Adolescence development
Introduction
Dozens of studies have shown that risk taking is more common during the late teens and early
20s than at any other age.
The boundaries of Adolescence
The word adolescence is derived from the Latin adolescere, which. Means “to grow into
adulthood”. Adolescene is a period of transitions: biological, psychological, social, economic.
During Adolescence, individuals become interested in sex and biologically capable of having
children. They become more wiser, more sophisticated, and better able to make their own
decisions. They become more self-aware, more independent, and more concerned about what
the future holds.
Adolescence: the stage of development that begins with puberty and ends when individuals
make the transition into adult roles, roughly speaking, from about age 10 until the early 20s.
Determining the beginning and ending of adolescence is more a matter of opinion than of
absolute fact. We can think of development during adolescence as involving a series of
transitions from immaturity into maturity. It is quite possible that an individual will mature in
some respects before she matures in others.
Early, Middle, and Late Adolescence
Social scientists who study adolescence differentiate among early adolescence (about ages 10
to 13), middle adolescence (about ages 14 to 17), and late adolescence (about ages 18 to 21).
- Early adolescence: the period spanning roughly ages 10 to 13, corresponding roughly
to the junior high or middle school years.
- Middle adolescence: the period spanning roughly ages 14 to 17, corresponding to the
high school years.
- Late adolescence: the period spanning roughly ages 18 to 21, corresponding
approximately to the college years.
- Emerging adulthood: the period spanning roughly ages 18 to 25, during which
individuals make the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
- Puberty: the biological changes of adolescence.
,Figure 1: voorbeelden.
One study, in which high school juniors were asked about their expectations for the future,
found three distinct groups:
- Early starters: expected to finish their schooling, enter the labor force, and live on their
own immediately after high school; they thought they would start a family before they
were 22.
- The employment-focused group: expected to finish school, start regular employment,
and live on their own before turning 21 but did not expect to start a family until
several years later.
- The education-focused group: did not expect to finish their schooling until they were
22 and did not expect to start a family until age 24 or 25.
A framework for studying Adolescent development
This book uses a framework for studying adolescence, the model has three basic components
(1) the fundamental changes of adolescence, (2) the contexts of adolescence, and (3) the
psychosocial developments of adolescence.
The fundamental changes of adolescence
Encompasses biological, cognitive, and social dimensions. According to Hill, three features of
adolescent development give the period its special flavor and significance:
1. The onset of puberty (biological). Involve changes in the young person’s physical
appearance and the development of the ability to conceive children.
2. The emergence of more advanced thinking abilities (cognitive). Compared with
children, adolescents are much better able to think about hypothetical situations and
about abstract concepts, such as friendship, democracy, or morality.
3. The transition into new roles in society (social). Not until adolescence are individuals
permitted to drive, marry, and vote. Such changes in rights, privileges, and
, responsibilities constitute the third set of fundamental changes that occur at
adolescence: social changes.
These three sets of changes are universal; all adolescents in every society go through them.
The contexts of adolescence
Although all adolescents experience the biological, cognitive, and social transitions of the
period, the effects of these changes are not uniform for all young people. If the fundamental
changes of adolescence are universal, why are their effects so varied? Why isn’t everyone
affected in the same ways by puberty, by advanced thinking abilities, and by changes in legal
status? The answer is that the psychological impact of the biological, cognitive, and social
changes of adolescence is shaped by the environment in which the changes take place. In
other words, psychological development during adolescence is a product of the interplay
between a set of three very basic, universal changes and the context in which these changes
are experienced.
- Rite of passage: a ceremony or ritual marking an individual’s transition from one
social status to another, especially marking the young person’s transition to adulthood.
- Ecological perspective on human development: a perspective on development that
emphasized the broader context in which development occurs.
We cannot understand development without examining the environment in which it occurs. In
modern societies, there are four main contexts in which young people spend time: families,
peer groups, schools, and work and leisure settings.
Psychosocial development in adolescence
Social scientists use the word psychosocial to describe aspects of development that are both
psychological and social in nature. Of course, it is not only during the adolescent years that
concerns: identity, autonomy, intimacy, sexuality, and achievement arise, and psychological
or social problems can and do occur during all periods of life. They represent basic
developmental challenges that we face as we grow and change: (1) discovering and
understanding who we are as individuals—identity; (2) establishing a healthy sense of
independence—autonomy; (3) forming close and caring relationships with others—intimacy;
(4) expressing sexual feelings and enjoying physical contact with others—sexuality; and (5)
being successful and competent members of society—achievement.
- Psychosocial: Referring to aspects of development that are both psychological and
social in nature, such as developing a sense of identity or sexuality.
- Identity: The domain of psychosocial development involving self-conceptions, self-
esteem, and the sense of who one is.
- Autonomy: The psychosocial domain concerning the development and expression of
independence.
, - Intimacy: The psychosocial domain concerning the formation, maintenance, and
termination of close relationships.
- Sexuality: The psychosocial domain concerning the development and expression of
sexual feelings.
- Achievement: The psychosocial domain concerning behaviors and feelings in
evaluative situations.
Theoretical perspectives on adolescence
Biosocial theories
Experts on adolescence disagree about just how important this biological change is in defining
the psychosocial issues of the period. Theorists who have taken a biological or, more
accurately, “biosocial,” view of adolescence stress the hormonal and physical changes of
puberty as driving forces.
Hall’s theory of recapitulation, who was influenced by Charles Darwin, believed that the
development of the individual paralleled the development of the human species. Adolescence,
in contrast, was seen as a transitional and turbulent time that paralleled the evolution of our
species from primitive “savages” into civilized adults. For Hall, the development of the
individual through these stages was determined primarily by instinct—by biological and
genetic forces within the person—and hardly influenced by the environment. The most
important legacy of Hall’s view of adolescence is the belief that the adolescence is inevitably
a period of “storm and stress.” He believed that the hormonal changes of puberty cause
upheaval, both for the individual and for those around him or her.
Dual systems theories, which stress the simultaneous development of two different brain
systems—one that governs the ways in which the brain processes rewards, punishments, and
social and emotional information, and another that regulates self-control and advanced
thinking abilities, such as planning or logical reasoning. The arousal of this first system takes
place early in adolescence, while the second system is still maturing. This creates a
maturational imbalance. The main challenge of adolescence, according to this view, is to
develop better self-regulation, so that this imbalance doesn’t create problems.
Organismic theories
Like biosocial theorists, organismic theorists recognize the importance of the biological
changes of adolescence. But unlike their biosocial counterparts, organismic theories also take
into account the ways in which contextual forces interact with and modify these biological
forces. Three of these theorists, have had a great influence on the study of adolescence:
