still limited in some respects.

(iv) Formal operations stage:

Formal operations stage, (from 12 years through adulthood) in which the child develops the ability to ponder and deliberate on various alternatives, and begins to approach the problem situation in a truly systematic manner.

(b) Psychosocial development:

‘Identity’ and its precedents in development are the backbone of Erikson’s psychological developmental theory. Erikson’s theory is basically an amplification of Freud’s classical psychoanalytic theory of human development. However, Erikson lays more stress on the social than the biological features in the process of development. This theory is more humanistic and optimistic, and emphasizes the importance of ‘ego’ rather than ‘id’.

Erikson postulated eight stages of development, placing more importance on adolescence (Table 28.2).

His concept of identity crises has been recog­nised in all the countries faced with racial, national, personal and professional problems.

Psychodynamic Model :

Recent psychodynamic model focuses on adolescent development under various dimensions

Learning Model :

Learning theory has long played an important role in understanding of human behaviour. Three major learning paradigms are: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. The concepts of generalization and discrimination illustrate how learning theory can account for individuality of response styles and behaviour.

Phenomenological Model :

There are different schools of approach, including the phenomenological one.

Developmental Phases of Adolescence :

I. Early Adolescence :

Early adolescence is probably the most stressful of all developmental transitions. It is generally acknowledged that within the years of age from 11 to 15, a period of rapid and drastic biological change will be experienced.

The dominant themes of early adolescence are related to the endocrine changes of puberty. There are biological changes in virtually every system of the body, including height, facial contours, fat distribution, muscular development, mood changes, and energy levels.

Early adolescence is a time of sharpest possible discontinuity with the past.

There are two major psychosocial challenges that confront early adolescents:

(1) the transition from elementary to junior high school and

(2) the shift in role status from child to adolescent.

A useful distinction has been made between “hot” and “cold” cognitions. Hot cognitions are those that are highly charged with emotion and are involved in matters of perceived threat or in situations in which cherished goals or values are in conflict or jeopardy.

There is preoccupation with body image, with deep concerns about the normality, attractiveness, and vulnerability of the changing body. Superimposed are the challenges of entry into the new social world of the high school that pose new academic and personal challenges, especially regarding friendships. The early adolescents begin to search for new behaviours, values, and reference persons and to renegotiate relationships with parents. At this time they are particularly receptive to new ideas and risk taking.

II. Middle Adolescence :

It generally encompasses the ages 15 to 17.

The middle adolescents are capable of generalizations, abstract thinking and useful introspections that can be linked to experience. As a result there is less response simply to the novel, exotic, or contradictory aspects of the environment.

The anxious bodily preoccupations of early adolescence have greatly diminished. The power of peer pressure is lessened and more differentiated judgments can now be exercised in seeking and establishing close friendship ties.

The provocative rebelliousness of the early adolescent is no longer prominent. The middle adolescent is beginning to orient more to the larger society and to learn about and to question the workings of society, politics, and government.

III. Late Adolescence :

The ages represented are 17 years through the early 20s. It represents a definitive working through of the recurrent themes of body image, autonomy, achievement, intimacy, and sense of self that, when integrated, come to embody the sense of identity.

Although there may not be a work commitment, it is a time of thoughtful educational and vocational choices that will lead to eventual economic viability. The challenge of intimacy and the establishment of a stable, mature, committed intimate relationship is perceived as critical challenge.

Essay # 4. Factors Influencing Development during Adolescence:

I. Genetic Factors :

Leaving aside major diseases clearly transmitted by genes, such as Huntington’s chorea.

Genetic influences in psychiatry are characterised by:

(a) the inheritance of traits or tendencies rather than specific abnormalities,

(b) polygenic inheritance, that is to say more than one gene being influential,

(c) the concept of threshold effects (i.e., the presence of particular genes does not mean that the characteristic they represent will be exhibited).

II. Neurological Factors :

Brain Damage:

Various degrees of injury to the brain.

Mental Retardation:

Various degrees of intellectual deficit and general mental handicap.

This may or may not be associated with brain damage, mental handicap and psychiatric problems.

Neurological disorder:

Brain disorder, including neurodegenerative disorders.

III. Constitutional and Temperamental Factors :

If by personality, it is meant that more or less characteristic, coherent and enduring set of ways of thinking and behaving that develop through childhood and adolescence, then by constitution it means those inherited (genetic) and acquired physiological qualities that underlie personality.

IV. Family and Social Influences:

(a) Attachment, separation and loss:

Early experience of disrupted or discordant family relationships, or lack of parental affection, increases the incidence of emotional and personality problems later.

(b) Parental care and control:

It is the extremes of parental behaviour, e.g. excessive permissiveness, negligence, over-protectiveness and rigid discipline which tend to be associated with many of the problems in child and adolescent development.

The parental behaviours often associated with adolescent disturbance, and which when modified can help put things right include:

1. Lack of confidence about being adult and weakness at limit-setting;

2. Parental and marital distress;

3. Inability to provide the model of a reasonably competent adult who enjoys life;

4. Difficulty in maintaining appropriate roles and boundaries;

5. Difficulty in getting the balance right between being too protective and intrusive on the one hand or negligent and uninterested on the other;

6. Giving in too readily to adolescent demands, on the one hand, or not listening to the adolescent’s point of view on the other;

7. Becoming so upset by adolescent demands that the parent becomes childishly angry and vulnerable.

(c) Parental mental disorder:

In clinical practice, parental mental illness can have impact in three main ways:

(1) When it has been a feature of family life and interacting with the child’s problems for several years past;

(2) When it interferes with the developmental tasks of adolescence, for example when a depressed parent is thereby too vulnerable to the adolescent’s challenges; and

(3) When it interferes with treatment.

(d) Parental criminal behaviour

There is a strong association between delinquency in the child and criminality in the parent, and where both parents are criminal, the association is even stronger.

Again, poor parenting skills and family discord may be important linking factors. Modelling may be another factor.

(e) Family size and structure:

Children from large families (more than 5 children) tend to show a greater incidence of conduct problems, delinquency, lower verbal intelligence and lower reading attainment.

(f) Family patterns of behaviour:

Confused or conflicting communication in families, problems in resolving arguments or making decisions, and the generation of high levels of tension do seem to be associated with child disturbance in general.

(g) Adoption, fostering and institutional care:

There is an increased rate of psychiatric disorder among adopted children, with conduct disorder among adopted boys being most prominent.

Institutional care, the placement of children and adolescents in children’s homes, is associated with a higher rate of disturbance than in the general population.

(h) The effects of schools:

Wolkind and Rutter have listed features of schools which have a positive effect on their pupils: high expectations for work and behaviour; good models of behaviour from teachers; respect for the children, with opportunities for them to take responsibilities in the school; good discipline, with appropriate praise and encouragement and sparing use of punishment; a pleasant working environment with good teacher-pupil relationships; and a good organizational structure that enables staff to work together with agreed academic and other goals.

(i) Social and transcultural influences:

Life in inner city areas seems in general to increase the rate of behaviour problems compared with small towns and rural areas. Similar influences, plus and effects on the family of immigration and unemployment and prejudice affect adolescents. Unemployment among adolescents is associated with an increase in psychiatric problems.

The effects of film and television violence have now being widely studied. There seems to be a modelling and imitative effect, particularly in younger children and among adolescents who already show conduct problems and delinquency.

Assessment:

Assessment in adolescent psychiatry requires a far wider appraisal of who is concerned about what, and who is in a position to help, than the traditional clinical diagnosis can possibly provide. See Table 28.3.

Prevalence of Disorders in the Community :

The prevalence of adolescent disorder in the community varies from place to place and with age, and depends on the criteria used. The figures given vary between around 10 and 25%. The lower end of the range is associated with younger adolescents with recognised (i.e., known to adults) psychiatric problem in more rural or sub-urban areas, and the upper figures are associated with older adolescents, with industrial and inner-city areas and with the inclusion of problems not so evident to parents and teachers.

Disorders seen in clinical practice :

Table 28.4 is a composite picture of the types of disorder likely to be seen in general psychiatric service for adolescents, and is based on data drawn from several accounts.

(a) Clinical diagnostic categories (in approximate order of frequency) :

Mood disorders:

Emotional or mixed emotional/ contact disorders, or adult-type anxiety or depressive disorders, including obsessive compulsive phobic state.

Conduct Disorders:

Hysterical disorders e.g., with paralysis and serious self-neglect.

Problems of personality development with mood and/or conduct problems, including ‘borderline’ and schizoid personality disorders, and problems of sexual identity.

Schizophrenic, Schizoaffective and affective (manic-depressive) psychoses.

Brain disorder, including epilepsy, and neurodegenerative disorder.

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, enuresis, encopresis, and tics

(b) Changes in prevalence with age and sex:

The overall pattern seems to be a gradually increasing prevalence of psychiatric disorder from around 10% in children through 10 to 15% in mid- adolescence to around 20% in adulthood although some studies report a peak of about 20% being reached in adolescence.

In adolescence, enuresis and encopresis are less common than in earlier childhood. Hyperactivity presents less often, but children who have been hyperactive in earlier childhood sometimes present in adolescence with behavioural and other social problems.

In earlier childhood, equal numbers of girls and boys are affected by emotional disorders. In adolescence, however, as in adult life, more girls than boys are affected.

Delinquency increases markedly in adolescence and declines from early adulthood onwards.

Essay # 5. Developmental Psychopathology during the Period of Adolescence :

(a) Mood Fluctuations and Misery :

The general observation that adolescents experience a greater fluctuation of mood that adults has been demonstrated rather consistently. The feelings of transient misery and sadness reported by adolescents can be explained by several bases.

The Offer Self-image Questionnaire, administered to thousands of adolescents from 1962-1980, showed a significant upward shift of scores of depressive mood from the 1960’s to the 1970’s for both boys and girls.

Although relationships with parents may remain intact, the security experienced by identifying with the idealized parental image is sacrificed as the youth moves toward development of a separate identity.

Eventually, with the synthesis of these different value systems, the adolescent’s behaviour takes on an increasingly external and internal consistency. The wide array of conflicting societal values in regard to a youth’s engaging in sex becoming pregnant, having an abortion, bearing a child, or participating in homosexual behaviour provides numerous opportunities for remorse.

An additional factor that may draw the adolescent to a sexual relationship inspite of conflicting values is the relative emotional void produced as some distance is gained from the parent.

Among the adolescents these kinds of temporary setbacks may lead to an array of behaviours that erroneously have been termed clinical depression. These include a hypersensitivity and irritability, with a proneness to overreact to criticism. At times the adolescent may “tune out” temporarily and withdraw into a position of apathy and indifference.

At times there is a propensity to move from a passive to an active position in response to feelings of helplessness, and the adolescent may take provocative positions that elicit a punitive response from his environment. This punishment may provide a welcome relief from an immature harsh superego. For many clinicians such behaviour is summarised as adolescent turmoil.

However, the steeply rising suicide rates and the high prevalence of true adolescent depression is particularly poignant and of deep concern. It is estimated that there are 100 suicide attempts for every completed suicide. Surveys reveal that 8% to 10% of all adolescents report suicidal feelings.

(b) Sexual and Adolescent Pregnancy:

The recent significant rise in level of sexual activity among adolescents and the trend toward increasingly younger ages of initiation is well documented.

Clear documentation exists as to the biological and psychosocial risk to both mother and child in adolescent pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. The obstetrics complications, high rates of infant mortality, and perinatal morbidity have been well described. Similarly, there is excellent documen­tation for the social isolation, inadequate parenting skills, school drop-outs, repeat pregnancy, and chronic poverty that characterises these mothers.

(c) Developmental Issues in Drug Abuse:

If the drugs are used as a way to avoid tension and if this is done chronically, the youth’s capacity to tolerate tension and to gain in ego strength by working through stressful situations will be under developed. Drugs may thus have long term effects on important areas of ego functioning that are ordinarily developed during adolescence.

The problem behaviours of youth that are highly interrelated with regular drug use include delinquency, alcoholism, decreased school motivation and achievement, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy.

The factors associated with drug abuse can be divided into three categories:

(1) Personality factors;

(2) Social or interpersonal factors; and

(3) Sociocultural or Environmental factors.

Personal factors include an emphasis on unconventionality, rebelliousness, high risk taking, low value on achievement, and high value on autonomy. Social or interpersonal factors include alienation from parents, high influence from peers involved in problem behaviours, and little involvement in religious activities. Sociocultural factors include low social controls, disorganized environment and permissive values.

(d) Impact of Chronic Illness on Development:

During puberty, chronic illness of childhood is re-experienced as a distinct and significant adolescent phenomenon. With the major bodily changes of early adolescence and the concomitant free occupation with body image a long term illness is repraised and becomes a threat to body integrity and self-concept.

During a period typically characterized by developmental urges toward independence, the stress of illness can led to exaggerated wishes for dependence, security and nurturance on the one hand or led to denial and hyper independent, rebellious and non-compliant risk taking behaviour on the other hand. Overprotectiveness of concerned parents can aggravate any or all of these conflicts. Chronic illness may actually delay the onset of puberty.

(e) Parent-adolescent estrangement and social alienation:

Hostility and conflict with parents or substitute caregivers is a frequent presenting feature of adolescent disturbance. Parents may complain about the adolescent’s expressions of anger and defiance of unmanageable behaviour. Angry outbursts and temper tantrums occur frequently in young adolescents coping for the first time with biological changes and increasing academic and family responsibilities.

Psychiatrically disturbed adolescents, however, are likely to be involved in chronic conflict with parents who, in turn, may display psychopathology in relationships with their children, marital discord or personal psychiatric disorder.

Conflict and defiance may extend to such a serious level that there is a complete breakdown of trust and communication with parents.

(f) Anti-authority and antisocial behaviour:

Antisocial behaviour in adolescents may have arisen initially in this age-period or have continued from childhood.

Shoplifting, vandalizing public property, or spraying graffiti may occur transiently in groups of discontended teenagers who are not established delinquents.

(g) Problems in School:

The most common manifestations of adolescent disturbance in school are: disenchantment with conventional education often leading to truancy and showing other evidence of antisocial activity and conduct disorder. School refusal, usually associated with other signs of emotional disorder. Academic problems including examination anxiety, difficulties with study and academic under achievement; and disruptive behaviour, with negative attitudes towards the staff, conformity problems, bullying and association with delinquent peers.

Therapeutic Approach to Adolescent Disturbance:

Although there may be little scope or necessity for active psychiatric treatment, systematic management of interpersonal, social, educational, legal and ethical problems may be necessary and can be challenging and time consuming. These aspects of management call for full multi-disciplinary teamwork, consultation with other professionals and carefully integrated planning.

Hospitalisation and Residential Care:

Great care needs to be exercised in using residential resources, in view of the implications for adolescents of separation from home and the limited nature of residential provisions.

Psychiatric in-patient hospital treatment:

Steinberg et al have distinguished six needs to related to requests for admission, comprising the need for further work to be done with adults already involved for detailed educational reappraisal, for proper care and control, for physical containment, for an emergency safe place, for psychiatric assessment and treatment.

The role of the multidisciplinary staff and their deployment in treatment should be directed towards vigorous, short-term intervention minimizing the problems of institutionalization.

Non-psychiatric residential care of adolescents:

Disturbed adolescents may be placed in a miscellany of settings in addition to facilities administered by the National Health Service, including: schools and units for maladjusted children; independent boarding schools; children’s homes run by social service and voluntary agencies; observation and assessment centers; community homes with education, remand homes, detention centers, and borstals.

Therapeutic Work with Adolescents:

Apart from the use of antidepressant drugs in carefully selected cases of depressive disorder, the occasional use of lithium in affective psychoses and major tranquillizers in psychotic states, most adolescent disturbances can be managed without psychotropic medication.

Acute disturbance as part of personality disorder or other nonpsychotic states may warrant the use of major tranquillizers at the time of crisis, but they should not be relied upon for long term behavioural control. Hypnotics and minor tranquillizers of the Benzodiazepine group are rarely indicated and particular caution should be exercised in their prescription, in view of the scale of self- poisoning in adolescents.

The most frequent forms of individual interven­tion are psychotherapeutic, including behavioural techniques.

Supportive counselling, with an explicit educa­tional component, may be indicated in the treatment.

Parental and family work:

Some form of specific work with the parents or families of disturbed adolescents is usually required and it may be an advantage to allocate a therapist to work chiefly with them.

Most adolescents are likely to accept that family sessions are an appropriate medium for dealing with issues that are public in the sense, that they impinge on all family members.

School liaison:

Information from the school or school psycholo­gical service may be essential in assessment and planned liaison about aspects of management may be useful therapeutically, as well as providing a way of monitoring progress.

Legal Aspects of Care and Community Services :

The adolescent psychiatrist needs to be familiar with all the legislation that affects adolescent patient care. In particular, it is important to be aware of the various forms of disposal for young offenders.

Related Articles:

• Disorders that are Common During Adolescence | Disorders | Psychology
• Term Paper on Adolescence | Psychology
• Physical, Cognitive & Emotional Development during Adolescence | Psychology
• Development during Childhood and Adolescence | Psychology

Adolescence , Essay , Essay on Adolescence , Psychology

Home — Essay Samples — Psychology — Developmental Psychology — Adolescence

Essays on Adolescence

Adolescence is a period between childood and adulthood of a person between 10 and 19 years old. Therefore, the subject of adolescence is a challenging one since there are so many factors that must be considered. Depending on your discipline, you can address medical, psychological, social, cultural, or even economic development subjects as you are making reference to related factors. Starting with an essay on adolescence, remember to provide statistical information and examples to add more credibility to your writing. For example, as you study the role of depression among adolscents and it's contribution to teenage suicides, you must provide statistical information and talk about the causes. Let us take an example of the media influence on adolescents. Since it's a topic that can involve basically anything, the trick here is to narrow things down a little and provide media examples in your body parts after your introduction either contains an argumentative thesis statement or makes an assumption. Your essay on adolescence conclusion part should sum things up with a call to action or pose an explanation of what objectives you could achieve. Good adolescent essay topics to consider psychological and physiological development stages during the period of adolescence, analysis of the emotional factors at play, case study writing, provide analysis of children on the autism spectre, address development theories, or talk about the initial process of puberty as you can see from our free adolescence essay examples.

Important Adolescence Essay Topics

• The Psychological Impact of Social Media on Adolescents
• Peer Pressure and Its Role in Adolescent Decision Making
• Identity Formation During Adolescence: Challenges and Opportunities
• Adolescence is a Period of Storm and Stress: Claim Analyzing
• The Effects of Family Dynamics on Adolescent Development
• Adolescence and Mental Health: Understanding Depression and Anxiety
• The Role of Education in Shaping Adolescent Values and Beliefs
• Substance Use and Abuse in Adolescence: Causes and Prevention
• Adolescence & Social Media: The Development Paradox
• Cultural Influences on Adolescent Behavior and Attitudes

The Red Pony: a Journey Through Adolescence and Loss

Physiological and psychological development in adolescence, made-to-order essay as fast as you need it.

Each essay is customized to cater to your unique preferences

+ experts online

Teenage Mental Health: The Increase in Mental Illnesses

The initial process of puberty, theories of the development of adolescents, adolescent depression and its contribution to teenage suicides, let us write you an essay from scratch.

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Pro-choice Arguments for Teenage Abortions

Negative effect of social media on identity in adolescents, influence of drug substances on adolescents, the role of recreational sport in prevention of juvenile delinquency, get a personalized essay in under 3 hours.

Expert-written essays crafted with your exact needs in mind

The Transformation in Bonnie Jo Campbell's Gorilla Girl

Common pathway of delinquency by juveniles into street gangs, teen films and the transitioning from adolescence to adulthood, extended living foster care for adolescents, the effects of media exposure on adolescence, emerging adulthood: a distinct period of the human life span, a study on the psychological development, emerging adulthood and the changes it causes, why developmental psychology is important to development, the impacts homelife has on adolescents in 'jasper jones' by craig silvey, analysis of autism spectrum disorder (asd), a public health crisis: suicidal behaviors in teenagers, juvenile delinquency: the need to reform the juvenile justice system, the use of drugs among teenagers, analysis of how video games cause violence among teenagers, puberty: why change is important in life, when do we become adults, the impact of social media on mental health of adolescents, addressing teenage problems and solutions, being bullied: its effects on mental health in adolescents, relevant topics.

• Childhood Development
• Cognitive Development
• Personal Development Planning
• Birth Order
• Growth Mindset
• Procrastination

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Bibliography

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Writing About Adolescence: What’s the Story?

While coming-of-age passages are similar, they are infinitely varied..

Posted March 27, 2023 | Reviewed by Vanessa Lancaster

• What Changes During Adolescence?
• Find a therapist to support kids and teens
• Adolescence is the toughest half of growing up–separating from childhood, detaching for independence, and differentiating for individuality.
• Adolescence requires that parents adjust expectations as the child becomes somewhat less close, less communicative, and less readily compliant.
• Having realistic expectations about common adolescent changes and common changes in their relationship with their teenager can be helpful.

So: why a fascination with adolescence and parenting adolescents?

The answer for me is that the process of growing up from childhood to adulthood is a transforming and universal one. In response, the parenting challenges are problematic and complex. On both counts, I find the coming of passage endlessly compelling to think and write about.

Adolescence

I believe that the hardest half of growing up comes last . Gradually detaching from childhood and parents to earn independence and gradually differentiating from childhood and parents to develop individuality, adolescence accomplishes a life-changing transformation: “Now I can function on my own, and I have become my own person.”

This developmental change doesn’t happen overnight. It takes maybe 10 to 12 years to unfold and fulfill: from separating from childhood around late elementary school to forming a second family of friends around middle school, experimenting with acting older around high school, and finally emancipating from home rule around the college-age years.

For gains in growth, there are costs to be paid at every stage of the way:

• Starting adolescence ends the simple security of childhood.
• Peers create pressures to conform socially and belong.
• Worldly dangers come from trying out acting older.
• Claiming independence creates solitude at last.

Claiming self-reliance and creating self-definition does not come cheap. It takes a lot of courage and effort to grow up.

Changing Reality

A family game changer , adolescence isn’t childhood anymore. For parents, raising a teenager is more complicated than raising a child because as the young person pushes for more freedom to grow, they feel less in control. While the child was content to largely operate within the simple family circle, the adolescent wants to explore the complex larger world.

As the adolescent pulls away and pushes against their influence, more social separation and distance grows between them. Now maintaining adequate communication becomes harder to do. As parents need to be told more, they are often told less, so parenting often becomes more worrisome than it used to be. Youthful curiosity about acting worldly and cultural expressions of growing individuality can be harder for parents to tolerate and understand. And all the while, they struggle to decide when to keep holding on and, while providing preparation, when to dare more letting go. For example: “Now you are ready to drive yourself.”

Adjusting Parental Expectations

Parents must adjust their expectations as adolescents grow to fit and foster growing change. Expectations are the mental sets they depend on to anticipate the changing relationship with their changing teenager as she or he keeps acting more grown up.

There are expectations of three kinds that need to be fulfilled:

• Predictions (what will happen)
• Ambitions (what they want to happen)
• Conditions (what they believe should happen)

These mental sets can have upsetting emotional consequences when violated: anxiety from being surprised (“You did what?”), sadness at being disappointed (“You let us down!”), and anger when feeling betrayed (“You did wrong!”)

Unrealistic expectations can be emotionally expensive.

Thus, having realistic expectations about common adolescent changes and common changes in their relationship with their teenager can be helpful.

• For example, when it comes to predictions, anticipate that the primarily family-focused child will become more preoccupied with friends and less close to and companionable with parents.
• For example, when it comes to ambitions , anticipate that the comfortably confiding child now wants more time alone and to be private, and parents will be less fully informed than they wish.
• For example, when it comes to conditions , anticipate that the more compliant child should act more resistant to demands for independence as easy compliance becomes harder for parents.

Of course, expect doesn’t always mean accept . Parents still insist on adolescents helping at home, obeying social rules, observing basic courtesies of family conduct, keeping them accurately and adequately informed, meeting commitments and promises, and spending some good time with each other.

My Interest

My fondness for the coming of age story started with my parents reading me Treasure Island and Kidnapped (by Stevenson) and David Copperfield (by Dickens) when I was an older child, and later reading other tales of youthful adventures on my own.

Then it was further enriched through counseling with parents of adolescents during my years in private practice, writing many columns, blogs, and books about parenting teenagers during that time.

And finally, it caused me to write three coming-of-age novels: The Helper’s Apprentice – The Jackson Skye Mysteries (about a brother and sister, a series of six novels), The Trout King (about fathers and sons), and The Art Lover (about mothers and daughters).

In non-fiction and fiction, I’ve always loved telling the story of adolescence, of growing up, and I suppose I always will.

Carl Pickhardt Ph.D. is a psychologist in private counseling and public lecturing practice in Austin, Texas. His latest book is Holding On While Letting Go: Parenting Your Child Through the Four Freedoms of Adolescence.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• United States
• Brooklyn, NY
• Chicago, IL
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York, NY
• Portland, OR
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Washington, DC
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Self Tests NEW
• Therapy Center
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

It’s increasingly common for someone to be diagnosed with a condition such as ADHD or autism as an adult. A diagnosis often brings relief, but it can also come with as many questions as answers.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

• Entertainment
• Environment
• Information Science and Technology
• Social Issues

Home Essay Samples Psychology

Essay Samples on Adolescence

The power dynamics of adolescent marginality & intergenerational conflict.

Abstract Adolescents are often seen as lazy and/or entitled by older generations. Typically, we can see this today in the baby boomer generation. In this paper I will be applying Sociological Theories to this stereotype, Intergenerational Conflict to be exact. Throughout the years older generations...

• Adolescence
• Critical Theory
• Sociological Theory

Assessing Adolescent Knowledge and Attitudes towards Reproductive Health

Reproductive health is the important component in the adolescent age, as the one which is in highly risk group to get different sexual and reproductive health problem. Reproductive health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being in all matters relating to the...

• Reproductive Health
• Sexual Health

The Most Stressful Life Stage: Exploring Adolescence

Adolescence is the transitional period in human development between childhood and adulthood. It is also described as a period of rapid growth, where a person undergoes major changes in the physical, psychological and social domains. It is also important for the development of identity, as...

Psychosexual Development Theory and Child’s Personality

In this essay I am going to examine the age group of children 0-5 and how the psychological experience can impact on their transitions, during their life span. To achieve this task, I am going to analyze different theories in relation to all holistic aspects...

• Child Psychology
• Homosexuality

The Causes And Different Forms Of Youth Violence

Abstract This paper includes a series of literature reviews that together provide a broad context of violent crime involving youth. Youth violence can take many shapes and forms and involve many different types of people. For example, a youngster acquires a firearm to a recreation...

• Youth Violence

Stressed out with your paper?

Consider using writing assistance:

• 100% unique papers
• 3 hrs deadline option

Nonmaleficence Vs Beneficence In The Autonomy Of Adolescents

The autonomy of adolescents is a difficult topic that healthcare professionals deal with daily. A minor, by definition, is a person younger than 18, while some children mature at an earlier age compared to their peers and might be able to make their own autonomous...

• Medical Ethics

Adolescent Phase Human Development And The Process Of Transition To Adulthood

There weren’t many similarities in my research, but the article on the topics I cover was unique in how the researcher explores to connect the dots of the articles, the reading as a from what I’ve learned in my course work over the past 5...

• Erik Erikson
• Human Development

A Study on Erik Erikson's Theory on Identity Development

Erikson is a leading psychologist in the field of development psychology who believed that development is a continuous process. He believed that psychological development was extended over eight stages. In this paper, we’ll be highlighting the stage of “Identity Vs Role Confusion.” This stage, which...

• Self Esteem

My Adolescent Experience and Development: A Reflection

Keywords: Self-reflection, Adolescence, Personal experience, Identity formation, Social relationships, Emotional development, Mental health, Family dynamics The adolescent years are the most crucial years in one’s life and I also have my adolescent experience that is unique and valuable for me and i'll share it in...

• Development

The Language Used to Describe People with Learning Disabilities Is Outdated

Introduction In this essay, I will examine the roots of my belief that the current use of language surrounding special needs and learning disabilities provides a sufficient label that enables appropriate support to be provided to individuals. Due to the nature of language, which is...

The Struggles of Adolescence Portrayed in This Boy's Life

Adolescence is already or can be a troubling time all by itself. We are going through so many changes physically and in our cognitive development as well. Everything that we are subjected to can shape our development. We are a product of our environments. This...

• This Boy's Life

The Red Badge of Courage: The Struggles of Adolescence

Perhaps a more fitting title for this novel is The Pursuit of Courage, as each interaction showed 18-year-old Henry Flemming learning to find courage. Henry's mind was a canvas painted upon with fantasies of warfare on par with the works of Homer. Encouraged to enlist...

• The Red Badge of Courage

The Importance of Extracurricular Activities for Adolescents

From a tender age, adolescents are advised to enjoy life and experience the most out of it. Stressors similar to school and jobs consistently prohibit teenagers from the enjoyment of life, establishing a barrier that typically takes time to defeat. Extracurriculars provide adolescents with an...

• Academic Achievements
• Extracurricular Activities

Adaptability of Adolescences to the Society-Accepted Standards

She coats her face with foundation and makes sure her highlight is heavy. She layers her lashes in mascara, until they scrape her cheekbones. She still puts on her fake lashes though; she likes how they make her eyelashes look much fuller. She nags to...

• Adaptability

Single Sex Schools Have A Positive Effect On Learning

As adolescent children start their first step in education, they don’t question whether they’ll be secluded from the opposite gender or not. Many have started or transitioned into single-sex education schools or classes more frequently since parents have been exposed to researched benefits. Although many...

• Single Sex Schools

Psychological Observation of Arthur Miller and His Work

Introduction And Data Analysis Arthur is a 12-year-old adolescent who was referred by his parents at the request of his teacher to determine his current cognitive and emotional status. Arthur is described as having a recent history of poor school performance, a decline in organizational...

• Arthur Miller
• Observation

Comparison of Oprah Winfrey's Devleopment: Adolescent and Adult

For this assignment, I have been asked to base my evidence on a famous individual or celebrity and describe the physical, intellectual, emotional and social development that my chosen individual has experienced. I have also been asked to focus on the different factors which have...

• Oprah Winfrey

Experiencing Adolescence with the Turner Syndrom

Introduction Adolescence is a period of incredible change for young people. It is when physical changes are occurring at a hastened rate. Adolescence is not simply set apart by physical changes. Maturing individuals are additionally encountering cognitive, social, emotional and relationship changes as well (Spano,...

Progression of Developments of Adolescence

Adolescence is the period following the onset of puberty during which a young person develops from a child into an adult. Youth enters this developmental stage with the body and mind of a child, later on in life it exits with the body and mind...

Adolescent Mental Health and Grit

Adolescences is described as the age from 10 to 19 years old, and this is a time in an individual’s life in which is unique and developmental. Though many adolescents do not experience issues with their mental health, several physical, emotional and social changes, including...

• Mental Illness

Influences of Risk Taking Behaviors During Adolescence

The fact is, risk taking behaviors increase during adolescence, but the reason behind this behavioral change is still up for debate. There is speculation that risk taking behavior is a result of hormonal changes during puberty, and the brain’s socio emotional system seeks to increase...

• Risk Taking

Peer Pressure in Adolescent Alcohol Use

A study was recently conducted in 2017, on students, monitoring adolescent alcohol use. The article Peer Influence, Peer Selection and Adolescent Alcohol Use: A Simulation Study Using a Dynamic Network Model of Friendship Ties and Alcohol Use, was tested and written by Cheng Wang, John...

• Peer Pressure

Navigating Peer Pressure: Supporting Students' Academic Success

The impact of peer pressure on students' academic success is a subject of widespread discussion as it can lead to both positive and negative effects. In this essay, we will analyze the influence of peer pressure on academic performance and explore ways in which parents...

Childhood Bedtime On Adolescent Obesity

Introduction Obesity is one of the largest growing incidences in today’s society however, your sleep as a child can impact your weight as an adolescent and into adulthood. Many individuals know the importance of eating healthy and exercising, but don’t know as much about the...

• Childhood Obesity

Teaching And Learning Of Adolescent

Stages of Adolescent Development Adolescence is a time of great change for young people when physical changes are happening at a very faster rate. But adolescence is not just about physical changes. Young people are affected by larger spectrum of factors including their age, their...

Physical & Mental Changes During The Period Of Adolescence

Adolescence lasts from about 12 – 18 years of age. The primary physical change during adolescence is the start of puberty. This is a brain-neuroendocrine process that provides stimulation for rapid physical changes that take place. This is when a child takes on adult physical...

• Human Anatomy

Adolescents As The Most Vulnerable Of All Age Brackets

Over the years, internet users have grown exponentially with more than three billion users now. Notably, 830 million online are young people or 80% of the youth population in 104 countries according to the global data released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United...

• Negative Impact of Technology

Best topics on Adolescence

1. The Power Dynamics of Adolescent Marginality & Intergenerational Conflict

2. Assessing Adolescent Knowledge and Attitudes towards Reproductive Health

3. The Most Stressful Life Stage: Exploring Adolescence

4. Psychosexual Development Theory and Child’s Personality

5. The Causes And Different Forms Of Youth Violence

6. Nonmaleficence Vs Beneficence In The Autonomy Of Adolescents

7. Adolescent Phase Human Development And The Process Of Transition To Adulthood

8. A Study on Erik Erikson’s Theory on Identity Development

9. My Adolescent Experience and Development: A Reflection

10. The Language Used to Describe People with Learning Disabilities Is Outdated

11. The Struggles of Adolescence Portrayed in This Boy’s Life

12. The Red Badge of Courage: The Struggles of Adolescence

13. The Importance of Extracurricular Activities for Adolescents

14. Adaptability of Adolescences to the Society-Accepted Standards

15. Single Sex Schools Have A Positive Effect On Learning

• Confirmation Bias
• Milgram Experiment
• Problem Solving
• The Bystander Effect
• Attachment Theory

Need writing help?

You can always rely on us no matter what type of paper you need

*No hidden charges

100% Unique Essays

Absolutely Confidential

Money Back Guarantee

By clicking “Send Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails

You can also get a UNIQUE essay on this or any other topic

Thank you! We’ll contact you as soon as possible.

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

• Your Health
• Treatments & Tests
• Health Inc.
• Public Health

Living Better

Want to understand your adolescent get to know their brain.

Jon Hamilton

"When you're younger, your mind is more open, and you're more creative," says 13-year-old Leo De Leon. Adolescence is a time of rapid brain development that scientists call "breathtaking." Jon Hamilton/NPR hide caption

"When you're younger, your mind is more open, and you're more creative," says 13-year-old Leo De Leon. Adolescence is a time of rapid brain development that scientists call "breathtaking."

For the parents of a teenager, adolescence can be a challenging time. But to a brain scientist, it's a marvel.

"I want people to understand that adolescence is not a disease, that adolescence is an amazing time of development," says Beatriz Luna , professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh.

That development is on display most afternoons at the Shaw Skatepark in Washington, D.C. It's a public site, filled with teens hanging out, taking risks, and learning new skills at a rapid pace.

"When you're younger, your mind is more open, and you're more creative, and nothing matters," says Leo De Leon, 13. "So you'll really try anything."

Leo has been skateboarding since he was 10. But getting the nerve to try a skate park for the first time was "kind of scary," he says. "I fell a lot when I first started. And I got hurt a lot."

Leo also got better — fast. And when he'd mastered one trick, he'd push himself to learn a new one, despite the risks.

"I was trying to ollie up something, and then I clipped it and my board went up and it hit me in my mouth," he says, "so now I have this scar."

Leo's also broken his arm and his elbows are a mess. But the payoff is, he can do things now like jump the flight of five stairs on the other side of the park.

"I kickflipped that one," he says. "It's on my Instagram."

Leo's persistence and tolerance for scars, broken bones and bruises has paid off. As soon as he mastered one trick, he pushed himself to learn a new one. Jon Hamilton/NPR hide caption

Leo's persistence and tolerance for scars, broken bones and bruises has paid off. As soon as he mastered one trick, he pushed himself to learn a new one.

Seeking new experiences

Leo's swift progress from frightened novice to accomplished skater shows the strengths of an adolescent brain.

"It's an incredible brain," Luna says. "It's just perfect for what it needs to do. And what it needs to do is gain experiences."

A child's brain goes through two critical periods of very rapid change.

The first happens about age 2, when most toddlers are busy walking, talking, climbing and falling. The second critical period begins around puberty.

"Adolescence is a time when the brain says, 'All right, you've had a lot of time now, we have to start making some decisions,'" Luna says

Decisions like which connections to get rid of.

"You're born with an excess of synaptic connections," Luna says. "And based on experience, you keep what you use and you lose what you don't use."

It's a process known as synaptic pruning . And its imminent arrival may be one reason an adolescent brain seeks out new experiences, even if it means risking a broken arm or a broken heart.

Shots - Health News

Building a better brain through music, dance and poetry.

During this period the brain is also optimizing the wiring it decides to keep.

"The connections that remain become myelinated, " Luna says. "That means they're insulated with fatty tissue, which not only speeds neuronal transmission, but protects from any further changes."

Sex differences in the brain and in behavior

Adolescent brain changes tend to start earlier in girls than in boys. And around this time, males and females also begin to react differently to certain experiences — like stress.

That was one finding of an analysis of research on teens asked to perform tasks like solving an impossible math problem, or giving a talk to a group of strangers.

"Males' blood pressure was higher than females," Luna says. But when participants were asked about the experience later, males said, "Oh, it was fine," while females described it as "extremely stressful."

Luna says that suggests there are some sex differences in certain brain circuits. But it's not clear whether those differences are the result of genetics, hormones, or social and cultural influences, she says.

Regardless, sex differences are just a small part of the big changes sweeping through the brain during adolescence. And those changes continue throughout the teens and beyond.

"A lot of times people will think, oh, too late, they're adolescents," Luna says. "But no, because even though it is a time of vulnerabilities, it is also a window opportunity."

Adolescence, chimp style

Adolescence isn't just for humans. It's also present in chimpanzees.

"There's something really charming about the chimps when they're going through this adolescent period," says Alexandra Rosati , an associate professor of sociology and anthropology at the University of Michigan. "They look kind of gangly. They have these new big teeth in their mouth."

And, of course, they are experiencing puberty.

"They're going through this physical change in the body and those same hormones are resculpting the brain, basically, during this period," Rosati says.

Part of this resculpting involves the willingness to take risks.

Rosati was part of a team that did a gambling experiment with 40 chimps of various ages at a sanctuary in the Republic of Congo.

The chimps had a choice. They could go for a sure thing: peanuts. Or they could select a mystery option that might be a boring cucumber or a delicious banana.

"Adolescent chimpanzees were more willing to make that gamble," Rosati says. "They were more likely to choose that risky option and hopefully get the banana, whereas adults were more likely to play it safe."

That suggests young humans and chimps are both predisposed to risky behavior.

"The fact that we see these shifts in risk taking in the chimps suggests that this is tracking something biological," Rosati says. "It's not something to do with human culture or the way children are exposed to the media or something."

For both species, Rosati says, there's a purpose to this kind of risk-taking. "This period of adolescent risk-taking lets children grow into adults who are learning to live independently," she says.

