Adolescence
Adolescence refers to the transitional period between childhood and adulthood, typically characterized by physical, cognitive, and emotional changes. It is a time of identity exploration, increased independence, and the development of social and interpersonal skills. Adolescents often experience challenges related to self-esteem, peer relationships, and decision-making as they navigate this critical stage of development.
8 Key excerpts on "Adolescence"
eBook - ePub- M. Brent Donnellan, Richard E. Lucas(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
...15 Adolescence IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PERIOD OF PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT Adolescence is a phase in life characterized by physical, cognitive, and emotional changes. 1 It is often depicted in popular movies and books as a difficult time. Likewise, a long‐standing tradition in developmental psychology considered Adolescence as a time of storm and stress (Hall, 1904 ; also see Arnett, 1999 ; but see Eccles et al., 1993 ; Petersen et al., 1993), and the idea that Adolescence was a time of identity crisis was prominent in the well‐known work of Erik Erikson (e.g., 1968). A study in the late 1980s (Holmbeck & Hill, 1988) suggested that college students endorsed beliefs about Adolescence consistent with the storm‐and‐stress view. Surveys of parent and teachers found that they also tended to believe that Adolescence was a difficult time of life (Buchanan et al., 1990 ; see also Steinberg, 2001). It would be interesting to replicate those studies in this century, and we suspect the results would hold up. In view of the tradition of viewing Adolescence as a difficult time of life, there is a belief that Adolescence is perhaps the time of the life span with most substantial personality development. This is a myth, however. As we discuss below, the reality is that more systematic changes tend to occur in the 20s, a period sometimes referred to as young adulthood. This chapter builds on previous chapters about personality development (especially Chapters 12 and 13) by drawing on many of the same meta‐analyses. The evidence Roberts, Walton, and Viechtbauer (2006) conducted a meta‐analytic review of 92 longitudinal studies tracking personality change over time. They tried to collect all available studies on personality change so they could draw conclusions based on an entire literature rather than just a single study. Their primary focus was on whether average levels of a given trait increased, decreased, or remained the same across substantial periods of time...
eBook - ePubUnderstanding the Life Course
Sociological and Psychological Perspectives
- Lorraine Green(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Polity(Publisher)
...Later psychologists challenged Hall, claiming Adolescence for most was a relatively stable and untroubled period (Arnett, 1999; Coleman and Hendry, 1999; Herbert, 2008). Psychological problems in children and teenagers have, however, increased steadily since the early 1980s (Collishaw et al., 2004), but it cannot be assumed these are problems of Adolescence, as they may simply reflect that adolescents have had to deal with more complex and difficult issues in recent years. One problem with this traditional psychological conception of Adolescence is therefore not the belief that certain biological changes linked with cognitive development, physical development and puberty generally take place during this period (although significant timing variations exist historically and cross-culturally), but the conclusion that hormones and biology inevitably have an adverse impact upon young people’s social and psychological functioning and are the sole or most salient influence on adolescents’ cognition and behaviour. Other important more recent theories of Adolescence include developmental contextualism and focal theory (Coleman, 2011). Developmental contextualism regards the adolescent and the context as inseparable and draws from the ecological systems theory (see chapter 2) and socially orientated life span psychologists such as Elder (see chapter 1)...
eBook - ePubAdolescent Mental Health
Prevention and Intervention
- Terje Ogden, Kristine Amlund Hagen(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...1 Adolescent development What is Adolescence? Adolescence has been described as a period of life that starts in biology and ends in society (Kagan, 1975). This portrayal indicates that the onset of Adolescence is denoted by the hormonal changes of puberty, whereas becoming an integral part of one’s social environment marks the conclusion of this period of life. For many youths, however, the description is unfitting: whilst virtually all youths go through the biological transformations of sexual maturity and increased cognitive capacity, a significant proportion of young people do not end up in society ; rather, they become maladjusted and marginalized. Youths who become marginalized, that is, end up on the outskirts of society, are the very youths this book is about. They show maladaptive and dysfunctional behavior and they can teach us much about how to intervene and how to prevent such problems in future generations of adolescents. Adolescence is the period between childhood and adulthood and is often referred to as the teenage years. The period is divided into early (11–13 years), mid- (14–16 years), and late (17–19 years) Adolescence. Historically, Adolescence has expanded in length, probably due to teenagers’ increased time spent in school and decreased time spent in the work force during this period. Adolescence has been described as a period of reconstruction, characterized by significant changes in biological, cognitive, social, and emotional systems. To some extent, adolescent development is fairly predictable in the sense that most young individuals experience similar changes in multiple systems and face many of the same developmental challenges. Yet, in other ways, development is utterly idiosyncratic...
eBook - ePubCognitive Behavioural Therapy for Adolescents and Young Adults
An Emotion Regulation Approach
- Lawrence Howells(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Across the developed world, for example, young people are spending increasing amounts of time in education and are also financially dependent on their families for longer. These societal changes do not impact equally across society and there is general consensus that the process of adolescent transition has become extended, pluralised, and fragmented (Coleman, 2011). Finally, research into brain development has found that the brain continues to evolve and develop in quite fundamental ways all the way through into the late 20s and early 30s (see below). Given this widening age range, some authors have tended to break down the period into smaller timeframes, for example early Adolescence, later Adolescence, and emerging adulthood (Patton et al., 2016). Given the level of individual difference in the rate of transition, it is perhaps imprudent to adopt rigid age ranges to define Adolescence. However, to give a rough idea about the population we are considering, Adolescence is considered in this book to cover the period between the ages of 10 and 25 years. It is important to outline this idea to clients, families, and other clinicians. Adolescence is not a phase of life that ceases abruptly upon turning 18, but is a more nuanced and gradual phase lasting into the twenties and often longer. Reference to brain research in relation to this explanation often adds significant weight to the argument! As individuals in their twenties tend not to identify themselves as adolescents, the term “adolescents and young adults” is used throughout this book. Physical development Puberty is a period of physical development characterised by rapid changes in body size, shape, and composition. It produces the most rapid rate of linear growth since infancy and the greatest sexual differentiation since foetal life (Rogol, Roemmich, and Clark, 2002). Sexual maturation occurs during puberty under the influence of gonadal steroid hormones; primarily testosterone in boys and oestradiol in girls...
eBook - ePub- John Coleman, John Coleman(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Chapter 1 Current views of the adolescent process John C. Coleman INTRODUCTION Adolescence is a complex stage of human development, for the years 12 to 18 involve a wide range of major life changes. In fact it is unlikely that the individual undergoes greater changes at any other stage in the life cycle apart from infancy. During the teenage years the young person experiences puberty, which has an impact on physical, physiological and psychological systems. He or she undergoes a significant maturation of cognitive function. Major changes in the self concept are likely to occur, and there are radical alterations in all social relationships to be negotiated. How can we understand such fundamental transitions in human development, and make sense of the effects which they have upon the individual? Especially important in the context of the present book are the effects which these changes have upon the way the young person functions in the school setting, and it is primarily to this question that I shall address myself in what follows. Broadly speaking there are two ways in which we can attempt to make sense of adolescent development. On the one hand we can look to theory. We can study theoretical notions of Adolescence, and determine for ourselves the validity or logic of the different approaches. On the other hand we can turn to the research evidence. This will provide us with a factual base upon which to make an assessment of this period of the life cycle, but will inevitably leave a wide range of questions unanswered. It is my view that neither theory nor research can at present provide a complete answer. Both have limitations, and yet both have valuable insights to offer. Clearly the scope of the present chapter must be limited...
eBook - ePubTeacher and Pupil
Some Socio-Psychological Aspects
- Philip Gammage(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Genetic, neuro-endocrine, nutritional and social-psychological factors all combine to provide the host of variables which contribute to the change from child to adult. Certainly, the psychological impact upon the personality of bodily change and the accompanying changes in social expectations can present a bewildering set of possibilities to the pubertal child, particularly when visible discrepancies are extant culturally and even locally and when differences between adult behaviour and adolescent behaviour can seem so subtle or so meaningless. Exploratory behaviour, conflicts and constant reassessments of self-image naturally take place and problems of identification with others may become acute. Possibilities for adult role-playing experiences occur more frequently and, with them, the thirteen or fourteen year old can begin to move away from his derived status of dependency upon parents. The peer group becomes increasingly more important as a general rule and emulation of revered peers and remote adult models is frequent. One of the problems inherent in a technico-industrial society is its demands upon mass education and the necessary prolongation of an adolescent ‘in-between status’, especially for the middle-class or aspiring middle-class youth. Another problem is that of the psycho-sexual acquisition of firm sex-roles which relate to childhood concepts of masculinity and femininity and yet make sense in terms of contemporary physical and socio-cultural expectations. Another is that probably, as Erikson says, Adolescence in our present age has been over-diagnosed as a crisis period to the point where a ‘crisis role-set’ is almost deliberately set up and many react accordingly. Very few arbitrary assemblies of adolescents, such as a class of fourteen year olds, can be said to constitute a homogeneous group, since the difference in physique, in levels of intellectual, social and emotional maturity will be so marked...
eBook - ePubChild and Adolescent Psychology for Social Work and Allied Professions
Applied Perspectives
- Gabriela Misca, Peter Unwin(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Bloomsbury Academic(Publisher)
...The beginning of the twentieth century saw the emergence of Adolescence as a field of study, with the beginning marked by Hall’s work (1904), one of the first theorists to study Adolescence. Hall considered Adolescence to be a time of crisis and emotional and behavioural upheaval, and he coined the popular phrase of Adolescence as a time of ‘storm and stress’. This view was later criticized, when research findings challenged the view of Adolescence as a crisis. For example, Rutter and colleagues (1976) argued that the myth of adolescent turmoil emerged from clinically biased studies, whose findings which are not replicated in community samples. Further reading A critical review of the original work around Adolescence storm and stress: Arnett, J. J. (2006) G. Stanley Hall’s Adolescence: brilliance and nonsense. History of psychology, 9(3), 186. doi: 10.1037/1093-4510.9.3.186. Rutter and colleagues’ seminal study which paved the way to considering Adolescence as a normal transition: Rutter, M., Graham, P., Chadwick, O. F. & Yule, W. (1976) Adolescent turmoil: fact or fiction? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17(1), 35–56. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1976.tb00372.x. Nevertheless, complaints about adolescents’ behaviour ‘getting worse’ have been and continue to be around in common perception. A potential interpretation of such concerns may be found in epidemiological studies showing trends of mental health problems increasing in adolescent populations since the 1980s, both in the UK (Maughan et al. 2008) and, to a lesser extent, in the USA. However, the factors underlying such time trends in child and adolescent mental health are largely unknown (Maughan et al., 2008). Brain and cognitive development Recent developments in cognitive neuroscience have made important contributions to our understanding of both social and cognitive development in Adolescence. For example, changes in brain structure affect emotion regulation, response inhibition and planning...
eBook - ePubDevelopmental and Educational Psychology for Teachers
An applied approach
- Dennis McInerney, David Putwain(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Influential in our understanding of identity formation during Adolescence has been the work of Erikson and Marcia. We dealt with elements of Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personal development in Chapter 9. In this chapter we specifically consider Erikson’s and Marcia’s views of identity formation during Adolescence. Important elements of a healthy identity are a positive self-concept, self-regulation, and positive self-efficacy. We deal with each of these in some detail. Social and emotional development, social identity, and Adolescence Few developmental periods are characterised by so many changes at so many different levels as Adolescence (Laursen & Collins, 2009; Wigfield et al., 2006). We have considered a number of these changes, such as physical and cognitive, in earlier chapters. While it is not uncommon for adolescents to experience some problems during this time, most pass through puberty and Adolescence without significant psychological or emotional difficulties. Most adolescents develop a positive sense of personal identity and manage to form adaptive peer relationships at the same time as maintaining close relationships with their families. Some adolescents experience difficulties that cause deep emotional stress and anxiety that leads them into a downward spiral that ends in academic failure and difficulty in attending school. Indeed, research shows that poor socioemotional adjustment and conduct problems are associated with past, present, and future academic achievement problems (Fantuzzo et al., 2005; Masten et al., 2005). Parents and educators should be sensitive to the needs of all adolescents at this time in order to provide the emotional supports needed for healthy personal, social, and emotional development (Aviles et al., 2006; Jennings & Greenberg, 2009). When considering overall social development during Adolescence, attention should be focused on four important aspects...