Risky business and dopamine

So how does the brain of an adolescent chimp or a human encourage risk-taking? With dopamine, a naturally occurring chemical involved in memory, motivation and reward.

Adolescent brains produce more dopamine and are more sensitive to the chemical than adult brains, says Adriana Galván , a professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

That means a bigger payoff from positive experiences like eating a piece of chocolate, or just hanging out with friends.

"It's a feedback loop," she says, "because then you start thinking, well, that was pretty good. I'm going to get that to happen again."

This amped up reward system also helps young brains learn faster by pushing boundaries and constantly asking, "What happens when I do this?" Galván says, "because that is how we learn best."

But big rewards and fast learning can make the adolescent brain vulnerable to some behaviors that are damaging, rather than useful.

"If the behavior is doing drugs, the brain is saying, 'Oh, OK, this is what I should be paying attention to and devoting my neurons and my pathways to,'" Galván says. "So you strengthen that. And eventually that is how addiction happens."

The brain's vulnerability during adolescence is probably one reason so many adult smokers picked up the habit as teens, Galván says.

Over the course of adolescence, though the brain's priorities change, she says. Early on, it gives more attention to positive experiences than painful ones. But then, the balance begins to shift.

That seems to be happening with Leo the skateboarder.

"I used to do a lot of stair sets," he says. "I feel like I'm old now because I can't really do them anymore because they hurt."

All of which suggests that Leo's brain is developing exactly the way it's supposed to.

An overlooked brain system helps you grab a coffee — and plan your next cup

• Adolescence
• Brain development
• Adolescent brain
• adolescent health

• Request An Appointment
• Pay a Bill or Get an Estimate
• For Referring Providers
• Pediatric Care
• Cancer Center
• Carver College of Medicine
• Find a Provider
• Share Your Story
• Health Topics
• Educational Resources & Support Groups
• Clinical Trials
• Medical Records
• Info For... Directory

Adolescence is an important time of change

Keeping young women healthy isn’t limited to the doctor’s office..

Ginny Ryan, MD, MA Director of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Clinic

“Adolescence” is tough to define. The only thing experts agree upon is that adolescence is a period of transition between childhood and adulthood. Beyond that, the definition and experience of adolescence varies greatly, especially between cultures and genders.

Biologically, adolescence is a period of development that stretches from the onset of puberty through the termination of growth; the Centers for Disease Control defines this period as between 10 and 24 years old. Cognitively, the end of adolescence is defined by the ability to reason and think abstractly. Socially, adolescence is a time when young people begin to take on adult roles.

No matter how you define it, adolescence is a time of great change and challenge, and girls have particular needs and concerns as their bodies change. The average age at the onset of puberty continues to drift lower such that girls younger than 10 years old are more commonly demonstrating signs of puberty. This means that the physical and emotional issues related to puberty are starting in earlier grades and at earlier stages of cognitive development, and parents need to be prepared with the tools to understand and explain these changes to their daughters.

Adolescence is a very vital period that will determine how a person will view and interact with the world as an adult. There are issues of general wellness, social wellness, and sexual wellness, all of which are linked. For teenagers, it’s important to have the resources, mentorship, and knowledge to make the right choices. Some key points:

• It is important for girls and parents to understand that the onset and pace of puberty can vary greatly, even between sisters. However, if your daughter starts puberty before 8 or after 13, talk to your doctor.
• Adolescents crave independence and often push the boundaries of safety in their search for independence. It is important to provide adolescents with opportunities to make independent decisions and take healthy risks, such as taking on a part-time job or trying out for a new sport.
• One of the key predictors of a successful adolescence is having an adult mentor to talk with. This relationship may not be possible between parent and child; make sure you identify a trusted adult or adults to whom your daughter can go for honest feedback and answers to their questions.

The contents of this website are for information purposes only and not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not rely on the information provided for medical decision making and should direct all questions regarding medical matters to their physician or other health care provider. Use of this information does not create an express or implied physician-patient relationship.

• Second Opinion

Cognitive Development in the Teen Years

What is cognitive development.

Cognitive development means the growth of a child’s ability to think and reason. This growth happens differently from ages 6 to 12, and from ages 12 to 18.

Children ages 6 to 12 years old develop the ability to think in concrete ways. These are called concrete operations. These things are called concrete because they’re done around objects and events. This includes knowing how to:

Combine (add)

Separate (subtract or divide)

Order (alphabetize and sort)

Transform objects and actions (change things, such as 5 pennies = 1 nickel)

Ages 12 to 18 is called adolescence. Kids and teens in this age group do more complex thinking. This type of thinking is also known as formal logical operations. This includes the ability to:

Do abstract thinking. This means thinking about possibilities.

Reason from known principles. This means forming own new ideas or questions.

Consider many points of view. This means to compare or debate ideas or opinions.

Think about the process of thinking. This means being aware of the act of thought processes.

How cognitive growth happens during the teen years

From ages 12 to 18, children grow in the way they think. They move from concrete thinking to formal logical operations. It’s important to note that:

Each child moves ahead at their own rate in their ability to think in more complex ways.

Each child develops their own view of the world.

Some children may be able to use logical operations in schoolwork long before they can use them for personal problems.

When emotional issues come up, they can cause problems with a child’s ability to think in complex ways.

The ability to consider possibilities and facts may affect decision-making. This can happen in either positive or negative ways.

Types of cognitive growth through the years

A child in early adolescence:

Uses more complex thinking focused on personal decision-making in school and at home

Begins to show use of formal logical operations in schoolwork

Begins to question authority and society's standards

Begins to form and speak his or her own thoughts and views on many topics. You may hear your child talk about which sports or groups he or she prefers, what kinds of personal appearance is attractive, and what parental rules should be changed.

A child in middle adolescence:

Has some experience in using more complex thinking processes

Expands thinking to include more philosophical and futuristic concerns

Often questions more extensively

Often analyzes more extensively

Thinks about and begins to form his or her own code of ethics (for example, What do I think is right?)

Thinks about different possibilities and begins to develop own identity (for example, Who am I? )

Thinks about and begins to systematically consider possible future goals (for example, What do I want? )

Thinks about and begins to make his or her own plans

Begins to think long-term

Uses systematic thinking and begins to influence relationships with others

A child in late adolescence:

Uses complex thinking to focus on less self-centered concepts and personal decision-making

Has increased thoughts about more global concepts, such as justice, history, politics, and patriotism

Often develops idealistic views on specific topics or concerns

May debate and develop intolerance of opposing views

Begins to focus thinking on making career decisions

Begins to focus thinking on their emerging role in adult society

How you can encourage healthy cognitive growth

To help encourage positive and healthy cognitive growth in your teen, you can:

Include him or her in discussions about a variety of topics, issues, and current events.

Encourage your child to share ideas and thoughts with you.

Encourage your teen to think independently and develop his or her own ideas.

Help your child in setting goals.

Challenge him or her to think about possibilities for the future.

Compliment and praise your teen for well-thought-out decisions.

Help him or her in re-evaluating poorly made decisions.

If you have concerns about your child's cognitive development, talk with your child's healthcare provider. 

Related Links

• Brain and Behavior
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health
• The Growing Child: School-Age (6 to 12 Years)
• Understanding the Teen Brain
• Topic Index

Related Topics

Adolescent Growth and Development

Cognitive Development in Adolescence

Growth and Development in Children with Congenital Heart Disease

Connect with us:

Download our App:

• Leadership Team
• Vision, Mission & Values
• The Stanford Advantage
• Government and Community Relations
• Get Involved
• Volunteer Services
• Auxiliaries & Affiliates

© 123 Stanford Medicine Children’s Health

• Adolescent-development
• Summary And Conclusion

Summary and Conclusion

Ad Disclosure: Some of our www.MentalHelp.net recommendations, including BetterHelp, are also affiliates, and as such we may receive compensation from them if you choose to purchase products or services through the links provided

Adolescence is an amazing period of growth spanning the ages of 12-24 years old. Youth enter this developmental stage with the body and mind of a child, and then exit 10-12 years later, with the body and mind of an adult. This article examined the physical, cognitive, emotional, social, moral, and sexual dimensions of adolescent development. While these individual areas of development were discussed separately by necessity, it was emphasized there is a strong inter-relationship among these various aspects of development. Furthermore, it was emphasized that there is a great deal of individual variation within the normal developmental process. Individual youth may reach developmental milestones at ages that are different from averages presented in this article, and yet these youth would still be considered "normal." Caregivers were advised to consult a health care professional if they have concerns about their child's developmental progress in any of these areas.

Physically , adolescents grow to reach their adult height, and their bodies begin to resemble adult bodies in size, shape, and body composition. Moreover, they become capable of sexual reproduction.

, adolescent thinking skills rapidly advance as they enter Piaget's stage of formal operations . Youth are now able to think in abstract terms so that they can conceptualize theoretical ideas, moving beyond the limitations of concrete information. Youth begin analyze problems in a more logical and scientific manner. This ability to think abstractly and analytically simultaneously promotes their social, emotional, and moral development. As their brain continues to develop , youths' capacity for memorization expands as the brain develops more sophisticated methods of organizing information, allowing for more rapid and accurate information storage and subsequent retrieval. However, the brain's frontal lobe is not fully developed until the very end of adolescence. The frontal lobe of the brain enables humans to inhibit primitive sexual or emotional impulses by using rationale thought to override these impulses. The incomplete development of the frontal lobe means that adolescents will continue to struggle to make wise and thoughtful decisions in the presence of powerful emotional, social, or sexual pressures.

Emotionally , adolescents encounter many new experiences that challenge their ability to cope with a broad array of intense emotions. Youth must learn how to handle stressful situations that trigger powerful emotions without harming or hurting themselves, or other people. Once youth have learned to identify their emotions, and the source of their emotional reactions, they must then learn healthy ways to cope with situations that cause strong emotional reactions. When this learning is completed, youth will have developed emotional efficacy ; a landmark skill that enables them to be successful in their future careers, and to enjoy meaningful relationships with others.

Therapists are Standing By to Treat Your Depression, Anxiety or Other Mental Health Needs

Explore Your Options Today

Emotional maturity is closely tied to the knowledge of oneself, and one's values. This self-identity develops and solidifies during adolescence. Erik Erikson and James Marcia both proposed theories of identity development and these theories were reviewed. Despite theoretical differences, both theorists agree some youth will develop a clear set of values and beliefs through experimentation with different identities, and an examination of their values. Other youth will not advance this far. These youth will either continue to question their values; or, they may not examine their values at all. Some youth are so disadvantaged they do not have opportunities to explore values beyond mere survival.

Socially , as youths' need for independence increases, their primary social support shifts away from their families, and toward their peers . Because of the increased importance of peer relationships, youth are especially sensitive to peer pressure (meaning, to conform to the standards of the peer group ). By late adolescence youth will ordinarily re-establish close relationships with their families, provided these relationships were positive to begin with. Youth also create more meaningful and productive relationships with other people outside their circle of family and friends; e.g., bosses, coaches, teachers, co-workers, and other acquaintances. Romantic relationships begin to flourish during this developmental phase . In early adolescence these connections may be of a more flirtatious nature, and may bloom and fade rather quickly. However, by late adolescence, many of these relationships become more stable, mature, and emotionally intimate.

Moral development naturally progresses as mental and emotional maturity improves. Youths' understanding of right and wrong becomes more sophisticated and nuanced. Both Piaget' s and Kohlberg's theories of moral development were reviewed, but Kohlberg's theory has been more strongly supported by the research. According to Kohlberg's theory, some youth will eventually base their moral decisions on a set of ethical principles that surpass existing laws or rules. Other youth will remain primarily concerned with rules, laws, and fairness.

Sexual development was described as a complex merger of physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and moral development. During this time youth solidify their gender identity as masculine, feminine, or transgendered . Youth will also become aware of their sexual orientation which refers to a pattern of attraction to others, not sexual behavior. Youth will begin to realize they are primarily attracted to the opposite gender (straight), the same gender (gay or lesbian), both genders (bisexual), or still uncertain (questioning). During early adolescence most teens become curious about sex, but any sexual behavior is usually limited to masturbation. However, by middle to late adolescence, many teens begin to experiment with various sexual behaviors via masturbation, partners, or both. Because of the brain's incomplete development youth are at risk for making poor or risky decisions regarding their sexuality. Ultimately youth must determine what type of sexual behavior is acceptable to them, and under what circumstances. These decisions are best made in advance of the need to make them.

In conclusion, adolescent youth experience monumental changes in every single aspect of their lives as they make the transition from childhood into adulthood. The purpose of this article was to provide parents and other caregivers the foundational information needed to recognize and to appreciate the normal developmental progression of adolescents. Therefore, this article was primarily descriptive in nature. However, the process of adolescent development can become quite challenging and sometime overwhelming for both youth and their families. The next article in this series will build upon this foundation to provide parents and other caregivers concrete advice and practical solutions to common problems that arise during adolescence. Armed with this information, caregivers will feel more confident and successful as they guide their child through these often confusing and difficult years. 

Additional Resources

As advocates of mental health and wellness, we take great pride in educating our readers on the various online therapy providers available. MentalHelp has partnered with several thought leaders in the mental health and wellness space, so we can help you make informed decisions on your wellness journey. MentalHelp may receive marketing compensation from these companies should you choose to use their services.

BetterHelp Online Therapy - BetterHelp offers online therapy services from licensed professionals through an easy-to-use website and app. To get matched with a virtual therapist, complete a brief questionnaire online or start get started with a 20% off your first month today .

Talkspace Online Therapy & Psychiatry - Licensed therapists and psychiatrists are available for virtual sessions via Talkspace . From virtual counseling to medication management services, Talkspace online therapy may be covered by your insurance provider. Simply fill out a brief assessment online to save $100 and match with a licensed therapist today .

MentalHelp may receive marketing compensation from the above-listed companies should you choose to use their services.

• Academic Effects of After-School Programs
• Adolescent Emotional Development
• Adolescent Moral Development
• Adolescent Physical Development
• Adolescent Sexual Development
• Adolescent Social Development
• Allowing Children More Autonomy
• An Overview of Adolescent Development
• Body Piercing
• Bullying in Early Adolescence: The Role of the Peer Group
• Bullying in Schools
• Child & Adolescent Development: Overview
• Child & Adolescent Development: Puberty
• Child Development Overview Summary
• Common Nutritional Challenges for Teenagers: Adolescent Obesity
• Common Nutritional Challenges for Teenagers: Eating Disorders and Unhealthy Dieting
• Computers and Young Children
• Discipline and Guidance: Older Adolescents and Young Adults (18 Years and Older)
• Emotional Self-Efficacy
• Introduction to Puberty
• John Bowlby
• Menstruation, Wet Dreams and Related Subjects
• MET/CBT: Treatment of Adolescent Substance Abuse
• Middle to Late Adolescence (ages 15 to 22): The Age of Romance
• Parental Guidelines to Promote Physical Activity in Teens
• Parenting Teens: Discipline, Love, Rules & Expectations
• Parents and Teenagers: Always Battling?
• Primary Physical Changes Associated With Puberty
• Psychological Testing: Stanford-Binet IQ Test
• Self-Identity and Values
• Skipping A Year: When Retention Is Recommended, What Should Parents Do?
• Social Pressures Influence Mood and Behavior
• Tattoos and Body Piercing
• Teenage Caloric Requirements
• The Development of Adolescent Sexuality
• The Development of Gender Identity
• The Maturing Adolescent Brain
• The Transition to Middle School
• Video Games and Children
• Warning Signs
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder
• Mens Health
• What Is Addiction?
• Signs, Symptoms, & Effects Of Addiction
• What Causes Addiction?
• Mental Health, Dual-Diagnosis, & Behavioral Addictions
• Addiction Treatment
• Addiction Recovery
• Information On Specific Drugs
• Homosexuality And Bisexuality
• Internet Addiction
• Childhood Mental Disorders
• ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
• Anxiety Disorders
• Bipolar Disorder
• Depression: Major Depression & Unipolar Varieties
• Eating Disorders
• Childhood Mental Disorders And Illnesses
• Dissociative Disorders
• Impulse Control Disorders
• Internet Addiction And Media Issues
• Intellectual Disabilities
• Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Somatic Symptom And Related Disorders
• Tourettes And Other Tic Disorders
• Physical Mental Illness Flipbook
• Suicide Rates Vector Map
• Alzheimers Disease And Other Cognitive Disorders
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Colds And Flu
• Crohns Disease / Irritable Bowel
• Heart Disease
• High Blood Pressure
• Memory Problems
• Men's Health
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases
• Sleep Disorders
• Women's Health
• Anger Management
• Mindfulness
• Stress Reduction And Management
• Weight Loss
• Disabilities
• Domestic Violence And Rape
• Family & Relationship Issues
• Grief & Bereavement Issues
• Pain Management
• Relationship Problems
• Self Esteem
• Terrorism & War
• Health Insurance
• Health Policy & Advocacy
• Health Sciences
• Mental Health Professions
• Alternative Mental Health Medicine
• Medications
• Psychological Testing
• Psychotherapy
• Virtual Outpatient Eating Disorder Treatment
• Child Development And Parenting: Infants
• Child Development And Parenting: Early Childhood
• Sexuality & Sexual Problems
• Homosexuality & Bisexuality
• Aging & Geriatrics
• Death & Dying
• Physical Development: Motor Development
• Vygotsky's Social Developmental Emphasis
• Bullying & Peer Abuse
• Family And Relationship Issues
• Grief And Bereavement

Ages & Stages

Stages of Adolescence By: Brittany Allen, MD, FAAP & Helen Waterman, DO Adolescence is the period of transition between childhood and adulthood. It includes some big changes—to the body, and to the way a young person relates to the world. The many physical, sexual, cognitive, social and emotional changes that happen during this time can bring anticipation and anxiety for both children and their families. Understanding what to expect at different stages can promote healthy development throughout adolescence and into early adulthood. Early Adolescence (Ages 10 to 13) During this stage, children often start to grow more quickly . They also begin notice other body changes, including hair growth under the arms and near the genitals, breast development in females and enlargement of the testicles in males . They usually start a year or two earlier in girls than boys, and it can be normal for some changes to start as early as age 8 for females and age 9 for males. Many girls may start their period at around age 12, on average 2-3 years after the onset of breast development. These body changes can inspire curiosity and anxiety in some―especially if they do not know what to expect or what is normal . Some children may also question their gender identity at this time, and the onset of puberty can be a difficult time for transgender children . Early adolescents have concrete, black-and-white thinking . Things are either right or wrong, great or terrible, without much room in between. It is normal at this stage for young people to center their thinking on themselves (called "egocentrism"). As part of this, preteens and early teens are often self-conscious about their appearance and feel as though they are always being judged by their peers . Pre-teens feel an increased need for privacy . They may start to explore ways of being independent from their family. In this process, they may push boundaries and may react strongly if parents or guardians reinforce limits . Middle Adolescence (Ages 14 to 17) Physical changes from puberty continue during middle adolescence. Most males will have started their growth spurt, and puberty-related changes continue. They may have some voice cracking, for example, as their voices lower. Some develop acne. Physical changes may be nearly complete for females, and most girls now have regular periods. At this age, many teens become interested in romantic and sexual relationships . They may question and explore their sexual identity―which may be stressful if they do not have support from peers, family, or community. Another typical way of exploring sex and sexuality for teens of all genders is self-stimulation, also called masturbation . Many middle adolescents have more arguments with their parents as they struggle for more independence. They may spend less time with family and more time with friends. They are very concerned about their appearance , and peer pressure may peak at this age. The brain continues to change and mature in this stage, but there are still many differences in how a normal middle adolescent thinks compared to an adult. Much of this is because the frontal lobes are the last areas of the brain to mature―development is not complete until a person is well into their 20s! The frontal lobes play a big role in coordinating complex decision making, impulse control, and being able to consider multiple options and consequences. Middle adolescents are more able to think abstractly and consider "the big picture," but they still may lack the ability to apply it in the moment. For example, in certain situations, kids in middle adolescence may find themselves thinking things like: "I'm doing well enough in math and I really want to see this movie… one night of skipping studying won't matter." Do I really have to wear a condom during sex if my girlfriend takes the pill?" "Marijuana is legal now, so it can't be that bad." While they may be able to walk through the logic of avoiding risks outside of these situations, strong emotions often continue to drive their decisions when impulses come into play. Late Adolescents (18-21… and beyond!) Late adolescents generally have completed physical development and grown to their full adult height. They usually have more impulse control by now and may be better able to gauge risks and rewards accurately. In comparison to middle adolescents, youth in late adolescence might find themselves thinking: "While I do love Paul Rudd movies, I need to study for my final." "I should wear a condom…even though my girlfriend is on birth control, that's not 100% in preventing pregnancy." "Even though marijuana is legal, I'm worried about how it might affect my mood and work/school performance." Teens entering early adulthood have a stronger sense of their own individuality now and can identify their own values . They may become more focused on the future and base decisions on their hopes and ideals. Friendships and romantic relationships become more stable. They become more emotionally and physically separated from their family. However, many reestablish an "adult" relationship with their parents, considering them more an equal from whom to ask advice and discuss mature topics with, rather than an authority figure. Children and their parents often struggle with changing dynamics of family relationships during adolescence. But parents are still a critical support throughout this time. . Learn about and explain what's ahead. Reassure them that and emerging is part of normal, healthy development. Leave room for questions and allow children to ask them at their own pace. Talk to your pediatrician when needed! . Maintain open about , , sexuality, consent, and safety (such as how to prevent and , and ). Starting these conversations during early adolescence will help build a good framework for discussions later. . Point out strengths. Celebrate successes. . Communicate clear, reasonable expectations for curfews, school engagement, and behavior, for example. At the same time, gradually expanding opportunities for more independence over time as your child takes on responsibility. Youth with parents that aim for this balance have been shown to have lower rates of depression and drug use. . Be sure to set a positive example yourself. This can help teens consider or rehearse decision-making ahead of time and prepare for when situations arise. . This is all part of moving into early adulthood. Always remind your child you are there to help when needed. The adolescent years can feel like riding a roller coaster. By maintaining positive and respectful parent-child relationships during this period, your family can (try to) enjoy the ride! More information What's Going On Inside the Teen Brain? Ages and Stages: Teen Ages and Stages: Puberty What is an Adolescent Health Specialist? About Dr. Allen About Dr. Waterman Warning: The NCBI web site requires JavaScript to function. more... An official website of the United States government The .gov means it's official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site. The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely. Publications Account settings Browse Titles NCBI Bookshelf. A service of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Board on Children, Youth, and Families; Committee on the Neurobiological and Socio-behavioral Science of Adolescent Development and Its Applications; Backes EP, Bonnie RJ, editors. The Promise of Adolescence: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2019 May 16. The Promise of Adolescence: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth. Hardcopy Version at National Academies Press 2 Adolescent Development A dolescence is a period of significant development that begins with the onset of puberty 1 and ends in the mid-20s. Consider how different a person is at the age of 12 from the person he or she is at age 24. The trajectory between those two ages involves a profound amount of change in all domains of development—biological, cognitive, psychosocial, and emotional. Personal relationships and settings also change during this period, as peers and romantic partners become more central and as the adolescent moves into and then beyond secondary school or gains employment. Importantly, although the developmental plasticity that characterizes the period makes adolescents malleable, malleability is not synonymous with passivity. Indeed, adolescents are increasingly active agents in their own developmental process. Yet, as they explore, experiment, and learn, they still require scaffolding and support, including environments that bolster opportunities to thrive. A toxic environment makes healthy adolescent development challenging. Ultimately, the transformations in body, brain, and behavior that occur during adolescence interact with each other and with the environment to shape pathways to adulthood. Each stage of life depends on what has come before it, and young people certainly do not enter adolescence with a “blank slate.” Rather, adolescent development is partly a consequence of earlier life experiences. However, these early life experiences are not determinative, and the adaptive plasticity of adolescence marks it as a window of opportunity for change through which mechanisms of resilience, recovery, and development are possible. ( Chapter 3 discusses this life-course perspective on development in detail.) This chapter explores three key domains of adolescent development: puberty, neurobiological development, and psychosocial development. Within each domain, we highlight processes that reflect the capacity for adaptive plasticity during adolescence and beyond, marking adolescence as a period of unique opportunity for positive developmental trajectories. Puberty, a normative developmental transition that all youth experience, is shaped by both social and biological processes. Although often misconstrued as an abrupt, discrete event, puberty is actually a gradual process occurring between childhood and adolescence and one that takes many years to complete ( Dorn and Biro, 2011 ). Biologically, puberty involves a series of complex alterations at both the neural and endocrine levels over an extended period that result in changes in body shape (morphology), including the maturation of primary and secondary sex characteristics during late childhood and early adolescence and, ultimately, the acquisition of reproductive maturity ( Dorn and Biro, 2011 ; Natsuaki et al., 2014 ). Two biological components of puberty, adrenarche and gonadarche , are relevant in understanding the link between puberty and adolescent wellbeing. Adrenarche, which typically begins between ages 6 and 9, refers to the maturation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, during which the levels of adrenal androgens (e.g., dehydroepiandrosterone and its sulfate) begin to increase. While adrenarche begins in late childhood, levels of adrenarchal hormones continue to rise throughout adolescence, peaking in the early 20's ( Blakemore et al., 2010 ). Adrenal androgens contribute to the growth of pubic and axillary hair. Gonadarche typically begins in early adolescence, at approximately ages 9 to 11, and involves the reactivation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis (for a review, see Sisk and Foster, 2004 ). 2 The rise of gonadal steroid hormones to adult levels occurs as a result of HPG reactivation and is primarily responsible for breast and genital development in girls. The consequence of these complex changes in HPA and HPG axes at the neuroendocrine level is a coordinated series of visible, signature changes in body parts. These include a growth spurt, changes in skin (e.g., acne) and in body odor, the accumulation of body fat (in girls), the appearance of breast budding (in girls) and enlargement of testes and increased penis size (in boys), the growth of pubic and axillary hair, the growth of facial hair (in boys), and the arrival of the first period (i.e., menarche, in girls). Key pubertal events are highlighted in Figure 2-1 ; however, as discussed next, there is a great deal of variation in the timing and tempo of these events. Key pubertal events across adolescence. It is useful to distinguish three distinct yet interrelated ways to conceptualize individual differences in pubertal maturation. Pubertal status refers to how far along adolescents are in the continuum of pubertal maturation at any given moment. For instance, if an 11-year-old girl has just experienced menarche, she is considered to have advanced pubertal status because menarche is the last event that occurs in the process of the female pubertal transition. Pubertal status is inherently confounded with age, because older adolescents are more likely to have attained advanced pubertal status. Pubertal timing , on the other hand, refers to how mature an adolescent is when compared to his or her same-sex peers who are of the same age. In other words, pubertal timing always includes a reference group of one's peers. For example, a girl who experiences menarche at age 10 may be an earlier maturer in the United States, because her menarcheal timing is earlier than the national average age for menarche nationwide, which was found to be 12.4 years in a cohort of girls born between 1980 and 1984 ( McDowell et al., 2007 ). Only 10 percent of girls in the United States are estimated to have experienced menarche before 11.11 years of age ( Chumlea et al., 2003 ), suggesting that the girl in this example would be considered to have early pubertal timing. Unlike pubertal status, pubertal timing is not confounded by age because, by definition, pubertal timing is inherently standardized within same-sex, same-age peers typically residing in the same country. Pubertal tempo is a within-the-individual metric that refers to how quickly a person completes these sets of pubertal changes. For example, some boys may experience a deepening of their voice and the development of facial, axillary, and pubic hair all within a matter of months, whereas other boys may have a gap of several years between voice-deepening and the development of facial hair. Pubertal tempo has gained more attention recently with the rise of sophisticated longitudinal methodology and the resulting availability of longitudinal data on pubertal maturation (e.g., Ge et al., 2003 ; Marceau et al., 2011 ; Mendle et al., 2010 ). Regardless of the metric used, most of the research on adolescent pubertal development has focused on girls. We know comparatively little about the processes, correlates, and outcomes of pubertal maturation in boys, except for the well-replicated findings that girls typically begin and complete puberty before boys. Evidence is now emerging that the relationship between puberty and structural brain development in the amygdala and hippocampus region may differ by sex ( Satterthwaite et al., 2014 ; Vijayakumar et al., 2018 ). These sex differences in associations between brain development and puberty are relevant for understanding psychiatric disorders characterized by both hippocampal dysfunction and prominent gender disparities during adolescence. It is also important to consider the pubertal development of transgender and gender-nonconforming youth. Transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals usually identify as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth ( Sylvia Rivera Law Project, 2012 ). Individuals who are gender-nonconforming may identify as transgender, genderqueer, gender-fluid, gender-expansive, or nonbinary. Puberty is a time that can be enormously stressful, and the fear of developing—or the actual development of—secondary sexual characteristics that do not match a child's gender identity can be intense and even destabilizing ( de Vries et al., 2011 ). Some transgender and gender-nonconforming youth might take medications that block puberty. Although puberty blockers have the potential to ease the process of transitioning, the long-term health effects of these drugs are not yet known ( Boskey, 2014 ; Kreukels and Cohen-Kettenis, 2011 ). The Role of Early Experiences on Pubertal Timing and Tempo As noted earlier, the timing and rate of pubertal development vary greatly. The age at which someone matures is due to a combination of genetic and environmental influences (e.g., Mustanski et al., 2004 ). Early life experiences, including social risks and disadvantages, have been shown to accelerate pubertal tempo and lower the age of pubertal timing ( Marshall and Tanner, 1969 ). Specifically, accelerated pubertal tempo and early pubertal timing have been associated with stressors, including childhood sexual abuse and physical abuse, obesity, prematurity, light exposure, father absence, and exposure to endocrine disruptors (such as chemicals in plastics, pesticides, hair-care products, and many meat and dairy items) (see e.g., Steinberg, 2014 , pp. 54–55). This section reviews the literature on associations between these early experiences and normative variations in pubertal timing and tempo. We close this section with a brief discussion of these associations as a marker of adaptive plasticity. Maltreatment One of the most widely studied early experiences related to pubertal development is child maltreatment, and in particular, sexual abuse. A series of studies shows that the age of menarche tends to be lower for girls who experienced child sexual abuse as compared to girls who have not experienced this ( Bergevin et al., 2003 ; Natsuaki et al., 2011 ; Romans et al., 2003 ; Turner et al., 1999 ; Wise et al., 2009 ). Trickett and Putnam (1993) suggested that the trauma of child sexual abuse introduces physiological as well as psychological consequences for children, including accelerated maturation by premature activation of the HPA and HPG axes. In addition, some studies have observed a relationship between childhood physical abuse and early maturation, though less robustly and less consistently than for sexual abuse ( Bergevin et al., 2003 ; Wise et al., 2009 ), and these studies do not always control for the possibility of concurrent sexual abuse (e.g., Romans et al., 2003 ). In one of the few studies to examine pubertal development longitudinally in adolescents with maltreatment histories, Mendle and colleagues (2011) followed a sample of 100 girls in foster care at four points in time over 2 years, beginning in the spring of their final year of elementary school. The previously established association between sexual abuse and earlier onset of maturation and earlier age at menarche was replicated, and in addition, physical abuse was found to be related to a more rapid tempo of pubertal development. A recent longitudinal study of 84 sexually abused girls and matched-comparison girls replicated the association between sexual abuse and earlier pubertal onset (including breast development and pubic hair; Noll et al., 2017 ). Further, using this same sample, childhood sexual abuse predicted earlier pubertal development which, in turn, was associated with higher levels of internalizing symptoms such as depression and anxiety concurrently and 2 years later ( Mendle et al., 2014 ). A third study with this sample found that earlier-maturing girls were more anxious in the pre- and peri-menarche periods than their later-maturing peers; however, their anxiety declined after menarche, suggesting a time-limited effect on mental health and the potential for recovery upon completion of pubertal maturation, as girls enter later adolescence ( Natsuaki et al., 2011 ). The association between sexual abuse and earlier pubertal development was recently replicated using a large population-based sample of adolescents, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health 3 ( N = 6,273 girls). In that study, child sexual abuse predicted earlier menarche and development of secondary sexual characteristics, whereas other types of maltreatment did not ( Mendle et al., 2016 ). The distinctive role for early pubertal timing suggests that the heightened sexual circumstances of puberty may be especially challenging for girls whose lives have already been disrupted by adverse early experiences, yet also suggests a potential opportunity for intervention and resilience, particularly in later adolescence, once pubertal development is complete. However, the vast majority of research in this area has focused solely on girls, and we know very little about whether maltreatment is also associated with earlier pubertal timing in boys. Other Family and Health Factors Other family factors that may be stress-inducing yet much less extreme than maltreatment have also been associated with pubertal timing and tempo. For example, Quinlan (2003) found that the number of caretaking transitions a child experiences was associated with earlier menarche. Sung and colleagues (2016) found that exposure to greater parental harshness (but not unpredictability) during the first 5 years of life predicted earlier menarche; and a recent meta-analysis found that father absence was significantly related to earlier menarche ( Webster et al., 2014 ), although genetic confounding may play a role in this association ( Barbaro et al., 2017 ). Health factors that may affect the metabolic system are also predictive of pubertal timing. For example, in girls, low birth weight ( Belsky et al., 2007 ) and obesity/higher body mass index (BMI) ( Wagner et al., 2015 ) have both been associated with earlier pubertal maturation. For boys, overweight (BMI ≥ 85th and < 95th percentile) has been associated with earlier pubertal maturation, whereas obesity (BMI ≥ 95th percentile) was associated with later pubertal maturation ( Lee et al., 2016 ), suggesting a complex association between aspects of the metabolic system and puberty in boys. Environmental Exposures Recently, researchers have examined whether a child's exposure to chemicals is related to pubertal maturation by serving as an endocrine disruptor (see e.g., Lomniczi et al., 2013 ; Simonneaux et al., 2013 ; Steingraber, 2007 ). In the first longitudinal study of age of pubertal timing and exposure to persistent organic pollutants—chemicals used in flame retardants—researchers found that the age at pubertal transition was consistently older in participants who were found to have higher chemical concentrations in collected blood samples ( Windham et al., 2015 ). The effects of neuroendocrine disruptors on girls' pubertal timing may begin during the prenatal period, as there is evidence that female reproductive development is affected by phthalate or bisphenol A exposure during specific critical periods of development in the mother's uterus ( Watkins et al., 2017 ). Accelerated Maturation and Adaptive Plasticity It is clear that early experiences can factor into accelerated pubertal timing and tempo, and theorists suggest that this may be adaptive. According to Mendle and colleagues (2011, p. 8) , “age at certain stressful life transitions represents a dose-response relationship with maturation, with earlier ages at these events associated with earlier development (e.g., Ellis and Garber, 2000 ).” Belsky et al. (1991) posited that children who are raised in harsh, stressful environments may have accelerated pubertal development to compensate for a mistrust of commitment and of investment in social relationships. According to Belsky and colleagues, early pubertal timing may serve the evolutionary biological purpose of elongating the window for reproductivity and fertility, to permit more conceptions in a lifetime. Thus, the well-documented association between adverse early life experiences and early pubertal development may itself be an adaptive response, one that reflects the plasticity in neurobiological systems during adolescence to adapt to the specific socio-cultural context. The Social Context of Pubertal Maturation Despite the role that stressful early life events play in accelerating pubertal timing, it is important to note that adolescence is also a period of potential for recovery. Even when an adolescent has experienced early adversity and this has precipitated earlier pubertal maturation, the social context in which that adolescent is developing can ultimately change the trajectory of their outcomes—for better or worse. For example, closer and less conflict-laden parent-child relationships can reduce associations between pubertal maturation and behavior problems, while more conflict-laden and less close relationships exacerbate them ( Booth et al., 2003 ; Dorn et al., 2009 ; Fang et al., 2009 ). Parental knowledge of an adolescent child's whereabouts and activities also plays a role, as the influence of pubertal timing on problematic outcomes is weakened when such parental knowledge of adolescent whereabouts and activities is high, and it is amplified when knowledge is low ( Marceau et al., 2015 ; Westling et al., 2008 ). During early childhood, a secure infant-mother attachment can buffer girls from the later effects of harsh environments on earlier pubertal maturation ( Sung et al., 2016 ). The Context of Biological Sex and Gender Norms The biological changes of puberty take place in social and cultural contexts, and these dynamic person-context interactions have implications for adolescent development. For instance, the physical changes associated with pubertal maturation affect an adolescent's self-image as much as the way he or she is treated and responded to by others ( Graber et al., 2010 ), and culturally grounded gender norms may make these associations more salient for girls than boys. Indeed, in the United States, although menstruation is acknowledged as a normal biological event, it is nevertheless often accompanied by feelings of shame and the need to conceal it from others, particularly males ( Stubbs, 2008 ). As a result, the arrival of a girl's first menstrual cycle is often accompanied by embarrassment and ambivalence ( Brooks-Gunn et al., 1994 ; Moore, 1995 ; Tang et al., 2003 ), as well as by negative feelings ( Rembeck et al., 2006 ), including anxiety, surprise, dismay, panic, and confusion ( Brooks-Gunn and Ruble, 1982 ; Ruble and Brooks-Gunn, 1982 ). The arrival of puberty has other social consequences, such as changing dynamics and maturing relationships with parents, siblings, and peers, as well as the emergence of peer relationships with adults. Pubertal maturation is associated with a higher incidence of sexual harassment, both by peers of the same gender and across genders ( McMasters et al., 2002 ; Petersen and Hyde, 2009 ; Stattin and Magnusson, 1990 ). Social consequences may be exacerbated among youth experiencing early pubertal timing. The increase in pubertal hormones (e.g., estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone) and the changes they drive, such as the emergence of secondary sex characteristics, is also associated with the development of substance use ( Auchus and Rainey, 2004 ; Grumbach, 2002 ; Grumbach and Styne, 2003 ; Havelock et al., 2004 ; Matchock et al., 2007 ; Oberfield et al., 1990 ; Terasawa and Fernandez, 2001 ; Young and Altemus, 2004 ). At the same time, the causal direction of these findings is somewhat mixed ( Castellanos-Ryan et al., 2013 ; Dawes et al., 1999 ; Marceau et al., 2015 ), with variation by sex. In girls, relatively early pubertal timing and faster pubertal tempo often mark an increased risk for adolescent substance use ( Cance et al., 2013 ; Castellanos-Ryan et al., 2013 ; Costello et al., 2007 ; Lee et al., 2014 ). By contrast, in boys later pubertal timing and/or slower pubertal tempo mark an increased risk for substance use ( Davis et al., 2015 ; Marceau et al., 2015 ; Mendle and Ferrero, 2012 ). This striking gender difference in associations between pubertal maturation and substance use highlights how the same biological event (pubertal maturation) can lead to very different outcomes as a function of one's biological sex. Puberty and Stress Sensitivity Puberty-related hormones influence the way adolescents adjust to their environment, for example by experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety. One mechanism through which this might occur is in pubertal hormones' ability to alter sensitivity to stress, making adolescent girls particularly sensitive to exogenous stressors. Recent studies using salivary cortisol as an index of stress regulation have documented heightened stress reactivity and delayed post-stress recovery in pubescent adolescents ( Gunnar, et al., 2009 ; Stroud et al., 2004 ; Walker et al., 2004 ). Cortisol is a steroid hormone released by the HPA axis, and disruption to this axis has been implicated in the development of symptoms of depression and anxiety (e.g., Gold and Chrousos, 2002 ; Guerry and Hastings, 2011 ; Sapolsky, 2000 ). In fact, cortisol secretion is closely intertwined with age, puberty, and sex, which together appear to contribute to adolescent girls' vulnerability to external stressors ( Walker et al., 2004 ; Young and Altemus, 2004 ). As will be discussed in Chapter 3 , cortisol, along with neuroendocrine, autonomic, immune, and metabolic mediators, usually promotes positive adaptation in the body and the brain, such as efficient operation of the stress response system. However, when cortisol is over- or under-produced it can, along with the other mediators, produce negative effects on the body and brain, such as forming insulin resistance and remodeling the brain circuits that alter mood and behavior. At the same time, as will be shown in Chapter 3 , interventions during adolescence have the potential to mediate the harmful effects of stress. In summary, puberty is shaped by both biological and social processes. Biologically, puberty occurs over an extended period during which neuroendocrine alterations result in the maturation of primary and secondary sex characteristics and the acquisition of reproductive maturity. The timing and tempo of pubertal development varies greatly, and the age at which an adolescent matures depends upon a combination of genetic and environmental influences, including early life experiences. Socially, pubertal maturation and its accompanying physical changes affect how adolescents perceive themselves and how they are treated by others, and early pubertal timing especially has been shown to have social consequences. While we know a great deal about the biological processes of puberty, much of the research, particularly on the role of adverse early experiences, is based on studies of girls rather than boys and excludes transgender and gender-nonconforming youth. Thus, it is important to monitor whether or not conclusions drawn from the extant research are relevant for both girls and boys, and to consider how further study of puberty in boys, transgender youth, and gender-nonconforming youth may deepen our understanding of these dynamic processes. Despite this limitation, research on associations between stress exposure and pubertal timing and tempo makes clear the importance of early experiences and highlights the role of social determinants of health. Stressful living conditions are related to earlier pubertal timing and accelerated pubertal tempo. While early puberty may be an evolutionarily adaptive response to context that reflects neurobiological plasticity, there are important consequences that suggest it may not be adaptive in terms of supporting a long-term path to health and well-being for youth living in the 21st century. Structural changes that disrupt the systemic factors that increase risk for early puberty (e.g., resource deprivation) as well as supportive relationships can mitigate the risks associated with early puberty, can foster positive outcomes, and may promote adolescents' capability for resilience. NEUROBIOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT Adolescence is a particularly dynamic period of brain development, second only to infancy in the extent and significance of the neural changes that occur. The nature of these changes—in brain structures, functions, and connectivity—allows for a remarkable amount of developmental plasticity unique to this period of life, making adolescents amenable to change. 4 These normative developments are required to prepare the brain so it can respond to the demands and challenges of adolescence and adulthood, but they may also increase vulnerability for risk behavior and psychopathology ( Paus et al., 2008 ; Rudolph et al., 2017 ). To understand how to take advantage of this versatile adolescent period, it is first important to recognize how and where the dynamic changes in the brain are taking place; Figure 2-2 shows structures and regions of the brain that have been the focus of adolescent developmental neuroscience. Brain areas important to adolescent development. SOURCE: iStock.com/James Kopp. In the following sections, we summarize current research on structural and functional brain changes taking place over the course of adolescence. Our summary begins with a focus on morphological changes in gray and white matter, followed by a discussion of structural changes in regions of the brain that have particular relevance for adolescent cognitive and social functioning. We then discuss current theoretical perspectives that attempt to account for the associations between neurobiological, psychological, and behavioral development in adolescence. Notably, the field of adolescent neuroscience has grown quickly over the past several decades. Advances in technology continue to provide new insights into neurobiological development; however, there is still a lack of agreed-upon best practices, and different approaches (e.g., in equipment, in statistical modeling) can result in different findings ( Vijayakumar et al., 2018 ). Our summary relies on the most recent evidence available and, per the committee's charge, we focus on neurobiological changes that make adolescence a period of unique opportunity for positive development. This is not intended to be an exhaustive review of the literature; moreover, studies tend to use “typically” developing adolescents, which limits our ability to comment on whether or how these processes may change for young people with developmental delays or across a broader spectrum of neurodiversity. High Plasticity Marks the Window of Opportunity Studies of adolescent brain development have traditionally focused on two important processes: changes in gray matter and changes in myelin. Gray matter is comprised of neural cell bodies (i.e., the location of each nerve cell's nucleus), dendrites, and all the synapses, which are the connections between neurons. Thus, increases or decreases in gray matter reflect changes in these elements, representing, for instance, the formation or disappearance of synapsis (also known as “synaptogenesis” and “synaptic pruning”). New learning and memories are stored in dynamic synaptic networks that depend equally on synapse elimination and synapse formation. That is, unused connections and cells must be pruned away as the brain matures, specializes, and tailors itself to its environment ( Ismail et al., 2017 ). White matter, on the other hand, is comprised of myelin. Myelin is the fatty sheath around the long projections, or axons, that neurons use to communicate with other neurons. The fatty myelin insulates the axonal “wire” so that the signal that travels down it can travel up to 100 times faster than it can on unmyelinated axons ( Giedd, 2015 ). With myelination, neurons are also able to recover quickly from firing each signal and are thereby able to increase the frequency of information transmission ( Giedd, 2015 ). Not only that, myelinated neurons can more efficiently integrate information from other input neurons and better coordinate their signaling, firing an outgoing signal only when information from all other incoming neurons is timed correctly ( Giedd, 2015 ). Thus, the increase in white matter is representative of the increase in quality and speed of neuron-to-neuron communication throughout adolescence. This is comparable to upgrading from driving alone on a single-lane dirt road to driving on an eight-lane paved expressway within an organized transportation/transit authority system, since it increases not only the amount of information trafficked throughout the brain but also the brain's computational power by creating more efficient connections. Recent advances in neuroimaging methods have greatly enhanced our understanding of adolescent brain development over the past three decades. In the mid-2000s developmental neuroscientists described differential changes in gray matter (i.e., neurons) and white matter (i.e., myelin) over the course of adolescence. Specifically, gray-matter volume was believed to follow an inverted-U shape, peaking in different regions at different ages and declining over the course of late adolescence and adulthood ( Lenroot and Giedd, 2006 ). In contrast, cortical white matter, which reflects myelin growth, was shown to increase steadily throughout adolescence and into early adulthood, reflecting increased connectivity among brain regions ( Lenroot and Giedd, 2006 ). The proliferation of neuroimaging studies, particularly longitudinal studies following children over the course of adolescence, has enabled researchers to examine these processes in more detail and across a larger number of participants ( Vijayakumar et al., 2018 ). Analyses of about 850 brain scans from four samples of participants ranging in age from 7 to 29 years (average = 15.2 years) confirm some previous trends, disconfirm others, and highlight the complexity in patterns of change over time. Researchers found that gray-matter volume was highest in childhood, decreased across early and middle adolescence, and began to stabilize in the early twenties; this pattern held even after accounting for intracranial and whole brain volume ( Mills et al., 2016 ). Additional studies of cortical volume have also documented the highest levels occurring in childhood with decreases from late childhood throughout adolescence; the decrease appears to be due to the thinning of the cortex ( Tamnes et al., 2017 ). Importantly, this finding contrasts with the “inverted-U shape” description of changes in gray-matter volume and disconfirms previous findings of a peak during the onset of puberty ( Mills et al., 2016 ). For white-matter volume, on the other hand, researchers found that across samples, increases in white-matter volume occurred from childhood through mid-adolescence and showed some stabilizing in late adolescence ( Mills et al., 2016 ). This finding generally confirms patterns observed in other recent studies, with the exception that some researchers have found continued increases in white-matter volume into early adulthood (versus stabilizing in late adolescence; e.g., Aubert-Broche et al., 2013 ). Figure 2-3 shows these recent findings related to gray and white matter. Cortical gray- and white-matter volume, ages 5 to 30. NOTES: Age in years is measured along the x-axis and brain measure along the y-axis (raw values (mm 3 ). Best fitting models are represented by the solid lines. Dashed lines represent 95-percent confidence (more...) The widely held belief about a peak in cortical gray matter around puberty followed by declines throughout adolescence was based on the best available evidence at the time. New studies show steady declines in cortical volume beginning in late childhood and continuing through middle adolescence. While the decrease in volume is largely due to cortical thinning rather than changes in surface area, there appear to be complex, regionally specific associations between cortical thickness and surface area that change over the course of adolescence ( Tamnes et al., 2017 ). Discrepant findings can be attributed to a number of factors including head motion during brain imaging procedures (more common among younger participants), different brain imaging equipment, and different approaches to statistical modeling ( Tamnes et al., 2017 ; Vijayakumar et al., 2018 ). There do appear to be converging findings regarding overall directions of change; however, inconsistencies in descriptions of trajectories, peaks, and regional changes will likely continue to emerge as researchers work toward agreed-upon best practices ( Vijayakumar et al., 2018 ). Importantly, though, as Mills and colleagues (2016, p. 279) point out, it is critical to acknowledge that “it is not possible to directly relate developmental changes in morphometric MRI measures to changes in cellular or synaptic anatomy” (also see Mills and Tamnes, 2014 ). In other words, patterns of change in overall gray- or white-matter volume do not provide insight into the specific ways in which neural connections (e.g., synapses, neural networks) may change within the adolescent brain. In fact, some neural circuity, consisting of networks of synaptic connections, is extremely malleable during adolescence, as connections form and reform in response to a variety of novel experiences and stressors ( Ismail et al., 2017 ; Selemon, 2013 ). Gray-matter reduction in the cortex is associated with white-matter organization, indicating that cortical thinning seen in adulthood may be a result of both increased connectivity of necessary circuitry and pruning of unnecessary synapses ( Vandekar et al., 2015 ). Thus, adolescent brains can modulate the strength and quality of neuronal connections rapidly to allow for flexibility in reasoning and for leaps in cognition ( Giedd, 2015 ). Structural Changes in the Adolescent Brain Two key neurodevelopmental processes are most reliably observed during adolescence. First, there is evidence of significant change and maturation in regions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) involved in executive functioning and cognitive and impulse control capabilities ( Crone and Steinbeis, 2017 ; Steinberg, 2005 ). In other words, areas of the brain that support planning and decision-making develop significantly during the second decade of life. Second, there is evidence of improved connectivity 5 within and between the cortical (i.e., outer) and subcortical (i.e., inner) regions of the brain. Moreover, in both the cortical and subcortical regions, there are age-related and hormone-related changes in neural activity and structure, such as increased volume and connectivity ( Gogtay et al., 2004 ; Østby et al., 2009 ; Peper and Dahl, 2013 ; Wierenga et al., 2014 ). Over the course of adolescence, regions of the PFC undergo protracted development and significant remodeling. Cortical circuits, especially those that inhibit behavior, continue to develop, enhancing adolescents' capacity for self-regulation ( Caballero and Tseng, 2016 ). Compared to adults, adolescents have a significantly less mature cortical system and tend to utilize these regions less efficiently, and this impacts their top-down cognitive abilities including planning, working memory, impulsivity control, and decision-making ( Casey and Caudle, 2013 ). Ongoing development of structures and connections within the cortical regions corresponds to more efficient balancing of inputs and outputs as adolescents interact with the world. Changes within subcortical brain regions are also reflected in adolescent capabilities. For instance, increased volume in certain subregions of the hippocampus may predict greater capacity for memory recall and retention in adolescents ( Tamnes et al., 2014 ). Adolescents also display heightened activity in the hippocampus, compared with adults, and differential reward processing in the striatum, which is part of the basal ganglia and plays an important role in motivation and perception of reward. This neural activity may explain their increased sensitivity to rewards and contribute to their greater capacity for learning and habit formation, particularly when incentivized by positive outcomes ( Davidow et al., 2016 ; Sturman and Moghaddam, 2012). Another subcortical structure, the amygdala, undergoes significant development during puberty and gains new connections to other parts of the brain, such as the striatum and hippocampus ( Scherf et al., 2013 ). The amygdala modulates and integrates emotional responses based on their relevance and impact in context. In conjunction with the amygdala's substantial development, adolescents show higher amygdala activity in response to threat cues 6 than do children or adults ( Fuhrmann et al., 2015 ; Hare et al., 2008 ; Pattwell et al., 2012 ). Consequently, they are prone to impulsive action in response to potential threats 7 ( Dreyfuss et al., 2014 ). Changes in the hippocampus and amygdala may be responsible for suppressing fear responses in certain contexts ( Pattwell et al., 2011 ). Such fearlessness can be adaptive for adolescents as they explore new environments and make important transitions—such as entering college or starting a new job away from home. Children and adults do not tend to show the same kind of fear suppression as adolescents, suggesting that this is unique to this stage of development ( Pattwell et al., 2011 ). A Neurodevelopmental Perspective on Risk-Taking In recent years, researchers have worked to reconcile contemporary neuroscience findings with decades of behavioral research on adolescents. There has been a particular emphasis on understanding “risky” behavior through the lens of developmental neuroscience. Risk-taking can be driven by a tendency for sensation-seeking, in which individuals exhibit an increased attraction toward novel and intense sensations and experiences despite their possible risks ( Steinberg, 2008 ; Zuckerman and Kuhlman, 2000 ). This characteristic is heightened during adolescence and is strongly associated with reward sensitivity and drive ( Cservenka et al., 2013 ) as well as the rise in dopamine pathways from the subcortical striatum to the PFC ( Wahlstrom et al., 2010 ). Ironically, as executive function improves, risk-taking based on sensation-seeking also rises, likely due to these strengthened dopamine pathways from the striatum to the PFC regions ( Murty et al., 2016 ; Wahlstrom et al., 2010 ). Despite these stronger sensation-seeking tendencies, however, by mid-adolescence most youth are able to perform cognitive-control tasks at the same level as adults, signaling their capacity for executive self-control ( Crone and Dahl, 2012 ). Risk-taking can also be driven by impulsivity, which includes the tendency to act without thinking about consequences (impulsive action) or to choose small, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards (impulsive choice) ( Romer et al., 2017 ). Impulsive action, which is based on insensitivity to risk, is a form of risk-taking that peaks during early adolescence and is inversely related to working memory ability ( Romer et al., 2011 ). It may also be a consequence of asynchronous limbic-PFC maturation, which is described below. Notably, impulsive actions are seen most frequently in a subgroup of adolescents with pre-existing impairment in self-control and executive function ( Bjork and Pardini, 2015 ). In contrast, impulsive choice behaviors, which are made under conditions of known risks and rewards, do not peak in adolescence. Instead, impulsive choice declines from childhood to adulthood, reflecting the trend of increasing, prefrontal-regulated executive functions throughout adolescence ( van den Bos et al., 2015 ). Interestingly, when given the choice between two risky options with ambiguous reward guarantees, adolescents are more inclined to explore the riskier option than are adults ( Levin and Hart, 2003 ), showing a greater tolerance for ambiguities in reward and stronger exploratory drive ( Tymula et al., 2012 ). Theoretical models have emerged to explain how neurobiological changes map onto normative “risk” behaviors in adolescence. While some argue that these models and accompanying metaphors may be overly simplistic (e.g., Pfeifer and Allen, 2012 ), the models are nevertheless utilized frequently to guide and interpret research (e.g., Steinberg et al., 2018 ). We briefly discuss two of them here: the “dual systems” model and the “imbalance” model. The “dual systems” model ( Shulman et al., 2016 ; Steinberg, 2008 ) represents “the product of a developmental asynchrony between an easily aroused reward system, which inclines adolescents toward sensation seeking, and still maturing self-regulatory regions, which limit the young person's ability to resist these inclinations” ( Steinberg et al., 2018 ). The “reward system” references subcortical structures, while the “self-regulatory regions” refer to areas like the PFC. Proponents of the dual-systems model point to recent findings on sensation seeking and self-regulation from a study of more than 5,000 young people spanning ages 10 to 30 across 11 countries. A similar pattern emerged across these settings. In 7 of 11 countries there was a peak in sensation seeking in mid-to-late adolescence (around age 19) followed by a decline. Additionally, there was a steady rise in self-regulation during adolescence; self-regulation peaked in the mid-20s in four countries and continued to rise in five others. The researchers note that there were more similarities than differences across countries and suggest that the findings provide strong support for a dual-systems account of sensation seeking and self-regulation in adolescence. A second model, the “imbalance” model, shifts the focus away from an orthogonal, dual systems account and instead emphasizes patterns of change in neural circuitry across adolescence. This fine-tuning of circuits is hypothesized to occur in a cascading fashion, beginning within subcortical regions (such as those within the limbic system), then strengthening across regions, and finally occurring within outer areas of the brain like the PFC ( Casey et al., 2016 ). This model corresponds with observed behavioral and emotional regulation—over time, most adolescents become more goal-oriented and purposeful, and less impulsive ( Casey, 2015 ). Proponents of the imbalance model argue that it emphasizes the “dynamic and hierarchical development of brain circuitry to explain changes in behavior throughout adolescence” ( Casey et al., 2016 , p. 129). Moreover, they note that research stemming from this model focuses less on studying specific regions of the brain and more on how information flows within and between neural circuits, as well as how this flow of information shifts over the course of development (e.g., “temporal changes in functional connectivity within and between brain circuits,” p. 129). Rethinking the “Mismatch” Between the Emotional and Rational Brain Systems Regardless of whether one of these two models more accurately represents connections between adolescent neurobiological development and behavior, both perspectives converge on the same point: fundamental areas of the brain undergo asynchronous development throughout adolescence. Moreover, adolescent behavior, especially concerning increased risk-taking and still-developing self-control, has been notably attributed to asynchronous development within and between subcortical and cortical regions of the brain. The former drives emotion, and the latter acts as the control center for long-term planning, consideration of outcomes, and level-headed regulation of behavior ( Galván et al., 2006 ; Galván, 2010 ; Mueller et al., 2017 ; Steinbeis and Crone, 2016 ). Thus, if connections within the limbic system develop faster than those within and between the PFC region, 8 the imbalance may favor a tendency toward heightened sensitivity to peer influence, impulsivity, risk-taking behaviors, and emotional volatility ( Casey and Caudle, 2013 ; Giedd, 2015 ; Mills et al., 2014 ). Indeed, adolescents are more impulsive in response to positive incentives than children or adults, although they can suppress these impulses when large rewards are at stake. Adolescents are also more sensitive than children or adults to the presence of peers and to other environmental cues, and show a heightened limbic response to threats ( Casey, 2015 ). As the cortical regions continue to develop and activity within and across brain regions becomes more synchronized, adolescents gain the capacity to make rational, goal-directed decisions across contexts and conditions. The idea of asynchrony or “mismatch” between the pace of subcortical development and cortical development implies that these developmental capacities are nonoptimal. Yet, even though they are associated with impulsivity and risk-taking, we should not jump to the conclusion that the gap in maturation between the emotion and control centers of the brain is without developmental benefit. As Casey (2015, p. 310) notes, “At first glance, suggesting that a propensity toward motivational or emotional cues during adolescence is adaptive may seem untenable. However, a heightened activation into action by environmental cues and decreased apparent fear of novel environments during this time may facilitate evolutionarily appropriate exploratory behavior.” While an adolescent's “heart over mind” mentality may compromise judgment and facilitate unhealthy behaviors, it can also spawn creativity and exploration. Novelty seeking can be a boon to adolescents, spurring them to pursue exciting, new directions in life ( Spear, 2013 ). If properly monitored and cushioned by parents and the community, adolescents can learn from missteps and take advantage of what can be viewed as developmental opportunities . Indeed, because adolescents are more sensitive to rewards and their decision-making ability may skew more toward seeking the positive benefits of a choice and less toward avoiding potential risks, this tendency can enhance learning and drive curiosity ( Davidow et al., 2016 ). To avoid stereotyping all adolescents as “underdeveloped” or “imbalanced,” it is important to recognize the nuances in the different types of risk-taking behavior and to counterbalance a focus on negative outcomes by observing the connections between risk-taking and exploration, curiosity, and other attributes of healthy development ( Romer et al., 2017 ). The “mismatch” model provides one way of understanding adolescents' capacity for self-control and involvement in risky behavior. A better model of adolescent neurobiological development, some argue, is a “lifespan wisdom model,” prioritizing the significance of experience on brain maturation that can only be gained through exploration ( Romer et al., 2017 ). Indeed, growing evidence shows that adolescents have a distinctive ability for social and emotional processing that allows them to adapt readily to the capricious social contexts of adolescence, and equips them with flexibility in adjusting their motivations and prioritizing new goals ( Crone and Dahl, 2012 ; Nigg and Nagel, 2016 ). Despite differences between neurobiological models, there is agreement that distinctions between adolescent and adult behaviors necessitate policies and opportunities intended to address adolescent-specific issues. With their heightened neurocognitive capacity for change, adolescents are in a place of both great opportunity and vulnerability. Key interventions during this period may be able to ameliorate the impact of negative experiences earlier in life, providing many adolescents with a pivotal second chance to achieve their full potential and lead meaningful, healthy, and successful lives ( Guyer et al., 2016 ; see also Chapter 3 ). Cognitive Correlates of Adolescent Brain Development Reflective of the ongoing changes in the brain described above, most teens become more efficient at processing information, learning, and reasoning over the course of adolescence ( Byrnes, 2003 ; Kuhn, 2006 , 2009 ). The integration of brain regions also facilitates what is called “cognitive control,” the ability to think and plan rather than acting impulsively ( Casey, 2015 ; Casey et al., 2016 ; Steinberg, 2014 ). Changes in components of cognitive control, such as response selection/inhibition and goal selection/maintenance, along with closely associated constructs such as working memory, increase an individual's capacity for self-regulation of affect and behavior ( Ochsner and Gross, 2005 ). Importantly, each of these aspects of cognitive control appears to have distinct developmental trajectories, and each may be most prominently associated with distinct underlying regions of the cortex ( Crone and Steinbeis, 2017 ). For example, although the greatest developmental improvements in response inhibition and interference control may be observed prior to adolescence, improvements in flexibility, error monitoring, and working memory are more likely to occur throughout the second decade of life ( Crone and Steinbeis, 2017 ). This suggests different developmental trajectories, whereby more basic, stimulus-driven cognitive control processes develop earlier than do more complex cognitive control processes, which rely on internal and abstract representation ( Crone and Steinbeis, 2017 ; Dumontheil et al., 2008 ). Those functions that do continue to show significant developmental change during adolescence seem to especially rely on the capacity for abstract representation, which is a capacity that has been found to undergo a distinctive increase during adolescence ( Dumontheil, 2014 ). The capacity for abstract representation can relate to both temporal and relational processes, that is, to both long-term goals and to past or future events (temporal) and to representing higher-order relationships between representations (relational) as distinct from simple stimulus features ( Dumontheil, 2014 ). From early through late adolescence (into adulthood), this increase in abstract thinking ability makes teens better at using evidence to draw conclusions, although they still have a tendency to generalize based on personal experience—something even adults do. Adolescents also develop greater capacity for strategic problem-solving, deductive reasoning, and information processing, due in part to their ability to reason about ideas that may be abstract or untrue; however, these skills require scaffolding and opportunities for practice ( Kuhn, 2009 ). Recent research on cognitive development during adolescence has focused on both cognitive and emotional (or “affective”) processing, particularly to understand how these processes interact with and influence each other in the context of adolescent decision making. First, the capacity for abstract representation and for affective engagement with such representations ( Davey et al., 2008 ) increases the capacity for self-regulation of emotions in order to achieve a goal ( Ochsner and Gross, 2005 ). Indeed, the capacity to regulate a potent, stimulus-driven, short-term response may rely on the ability to mentally represent and affectively engage with a longer-term goal. Furthermore, such stimulus-driven, affective influences on cognitive processing, including on decision making, risk-taking, and judgment, change significantly over the course of adolescence ( Hartley and Somerville, 2015 ; Steinberg, 2005 ). Beyond individual capacities for cognitive regulation, the social and emotional context for cognitive processing matters a great deal. The presence of peers and the value of performing a task influence how motivating certain contexts may be and the extent to which cognitive processing is recruited ( Johnson et al., 2009 ). Moreover, there is increasing evidence that some of these changes in cognitive and affective processing are linked to the onset of puberty ( Crone and Dahl, 2012 ). Researchers have found that adolescents do better than young adults on learning and memory tasks when the reward systems of the brain are engaged ( Davidow et al., 2016 ). These changes in cognitive functioning may have adaptive qualities as part of normative adolescent development, even though they also make some individuals more vulnerable to psychopathology, such as depression and anxiety disorders. Notably, the flexibility of the frontal cortical network may be greater in adolescence than in adulthood ( Jolles and Crone, 2012 ). Such flexibility may result in an improved ability to learn to navigate the increasingly complex social challenges that are part of adolescents' social worlds, and as adolescents encounter increasing opportunities for autonomy it may prove to be adaptive. In addition, the ability to shift focus in a highly motivated way could allow more learning, problem solving, and use of creativity ( Kleibeuker et al., 2016 ). Of particular relevance, such emerging abilities may also determine the degree to which an individual can take advantage of new learning opportunities, including mental health–promoting interventions. With the right supports, this capacity for flexibility and adaptability can foster deep learning, complex problem-solving skills, and creativity ( Crone and Dahl, 2012 ; Hauser et al., 2015 ; Kleibeuker et al., 2012 ). The extensive neurobiological changes in adolescence enable us to reimagine this period as one of remarkable opportunity for growth. Connections within and between brain regions become stronger and more efficient, and unused connections are pruned away. Such developmental plasticity means adolescents' brains are adaptive; they become more specialized in response to environmental demands. The timing and location of the dynamic changes are also important to understand. The onset of puberty, often between ages 10 and 12, brings about changes in the limbic system region resulting in increased sensitivity to both rewards and threats, to novelty, and to peers. In contrast, it takes longer for the cortical regions, implicated in cognitive control and self-regulation, to develop ( Steinberg et al., 2018 ). Adolescent brains are neither simply “advanced” child brains, nor are they “immature” adult brains—they are specially tailored to meet the needs of this stage of life ( Giedd, 2015 ). Indeed, the temporal discrepancy in the specialization of and connections between cortical and subcortical brain regions makes adolescence unique. The developmental changes heighten sensitivity to reward, willingness to take risks, and the salience of social status, propensities that are necessary for exploring new environments and building nonfamilial relationships. Adolescents must explore and take risks to build the cognitive, social, and emotional skills they will need to be productive adults. Moreover, the unique and dynamic patterns of brain development in adolescence foster flexible problem-solving and learning ( Crone and Dahl, 2012 ). Indeed, adolescence is a seminal period for social and motivational learning ( Fuligni, 2018 ), and this flexibility confers opportunity for adaptability and innovation. While developmental plasticity in adolescence bears many advantages, as with all aspects of development the environment matters a great deal. The malleable brains of adolescents are not only adaptable to innovation and learning but also vulnerable to toxic experiences, such as resource deprivation, harsh, coercive or antisocial relationships, and exposure to drugs or violence. All of these can “get under the skin” as adolescents develop, or more precisely interact with the brain and body to influence development (see Chapter 3 ). What is more, the majority of mental illnesses—including psychotic and substance use disorders—begin by age 24 ( Casey, 2015 ; Giedd, 2015 ). This means that we have a collective responsibility to ask, “How can we create the kinds of settings and supports needed to optimize development during this period of life?” This goes well beyond simply keeping youth out of harm's way, and instead signals an urgent need to consider how we design the systems with which adolescents engage most frequently to meet their developmental needs. Notably, scholars studying adolescent developmental neuroscience suggest the next generation of research should consider questions that shift from understanding risk to understanding thriving, and context-specific opportunities to promote it. Such questions for the field include, “How does brain development create unique opportunities for learning and problem solving?,” “Is the adolescent brain more sensitive to some features of the social environment than others?,” and “Are trajectories of change [in cognitive control and emotional processing] steeper or quicker during some periods than others, potentially providing key windows for input and intervention?” ( Fuligni et al., 2018 , p. 151). PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE As described above, young people develop increased cognitive abilities throughout adolescence. These cognitive abilities provide the capacity for other aspects of psychosocial development that occur during the period. This section describes the psychosocial developmental tasks—including developing identity and a capacity for self-direction—that adolescents complete during their transition to adulthood. Understanding one's self, understanding one's place in the world, and understanding one's capacity to affect the world (i.e., agency) are all processes that begin to take shape during adolescence in tandem with the physiological, neurobiological, and cognitive changes discussed above. The trajectory of social and emotional development in adolescence may perhaps be best characterized as a time of increasing complexity and integration. As is true of their neurobiological development during the period, adolescents' capacity for understanding and engaging with self, others, and societal institutions requires both integration and deepening. It requires adolescents to integrate multiple perspectives and experiences across contexts, and also to deepen their ability to make sense of complex and abstract phenomena. This section begins with a summary of developmental trends in adolescent self- and identity development at a broad level, followed by a brief discussion of how these trends reflect recent findings from developmental neuroscience. From there, we discuss group-specific social identities. While there are many critical dimensions of social identity (e.g., gender, social class, religion, immigration status, disability, and others), we use race and sexuality as exemplars given the recent, monumental shifts in racial/ethnic demographics and in the social and political climate around sexual minority status in the United States. The focus on race and sexuality is not intended to minimize other dimensions of identity; indeed, identity development is a salient process for all adolescents regardless of social group memberships. Moreover, as we discuss below, developmental scientists are increasingly calling for research that examines the intersectional nature of identities, both at the individual level as well as in ways that reflect membership in multiple groups that have historically experienced marginalization ( Santos and Toomey, 2018 ). Finding an answer to the question, “Who am I?” is often viewed as a central task of adolescence. Decades ago, Erik Erikson (1968) argued that during adolescence, youth take on the challenge of developing a coherent, integrated, and stable sense of themselves, and that failing to do so may make the transition to adult roles and responsibilities more difficult. Erikson's concept of identity development assumes opportunities for exploration and choice and may or may not generalize across global contexts ( Arnett, 2015 ; Syed, 2017 ). However, it has utility in the United States, where societal structures and dominant values such as independence and individuality encourage identity exploration. Closely related to the question, “Who am I?” is the question, “ How do I see myself?” ( Harter, 2012 ). McAdams (2013) describes the developmental trajectory of “self” using a set of sequential metaphors: the “social actor” in childhood (because children engage in action) grows to become a “motivated agent” in adolescence (because teens are more purposeful and agent-driven, guided by values, motives, and hopes), and finally an “autobiographical author” in emerging adulthood, a time when young people work on building a coherent self-narrative. Studies of youth across the span of adolescence show that, for many young people, the sense of self and identity become more integrated, coherent, and stable over time ( Harter, 2012 ; Klimstra et al., 2010 ; Meeus et al., 2010 ). Importantly, theory suggests and empirical evidence supports the idea that having a more “achieved” identity and integrated sense of self relates to positive well-being in adulthood and even throughout the life course (e.g., Kroger and Marcia, 2011 ; Meca et al., 2015 ; Schwartz et al., 2011 ). While there is great variability across youth, there are also some distinct developmental trends in the emergence of self and identity. In early adolescence, young teens' self-definitions are increasingly differentiated relative to childhood. They see themselves in multiple ways across various social and relational contexts, for example one way when with their family and another way when with close friends in the classroom. Although a young adolescent may carry a great number of “abstractions” about his or her self, these labels tend to be fragmented and sometimes even contradictory ( Harter, 2012 ). For instance, a 13-year-old may view herself as shy and quiet in the classroom, as loud and bubbly with close friends, and as bossy and controlling with her younger siblings. Longitudinal studies suggest that some perceptions of self (e.g., academic self-concept) decline in early adolescence as youth transition to middle school; however, there is a great deal of individual variability, variability across domains (e.g., academic vs. behavioral self-concept), and variability by gender (higher athletic self-concept among males vs. females; Cole et al., 2001 ; Gentile et al., 2009 ). In middle adolescence, teens may still hold onto multiple and disjointed abstractions of themselves; however, their growing cognitive abilities allow for more frequent comparisons among the inconsistencies, and heightened awareness of these contradictions can create some stress ( Brummelman and Thomaes, 2017 ; Harter, 2012 ). In this period, youth may also be more aware that their conflicting self-characterizations tend to occur most often across different relationship contexts. As in early adolescence, discrepancies between real and ideal selves can create stress for some youth, but as teens develop deeper meta-cognitive and self-reflection skills, they are better able to manage the discrepancies. To continue with the same hypothetical teen introduced above at age 13, at age 16 she might view being shy and quiet in the classroom and loud and bubbly with friends as parts of a more holistic, less fragmented sense of self. Older adolescents have greater abilities to make sense of their multiple abstractions about self. They can reconcile what seem like contradictory behaviors by understanding them in context ( Harter, 2012 ). For instance, older teens are more likely to view their different patterns of behavior across settings as reflecting a positive trait like “flexibility,” or they may characterize themselves as “moody” if they vacillate between positive and negative emotions in different situations. While peers are still important in late adolescence, youth may rely on them less when making self-evaluations; they also have greater capacity for perspective-taking and attunement to others, especially in the context of supportive relationships. Emerging adulthood provides additional opportunities for experimenting with vocational options, forming new friendships and romantic relationships, and exercising more independent decision-making ( Arnett, 2015 ; Harter, 2012 ; Schwartz et al., 2005 ). Many young adults shift from “grand” visions of possible selves to visions that are narrower and directly related to immediate opportunities. New experiences across contexts—like attending college or transitioning into the workforce—can shape whether emerging adults develop an authentic and integrated sense of self. With the normative development of heightened sensitivity to social information, some youth may rely heavily on peer feedback in self-evaluation; however, parents still play an important role in supporting a positive sense of self, especially when they are attuned to youths' needs and couple their high expectations with support ( Harter, 2012 ). Indeed, secure and supportive relationships with parents can help early and middle adolescents develop a clear sense of self ( Becht et al., 2017 ) and can buffer youth who are socially anxious against harsh self-criticism ( Peter and Gazelle, 2017 ). Identity and Self: A Neurobiological Perspective Recent advances in developmental neuroscience appear to complement decades of behavioral research on youth. For instance, the integrated-circuitry model of adolescent brain development discussed in the previous section ( Casey et al., 2016 ), along with other models emphasizing the growing integration within and between emotionally sensitive brain regions (e.g., the limbic system) and those involved in planning and decision making (e.g., the cortical regions), correspond with the observation that adolescents develop a more coherent sense of self over time and experience. Likewise, changes observed in social and affective regions of the brain during adolescence align with behavioral tendencies toward exploration and trying new things ( Crone and Dahl, 2012 ; Flannery et al., 2018 ). Although the evidence base is still growing, recent studies document how self-evaluation and relational identity processes are linked with regions of the brain like the ventromedial PFC (vmPFC) (which plays a role in the inhibition of emotional responses, in decision making, and in self-control) and the rostral/perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (which plays a role in error and conflict detection processes). In particular, activity in these regions increases from childhood through adolescence in a manner consistent with changes in identity development ( Pfeifer and Berkman, 2018 ). Recent theoretical models of value-based decision making suggest specific ways in which identity development and neural development are linked in adolescence ( Berkman et al., 2017 ; Pfeifer and Berkman, 2018 ). An important premise is that while adolescents may be more sensitive to social stimuli such as peer norms and to rewarding outcomes such as tangible gains, their sense of self is still a critical factor influencing their behavior. In other words, while social norms and tangible gains and costs represent some of the “value inputs,” their construal of self and identity are also factors in their decision making. Moreover, neural evidence, like the activation observed in the vmPFC during self- and relational identity tasks, suggests that identity and self-related processes may play a greater role in value-based decision making during adolescence than they do in childhood ( Pfeifer and Berkman, 2018 ). Social Identities in Adolescence As many youth work toward building a cohesive, integrated answer to the question, “Who am I?,” the answer itself is shaped by membership across multiple social identity groups: race, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, gender, religion, political affiliation, ability status, and more. Indeed, in the context of increasingly complex cognitive abilities and social demands, youth may be more likely to contest, negotiate, elaborate upon, and internalize the meaning of membership in racial/ethnic, gender, sexual, and other social identity groups (e.g., Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014 ). From a developmental perspective, these tasks are paramount in a pluralistic, multiethnic and multicultural society like the United States, which, as discussed in Chapter 1 , is more diverse now than in previous generations. Ethnic-Racial Identity. Currently, our nation's population of adolescents is continuing to increase in diversity, with no single racial or ethnic group in the majority. A burgeoning area of study over the past two decades concerns ethnic-racial identity (ERI), and research in this field has found that for most youth, particularly adolescents of color, ERI exploration, centrality, and group pride are positively related to psychosocial, academic, and even health outcomes ( Rivas-Drake et al., 2014 ). ERI is multidimensional—it includes youths' beliefs about their group and how their race or ethnicity relate to their self-definition—both of which may change over time ( Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014 ). For immigrant youth, developing their own ERI may involve an internal negotiation between their culture of origin and that of their new host country, and most immigrant youth show a great deal of flexibility in redefining their new identity ( Fuligni and Tsai, 2015 ). Regardless of country of origin, making sense of one's ERI is a normative developmental process that often begins in adolescence ( Williams et al., 2012 ). Indeed, given that research has consistently found ERI to be associated with adaptive outcomes, dimensions of ERI can be understood as components of positive youth development ( Williams et al., 2014 ). Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. One of the distinctive aspects of adolescence is the emergence and awareness of sexuality, and a related aspect is the emerging salience of gender roles and expression. Adolescence is also a time when identities or sense of self related to gender and sexuality are developed and solidified ( Tolman, 2011 ), and this occurs in a period during which sexuality and gender norms are learned and regulated by peers ( Galambos et al., 1990 ). In this developmental context, LGBTQ youth begin to understand their sexual and gender identities. The growing societal acceptance and legal recognition of LGBTQ youth is implicated in the recent observed drop in the age at which most of these young people “come out,” that is, disclose their same-sex sexual identities. Less than a generation ago, LGBTQ people in the United States typically came out as young adults in their 20s; today the average age at coming out appears to be around 14, according to several independent studies ( Russell and Fish, 2017 ). In the context of such changes and growing acceptance and support for LGBTQ youth developing their sexual identity, it might be expected that the longstanding health and behavior disparities between these adolescents and heterosexual and cis-gender adolescents would be lessening. Yet multiple recent studies challenge that conclusion. Things do not appear to be getting “better” for LGBTQ youth: rather than diminishing, health disparities across multiple domains appear to be stable if not widening ( Russell and Fish, 2017 ). This pattern may be explained by several factors, including greater visibility and associated stigma and victimization for LGBTQ youth, just at the developmental period during which youth engage in more peer regulation and bullying in general, especially regarding sexuality and gender ( Poteat and Russell, 2013 ). In fact, a meta-analysis of studies of homophobic bullying in schools showed higher levels of homophobic bullying in more recent studies ( Toomey and Russell, 2016 ). These patterns point to the importance of policies and programs that help schools, communities, and families understand and support LGBTQ (and all) youth (see Chapter 7 ). Identity Complexity. Beyond race, gender, or sexuality alone, having a strong connection to some dimension of social identity—which could also be cultural, religious, or national—appears to be important for psychological well-being in adolescence ( Kiang et al., 2008 ). Recent research also suggests that young adolescents benefit from having a more complex, multifaceted identity that goes beyond stereotypical expectations of social-group norms, especially when it comes to inclusive beliefs ( Knifsend and Juvonen, 2013 ). For instance, a youth who identifies as a Black, 13-year-old, transgender female who plays volleyball and loves gaming is apt to have more positive attitudes toward other racial/ethnic groups than she would if she viewed racial/ethnic identity and other social identities as necessarily convergent (such as the notion that “playing volleyball and being a gamer are activities restricted to youth from specific racial/ethnic groups”; Knifsend and Juvonen, 2014 ). However, context is still important, and the association between identity complexity and inclusive beliefs in early adolescence tends to be stronger for youth who have a diverse group of friends ( Knifsend and Juvonen, 2014 ). Among college-age students there is also variation by race and ethnicity. For instance, the positive association between having a complex social identity and holding more inclusive attitudes toward others has been found most consistently among students who are members of the racial/ethnic majority; for members of racial/ethnic minority groups, convergence between racial/ethnic identity and other in-group identities is not related to attitudes toward other racial/ethnic groups ( Brewer et al., 2013 ). Beyond outgroup attitudes, there is evidence that social identity complexity has implications for youths' own perceptions of belonging; for instance, Muslim immigrant adolescents (ages 15 to 18) with greater identity complexity reported a stronger sense of identification with their host country ( Verkuyten and Martinovic, 2012 ). Social Identity and Neurobiology Cultural neuroscience provides some insight into how social identity development may manifest at the neurobiological level, although there is still much work to be done to understand the deep associations between biology and culture ( Mrazek et al., 2015 ). In adolescence, evidence suggests, areas of the brain attuned to social information may be undergoing shifts that heighten youths' social sensitivity ( Blakemore and Mills, 2014 ), and of course, adolescents' “social brains” develop in a cultural context. For instance, we know the amygdala responds to stimuli with heightened emotional significance; in the United States, where negative stereotypes about Blacks contribute to implicit biases and fears about them, amygdala sensitivity to Black faces has been documented in adult samples ( Cunningham et al., 2004 ; Lieberman et al., 2005 ; Phelps et al., 2000 ). In a study of children and adolescents (ages 4 to 16) in the United States, Telzer and colleagues (2013) found that amygdala activation in response to racial stimuli, such as images of Black faces, was greater in adolescence than during childhood. They suggest that identity processes reflecting heightened sensitivity to race, along with biological changes (e.g., those stemming from puberty) related to a “social reorientation” of the amygdala, may be among the mechanisms that explain these race-sensitive patterns of activation in adolescence ( Telzer et al., 2013 ). Importantly, neural activation appears to vary based on the context of social experiences. Specifically, the amygdala activation observed in response to Black faces was attenuated for youth who had more friends and schoolmates of a race differing from their own (i.e., cross-race friends). The foregoing findings converge with psychobehavioral studies that demonstrate the importance of school and friendship diversity. Attending diverse middle schools and having more cross-race friends is associated with more positive attitudes toward outsider groups, less social vulnerability, greater social and academic competence, and better mental health ( Graham, 2018 ; Williams and Hamm, 2017 ). Adolescence is a period of transformation in social cognition ( Blakemore and Mills, 2014 ; Giedd, 2015 ), so in light of the findings from psychobehavioral and cultural neuroscience research on the benefits of diversity, important questions may be asked about whether adolescence is a critical period for providing exposure to difference. For instance, should we expect the benefits of exposure to diversity to be maximized if such exposure occurs during adolescence, or are benefits most likely with cumulative exposure that begins well before this period? 9 Identity Development in Context Identity development takes place in specific socio-cultural, political, and historical contexts. As an example, consider recent cultural and political shifts regarding same-sex relationships in the United States: in the period of one generation there has been dramatic social change regarding understanding and awareness of LGBTQ lives and issues. For context, consider that less than 20 years ago, marriage between same-sex couples was just beginning to be recognized anywhere in the world (the first country to do so was the Netherlands in 2001); less than 20 years later, 25 countries have legalized same-sex marriage, and recent surveys show that most young people in the United States approve of same-sex marriages ( Pew Research Center, 2015 ). Moreover, the identity language and labels used among youth who are often placed under the umbrella of LGBTQ have continued to rapidly evolve. A growing number of LGBTQ youth say they have a nonbinary gender identity (i.e., neither male nor female) or sexual identity (e.g., pansexual, bisexual, queer) ( Hammack, 2018 ). Indeed, young people appear to be leading a movement toward challenging existing categories and constructing new identities. Meanwhile, in the past decade there has been a dramatic change in public awareness and understanding of transgender identities. Popular attention to the gender changes of a number of celebrities coincided with growing emergence and awareness of transgender children. 10 Thus, a subject that was literally unknown by most people in the United States has within a decade become the subject of public discussion and political debate. School systems are grappling with gender change and accommodations for transgender students, and the typical developmental challenges of adolescence are being navigated by a growing number of openly transgender, gender-nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming adolescents ( Wilson et al, 2017 ). Developmental scientists have recently called for a deeper investigation of the ways in which intersecting axes of oppression shape youth development, often referred to as “intersectionality” ( Crenshaw, 1990 ; Santos and Toomey, 2018 ; Velez and Spencer, 2018 ). Indeed, against a backdrop of social stratification and oppression, relationships between identity, experience, and behavior may not operate the same way for all youth ( Spencer, 1995 ). For example, the way in which knowledge is socially constructed contributes to maintaining systems and structures that control and exclude marginalized populations such as people with disabilities ( Peña et al., 2016 ). Smart and Smart (2007) argue that society has historically viewed people with disabilities from a medical perspective, in which individuals were labeled as ill, dysfunctional, and in need of medical treatment. This approach perpetuates an ableist worldview that suggests people with disabilities should strive toward an able-bodied norm, reflecting society's perceptions that certain abilities are essential to fully function in the world ( Hutcheon and Wolbring, 2012 ). This example highlights why an intersectional perspective is important for understanding adolescent psychosocial development in context, both for considering systemic factors that shape opportunities and for broadening the range of questions, values, samples, and experiences that have been defined and studied from a dominant-group perspective ( Syed et al., 2018 ). Ultimately, intersectional approaches and related integrative models are needed to understand how youth development in context can lead to further marginalization for some youth ( Causadias and Umaña-Taylor, 2018 ) or to adaptability and resilience for others ( Gaylord-Harden et al., 2018 ; Suárez-Orozco et al., 2018 ). We have long considered identity exploration as a hallmark of adolescence. An adolescent's identity is an emerging reflection of his or her values, beliefs, and aspirations, and it can be constructed and reconstructed over time and experience. Multiple factors—family, culture, peers, media—shape identity development, but young people are also active agents in the process. Movement toward stability and coherence is normative, yet there remain dynamic elements that shape the relationship between identity and behavior; teens often select activities that feel identity-congruent, and may interpret and respond to a given situation based on aspects of identity that are salient in the moment ( Oyserman, 2015 ; Oyserman and Destin, 2010 ). This has implications for adolescents' experiences in important contexts such as school. Identity processes are connected to a larger set of self-development characteristics, including self-regulation, self-efficacy, and a sense of agency, all of which youth need to help develop and commit to meaningful goals. Ensuring that adolescents understand how all identities can be consistent with their current academic choices and future educational and vocational aspirations is an important consideration for the education system and is discussed further in Chapter 6 . Recent neuroscientific findings suggest that changes in social and affective regions of the brain correspond to developmental changes in identity development. Moreover, identity and self-related processes may play a greater role in decision making during adolescence than they do in childhood. Youth may also experience identity congruence, affirmation, or marginalization through their interpersonal interactions with policies, sociopolitical events, and historical factors. Ultimately, how adolescents' multifaceted identities are manifested—neurobiologically, behaviorally, and otherwise—and the role identity plays in their overall well-being depend a great deal on experiences in context. This requires us to reflect on the nature of the contexts in which adolescents are developing their identities. Consider, for example, that a youth's likelihood of involvement in extremist organizations may be heightened as they search for meaningful in-groups, if they accept group beliefs without questioning them (i.e., identity foreclosure), and/or if they feel their personal or group identities are under threat ( Dean, 2017 ; Schwartz et al., 2009 ). As Schwartz and colleagues note, “providing mainstream paths for young people, within the cultural constraints of their society, can help to alleviate the anger, frustration, and hopelessness leading many young people [towards extremism]” ( Schwartz et al., 2009 , p. 553). While the overwhelming majority of adolescents do not become involved in extremist groups, acknowledging this possibility underscores how the significant opportunities afforded by identity exploration in adolescence can be thwarted by conditions that increase the likelihood of marginalization. Adolescent Capacity for Self-Direction As adolescents ask, “Who am I?” their growing cognitive capacities also permit reflection on themselves in relation to a broader collective: “What is my role in my school? my community? my society?” As adolescents grow older, they have more opportunities to make their own choices in domains that matter for future outcomes, and their capacity to make such choices also increases; Box 2-1 describes youths' perspectives on this emerging autonomy, agency, and independence. Youth Perspectives: Sense of Agency, Purpose, and Autonomy. In the following section, we discuss developmental changes in autonomy, purpose, and agency in adolescence. One might think of these three things not only as competencies that develop within adolescents, but also as resources or opportunities they need to thrive as they transition into adult roles. Framing them as both capacities of the individual youth and as characteristics afforded by supportive settings reminds us that developmental pathways that lead to thriving in adulthood are not forged by adolescents alone, but instead require alignment between youths' strengths and the resources available in their environments. Striving for Autonomy While Remaining Connected For most adolescents, establishing a level of independence and self-sufficiency is normative. This typically involves individuating from one's family. However, gaining a sense of autonomy does not mean that adolescents strive to become detached from their family. Indeed, the developmental task for most teens is about establishing a balance between autonomy and connection ( McElhaney et al., 2009 ). While many adolescents would like more autonomy for making decisions, this varies by age and domain ( Daddis, 2011 ; Smetana, 2011 ). Most youth report having enough autonomy when it comes to making moral decisions, but younger adolescents tend to desire more autonomy for personal matters (e.g., hairstyle and clothing choices) and conventional matters (e.g., cursing/swearing) than older teens. This increase in desired autonomy among younger teens maps onto findings that older teens report having more autonomy across multiple domains than their younger peers. Not only do young adolescents have less autonomy than older youth, they also tend to overestimate how much autonomy their peers have; in other words, younger adolescents tend to think their friends are allowed to have more control over their choices and behaviors than they actually do. Adolescents who think they have low levels of autonomy over decisions also tend to believe their friends have more autonomy, whereas adolescents who feel they have enough autonomy are less influenced by perceptions of their peers ( Daddis, 2011 ). Autonomy and Culture The concept of “autonomy” implies independence, which generally is accepted as a core value among cultures oriented toward individualism. In contrast, one might expect youth from cultures oriented toward collectivism and interdependence to be more inclined toward harmonious, less conflictual relationships with parents and a lower desire for individuation. However, evidence suggests that teens in many cultures, both those labeled “individualist” and those labeled “collectivist,” strive to develop autonomy, and levels of parent-teen conflict are similar in immigrant and nonimmigrant families ( Fuligni and Tsai, 2015 ; Tsai et al., 2012 ). Studies of youth from multiple ethnic backgrounds in the United States, including those who are U.S.-born and those from immigrant families, show that most adolescents express a desire to have control over personal choices ( Phinney et al., 2005 ). Importantly, while youth across cultural backgrounds identify autonomy as important, there can be culturally relevant variations in how autonomy is defined. For example, some adolescents from Asian American heritage groups describe autonomy through the lens of “interdependence” ( Russell et al., 2010 ). Examining Autonomy and Culture “Under the Skin” While all teens may desire autonomy from their parents and seek identities and self-definitions that go beyond their role in the family, adolescents in immigrant families in the United States may have a stronger sense of family obligation relative to youth in nonimmigrant families. Recent findings from the field of cultural neuroscience demonstrate the integration between biology and sociocultural context ( Telzer et al., 2010 ; Fuligni and Telzer, 2013 ). In one study, White and Latinx older adolescents participated in laboratory-based tasks in which they were asked to allot cash rewards to themselves or to their families; during the task their patterns of brain activity were observed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). While youth from both groups allotted cash rewards to family at the same rate, among Latinx youth the “reward centers” of the brain were more activated when they contributed to family, whereas White youth showed more brain activity in the reward centers when allotting cash to themselves. Across both groups, those who felt a stronger sense of family identification and who felt fulfilled by contributing to family had more activation in the reward centers of the brain when allotting cash to their family. Thus, the cultural meaning that youth and families make around issues of autonomy, connection, and obligation are connected to neurobiological responses in the context of family contribution. Some studies show linkages between broad cultural orientations, such as being more individually or more collectively oriented, and patterns of neural response ( Mrazek et al., 2015 ). Moreover, cultural neuroscientists posit that developmental growth and transitions in neural activity shape the transmission of cultural values, like preference for social hierarchy ( Mrazek et al., 2015 ). In addition to the vmPFC and the anterior cingulate cortex regions of the brain implicated in personal identity development, researchers speculate that the temporoparietal junction may be implicated in culturally embedded identities that orient youth toward independence or interdependence ( Cheon et al., 2011 ; Mrazek et al., 2015 ; Saxe et al., 2009 ). Finding Meaning and Taking Action: Purpose and Agency Purpose has been defined as “a stable and generalized intention to accomplish something that is at once meaningful to the self and of consequence to the world beyond the self” ( Damon et al., 2003 , p. 121) and also as “a central, self-organizing life aim that organizes and stimulates goals, manages behaviors, and provides a sense of meaning” ( McKnight and Kashdan, 2009 , p. 242). Thus, one's sense of purpose can be oriented toward life aims that are self-focused or toward aims that transcend the self ( Sumner et al., 2018 ; Yeager et al., 2012 ). Higher scores on measures of purpose are generally associated with more positive psychological wellbeing, a more consolidated identity, a deeper sense of meaning, and fewer health-compromising behaviors; a sense of purpose is also positively correlated with religiosity and spirituality ( Burrow and Hill, 2011 ; Sumner et al., 2018 ). Moreover, there is evidence that purpose helps explain associations between identity commitment and positive youth adjustment ( Burrow and Hill, 2011 ). For all adolescents, developing a sense of purpose requires some support, particularly while their sense of orientation toward the future is still under development ( Steinberg et al., 2009 ). For adolescents who experience marginalization—by virtue of membership in one or more groups that experience systemic oppression ( García Coll et al., 1996 ; Causadias and Umaña-Taylor, 2018 )—developing a sense of purpose may be compromised if structural discrimination makes links between present action and future outcomes unpredictable (e.g., for adolescents with an undocumented immigration status) ( Gonzales, 2016 ; Sumner et al., 2018 ). Adolescents experiencing marginalization may internalize such messages as they become more aware of their own external realities; the messages may also be reinforced through family socialization practices. For example, researchers studying low-income White adolescents suggest that parents' messages of “isolation and threat, helplessness and hopelessness, and live fast, die young,” which may be adaptive in the short-term and in the immediate settings where the families live, can compromise youth's sense of purpose, hope, and agency ( Jones et al., 2018 ). Agency to Take Action Adolescents' growing competencies in flexible problem-solving, their awareness of and concern with others, and their openness to exploration and novelty ( Crone and Dahl, 2012 ) make adolescence a particularly opportune time to allow for agency and leadership ( Flanagan and Christens, 2011 ). Indeed, young people have been at the helm of social movements for centuries. For some youth, active civic engagement may be an adaptive means for coping with systemic injustice, particularly for those in historically marginalized communities ( Diemer and Rapa, 2016 ; Ginwright et al., 2006 ; Hope and Spencer, 2017 ). In a recent multi-methods study of middle and late adolescents in seven community organizations (four in the United States, two in Ireland, and one in South Africa), many of which served low-income or working class communities, researchers documented multiple benefits of civic engagement. Findings suggest the context of youth organizing promoted the skills of critical thinking and analysis, social and emotional learning, and involvement in community leadership and action ( Watts, 2018 ; Watts et al., 2011 ). In relation to research on community leadership and action, recent work has examined the construct of “critical consciousness” among adolescents ( Watts et al., 2011 ). Contemporary definitions of critical consciousness, grounded in the work of Brazilian educator Paolo Freire (1970) , include the elements of critical reflection, motivation, and action ( Diemer et al., 2015 ). These core concepts have informed the development of new measures of critical consciousness for middle and late adolescents (e.g., Diemer et al., 2017 ; McWhirter and McWhirter, 2016 ; Thomas et al., 2014 ). Youth with higher levels of critical consciousness are more likely to recognize injustice and may feel a greater sense of agency or efficacy in responding to it ( Diemer and Rapa, 2016 ; Shedd, 2015 ). Critical consciousness is also positively associated with vocational and educational attainment ( Diemer et al., 2010 ; Luginbuhl et al., 2016 ; McWhirter and McWhirter, 2016 ). Capacity for Self-Direction as a Developmental Opportunity While there is general agreement about the benefits of purpose and agency in adolescence, ongoing work is needed to better understand the circumstances under which they are best fostered and the way they relate to other processes (e.g., critical consciousness) and to behavior (e.g., volunteering, social activism). For instance, do opportunities for critical reflection contribute to an adolescent's sense of purpose? Are community service or civic action necessary for building an adolescents' belief in their own agency to create change? Additional research might determine whether a sense of purpose that transcends the self has greater positive impact on an adolescent than one that is more self-focused. Current work in this area suggests that a self-transcendent sense of purpose better predicts academic regulation, performance, and persistence among high school students ( Yeager et al., 2014 ); however, whether this extends beyond the school context is unclear. As research methods and methods in studies of critical consciousness continue to advance (e.g., Diemer et al., 2015 ), we may have a better understanding of how this particular kind of agency develops across adolescence, and for whom and under what conditions greater critical consciousness is most beneficial. Finally, an emerging body of work on adolescents' contribution mindset (i.e., giving to others; Fuligni and Telzer, 2013 ) and value-based decision making ( Pfeifer and Berkman, 2018 ) may provide some insight into the neurobiological correlates underlying the cognitive and social skills needed for developing purpose. Over the course of adolescence, youth gain the cognitive skills needed to reflect on complex questions about their aims in life and their role in the world. They can question the legitimacy and fairness of everyday experiences and of social institutions. Indeed, the social systems they must navigate—schools, employment, health care, justice—are quite complex and often require them to engage in independent decision making. Two important questions stemming from this reality are, “What experiences are needed to support adolescents' agency as they transition into adult roles?” and “What might our society look like if all adolescents felt a sense of commitment to something personally meaningful and goal-directed that extends beyond the self?” ( Bronk, 2014 ). Supporting opportunities for autonomy and agency and fostering a sense of purpose may help adolescents explore meaningful questions about who they are, and about their place in the world and their capacity to shape it. Continuing shifts in the social, cultural, economic, and technological contexts in which today's adolescents are developing require thoughtful consideration as to how, when, and where adolescents can find and act upon ideas and issues they find meaningful. For example, religion has traditionally been a context where youth have found purpose and meaning, and religious involvement is associated with civic engagement ( Furrow et al., 2004 ; Pew Research Center, 2019 ; Sumner et al., 2018 ). Religion can also be protective against stressors like discrimination and against negative mental health outcomes ( Hope et al., 2017 ). However, adolescents and young adults today are less likely to be religiously engaged than those in earlier generations ( Pew Research Center, 2018 ). If faith-based institutions are playing a less central role in the lives of greater numbers of today's adolescents, this brings to the fore questions about the alternative settings and experiences to which youth are turning and whether these settings play a comparable role in fostering involvement and purpose. Although there is great variation in how the skills of autonomy, purpose, and agency manifest and how they are defined and valued, adolescents should be afforded opportunities—in families, schools, or out-of-school settings—to develop them. Such skills not only are important to support the transition to adulthood, but also make adolescence itself a period that fosters a propensity to choose their own paths in life and to shape the roles they want to play in their communities ( Fuligni, 2018 ). Adolescence, spanning the period from the onset of puberty to adulthood, is a formative period where changes in cognition, affect, and interpersonal behavior occur alongside the most extensive biological transitions since infancy, especially with respect to pubertal and brain development. Collectively, the pubertal, neurobiological, cognitive, and psychosocial changes occurring during adolescence mark this as a period of great opportunity for adolescents to flourish and thrive. While often thought of as a time of turmoil and risk for young people, adolescence is more accurately viewed as a developmental period rich with opportunity for youth to learn and grow. If provided with the proper supports and protection, normal processes of growth and maturation can lead youth to form healthy relationships with their peers and families, develop a sense of identity and self, and experience enriching and memorable engagements with the world. Adolescence thus forms a critical bridge between childhood and adulthood and is a critical window of opportunity for positive, life-altering development. As a positive window of opportunity, adolescence marks a period of optimism, where the assets of youth and their development may be capitalized for the betterment of society. Important questions emerge from these findings. What are the “windows of opportunity” for promoting a positive developmental trajectory and adaptive plasticity? What are the mechanisms that shape developmental trajectories, for better or worse, during adolescence and over the life course? To begin to answer these, in the next chapter we consider the emerging science of epigenetics as it reveals the ongoing plasticity of the brain and the reciprocal influences of brain on body and vice versa. The average child in the United States experiences the onset of puberty between the age of 8 and 10 years. HPG hormones can bind within cell nuclei and change the transcription and expression of genes to regulate further hormone production, brain function, and behavior ( Melmed et al., 2012 ; Sisk and Foster, 2004 ). The process begins in the brain when a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is secreted from the hypothalamus. The activation of GnRH is not unique to the pubertal transition; GnRH is also active during pre- and perinatal periods of development but undergoes a quiescent period during the first year of postnatal life until it reawakens during the pubertal transition. GnRH stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormones (FSH), which then stimulate the ovary and testes to secrete estradiol and testosterone. For more information on the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, see https://www ​.cpc.unc.edu ​/projects/addhealth . See Chapter 3 for a discussion of the adaptive plasticity of adolescence and the potential of interventions during adolescence to mediate deficiencies from earlier life periods. “Connectivity” refers to the formation of synapses, or connections between neurons; groups of interconnected neurons form circuit-like neural networks. The threat cues used in the research cited here were pictures of “fearful faces,” which serve as a social cue of impending danger. Impulsive action in response to potential threat was assessed using a “go/no-go” task. Simply put, this is a task in which participants are presented with two types out of three facial emotions (“happy” or “calm” or “fearful”) that are randomly assigned as “go” (stimulate action = press a button) or “no-go” (inhibit action = do not press button). While there may be asynchronous development of circuits within specific regions of the brain during adolescence, this does not mean that these regions are “fixed” by the end of adolescence; instead, people retain the ability for neural plasticity and change throughout the life course (see Chapter 3 ). For instance, rodent models suggest that empathy is shaped by social context (e.g., rats usually assist members of their own genetic strain, but will extend their prosocial behavior to unrelated peers if they are raised together; Bartal et al., 2011 ; Meyza et al., 2017 ). See, for example, “Beyond ‘He' or ‘She': The Changing Meaning of Gender and Sexuality,” TIME Magazine, March 16, 2017. Cite this Page National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Board on Children, Youth, and Families; Committee on the Neurobiological and Socio-behavioral Science of Adolescent Development and Its Applications; Backes EP, Bonnie RJ, editors. The Promise of Adolescence: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2019 May 16. 2, Adolescent Development. PDF version of this title (5.9M) In this Page Recent activity. Adolescent Development - The Promise of Adolescence Adolescent Development - The Promise of Adolescence Your browsing activity is empty. Activity recording is turned off. Turn recording back on Connect with NLM National Library of Medicine 8600 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20894 Web Policies FOIA HHS Vulnerability Disclosure Help Accessibility Careers Fact sheets Facts in pictures Publications Questions and answers Tools and toolkits Endometriosis Excessive heat Mental disorders Polycystic ovary syndrome All countries Eastern Mediterranean South-East Asia Western Pacific Data by country Country presence  Country strengthening  Country cooperation strategies  News releases Feature stories Press conferences Commentaries Photo library Afghanistan Cholera  Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Greater Horn of Africa Israel and occupied Palestinian territory Disease Outbreak News Situation reports Weekly Epidemiological Record Surveillance Health emergency appeal International Health Regulations Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee Classifications Data collections Global Health Observatory Global Health Estimates Mortality Database Sustainable Development Goals Health Inequality Monitor Global Progress World Health Statistics Partnerships Committees and advisory groups Collaborating centres Technical teams Organizational structure Initiatives General Programme of Work WHO Academy Investment in WHO WHO Foundation External audit Financial statements Internal audit and investigations  Programme Budget Results reports Governing bodies World Health Assembly Executive Board Member States Portal Fact sheets / Mental health of adolescents Globally, one in seven 10-19-year-olds experiences a mental disorder, accounting for 13% of the global burden of disease in this age group. Depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders are among the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29 year-olds. The consequences of failing to address adolescent mental health conditions extend to adulthood, impairing both physical and mental health and limiting opportunities to lead fulfilling lives as adults. Introduction One in six people are aged 10–19 years. Adolescence is a unique and formative time. Physical, emotional and social changes, including exposure to poverty, abuse, or violence, can make adolescents vulnerable to mental health problems. Protecting adolescents from adversity, promoting socio-emotional learning and psychological well-being, and ensuring access to mental health care are critical for their health and well-being during adolescence and adulthood. Globally, it is estimated that 1 in 7 (14%) 10–19 year-olds experience mental health conditions (1) , yet these remain largely unrecognized and untreated. Adolescents with mental health conditions are particularly vulnerable to social exclusion, discrimination, stigma (affecting readiness to seek help), educational difficulties, risk-taking behaviours, physical ill-health and human rights violations. Mental health determinants Adolescence is a crucial period for developing social and emotional habits important for mental well-being. These include adopting healthy sleep patterns; exercising regularly; developing coping, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills; and learning to manage emotions. Protective and supportive environments in the family, at school and in the wider community are important. Multiple factors affect mental health. The more risk factors adolescents are exposed to, the greater the potential impact on their mental health. Factors that can contribute to stress during adolescence include exposure to adversity, pressure to conform with peers and exploration of identity. Media influence and gender norms can exacerbate the disparity between an adolescent’s lived reality and their perceptions or aspirations for the future. Other important determinants include the quality of their home life and relationships with peers. Violence (especially sexual violence and bullying), harsh parenting and severe and socioeconomic problems are recognized risks to mental health. Some adolescents are at greater risk of mental health conditions due to their living conditions, stigma, discrimination or exclusion, or lack of access to quality support and services. These include adolescents living in humanitarian and fragile settings; adolescents with chronic illness, autism spectrum disorder, an intellectual disability or other neurological condition; pregnant adolescents, adolescent parents, or those in early or forced marriages; orphans; and adolescents from minority ethnic or sexual backgrounds or other discriminated groups. Emotional disorders Emotional disorders are common among adolescents. Anxiety disorders (which may involve panic or excessive worry) are the most prevalent in this age group and are more common among older than among younger adolescents. It is estimated that 3.6% of 10–14-year-olds and 4.6% of 15–19-year-olds experience an anxiety disorder. Depression is estimated to occur among 1.1% of adolescents aged 10–14 years, and 2.8% of 15–19-year-olds. Depression and anxiety share some of the same symptoms, including rapid and unexpected changes in mood. Anxiety and depressive disorders can profoundly affect school attendance and schoolwork. Social withdrawal can exacerbate isolation and loneliness. Depression can lead to suicide. Behavioural disorders Behavioural disorders are more common among younger adolescents than older adolescents. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), characterized by difficulty paying attention, excessive activity and acting without regard to consequences, occurs among 3.1% of 10–14-year-olds and 2.4% of 15–19-year-olds (1) . Conduct disorder (involving symptoms of destructive or challenging behaviour) occurs among 3.6% of 10–14-year-olds and 2.4% of 15–19-year-olds (1) . Behavioural disorders can affect adolescents’ education and conduct disorder may result in criminal behaviour. Eating disorders Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, commonly emerge during adolescence and young adulthood. Eating disorders involve abnormal eating behaviour and preoccupation with food, accompanied in most instances by concerns about body weight and shape. Anorexia nervosa can lead to premature death, often due to medical complications or suicide, and has higher mortality than any other mental disorder. Conditions that include symptoms of psychosis most commonly emerge in late adolescence or early adulthood. Symptoms can include hallucinations or delusions. These experiences can impair an adolescent’s ability to participate in daily life and education and often lead to stigma or human rights violations. Suicide and self-harm Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in older adolescents (15–19 years) (2) . Risk factors for suicide are multifaceted, and include harmful use of alcohol, abuse in childhood, stigma against help-seeking, barriers to accessing care and access to means of suicide. Digital media, like any other media, can play a significant role in either enhancing or weakening suicide prevention efforts. Risk-taking behaviours Many risk-taking behaviours for health, such as substance use or sexual risk-taking, start during adolescence. Risk-taking behaviours can be an unhelpful strategy to cope with emotional difficulties and can severely impact an adolescent’s mental and physical well-being. Worldwide, the prevalence of heavy episodic drinking among adolescents aged 15­–19 years was 13.6% in 2016, with males most at risk (3) . The use of tobacco and cannabis are additional concerns. Many adult smokers had their first cigarette prior to the age of 18 years. Cannabis is the most widely used drug among young people with about 4.7% of 15–16-years-olds using it at least once in 2018 (4) . Perpetration of violence is a risk-taking behaviour that can increase the likelihood of low educational attainment, injury, involvement with crime or death. Interpersonal violence was ranked among the leading causes of death of older adolescent boys in 2019 (5) . Promotion and prevention Mental health promotion and prevention interventions aim to   strengthen an individual's capacity to regulate emotions, enhance alternatives to risk-taking behaviours, build resilience for managing difficult situations and adversity, and promote supportive social environments and social networks. These programmes require a multi-level approach with varied delivery platforms –   for example, digital media, health or social care settings, schools or the community – and varied strategies to reach adolescents, particularly the most vulnerable. Early detection and treatment It is crucial to address the needs of adolescents with mental health conditions. Avoiding institutionalization and over-medicalization, prioritizing non-pharmacological approaches, and respecting the rights of children in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and other human rights instruments are key for adolescents’ mental health. WHO response WHO works on strategies, programmes and tools to assist governments in responding to the health needs of adolescents. For example, the Helping Adolescents Thrive (HAT) Initiative is a joint WHO-UNICEF effort to strengthen policies and programmes for the mental health of adolescents. More specifically, the efforts made through the Initiative are to promote mental health and prevent mental health conditions. They are also intended to help prevent self-harm and other risk behaviours, such as harmful use of alcohol and drugs, that have a negative impact on the mental  ̶  and physical  ̶  health of young people. WHO has also developed a module on Child and Adolescent Mental and Behavioural Disorders as part of the mhGAP Intervention Guide 2.0. This Guide  provides evidence-based clinical protocols for the assessment and management of a range of mental health conditions in non-specialized care settings. Furthermore, WHO is developing and testing scalable psychological interventions to address emotional disorders of adolescents, and guidance on mental health services for adolescents. WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean has developed a mental health training package for educators for improved understanding of the importance of mental health in the school setting and to guide the implementation of strategies to promote, protect and restore mental health among their students. It includes training manuals and materials to help scale up the number of schools promoting mental health. (1)  Institute of health Metrics and Evaluation. Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx) (2) WHO Global Health Estimates 2000-2019 (3) Global status report on alcohol and health 2018 (4) World Drug Report 2020   (5) 2019 Global Health Estimates (GHE), WHO, 2020 Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030  Guidelines on promotive and preventative mental health interventions for adolescents Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) Intervention Guide 2.0 LIVE LIFE: an implementation guide for suicide prevention in countries Mental health in schools: a manual  Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health 2016–2030 Improving the mental and brain health of children and adolescents Share full article Advertisement Supported by Teenage E-Cigarette Use Drops to a 10-Year Low The percentage of middle and high school students reporting that they vaped tobacco products declined to about a third of the peak levels in 2019, a new survey shows. By Christina Jewett The number of teenagers who reported using e-cigarettes in 2024 has tumbled from a worrisome peak reached five years ago, raising hopes among public health officials for a sustained reversal in vaping trends among adolescents. In an annual survey conducted from January through May in schools across the nation, fewer than 8 percent of high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the past month, the lowest level in a decade. That’s far lower than the apex, in 2019, when more than 27 percent of high school students who took the survey reported that they vaped — and an estimated 500,000 fewer adolescents than last year. The data is from the National Youth Tobacco Survey , a questionnaire filled out by thousands of middle and high school students that is administered each year by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overall, it found that just under 6 percent of middle and high school students reported vaping in the last month, down from nearly 8 percent among those surveyed last year. Use among high school students largely accounted for this year’s decline; middle school use stayed fairly steady with 3.5 percent reporting they had vaped compared to 4.6 percent the year before. “I want to be unequivocally clear that this continued decline in e-cigarette use among our nation’s youth is a monumental public health win,” Brian King, the director of the F.D.A.’s tobacco division, said during a news briefing on Wednesday. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber?  Log in . Want all of The Times?  Subscribe . 195 IMAGES ⇉Adolescence and Social Interaction Essay Example Adolescence & the human individual Free Essay Example Teenage Life Essay Sample Adolescence age essay in 2021 Cash Lettieri Children and Adolescent Development Free Essay Example VIDEO Essay on Adolescence Nourishing our future: Launch of the Lancet Series on Adolescent Nutrition Bully: Scholarship Edition Gameplay Walkthrough Part 10 IELTS Essay Topic Social Class and Its Impact on Student Performance Write Essay On "Teenage A Period Of Chill" COMMENTS Adolescence Essay Adolescence Essay: Adolescence is the phase of transition between childhood and adulthood. It involves the physical and psychological growth and development of a person during the puberty period and is usually marked by the teenage years. The ages between 10 to 24 are generally said to be adolescence period. During this period, the changes are associated […] My Adolescent Experience and Development: A Reflection [Free Essay The adolescent years are the most crucial years in one's life and I also have my adolescent experience that is unique and valuable for me and i'll share it in this essay. By definition, adolescence is "the developmental period of transition from childhood to adulthood; it involves biological cognitive, and socioemotional changes ... The Stages of My Adolescence: [Essay Example], 380 words During the early stages of my adolescence, I experienced a rapid physical growth spurt. This period was marked by awkwardness and self-consciousness as my body changed and developed. I remember feeling self-conscious about my appearance and constantly comparing myself to my peers. This stage was also characterized by hormonal changes, mood ... Adolescence Learn about the physical, psychological, and social changes that occur during adolescence, the transitional stage from childhood to adulthood. Find out how to communicate with teens, support their mental health, and address common challenges and questions. Adolescence Adolescence | Definition, Characteristics, & Stages 135 Adolescent Research Topics & Essay Samples It is the purpose of this paper to critically analyze how psychological disorders affect the physical, cognitive and emotional development of adolescents in contemporary times. A Critical Evaluation of the Behavioural Outcomes of Failure of Mylination of the Prefrontal Lobe During Adolescence. 115 Adolescence Essay Topic Ideas & Examples Adolescence is a critical stage in a person's life that is marked by significant changes, both physical and psychological. It is during this period that individuals go through a transformation from childhood to adulthood, facing various challenges and experiences along the way. One way to explore and understand these complexities is through ... Essay on Adolescence: Physical, Technology & Educational Puberty: Adolescence is marked by the onset of puberty, a biological process involving hormonal changes that lead to physical maturation. This consists of the development of secondary sexual characteristics, like the growth of facial hair in males and the development of breasts in females. Growth Spurts: Rapid physical growth, characterized by ... Essay on Adolescence: Top 5 Essays Essay # 1. Meaning of Adolescence: Adolescence is a time of rapid physiological and psychological change of intensive readjustment to the family, school, work and social life and of preparation for adult roles. It starts with puberty and ends with the achievement of an adult work role. It usually begins between 11 and 16 years in boys and ... Essays on Adolescence Good adolescent essay topics to consider psychological and physiological development stages during the period of adolescence, analysis of the emotional factors at play, case study writing, provide analysis of children on the autism spectre, address development theories, or talk about the initial process of puberty as you can see from our free ... Adolescence Essays: Examples, Topics, & Outlines 10. Identity politics and its influence on modern society. 11. The role of family in shaping individual identity. 12. The influence of language and.... Get Started Now. View our collection of adolescence essays. Find inspiration for topics, titles, outlines, & craft impactful adolescence papers. Writing About Adolescence: What's the Story? Adolescence is the toughest half of growing up-separating from childhood, detaching for independence, and differentiating for individuality. Adolescence requires that parents adjust expectations ... Understanding the Psychology of Adolescence Adolescence is a period of significant development that starts with puberty and ends sometime around a person's mid-20s. There are three stages: Early adolescence: ages 10 to 13. Middle ... Adolescence Essays: Samples & Topics Essay Topics. We provide a large database of college essays and cover almost any subject there is in the curriculum. Our goal is to help students excel in academic writing and successfully graduate. Find new ideas and inspiration using our free samples. Who we are? Essay Examples on Adolescence. Cover a wide range of topics and excel ... Adolescence Essay Find essays on various topics related to adolescence, such as theories, challenges, sexuality, and artifacts. Browse through hundreds of essays written by students and researchers on adolescence as a stage of development and transition. Want to understand your adolescent? Get to know their brain For parents of teenagers, adolescence can be challenging, but to a brain scientist it's a time of breathtaking development. And it's a "window of opportunity" on the way to becoming an adult. Adolescence is an important time of change Socially, adolescence is a time when young people begin to take on adult roles. No matter how you define it, adolescence is a time of great change and challenge, and girls have particular needs and concerns as their bodies change. The average age at the onset of puberty continues to drift lower such that girls younger than 10 years old are more ... Cognitive Development in Adolescence Cognitive development means the growth of a child's ability to think and reason. This growth happens differently from ages 6 to 12, and from ages 12 to 18. Children ages 6 to 12 years old develop the ability to think in concrete ways. These are called concrete operations. These things are called concrete because they're done around objects ... Summary and Conclusion Adolescence is an amazing period of growth spanning the ages of 12-24 years old. Youth enter this developmental stage with the body and mind of a child, and then exit 10-12 years later, with the body and mind of an adult. This article examined the physical, cognitive, emotional, social, moral, and sexual dimensions of adolescent development. Stages of Adolescence Adolescence is the period of transition between childhood and adulthood. It includes some big changes—to the body, and to the way a young person relates to the world. The many physical, sexual, cognitive, social and emotional changes that happen during this time can bring anticipation and anxiety for both children and their families. Adolescent Development Adolescence is a period of significant development that begins with the onset of puberty1 and ends in the mid-20s. Consider how different a person is at the age of 12 from the person he or she is at age 24. The trajectory between those two ages involves a profound amount of change in all domains of development—biological, cognitive, psychosocial, and emotional. Personal relationships and ... Mental health of adolescents Mental health of adolescents Teenage E-Cigarette Use Drops to a 10-Year Low That's far lower than the apex, in 2019, when more than 27 percent of high school students who took the survey reported that they vaped — and an estimated 500,000 fewer adolescents than last year. essay homework paper phd review speech study thesis